My 76 Four-banger Resto-mod

[323IJOE]

So back in August I picked up my 76' 02 for $900 big ones with decent body and a rebuilt engine with all the paper work for the parts and service. I've since pulled the engine, tore everything off the car and started a big pile of parts for it.

plans have changed and are probably going to change again, as i can never make up my mind about which direction i want to go in, show car quality, or just a fun driver. but heres what Im going for right now

M10 engine w/ sport pistons from bav auto (compliments of the PO)

292 schrick cam (unless there is a better/cheaper option)

high performance valve springs w/the cam

regasket the whole engine

IE stepped headers w

H&R sport springs

keeping the stock 4 speed tranny for now

3.XX diff sometime in the future

Custom Mahogany/maple/Purple heart rear speaker deck and seat delete

Front Bumper delete and earlier rear conversion

Side marker delete

Not set on a color choice yet, I like the white but I really like verona red too, but its definitely staying a stock BMW color

but onto the pics.

a couple from the seller before we picked it up

bmw007 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

bmw006 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

About 10 minutes after unloading it at my house i had attacked the interior ripping out the nasty old seats.

IMG_0568 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

photo by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

the carpet came out next, and the rust appeared

IMG_0667 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

IMG_0669 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

IMG_0666 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

IMG_0665 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

Then on to the dash and this was kind of a pain in the ass, but since the windshield seal was shot i just cut it to get to the screws in back (which probably wont be going back in.) and I used a handy little tool made from a small box end wrench, tape and a philips wrench insert.

IMG_0703 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

IMG_0704 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

then fast forward a couple months and this is the latest:

You can actually see how bad the towers are in this picture, still not sure if they can be saved, but most likely not.

IMG_1147 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

IMG_1151 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

quick mock up

IMG_1164 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

and this is where she sits now, bare shell, awaiting rust removal and new floors

IMG_1176 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

Edited February 11, 2018 by 323IJOE

[roadhog0]

Looks like ya got some work ahead of ya! H&R's wont drop your car that low (reference to the mockup). The other issue with going that low is you ride on the bump stops, a lot. I have Korman Race Springs and you can tell the rear of my car if I load it with people or things ride on the bump stops, or hits them a lot. Best of luck man, looks like it'll come out pretty well!! (Picture is for reference on stance w/ Korman race springs which are similar to IE stage 2's)

[323IJOE]

Looks like ya got some work ahead of ya! H&R's wont drop your car that low (reference to the mockup). The other issue with going that low is you ride on the bump stops, a lot. I have Korman Race Springs and you can tell the rear of my car if I load it with people or things ride on the bump stops, or hits them a lot. Best of luck man, looks like it'll come out pretty well!! (Picture is for reference on stance w/ Korman race springs which are similar to IE stage 2's)

Ya, i know they are only going to drop it maybe 1.5" at most, but it would be awesome if i could get it that low. I'm not too worried about extra weight in the back since the seat isnt going back in, and nothing but maybe a couple bags will be back there on trips and such.

still not sold on keeping the BWAs either, I want something classic but more modern with a big shiny lip but without the big shiny price tag lol

[Koblenz]

Looks like you have a direction in mind. Welcome and enjoy the ride.

[07GTIMYFAST]

If your not concerned for the originality of the car you can shorten the bump stop metal "spring guide" with a saw and a welder and cut down the bump stops to get lower.

I'm running air bags so I just cut the guides off and mounted a bracket to the flat part of the shell.

