Newbie with a project 2002

[JHall]

My name is Josh and I'm located in North West-ish Illinois. I have been into e28's and e30's for several years now. About 3 weeks ago during my normal lunch break CL browsing I stumbled upon an ad for a 1976 BMW. The only words I cam remember reading are "Free to a good home, 1976 BMW 2002". Impulsively I emailed the seller and told him of my dreams and aspirations of a driveway filled with "classic" BMW's of all shapes, sizes and varying states of disrepair. I suppose the seller recognized my ambition and later that evening told me on the phone he would like for me to have the car.

4 days and 5 sleepless nights later I found myself with a borrowed Dodge truck and my car crazy (Ford) best friends 22' car trailer pulling into the sellers driveway. Having only viewed pictures I was anxious to see what waited for me and was pleasantly surprised. The seller greeted me in the garage with a handshake then proceeded to give the the top to bottom history of purchase and work he had performed. Armed with my new knowledge of 2002's acquired by my searching this board I looked the car over and confirmed to the guy that yes, I still wanted the car. With that we pushed the car onto the trailer, loaded up the parts and we headed out down the road.

After the trip home we decided that driving the car off the trailer would be ideal so we set our next goal and went to work. Within a matter of minutes we had hooked up the new gas tank and borrowed the battery from my 535i. We fed the car some gas, primed the carb, turned the key and...crank but no fire. Now, I do not pretend to be a car guru, more of a weekend hacker if you will. I am however proud of my basic understanding of points ignition. I say proud meaning the same way I am proud of how when I was 12 I knew how to properly clean a vinyl record. Running on pure excitement I popped the dist. cap off, cleaned up the contacts and had my trusty partner crank it again. This time success! The motor fired about the third crank. After the thermal choke did its thing the idle smoothed out and ticked away ready for a long road trip or the drag strip.

The shell itself isn't bad, the repairs are obvious, the floors have been patched, however I started poking them with a screwdriver and poked a few holes. The trunk metal is original and mostly rust free with a new fuel tank. The interior has been re upholstered within the past couple of years and is mostly in workable shape however the carpet will be replaced. The motor near as I can tell has been de-smogged and at some point had a long tube header installed. The brakes will need to be gone through and the suspension will need a refresh.

If you have read my long winded story I thank you, if not that's fine too, I probably wouldn't read it either. Anyway I look forward to reading through the vast wealth of knowledge on this website and hopefully soon will post some progress shots.

[Napes]

Good find. Even came with a small, round red emergency toilet. :-)

When you get to the carpet stage contact Esty on this board. She does very reasonably priced, high quality carpet in a wide variety of custom materials and bindings. Her work graces many of the cars belonging to members of this board.

Bob Napier

[LimeySteve]

At that price , what could possibly go wrong ? was the seller British by any chance ? I see a Union Jack hanging in the Garage

[JHall]

Not only toilet but you turn it upside down and a passenger has a place to sit. The pictures are my garage and the flag is an homage to my former '79 Triumph Bonneville and current '89 Range Rover.

[02Les]

Thought it was treason to fly THE flag improperly.

Good luck with the project; looks like you will have your hands full there.