The Short History of an Old BMW (2002 project)

small update.

The hood is ready to rock.



...with new OG emblem.



Late last night I re-adjusted the drivers window, lots of fun. Installed the vapour barrier, door card and other hardware.

 
~Day 77 – It’s fully assembled! 2016-10-16




Hood
I installed and adjusted the hood, it took longer than expected but it’s done now. I actually prefer the side profile of the car without the hood, more sleek.
​


Things To Work Out


My A/F gauge stopped working, the fuse had blown, I replaced the fuse but the readings are not good, nearly constant 19.0 (which doesn’t make sense). I contacted support, recalibrated it with fresh air but something is still wrong. It will be bench tested over the weekend.

Still trying to tune the Webers but without the O2 sensor things are even more difficult. The engine idle speed, upon cold start-up is super slow, like 300 rpm and it struggles to stay alive. So I increase the idle speed with the idle speed screw, but once it warms up the motor speeds up to 2,500rpm. Not cool, man, not cool.

The Oil temperature gauge is powered but the temp doesn’t increasing, need to check for continuity from the sender to the gauge.

Throttle cable adjustment, there’s a little unwanted slack on the cable.

I currently have the rear bench delete installed but I’d like to get a rear bench, you know for all the bitchez I’ll be picking up.

New aluminum gutter trim is no longer NLA, so I got my cousin at BMW to hook me up. Should be in, in a couple of weeks.
​


Spin
I took the car out for an official “everything is assembled” drive around Dorval, mostly a scenic route drive from my place to my parent’s. I was slightly rushed because I had dinner plans but things feel good, no unexpected vibrations. Side note: some dick in an STI was accelerating hard from after every stop sign to hear his bov behind me, I let him by after a while. Kids, I get no respect – RD.
​


Decisions

Front end
With the front bumper deleted, I find the front end lacking a something to keep it from looking like a watercraft. I bought the Ireland Engineering Front Air Dam in January (2016) with plans of installing it unpainted (with the ‘Turbo’ rubber trim and rivets). The black plastic matches the rear bumper. I still need to put a little more thought in to this and probably won’t do anything until next spring. I also need to decide between adhesive and rivets. I’ll ask you guys for your opinion on this (soon with photos). Kosta saw a photo I took and wasn’t a fan, but he’s Greek.

I was also was thinking about installing some (yellow lens) driving lights. This is why I pre-wired a switch in the center console and a wire sitting behind the grill just waiting for action.

Lower Stainless trim
I think the car looks better without them, so I will search from flush some plastic plugs and paint them Verona red.

BBS RM Center Caps
BBS center caps have always been a thing with me ;) I find the wheels look better without the ring/large center cap so I ordered some small centers to fit in the smaller hole, maybe that with a combination of painting the center black, we’ll see.
I’m always on the lookup for some light 13” wheels.
​




Conclusion/Thanks

Would I do this all again?
Yes, but I would have liked to know what I was getting into when I bought the car… although, if I knew, would I have bought it, probably not. So, one could say things worked out well.

Should you do it?
Yes, I went in to this project with limited mechanical knowledge (possibly an understatement), I didn’t know things. Now, well, I still don’t know things but I have completely disassembled and reassembled a BMW 2002. There is still a lot to learn about this car especially in the engine bay but if you’re not afraid to get your hands dirty, DO IT! Whether you restore an old BMW or an old Kia, I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it.



Is It Really Finished?
Of course not, it will never be. I'll always be finding new things to change, improve, repair... that's the whole fun of owning a "project."​


Merci!​

Thanks to Kosta & Ernest (& Mike), especially for helping with the disassembly. I know it was tough for them to come give a hand during the reassembly since they both had a newborn, together, obviously. Although Kosta was very helpful installing the PITA sub-frames. Ernest still hasn't seen the car since it's been back from paint :p.

Thanks to the good people on BMW2002FAQ, that site really is a fantastic resource.

Thanks to everyone who followed my build thread!
...an even bigger thanks to those who liked my posts!
... ...and an even bigger thanks to those who posted comments!​


​

If the weather co-operates, I'll try to take a couple of nice photos outdoors.
 
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Special shout out to Ernest for literally twisting your arm into buying the car & pushing your lazy non believing ass into making an offer to the original owner.

good job btw I thought you were crazy when you took on this project but ended up doing a fab job.
 
Ok, so what do you guys think about the Ireland Engineering Front Air Dam?

The plan is to keep it unpainted, which is black like my rear bumper. I like it...it's more aggressive looking and better than nothing.

side note: Before I started the project I had thought about installing a MK1 GTI duck bill, but wasn't sure and sold it.

Here it is very loosely positioned.

Yea or Nay?




 
Honestly, it's a win-win situation by having a clean 2002 rebuilt with your own two hands. I like both looks...

Now I have get going on my mk1 GTI track car.

Sent from my LG-D852 using Tapatalk
 
Awesome job man, wish I had that much space to take on a similar project.
I'd put that front valance on, leave it black, and remove the rear bumper.
 
Jelly_Belly said:
Sweet build!! :bigup:

I would put on the front damn but paint it.
Click to expand...
Not sure... Painting would make it really red and look bigger. I like the black lurking in the shadows ( that and making the paint last on a flexible panel is a pita).

Sent from my LG-D852 using Tapatalk
 
Félicitation, beau projet!

Je trouve que la lip de MK1 fitte super bien. Moi je la metterais et peinturé rouge comme la voiture. Ça donne un look un peu comme une 2002 Turbo.
 
Samgelinas said:
So how is to drive for the first time a project car?
Click to expand...

It drives pretty well. I feel every bump (urethane) but that was expected, it drives really well..

I am still stressed out about things going wrong... Only time will fix that, I will need to log some driving hours ;)
 
Simplement parfaite !

Si un jour tu vend ça pense à moi. J'ai montré le thread à mon père, ça lui a rappeler de bon souvenir du temps qu'il avait un 2002. Bravo encore pour ton build, c'est impressionnant
 
Je t'ai fait une suggestion pour le siege arr. sur 2002faq. Je pense que les pneus en série 50 sont aussi responsables d'une ride ferme. A suivre ton tread j,en ai appris beaucoup sur les produits et méthode pour de ruster des pieces de 40ans et aussi sur la persévérence.
 
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