jerry

you think your transmission was dirty?????!!!!! i outta show you what i discovered under my current project. and my diff was encased/insulated within an inch of oil-laden mother earth. good thing i was wearing safety glasses under there.

your flywheel looked remarkably clean in the 'before' picture too.

these are educational shots, thanks for sharing.

btw, i love your 'dancing' bananna moniker or whatever it's called

VERY nice, clean looking 02. wish i had those 'blue-plates' to install on my early 71 02. some scoundrel stole the back one off the car last year....

can't transfer plates in california, though

after you've trouble shooted your system, a nice 'lessons-learned' would be most appreciated. is fuel injection required for this setup?

crankshaft in an 02 engine, for a trogladyte like myself? i like the idea that the engine appears untouched from the outside. what other mods if any will be required?

thanks

polloelastico is absolutely right. spend some time searching craigslist and ebay with those search words. you'll find a whole different cult following for old iron at www.owwm.com. your best prices will typically be local, however.

it's the fun/cost ratio that keeps me enthused about 02's. sure i once lusted after Porche 356's (even owned a rustbucket once briefly) but their prices recently have turned me off. i couldn't drive with abandon (w/i reason of course) knowing that my car represented such a high value. with 02's it's not about making money on em but rather enjoying the quirks, dealing with the small issues and keeping old metal on the road.

save your investment dollars for mutual funds, real estate...

and if you don't do the majority of work yourself, the fun/cost ratio plummets real fast.

(nt)

i had similar horrific sound that was intermittant. don't recall if it occurred on accel or coast but turned out to be bad bearing on input shaft of differential. see if you can get any lateral movement on the rear end of the driveshaft.

If the round tail lights vs. square tail lights are not an issue for you (only a matter of aesthetics, actually) i would suggest you look for the square tail light version, 74-76. they tend to have less rust for some reason and 'seem' to be a bit more solid when driving. they also sell for a bit less than the 'roundies'. i love my '75 ebay boo-boo that i bought earlier this year. it's virtually rust free and straight and is a great daily driver.

the roundies are popular for their classic 60's retro look and nicer interiors. some would say they're lighter and thus potentially faster; who knows?

these are only my personal opinions. i own both types and am especially found of the early ones w/o lower moulding and silver dollar instrument guages.

if smog certification is not an issue, californians are selling great 76's for the money.

only my opinion. it looks like it initiated at the root of the tooth at the corner. it looks like the surface finish quality is poor on the edge of the gear with what appears to be several tool marks. you'll get just as much information by looking at the mating gear for evidence of uneven witness marks or what is referred to as spalls (small material breakout on the loaded surface).

i don't see any spalls from your photo, but my judgement is limited by the clarity of the photo. it appears that you just happen to have 'dumb-luck'. as this is not a single engine helicopter or airplane, drive with it. you'll probably hear a whine, but it's worth a try.

hi folks,

i've made some progress today on my T-boned driver's side door. most of the time was spent preparing for the jacking point, trying to ensure that the loading was shared between the transmission tunnel and the passenger's side kick panel. it's not pretty but so far it's held up as shown in photo1. i've got a tremendous load on my screw jack (the hydraulic bottle jack didn't work horizontally, btw). i'll leave it under load overnight.

a trial fit of the door revealed that it lines up at the bottom rear and sticks out about 3/8 - 1/2 inch at top rear as shown in photo. i'm closer to straight but not there yet and am seriously considering stopping now. the front fender support is still off by half a bolt as shown in one of the photos.

it appears that i MAY be able to reshape the door to fit better by cutting the top support (photo attached) and twisting the door slightly to improve fit. before i do this i will move the jack and push at a lower location for a look-see.

as always, i'm all ears (eyes) as to suggestions.

thanks in advance.

now i'm off to read my Sears Mig Welder instructions.... (thank you Craigslist).

the bearings for the later 320i and 2002 are the same.

the early 320i (1977-1979) use the 2002tii sized bearings

hence the reason for searching out the hubs by year according to what struts you have available.

I used some scrap 5/8 inch plywood to make a support for the oil pan. this will allow you to keep the flywheel attached. be sure to make the height high enough to clear the engine as it sits upright as opposed to slanted in the enginebay. if you look close enough you'll notice i had to add some spacers, duh...... also, make a cutout for the oil drain. another point is that i did not attach my support box to the bottom. this allows me to install it on the oil pan as its suspended from the hoist then i slowly let it down on the rollable base. buy the biggest wheels you are willing to pay for (that's where the $ gets spent). i used a tablesaw to make my cuts and a dado blade to inset the sides for added rigidity. make the ends longer as shown for lateral support. i've included photos of two recent stands and one of my earlier stands awaiting its own engine for storage. hope this helps

folks,

i've started on a task that's been on my mind since i bought this car last february. this car was T-boned at approximately the lower door hinge on the driver's side. the deflection is about 1/2 inch inward. I've attached some photos of the subject area. the metal is a bit stiffer than i had anticipated and i've not tried heating it with a torch yet. i've used a piece of hardwood and a 4 lb sledge and tried to beat it into submission through the small opening in the kick-panel. it doesn't seem to move. i'm considering using a bottle jack supported against the passenger's side and see if i can persuade a little movement.