[323IJOE]

So time for a little update on this. Ever since winter hit all progress stopped, I initially wanted to get the wiring redone during the colder months but that didn't happen at all. Right now I'm back at school and getting slammed with work so I have had no time at all, except to daydream lol

New thoughts,

-Chamois white repaint w/all original trim

-Keeping the interior tan but with black carpeting and 2 tone tan/black sport seats

-Holding on to the BWAs, possibly sourcing some 13x8s for the rear

-Shorty center console w/ early shift boot

-Going to try to save the Ansa, resonator/muffler it came with

heres some pics I found from when i first picked it up

IMG_1258 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

IMG_1259 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

IMG_1260 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

IMG_1261 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

IMG_1262 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

IMG_1263 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

IMG_1264 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

cannon pictures 550 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

All the parts random parts were stuffed into the trunk

cannon pictures 551 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

pulling the interior apart as soon as i got it home

cannon pictures 549 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

Then onto the Engine pulling a couple weeks later

how it looked pretty much before, nothing hooked up and wires everywhere

cannon pictures 606 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

cannon pictures 608 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

you can see how clean the valves are, it was a complete rebuild that was abandoned sometime in the mid 90s

cannon pictures 607 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

cannon pictures 610 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

cannon pictures 612 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

I just picked up a new camera from my mom friend so no more crappy iphone pictures, just a few messing around with it.

DSC_0033 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

DSC_0026 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

DSC_0021 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

DSC_0010 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

DSC_0023 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

DSC_0053 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

DSC_0055 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

[323IJOE]

So a small update, I finally had some time this week to tear down the rear subframe and clean up my work area a bit.

DSC_0219 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

my big ass sheet of 18 gauge that will be my new floors soon

DSC_0222 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

DSC_0227 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

and heres some quick shots of all the rusty goodness

DSC_0235 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

DSC_0237 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

DSC_0238 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

DSC_0240 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

DSC_0241 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

DSC_0244 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

DSC_0245 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

quick engine shot, you can see i started shaving off pretty much everything, all the relays/brackets are going to be relocated but i think im goin to keep the fuse box in there

DSC_0247 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

Quick sneak peek of the seat delete

DSC_0265 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

My super happy non cracked dash

DSC_0231 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

DSC_0249 by psychoticsnoman, on Flickr

A couple more weeks until i get to really tear into it. by then i should have all my parts to rebuild my complete suspension and brakes after basting and painting everything, along with new towers,floors and blasting all the surface rust away.

[323IJOE]

ok some progress happened, first was to finish breaking down the control arms so i can blast and paint everything

clamped the control arms to the work bench and then a pipe wrench next to it. used a set of vise grips to lock onto one stud and against another. Just for good measure i used a torch and heated the nut up and impacted it off.

the hubs slid of easily but the stubs were another story, about 30-45 minutes each of pounding them out and heating up the housings before they even budged, but i finally got those bastards out.

in between removing the studs I decided to take a break and have some fun with some fire and made a big rubbery mess outside

Next was onto the half shafts

and all clean and reassembled, dont know if it was just me but I think it was 100 times easier getting the bearings back in the housings than out.

I popped the fenders off and attempted to blast the undercoating out but only got about half way before the blaster kept getting clogged up, so i have to empty it and sift it all out to get bigger pieces out of the sand.

so instead i moved on to the engine compartment taking the paint away from a the holes to be filled and finished shaving the battery tray

my first attempt at welding, figured I'd try in an area no one will see first,

engine side

after that first weld I just kind of stopped and moved to taking the driver seat mounts out which was a bitch and a half, i tried grinding down the welds but it was hard to get in there so i ended up cutting through the welds instead, and drilling out the spotwelds, for the passenger side i might just save me some time and sawzaw them out instead since they are going to get mangled anyway.

and all my paints that just came in, still need to order some por15

and my parts stash

more progress to come soon, Im hoping to have all the suspension stuff blasted and ready for paint next week.

[323IJOE]

ive been slacking on updating this here so its copy and paste time

and i got some more goodies in the mail

crappy rain, kept me from blasting the rest of my parts today so instead i did something I've been putting off for a while now.

