The Short History of an Old BMW (2002 project)

Day ~43-47 – Rear Sub-Frame Refresh, Headlight Bucket Refresh, Engine Seals



Rear Sub Frame Reassembly

Finally, the rear trailing arm spring perches have been repaired (using some steel tubing + a flat sheet of metal), the entire rear sub frame has been stripped and painted with POR15.
I reassembled the sub frame with Energy urethane bushings & bushing inserts (for the carrier mounts).



...with the addition of a 19mm ST Suspensions anti-sway bar.



One of the hard brake lines had broke during disassembly so I bought a new one and bent it to shape (using a empty beer bottle).



I replaced the rubber portion of the brake lines with the stainless steel offering from CA Tuned. I reassembled the remaining pieces on top of some scrap plywood/2x4s on casters to make the attachment to the chassis easier when the time comes.



Front Sub Frame Reassembly

I started refreshing and reassembling the front sub frame last summer (2015) but never completed it due to an obstacle (and other priorities), I screwed-up the thread to connect the pit arm to the roller shaft. During the winter we had it re-threaded (thanks to one of Ernest’s machinist friends), so I once again reassembled the steering box. Can’t remember if I previously mentioned this but the front sub frame received the same treatment as the rear, POR15 coating, Energy urethane bushings and a 22mm ST Suspensions anti-sway bar.



Headlight buckets, Refresh

The headlight buckets were in decent shape only some slight surface rust here and there but I decided to strip them and paint them as well.




Engine Seals

The motor was leaking oil from all over the place, so I purchased the top end and bottom end gasket sets from bluntech. People were saying to leave the head gasket alone if it’s not leaking but I had the head gasket and I also have a hard head, which I might end up regretting in the near future but only time will tell.

Kosta and Ernest had come over to aid in the disassembly of the motor. Kosta was calling Jason, who we generally call when building bikes or cars for expert advice.



1st discovery, the previous owner listed the car as having a IE mechanical timing chain tensioner, that wasn’t so.

2nd discovery, the oil pan stock baffle and additional baffle had both broken off.



3rd discovery, the pistons had a good amount of carbon build-up, especially the two on the right (photo doesn’t do the carbon ‘thickness’ justice).



I read if there wasn’t significant carbon build-up to not bother cleaning it but I found it to be pretty thick on two pistons, plus I was there.





I also cleaned the cylinder head which was more difficult so I didn’t do such a fantastic job.



Since I was there, I repainted the block in gloss black and the timing chain covers + other crap in the closest I could find to oem aluminum finish (unfortunately the actual paint had more of a 'bronzie' hue than the paint cap).





Kosta repairing the broken oil pan baffles, one is stock, the other, I assume was added by the previous owner.



When removing the timing chain, we marked the chain / cam sprocket and the chain / crank sprocket, but what we forgot to do was to mark the distributor position *mad*. During reassembly, we re-lined up the marks and installed the chain in it’s original location with cam and crank . I was not able to find the TDC mark on the cam hub so I’m a little concerned about the orientation of the two. I’m looking to see how to accurately find TDC on all 3 (cam sprocket, crank pulley & flywheel) before installing the distributor. Any advice on this would be welcomed.

We reassembled the motor using the new gaskets with a high tack gasket sealant (from Permatex as recommended by eurotrash), then popped on the intake manifold with the refreshed Weber DCOE 45s.



So, I still need to reinstall the distributor and the starter before tossing the engine aside for a while.


Paint Update

No update. I'm scared to call or pass by the shop because I heard he's busy. I will try to find time this week at lunch when it's nice out.​
 
wow great build! happy to see someone else working on a 2002. my grandfather used to rally those in portugal, i would love to build myself one, one day.
 
wow great build! happy to see someone else working on a 2002. my grandfather used to rally those in portugal, i would love to build myself one, one day.

thanks :)

whos doing the body work ?

C L Auto Body...

Bodyshop
The original plan which dates back a year was to send the car to Strasse for bodywork & paint, turns out they’re all booked up (for bodywork) until April’ish, so I went out to get a few more quotes (from shops with good reputations or were referred to me).

My father-in-law referred me to the shop where he gets work done. It was a father & son deal where the son (Frank) has now taken over the reins and does everything himself. He seems like a nice/good guy and I’m confident he’ll do a good job.

The shop is in the east end, off industrial called: C L Auto Body (10760, av Jean-Meunier, Montréal-Nord, QC H1G 4S4 | 514-325-6463).
 
Body Shop Update: 2016-03-18

Went to see Frank at lunch since it's a Friday and it's nice & sunny outside. There was a little more progress than I expected but unfortunately the 2002 will be taking a backseat (for a little while), the X6 which came in as an insurance claim, and it will be getting an M body kit. Guess I have more time to clean my garage.





