Cookie Monster

[DieselOx]

Hi. I'm Chris, in Spokane, WA. Been lurking here for 3 years.

 

Are you sitting down? I am. I'm in total shock right now.

 

As of today, I am the second owner of Cookie Monster:

 

1971, Polaris, numbers match, with factory 5sp (close ratio), factory LSD, factory fog lights.

 

It had exactly one update in its entire life: moved the battery to the trunk.

 

Also has: crunched left rear quarter, tree dent above windshield, some rust (lots actually) on the top sides (rockers, rails, floor pans and shock towers seem solid so far! all pristine or minor surface rust).

 

It's currently sitting in my brother's driveway in El Cerrito. He fetched it for me today (I owe him big time, 100F, no shade in Stockton). I'll retrieve it in September and trailer it to Spokane.

 

 

Original and only owner (!) guesses about 120k miles on it (odo broke in the 70's, he made a wild guess). Seats don't look like 120k, more like 80k at most to me.

 

It burned oil and ate points, owner got tired of that and parked it.

 

 

Originally imported from Germany, then lived in CA almost exclusively. Owner ordered it through an importing company that worked with military overseas while he was in Vietnam. Military were allowed one duty free car import when stationed overseas, apparently? Ordered from the factory with the 5sp, LSD, fog lights. Original invoice will be mailed when retrieved from storage.

 

 

He drove it hard, auto crossed it, tracked it a fair amount, and spent probably too much time over 100mph on twisty mountain roads chasing his friends in their V8 muscle cars. I think it's had a full life, doing what it was built for. He especially loved catching 911's on the track, he chuckled about that.

 

 

Sitting in a field for what looks like 15-20 years, it's got a lot of issues, but they are all fixable. I'll be fully stripping it and rebuilding everything as it goes back together.

 

 

Bonus: engine turns, not frozen! All the wheels turn! Stiffly, but they turn.

 

My 02 history: From 1994 to 2001 we had between 1 and 4 1976 02s (2-3 parts cars), re-homed when we had kids. Been sad about having to give them up ever since.

 

Started looking for the right 02 project seriously 3 years ago, (but really been looking for 23 years) including checking FAQ and CL every day.

 

My background: metal sculpture, prototype machining and mechanical engineering. I've been looking for a rougher project that might otherwise get sent to the crusher. We have a family machine shop with all kinds of welding, lathe, and a CNC mill, so I'm not scared of any of the problems.

 

 

 

Anyone have a roof I can cut out of a donor? That's one of the first things on the list. I'll need to make patches or maybe just replace the whole thing? Rear sides are rusted out as well. [edit: right, not going to lop off large sections of the roof, just need to make it straight and fill in the rusty bits.]

 

I can't tell you how excited I am to own a 2002 again, and a pretty special one to boot, seems to me.

Edited June 24 by DieselOx
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[resra]

Those steel wheels are soooo bad for that car! You need to quickly mail them to me and i can send you a nice upgraded 14 inch Bottle cap wheels!  😂😂😂

Edited June 23 by resra

[DieselOx]

1 minute ago, resra said:

Those steel wheels are soooo bad for that car! You need to quickly mail them to me and i can send you a nice upgraded 14 inch Bottle cap wheels! 😂😂😂

They are 13x6, with new tires on them as of today. I like them, thanks!

[DieselOx]

Oh yeah, this is my favorite part: love the long rear bumper. That was a must have in my search.

[resra]

Those are very special Borrani wheels. All jokes a side, yes you picked up a super cool car but more than cutting and fixing the roof i would be concerned about the rear quarter crunch. A good expert bodyshop will be able to fix it properly but no shortcuts and check for other related issues to that crunch. 

Edited June 23 by resra

[DieselOx]

3 minutes ago, resra said:

Those are very special Borrani wheels. All jokes a side, yes you picked up a super cool car but more than cutting and fixing the roof i would be concerned about the rear quarter crunch. I good expert bodyshop will be able to fix it properly but no shortcuts and check for other related issues to that crunch. 

100% agree. It will be fixed correctly.

[popovm]

Very cool pickup. I hope you can make it over to one of the Seattle meetups once it’s running again to show off that bad boy. 
 