Srubby-dubby-dub wires in the tub.....

and allllll cleaned up

blasted the roof and sprayed a ton of de-ruster on it t eat away at it over night, then its gonna get a few coats of por15

after two hours of torture, looking up and dodging drips of por15 the roof is finally finished, I might go back over the larger areas again

blasted a bunch of parts today before it started giving me problems, namely a hole in the hose, busted tip and then the actual rubber/metal stopper disintegrated.

moved on to the engine finished up cleaning my welds and then hit it with some crappy primer for now not pretty but for now it doesn't have to be.

primered

completely rebuilt

Just messing with some ideas

So I've made some progress, just been really busy with work and everything but i finally got some time off so heres what ive been up to

new driver side rear floor pan, not too bad for my first welding/fabrication attempt

welded shut what i guess was some kind of stupid drain hole

and Instead of keep going with floors I decided to do something a little more fun and motivating.

still working on the engine prepping it for paint and such hoping to have it all back together for later this week.

it took a little longer than I wanted it to but its finally all bolted back together, im going to go ahead and say that building the engine was the most frustrating part so far, I basically and to build it 2 1/2 times. First the retainers went on backwards, thanks to the idiot who made the expanded view engine diagram, then once i fixed that my intake shaft stripped out.

and finally after everything is fixed and new shaft installed, a few more things to be done but its basically all sealed up again.

Got a bunch more done, finished blasting the front subframe welded up the support bracket and filled in the existing crack got another floor pan tacked in, would have finished today but I ran out of gas so instead I moved on to cleaning up the passenger frame rail and then continued on stripping whatever the hell the PO put in the wheel well, which revealed a super shitty riveted repair job. yipeee lol

lots of cutting grinding and welding going on lately.

Yesterday while I was working in the fender it decided to be a bitch and fall off the stands. it was actually pretty funny how it happened, just kind of rolled over, and while i wasn't happy with having to deadlift it back onto the stands I did like the lows it made lol

been a lazy week around here just painting brackets and small parts and packing them away until i need them, but i decided to have some fun and refurb my ansa exhaust :eyebrows

Since school started up again things have slowed down a bit but I've still been plenty busy

more to come soon

well i moved onto the towers or so i thought,

stripped and trimmed

measuring shit out

then this happened

so I have the week off from school and work so Im hoping to get a lot done, so far here whats news in the past couple days

cleaned up the collar for the rear mounts so it fits nicely in the replacement panels

sealed up the rocker

finally got my drivers floor in and finished all the patchwork needed there, no more Freddy Flintstone

Hopefully more progress to come by the end of this week

well finally got the time in the past couple days to completely seal up the driver side rocker from the inside, welded up the replacement metal for the subframe mount, then ran out of gas =( so instead of going to get more gas i deicided to just cut open the passenger rocker, this time a little more carefully so I can just weld it back into place cleanly, also made a little relay/fuse board for under the rear deck but i don't have any pictures of that yet

got kinda screwed on the welding gas, the guys sold the last to cylinders before i called so now i have to wait till wednesday, in the meantime im playing with this...

sealed back up

[Koblenz]

Looks as though you are making some great progress. Can't wait to see the finished project

[AceAndrew]

Very nice progress! If you haven't already got new rear subframe body studs, let me know. I have a pair left over.

[323IJOE]

Very nice progress! If you haven't already got new rear subframe body studs, let me know. I have a pair left over.

do you mean the actual subframe mount thingy lol i already welded one of them up into the replacement panels, i didnt think there were replacements for those things

[AceAndrew]

The knurled stud that press-fits from underneath the rear seat.

[323IJOE]

well yesturday i said fuck it and bought all a bunch of steel for the new seat mount in hopes that it would all work out, i am very pleased with the results, pretty basic set up, don't worry everything is just tacked in it will be cleaner when I 1) get more gas 2) can see what the hell im doing

and yes i know i have the passenger seat on the drivers side, the drivers has a nasty bent back to it so i have to fix that before i can put it in, i honestly just wanted to sit in my car for the first time since i've owned it. yes thats right i have never sat in this car before today.

[M3M3]

great feeling sitting the car, eh? :-)

wait until you actually get to drive it!