I asked him to do that "rocker guard" (bumpy) finish in the trunk.
Note: I have a peeve about painting things which aren't supposed to be painted. I had originally masked the shock tower rubber bushings, but I removed the tape when doing the bondo and forgot to put it back. I also didn't mention it to Frank, anyway they were already a little painted before, so they're a lot painted now :p.







https://youtu.be/pqmTMiIMG74
 
Last edited:
Day ~48 – Valve Cover Wrinkle Paint

The 2002 came with a few extra (ordinary) pieces, among them was a valve cover, from ’76 (I suppose), the ’69 (69er) valve cover was installed on the engine, the paint on it looked tired and had some chips. I figured why not give it a couple of coats. I had seen the VHT Wrinkle paint at Canadian Tire and decided to give it a whirl.

I degreased and sanded both valve covers with a red Scotch Bright pad, then I degreased again. The product recommended application in an environment of at least 16’c, my garage is set at 13’c, so I brought up a small heater and encircled the valve covers with some old boxes in order focus the heat on the area (before it would rise).

3 thick coats of VHT Wrinkle Paint.


3 hours later.

The next evening (24 hours), I used a blade to scrape off the worst of the paint on the lettering and stripes. The paint was still slightly tacky (bellow the top coat).

VHT recommended 2 hours in the oven to cure, for better wrinkles (or 36 hours) but I wasn’t about to smell up the house after already smelling up the garage. I let it cure for 72 hours in my mechanical room which has the furnace plus my wine cellar cooling unit condenser creating heat (it’s toasty in there).

2 evenings later I used some sanding paper to remove the rest of the paint on lettering/stripes.


Final product.




I might sell one or mount it to the wall in the garage since it’s not worth much.​
 
Got a brand new alternator with Ireland Engineering bushings, some roundies tail that I found so far. Pick em up and there yours!

IMG_6638_zpsceo8fy6r.jpg
 
Body Shop Update: 2016-04-28

I've been pretty depressed about the how long it's been taking.

Today I wanted to pass by Caruso Aluminum which is around the block from Frank's so I stopped it. The progress did not cheer me up, he sanded the whole body & fenders, except the front and lower rear. He said he'd be spraying next week... we'll see.



 
Body Shop Update: 2016-05-06

Finally.

The shell has been painted, next the front fenders and the doors. The fenders are already primed, the doors where primed this morning. Once they're ready, they'll be mounted and then, I'll take her home.
Hood and trunk will be done...later

Verona Red.





 
Day ~49 – Few little things and a Paint update (2016-05-23)


Struts

I removed the struts from the pit arms, I noticed that on the driver’s side 2 of 3 oem safety bolts had been replaced with standard bolts, so I ordered some. I painted the struts with some of the leftover POR15 I had. I gave it the usual treatment (grind, degrease, metal etch, por 15 coating).



I couldn’t’ find safety wire locally (without using too much effort), but I did notice that Canadian tire sells stainless steal wire for “Hare trapping,” it does the trick. It was my first time “doing” safety wire. I used standard pliers, didn’t want to waste cash on those specialty pliers for a 1 time use.



I (re-)realized that 1 of the 2 Track Rod’s studs, the one which connects to the trailing arm, wiggles. So I got online to quickly ordered a new one, should be delivered this week but I’m in no rush with the front sub frame.

Brakes


Since the brake were off the car, I decided that I might as well paint the callipers. I didn’t want them to stand out, so I went with black. I used VHT brake calliper spray paint. I had some left over so, I gave a shot to the rear drums.



I also grinded down the brake brackets, used the metal etch and since I was out of POR15 I used some anti-rust spray paint.




Velocity Stacks

The custom velocity stack “manifolds” were only tack welded. Given they’re tight proximity to their mounting studs/nuts it would be difficult to weld around them without impeding the studs/nuts. I bought a Weber carburetor synchronizer and I feared without the velocity stacks being fully sealed I would receive a false reading. I used some Permatex “Steel Weld” to seal the cracks, it’s similar to JB Weld.

Here’s a before & after



Preppin’ Stuff

I prepared an old patio table which I purposely didn’t throw out last year to spread parts on for the rebuild. I assembled some of the parts I had previously refreshed (loosely) and tidied up the space.

.

The Big Day (Monday May 23rd, 2016)

The shell was finally ready to be picked up. I had previously used Burstall towing to deliver the car to the paint shop, for free (but I gave the driver a $20 tip and dropped off a bottle of Scotch for Mike Burstall to say “thanks”) plus I was didn’t want to use another of my father-in-laws “favours.” Frank from the bodyshop told me he had a guy who could do it for $90, it’s a long drive from Montreal North to Dorval. The tow truck driver was nice and the price was right. I’d recommend them to anyone who needs towing services (Remorquage Teo 514-968-6213).