Is the roof rusted through? If not, I am wondering if that can be worked out. Maybe that’s crazy talk, dunno. My body work experience is so far limited to floor pans… I supposed the lip where the windshield sits could be difficult. Maybe worth a try if you plan on cutting it anyways. Nothing to lose by trying some massaging first. 
 

 

[TobyB]

Neither the roof nor the rear quarter are a big deal on a roundie.

 

What you are terminally worried about is rust.  If there isn't much,

then you can pretty easily fix the bent metal.  

Yes.

Fix.

Don't replace.

Far easier, far more original.

 

That's a good starting place- it's completely used up, so replacing

98% of the soft bits won't be a waste.

 

t

 

[68gretchen]

Nice to know there are gems like this waiting to be discovered.

Can't wait to see the results !

[DieselOx]

7 hours ago, TobyB said:

Neither the roof nor the rear quarter are a big deal on a roundie.

 

What you are terminally worried about is rust.  If there isn't much,

then you can pretty easily fix the bent metal.  

Yes.

Fix.

Don't replace.

Far easier, far more original.

 

That's a good starting place- it's completely used up, so replacing

98% of the soft bits won't be a waste.

 

t

 

Pretty much exactly what I was thinking. The rear quarter looks savable. The roof, IDK. It's pretty rusty. I'll save as much as I can.

 

I'm actually happy I have to take every single bit of the car apart and refresh everything. If it was running, I'd end up picking at it slowly and never getting to the root of everything.

[JsnPpp]

Wow!!! They are still out there folks. This one looks very special and it feels like you are the best 2nd owner. Congrats!

 

And yes, I would 100% try to keep that roof. You can pull that out IMO. If rusty all over that may be different, but keeping all original metal would be nice.

 

Keep the borranis 🙂 

 

Make a build thread! Would love to follow along.

 

Jason

[DieselOx]

Just now, JsnPpp said:

Wow!!! They are still out there folks. This one looks very special and it feels like you are the best 2nd owner. Congrats!

 

And yes, I would 100% try to keep that roof. You can pull that out IMO. If rusty all over that may be different, but keeping all original metal would be nice.

 

Keep the borranis 🙂 

 

Make a build thread! Would love to follow along.

 

Jason

Ok ok!!! I'll keep as much of the steel on the car as humanly possible!!! If it's not rusted out, it stays!

 

I won't get started until October ish, after moving it up here, but sure, I'll document as I go. I know I'll need plenty of advice.

 

Now that I know what Borranis are, I'm keeping them, cool history.

 

 

[WTP]

Great find, can’t wait to follow the progress as you tear into the Cookie Monster and bring it back to its glory.

[DieselOx]

After looking into the Borrani wheels, turns out there are 5, all stamped 4/72. Pretty cool to have matching dates. They are silver, is that original?

 

 

And finally got pics of inside of the trunk (brother took his time). Shock towers look really clean to me, at most maybe a spot or 2 of surface rust.

 

 

From inside the wheel wells they look really clean, no rust at all, not even on the surface so I'm optimistic that there won't be too much to repair there. 

[Mike Self]

With the long bumpers, it appears to be a modell 71 car (257XXXX VIN if it's a 71).  And yes, your shock towers look very good.  If there was rust, it would be in a horizontal line about 4" below the lower edge of the shock mount "hat."

 

As for the roof--a friend dragged a '75 out of an Ohio driveway where it had been sitting for 15 years--much more surface rust than your car, and he got it all off with a combination of rust remover and sanding/grinding.  It's been 5+ years since the repaint and no rust has pushed through the new paint.  If you can get the windshield opening straight--either hydraulically or with a patch panel, the rust will be the easy part.

 

WRT--military overseas delivery:  Yes, if you were stationed overseas then you could order a new BMW (or any car, US or foreign) from the factory for delivery in Europe (if that's where you were stationed) or in the case of BMW for delivery to your local dealer or to one of BMW's POEs. 

 

This one must have been ordered directly from BMW or a German dealer; had it been ordered through Hoffman it wouldn't have the factory installed fog lights, the close ratio 5 speed or the LSD.   I was gonna do exactly that when I got orders to Germany in 1970, but (1) they canceled my orders and sent me to Vietnam instead, and (2) I had a brand new 2002 already.  

 

Great find, BTW, and proves that all sorts of unobtanium (at least via Hoffman) options were available for cars ordered outside Hoffman's organization.

 

Keep us posted.

 

mike