Trustworthy Utah Mechanic

[Notlad97]

Hi everyone, I've tried searching this topic but a lot of them are fairly dated at this point so I wanted to see if the content or recommendations have changed. I'm new to the 2002 and new to Utah so it's a double whammy for not knowing what I'm doing. I have a 1976 2002 that runs and drives pretty well but has it's own problems as most older cars do. There are a few things out of my skill range for this car that I am debating taking it to a shop to do the work on or just planning on having some of these things be big winter projects since I don't plan on driving it once the snow and salt comes. I am looking to add in AC since I don't have that in this one originally. There is the original heater but it's one of those blows hot when it's hot out and blows cold when it's cold out types haha so I've relied on my "2/70" AC. That is one of the bigger projects but I'm also on the fence about a complete engine rebuild too just to get a little more power and fix the leaks. The car is my daily driver which I love. Some have said that I should only drive it on the weekends or to shows (and maybe they're right) but I feel like a car like this deserves to experience the road while she can.

 

I live just outside of SLC by West Valley. I'm not worried about taking it down to the Provo area if there is a decent mechanic there that I wont have to stress about getting ripped off or not seeing my car for months while they "work" on it. Any recommendations or help is appreciated! Thanks

[bergie33]

Welcome to Utah and the 2002 community. I don't have any tips on good shops since I do all my own work. Hopefully someone will be able to offer some helpful info. There is also a Facebook page for vintage BMW 2002's in Utah. It's called "Utah BMW 2002 Classics.". Someone there might be able to help as well. 

[Notlad97]

Thanks for the welcome and tip! I try to do my own work for most everything on my cars but I am the definition of "youtube certified". So far I've done mainly small things to my 2002. The only major-ish thing I've done to it is a valve adjustment. Now it's just little projects here and there for the interior and figuring out the oil leak around the exhaust manifold. Pretty sure it's coming from the studs. I think I'll need to back them out and readd some lock tight to get a seal again. At least from what I've read on this site.

 

Goal by the end of next year is to get a new speedometer in or at least fix the needle on the one I have.... currently using a GPS for my speed and it's not my favorite thing.

 

I just took a quick peak at your Conrad blog. I'll definitely do a deeper read into some of those posts. My 2002 is a non-tii, do you have any recommendations for little upgrades or just general projects I should look into doing that'll help her last longer and improve her in any way?