Jump to content

Fletcher

Solex
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    311

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

  • Feedback

    100%

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Fletcher

  4. Fletcher

    Photo entry

    By Fletcher,

    Hit with polishing compound and ospho’d some rusty bits.  Pulled the Recaro LS out to see about reupholstering it and put a seat from a 73 in its place.  

    Additional: Pulled out the rear bench previously (it's in really rough shape) and ordered a rear bench delete setup & parcel shelf from @esty ?
     









  6. Fletcher

    Bulk update

    By Fletcher,


    Update
    It’s been awhile since I made an entry. Painted over the spots I’d tried John Deere Green on with primer.  Then tried my hand at painting with the preval system trying a recipe suggested here using oil based porch enamel, thinner & Japan dryer.   Followed the instructions to the letter but the results were awful and wound up wiping it off before it dried.  
     
    Pulled it out in to the sunshine to take pics of it.  
     
    W&N fenders came.  Have passenger side one on and am currently working on driver side.  
     
    Found a better hood, but haven installed it yet.  
     
    POR-15 treatment of all surface rust as I uncover it.  
     
    I think that’s it for now.  ??









  7. Fletcher
    Coated carpet with an entire can of dirt & stain remover foam and scrubbed it until my arms ached.  
     
    Carpet unfazed - he didn’t even have to ask anyone to hold his beer - didn’t change in the slightest ?
     
    Gave up and cleaned the floor mats instead.  May need to save my pennies for one of @esty's carpet kits.   
     
    More pressing concerns atm though: Took a long time to start today and even after thoroughly warmed seemed not entirely happy when I took it for a quick illegal drive down to the end of the street and back.  ?


  9. Fletcher
    I'm in hurry up and wait mode just now.  

    Expected soonish, but not here yet are:
    Definite: THE TITLE - I'll finally be able to register it and DRIVE it! Definite: Steel front fenders from Walloth & Nesch Definite: Rear bench delete from Esty Definite: Preval paint kit to close match my faded Mint Grun as I clear away the rusty bits. Maybe: A hood.  I keep waffling here between a rust free steel one and a fiberglass one Maybe: a carb & intake manifold upgrade.  Looking at redline kits, but waiting to hear back from Bill @ Road Rockets about options he may have. Wanted/searching: a 2nd M10 to tear down and rebuild to ultimately replace the tired one the car is running  
    Continue to ask all my noob questions here in the FAQ and appreciate the answers & patience I receive in doing so.  

    Made a new profile pic to go with my sig, but when I shrunk down to profile/comment sizes it's impossible to tell what it is    Will attach the original here as something to post. 

  10. Fletcher

    Oops

    By Fletcher,

    When I created the blog, I thought the following would be the first entry and not the about info.  Apologies for the duplication.

    My probable starting point is this 1976 BMW 2002 Mint Green (or Lime Sherbet as its owner described it to me) currently parked in a field in Northern California wine country.  It is a shell sans engine/trans/driveshaft.  Interior is mostly complete and intact.  Front seats and headliner need to be replaced.  As does the instrument cluster.  I've seen the interiors spaces as well as under the hood, in trunk and some of the underbelly by video call with the owner: With exception of drivers side rocker panel and drivers side front pillar, the majority of the rust is surface only from having lived most of its life a block from the beach in San Francisco.

    It's part of a "kit" that I hope to soon make the trip to California (from Federal Way, WA) to bring home.  Also included in the kit are donor parts from the owners shop in Sonoma inclusive of engine, transmission, driveshaft and miscellany. 
     
    I'd be lying if I said that first sight of the car didn't give me pause and cause to wonder if I even begin to possess the skills or resources to do this, but the seller in question is well known within the community and highly regarded.  He's a good friend to my brother and one of my sons - who worked for him briefly one summer - speaks highly of him.  So, I'm putting my faith in him, his enthusiasm and repeating my mantra "I think I can" 

    I've never been a blogger, but I seems like a reasonable way to document the journey.   So, giving this a shot.  Input, suggestions, warnings, disclaimers, encouragement, jokes, wisecracks, any and all are appreciated.  Thanks ?







  16. Fletcher

    Rust & interior

    By Fletcher,

    Removed trim intact to work on rust beneath.  Pulled rear seats looking for rust and really didn’t find any ??  Seats in bad shape and need to be redone.
     
    Making these entries with my thumb on my phone necessitates brevity. So, this is mostly just a photo entry.  









  18. Fletcher

    Welding 101 (again)

    By Fletcher,

    Got the Hobart out of the box at last and started work on Franken-cart to keep it on.  It’s going so well, I may just buy a cart.  
     
