Andy74tii

While my tii is laid up for a winter sabbatical, I have been poring over a bunch of old posts, and I think I may have come up with a theory as to why I've been running somewhat rich and my gas mileage is low.

When I lived in Houston, Mike Perkins - who rebuilt my engine - put in a 71 deg thermostat, based on trying to avoid running hot in that tropical climate. Now I live in Colorado, but still running the same thermostat. I almost never see the gauge go halfway, it's usually only about 4:00 or so, running pretty cold. So, is it possible that I might be never achieving the engine temp needed to shut off the enrichment?

While I have it laid up, I'm going to be working on freshening up a few things, and will probably replace all the hoses, flush coolant and clean out the warmup regulator. At that time, I think I will replace the thermostat with a 80 deg one, and see how that does....

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Andy

Wow, this is great information, as I admit I have always wondered how much that stuff weighed! I moved from Texas to Colorado about 5 years ago and now no longer have the need for A/C, so I jettisoned all that crap. I must have spent a grand getting it all working, and it never really worked all that well anyway....

Good advice from all (excepting the wannabes that just want you to give them your car, of course!)

I think there are very few shops in the US that would take on a "turnkey" restoration of one of these (e.g., Werkshop, Matt McGinn) and they are horrifyingly expensive. I strongly doubt BimmerHaus is one of them. When I moved here, I took my tii there to get them to tune it for this altitude. They're across the street from the emissions place, and basically tried about 3 times to get it to pass. Finally, they admitted there's a guy with an 02 who works at the emissions place who was able to get it to pass. My take is they're pretty clueless at BimmerHaus.

Having said that, there are so many things that you can do yourself on these cars. This forum (also do searches on the old Roadfly forum) has a ton of great information, along with sites such as Keith Kreeger's, and also the aforementioned Martin, who lives near me in Arvada. All good people, including Bill Williams on this forum, CD, and a host of others.

Just my 02 cents worth .....

On my 74 tii, which has a date in December 1973, I have an original trapezoid mirror. I have also had a later '74 2002 that had the flag mirror. So somewhere in the 74 model year they switched over, I believe.

These look very nice indeed. Wow, I was shocked to see the price on the elephant hide vinyl. I looked in my receipts, and in 2000, I bought the elephant hide from Maximilians to redo my boards, with a bit left over, which I still have. Cost was $39.

I don't think I could afford to do the same restoration today!

I've had some clutch issues, and decided to replace the line between the slave and master (4 speed). Any tips on this install? Seems like I've done this before, but don't recall if there are any tricks. Is it just remove old, install new, then bleed?

Thanks,

Andy74tii

Many thanks for the offer, but I am looking for black.

Is it possible to get the perforated seat vinyl WITH seams for a '74? I know that World and GAHH have the perforated material, but can you get it with the heat sealed seams put in?

I have a small issue with the rear "flip out" windows. Each is held on by 4 small screws that screw into the pillar. One one side, I think that the top 2 screws are not holding because whatever they screw into is stripped out. Does anyone have a cure for this? Bigger screws maybe??

Thanks,

Andy74tii

These are the ones on my car

So, I took the advice of you folks, thanks. Went to six separate shops, mostly machine shops. Because I had broken off an extractor, none would touch it except for one place. He had some sort of laser blaster thing! I couldnt have gotten in until Friday, though. So, I started thinking about this and bought a small diamond tip bit for my Dremel. I used that to poke holes around the perimeter of the stuck bolt, and lo and behold the broken extractor point popped out. At that point, I was able to drill out the remainder, ran a tap to clean up the threads and I'm back in business.

Nearly all these guys had the same advice -- NEVER use a bolt extractor, they nearly always break, and then you are SOL.

New problem -- the Boge I had in there was pretty tight, but came out. The new Bilstein goes in well until about the last 1 1/2 inches and wont go any further. I checked the old Boges, and they're the same length but maybe slightly narrower at the end. The other Bilstein on the other side fit fine. Has anyone figured out an ingenious way to clean up the crud, rust, etc. in the tube? THANKS AGAIN

Andy74tii

While taking my driver side strut assembly off my tii, one of the three "special" bolts broke off. So, I've spent most of the last day trying to drill it out/extract it to no avail. anyone faced this issue before? Should I take it to a machine shop at this point and hope for the best? Assuming the worst, is there anyone out there with a spare tii strut tube (drivers side) they could part with?

Thanks for your counsel!

Andy74tii

Looking for some good used lowering springs -- prefer H&R but also open to others (Eibach, B&G, etc.). Let me know if you have any.

Thanks!

Andy74tii

I am interested in a full set, thanks for being the instigator Bill.

I bought a used set of Bilstein Sport inserts, which do not come with the collar nuts (gland nuts), so have been talking with Bilstein about finding some. There seems to be some confusion about what parts I need. Attached is the diagram they sent me. I am thinking I need part e4-b30-627b1, but not sure. Does anyone have the part number/s I might need?

(nt)

Sent email on Bilstein Sports, I will take them. Thanks!

Sent email on Bilstein Sports, I will take them. Thanks!

I also have a '74tii in Turkis, which I restored while I lived down in Houston. Your choices are either to find a tii block and head, along with all the FI bits, then rebuild that motor, or to stick with your current motor and modify for more power. My guess is that you could build something very nice and at least as potent, if not more so, than a stock tii. And it would in all likelihood be cheaper. I think if I were restoring a 2002 today, rather than look for a tii, I would find a decent 02 shell and put an S14 (M3) in it. There are a number of people on this board who have done exceptional work in that particular area and those cars are magnificent. Best of luck to you in whatever path you choose!

I agree about Mike Perkins who rebuilt my tii while I lived in Houston. However, take it to BMS; there might be a guy or two there who knows tiis. If Bob Murphy still lives in Houston, he might have a name....

Anyone running Koni sports (yellow) with the stock springs? Or do they require lowered springs (IE, HR, ST, etc.)? Thanks!

Another quick question -- are Koni front and rear shocks still available for the 02? If so, where is the best place?

Thanks,

Andy74tii[/b]

Quick question - can you run a 205 wide tire on a 13x5.5 wide wheel? (assume other clearances all ok). Anyone done this? Do I need to go to 6 inch wide rims?

Thanks

Andy74tii

Hi there I just saw your post. By chance, are your wheels 13x6? I have six of the 13 x 5.5 and looking for the wider size. Let me know. thanks,

Andy74tii

This is the early Tii timing cover, which is unique in that it has the integrated alternator bracket molded in. The stamping mark reads 1971. In good condition, has not been reinstalled since bead blasting. Will work on any Tii, but correct for a '72. $75 plus shipping from Colorado.

Thanks,

Andy74tii