Roundie Revival 2.0 - A 1973 BMW 2002 Build in 35mm Film

[CubbyChowder]

What's up everyone! Thought I would introduce my current project, a 1973 BMW 2002. 

 

A few of you might be familiar with my first "Roundie Revival" build which was also a 1973 BMW 2002 and shares basically the same exact specs as this new one (Sahara, Saddle Brown interior, 4-speed manual, etc). I sadly never got to see that project through to completion and ended up passing it on in late 2015. I promised myself that I'd get redemption one day and build another one when the time was right.

 

Fast forward a few years and my redemption build is here - Roundie Revival 2.0

 

This Roundie basically fell in my lap at a time of my life where I was in no position to take on a project of this magnitude, but it was one of those opportunities that I just couldn't pass up, and would regret it forever if I did. I decided I'd pick it up and park it until I was ready to dive in head first. It sat in my shop untouched for over a year and a half just patiently waiting. After some travels in late 2018, I decided to focus my attention on Roundie Revival 2.0 and make it a priority. 

 

My original plan for documenting this build was to film every step of my process and create a small video series around the project, which is still very much the plan and I have been filming A TON over the past few months so I am making good progress on that. However, the classic forum build thread format holds a place in my heart haha. Over the years I've thoroughly enjoyed reading through countless build threads and creating ones of my own, so it wouldn't feel right to leave this build out of that. 

 

I will be taking a slightly different approach this time around in an effort to cater to my wide range of interests. I recently shot with a 35mm film camera for the first time and really enjoyed the process and end result. I can't get enough of the character and feel of the pictures. Call me a hipster or whatever. I decided it'd be fun to document and update this build thread solely with 35mm film photos taken from here on out. This way I can get more familiar with shooting film and hopefully provide some interesting pictures for this thread. 

 

Anyways, back to the car. Let me get you guys up to speed real quick since the first few months of progress won't be pictured. This was more or less a complete car when I picked it up, but was nowhere near road worthy. It had a half-complete, poorly executed M20B27 swap with nose panel and transmission tunnel already cut to pieces (very sloppily at that). It did, however, run at one point. I saw a short video of the M20 in the car and running from a few years prior. My original plan was to just finish that swap, so I got it running again and started addressing the unfinished portions of the swap, but the B27 blues eventually got the best of me and I decided to source an M20B25 instead. The exterior and interior of the car basically needed a full restoration anyways so I got my head straight and decided to start fresh, and that's when the real teardown begun. 

 

I found a solid, complete M20B25 w/ Getrag 260 package semi-locally and picked that up. Bottom dropped the M20B27 and full front subframe as a unit and continued to strip the car of every nut, bolt, wire, clip, etc. The car is now stripped to the bone, sitting on some homemade dollies and ready for the real work to begin. 

 

 

 

 

 

I cut out the rest of the transmission tunnel out in prep for fabricating a new one:

 

 

Making good progress on the M20B25:

 

 

My parts room filled up quickly

 

 

Clean, low mileage Getrag G260:

 

 

I was feeling artsy, guys.

 

 

This is Roundie Revival!

 

 

 

That brings us up to date. I've got 10 new rolls of film ready to go and am excited to make some more progress in the coming months. My goal for this build is keep things clean, minimal and simple. I plan on traveling in this car around the US to the East coast and back once I'm finished, so I'm aiming at creating a fun street machine with a healthy balance of performance and practicality. I will proceed to restore and upgrade this car to the best of my personal means and abilities and hope to learn a ton along the way. 

 

Thanks for viewing. Take care homies.

Edited February 20, 2019 by CubbyChowder