    I’ve never MIG welded before with steel wire & argon/co2.  I had an electric welder previously from Harbor Freight and weld with flux wire.  That POS always popped a 20amp fuse after a few minutes of continuous use.  I also have gas welded a bit before, but this MIGging is new to me. 
     
    I started off practicing on an old cookie sheet.  I must have had the voltage up too high because all I did was burn holes through it.  
     
    So, I just started on the cart instead.   First things first: cut & bend.   I think I need to get a metal chop saw.  Cutting angle iron on the floor with handheld grinder/cutter is an imprecise and error-prone PITA.  Why did I take the gloves off here is a mystery to me, but I was promptly rewarded for my safety error (pic).  The resulting cuts weren’t 45s and when I bent for the first corner, the gaps was too wide to weld.   So put the cut chunk on top and welded that.   
     
    The results were FUH-ugly, but it’s SQUARE! (Pic).  Now, I have essential tremor and my welds are never perfect, but this is bad even for me.  There was lots of popping as I welded.  Not sure I have everything set just right:
     
    0.23 steel wire & tip
    gas at 20CFM*
    Voltage at 30
    wire speed on 1
    (any suggestions here?)
     
    No further updates from RR on my 02.  Bill had some delay with his tow vehicle. Hope to get pics from him as soon as it’s back in the shop and being prepped for reinstall of engine/trans/etc. 
     
    Thats all the news there is for now.  
     
    * - I think.   20CFM is what it snaps down to when I pull the trigger anyway
     
     


  19. Fletcher

    Anxiously awaiting

    By Fletcher,

    Latest update on the car from Bill:
     
    ”Brought the engine and drivetrain components from storage to the shop today. Will begin prepping them tomorrow. Once they're ready we'll fetch Mint Grun, probably this weekend. Tuesday start basic cleaning and prep of the body, later in the week, or early next, begin installation, likely running a few days later.
    If you haven't joined BMW CCA yet, dive in, along membership in the SIG(special interest group) for '02s. Sounds like you've already joined 2002FAQ.
    Freude am fahren under construction!”
     
    That was a week ago.  Should get some progress pics soon to post.  
     
    Meanwhile back in WA, I continue to stockpile stuff to tackle the rust as soon as it arrives.  Installed some shop cabinets this weekend to store stuff in.  Here too, in the background, some angle iron and a battered cookie sheet that (combined) will be used to create Frankencart by way of reminding myself how to weld.  Also pictured herein is an embarrassing example of the last thing I welded (albeit with gas not mig) ??




  20. Fletcher
    Slight ~ Major ?
     
    So the original plan was for me to drive to California to get the car essentially in kit form:  Engine/Trans/driveshaft all to be installed by me (and i would have been winging that wholesale never having done any of it before).

    The new plan is for the car to be delivered to me mechanically complete and road worthy, but aesthetically challenged and in need of much love and sweat equity to be returned to a restored state.  ETA is mid August to early September.

    So, in the meantime, I'm getting my side of the garage ready to receive my (mint) green machine and the tools to do the work.  The Hobart Handler 140 is on the way thanks to the excellent suggestions & guidance from @MitchaPaLoOza88.  Also, I grabbed a Dewalt angle grinder w/ flapdisks for cleaning up surface rust.  Finally, I have started working my way down the list of other tools provided in likewise excellent suggestions on the tools and bodywork questions I submitted to the 2002 forum (some of which I won't immediately need given the slight change to the plan):

    Metric sockets & wrenches
    Super thin/ground down wrenches for driveshaft work
    1) 2002 "blue binder" factory repair manual: It's available as a .pdf here on the FAQ.
    2) Bearing Race Kit: From HF or similar.  It makes installing bearing races a breeze.
    3) Hydraulic Press
    4) Plastic trim/fastener removal tools
    5) Flare Nut Wrenches (for brake lines)
    6) Pop-Rivet Gun and rivets
    7) 02 Restoration Guide (by Mike Macartney)
    8 Feeler gauge
    MAP torch for persuading recalcitrant bolts & nuts to loosen
    Ball-joint separator
    1/2” breaker bar
    Lots of 3/8s extensions
    Ratcheting wrenches
    “Ball end” Metric allen wrenches 
    36mm 3/4” drive socket & humongous cheater bar
    Allen sockets (8mm for diff end and stub axle end driveshaft bolts)
    Snap ring pliers for the clutch slave cylinder
    Multimeter
    Brass faced 3# hammer and brass drift
    Tune Box by Pat Allen
    Lang metric thread taps & retreading taps



     
×
×
  • Create New...