i'm gonna sleep on it before i do something really stupid. i'm open to any suggestions. i'd really like to tackle this myself if possible to spread my funds across my other 02's. this car deserves to be saved IMHO, it's limited rust and virtually original.

sorry i don't have text on my photos. i'm not able to review them and the last time i tried to do that i lost my message. won't try that again...

thanks in advance

pardon my laziness for not consulting the parts book or realoem, but, are you refering to the chrome pieces or the rubber weatherstripping?

personally, i have no interest in the chrome pieces as i'm VERY forgiving on appearance. water seepage, however, is another matter entirely...

perhaps we can all do ourselves a favor and question anyone's rationale for imposing a private bidder's list on an ebay auction.

thanks CD. there's still a few 530's lurking around in the boneyards out west.

thanks for the info. bummer cuz they look alike. i was hoping i had stumbled upon a good alternative to the expensive original.

(nt)

I recently reinforced two cracked subframes by welding a small metal plate approximately 1/8inch thick as shown in the first photo. I used a small jigsaw to rough out the piece then molded it with a ball pien hammer and file.

As it took approximately 30 years (and 150K miles or more) for the crack to grow approximately 3/8 inch I considered the stresses low. This plate transmits the bending stress as shear loading across the newly placed weld bead.

Note: the engine mount was originally fabricated from a steel stamping. The edges were not chamfered (beveled) and thus consisted of a rather sharp edge which is VERY suseptible to crack initiation and subsequent crack growth.

If you have the opportunity I strongly recommend that you take a file or stone (sandpaper will work too) to the edge of the engine mount and lightly dress the edge to remove the burr. IF and I stress IF a crack hasn't initiated, this will serve to extend the cycles to crack initiation.

I was under the impression that the 121 and 121ti head used the "bathtub" topped pistons which I am also under the impression that these are NLA.

True?, False?

any idea of the compression ratio obtained using flat tops with the 121 heads?

the idea of reshaping 'piano tops' to work is intriguing. is this done with clay, machinists bluing, a file and patience???

looking at Blunt's post nearby makes me green with envy. anyhow, i've got a '73 tii in my stable with considerable rust issues. i originally bought it for the rebuilt engine and 5 spd but i can't bring myself to scrapping it (has clean title still). won't do a VIN-up restoration, cuz i'd always know...

i removed the tar on the floorboards (dry ice worked fine). the leading edges are rusty as are the rockers. up till this car i've been very lucky with minimal rust cars strong enough to lift from the original car jack points.

how do i cradle this car to remove tires, engine, transmission and rockers? i consider myself reasonably mechanically inclined and just dumb enough to try to tackle this myself. i salvaged much of the requisite replacement parts on a '72 i scrapped due to irretrievable title problems.

thanks in advance

as a follow-up to your comments C.D., don't have the photos on hand but i inspected the usual suspects for rust (rockers, front lower fenders, door bottoms, spare tire well, ...). i realize a new paint job can hide a multitude of sins, but one place i like to inspect for general condition is the underside of the trunk panel. if it's covered with surface rust then i delve deeper. really depends alot on where the car resided. foggy coastal areas can be killers on these cars if not cared for.

anyhow, let's factor out time as a cost as i do my own work (i don't pay myself well...). i've pulled a harness or two from the junkyard before so i have an idea of what's involved. however, i'll admit it's much harder to install than to remove.

i figured the later cars have more relays and was wondering if they're more durable overall. alternatively, i would like to keep my impact on this car to a minimum. not a real fan of the 'frankenstien' cars.

if there was on overwhelming benefit to the later harnesses then i'd seriously consider the swap.

the appropriate fix is to use a heli-coil insert. don't know if it can be done while on the car though. JB Weld might buy you some time till the inevitable occurs.

i recently bought two 'problem' 02's.

Car No.1 is a '76 that failed smog and has rust issues. has a great engine and trans and the instruments and wiring seems to work. plus it has intermittant wipers and turn signals that are on the left side. and other goodies....

Car No.2 is a '73 Automatic with blown engine and damaged wiper/turn signal switch. I bought this car for my sister who refuses to drive manual trans. (I know, just another excuse to get another 02 ). The body is in good shape with a recent repaint (ugly metallic orange/brown over original Inka). anyhow the obvious switch is engine transplant. the automatic will stay.

But, is it worth the effort, or is it feasible to swap out wiring too? issues with the tail lights?, blower motor, etc., can the intermittant wipers and turnsignal location be swapped with less effort?

thanks in advance