I’m happy with the paint. I will go pick up the hood and trunk lid once they’re ready, not too soon I hope.



I starting washing the dust off the floor pan in preparation for the Dynamat (I went with Dynamat “light” because I want to keep the weight of this little guy). My son decided he was not going to be napping and I had to go “play” with him, so no work was done yesterday.



Next steps, applying the dynamat + laying down the wiring.
 
Day ~50-54 – Sound Deadening and Wiring, oh the wiring.


I figured the logical first step would be to install the sound deadening. I had purchased a bulk pack of Dynamat ‘Superlite’ on ebay in early 2015, when I grossly miscalculated my project’s timeline. I had decided on ‘Superlite’ to keep some weight off the ‘02. It was very easy to install and took me to about 5 hours in all, but I took my time.





The next item on my agenda was to clean up some of the wiring, which included re-taping the old harnesses, removing the smog wiring and adding some new wiring. The new wiring would be used to power gauges (oil temp, oil pressure, water temp, wideband), aux fan, O2 sensor, radio antenna (I had the old antenna holes filed and am mounting a hidden one in the trunk).

"Peter" is my son's name and it was done with the bit of POR15 I needed to dispose of.


“Wiring harness” for the VDO gauges, I also made a separate harness for the gauge lighting which will run off a free slot, controlled by the dimmer.



In order to power all the items, I decided to add a relay which would trigger when the ignition was on, this would supply power to a fused distribution panel. I would be able to run all the new items off this.




Just to get a few items out of the way and show some “visible” progress, I installed the headlight buckets, auxiliary fan and horns.




With the wiring at about 75% complete, I received my package from EZ Cool (http://ezcool.us/) and decided to proceed with the installation on the firewall (I got the idea from billpaterson). I plan on using the EZ cool, on the engine bay firewall, the floor pan and roof (interior ceiling). I picked up some 3M Super 90 spray adhesive because I heard unflattering reviews about Super 77. It has a pretty cool nozzle, you can control the spread and the angle of the spray. The EZ cool is very EZ to work with, see what I did there? F I’m hilarious.








EZ Cool firewall with original metal heat shield.




This week, I’ll be working on finishing the wiring and adding the ez cool to the floor pan (on top of the dynamat).
 
Day ~55


Floor Pan Sound Deadening/Insulation
Flashback: The original tar sound deadening was removed, patches welded in, floor pan interior and underside were grinded and sealed with POR15, rubberized asphalt undercoating was added under the entire shell.


Following the dynamat superlite install, I finished off the sound deadening by installing what was left of the EZ Cool, I was running out towards the end, so I had to cut some funky shapes in order to cover everything.






Rear sub-frame install
Flashback: All component of the rear sub-frame were grinded down and re-sealed with POR15, the tired rubber bushings were replaced with new urethane bushings, the stock anti-sway bar was upgraded to an ST Suspension 19mm anti-sway bar and the rubber flexible brake lines replaced with CA Tuned braided stainless steel.

As previously mentioned, I had re-assembled the refreshed rear sub-frame and I placed it on some old plywood with some casters, figuring this would make my life easier. Well I was right, it did, with everything bolted to torque we simply needed to position, lift and secure. For the first time during the rebuild I enlisted some help, Kosta and my brother.


As you can see my brother was dressed to work.





Tail lights + Fuel tank
Flashback: The interior of the fuel tank was treated with POR15’s 3-step fuel tank repair kit, the exterior was grinded and coated with POR15 sealer. New fuel sender gasket, new fuel filler neck gasket. The tail light’s were cleaned and polished, the internal reflective backs were sprayed with chrome paint and LED bulbs were added.

While getting the wiring sorted, I’m “plugging things in” to avoid confusion, plus I don’t like seeing loose harnesses. The trunk is an area which is simpler to tackle so I finishing that up.

I used some caulking strips to seal the tail light lenses because the oem seals are expensive ($18usd) for nothing (and I'm a cheap sob).







Time to put the refreshed fuel tank back in.

I used the same caulking strips to make a seal for the fuel tank and fuel tank seal






Brake Booster / Pedal Box install
Flashback: The pedal box was repaired then sealed with POR15, new upgraded IE bearings/sleeves/springs were added. The brake booster + brake booster bracket were grinded and sealed with POR15 and new upgraded IE pivot bearing/sleeve were added.

I put the stuff in, not much else to say. Although I added CA Tuned front stainless steel lines and new brake line grommets. Also it was not fun installing the hard brake lines in to the master cylinder. I threw on a few more easy bits, wiper motor, hood clamp…



 
Back
Top