1974 2002 Sahara Solex Ti Carbs

[Fishhead]

Here's a link to my first post on my '02.

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,50/page,viewtopic/t,332470/highlight,/

When I was cleaning out the car, I found and old Calif. registration for it. I think that is why it doesn't have the typical East coast rust all over it. My old 73 that I had in the '80's had a lot more structural rust (front jacking points) on it than this car does. Overall this car is very solid, but not too pretty to look at.

So far I have replaced the clutch, pressure plate,T/O Bearing,and slave cylinder. Rebuilt the heater box and got it working again, fixed the wipers (upgraded to interval wipers), relocated the battery to the trunk, replaced the rear window seal (it was leaking), replaced the window seals inserts with black inserts, de-smogged it, replaced the steelies with some 14 inch bottlecaps (Kuhmo 185/60-14), moved the front spacers to above the strut mount, replaced hoses, tune up,etc.

Either I'm spoiled with owning 4wd's for the last 10 yrs or so, or my '73 had a LSD in it. I remember my '73 as being great in the snow, this one, not so much, so far.

When I first got this car, I wanted to make a white turbo replica with it (flares,etc), but I think I'm going to keep it pretty much stock and repaint it Tan (ahem, I mean "Sahara") . I'll probably add Kamei style front and rear spoilers (painted to match) and maybe some different mirrors. I may lower the suspension a little also (not much as the wife will be driving it also).

Eventually, I'd like to add some Ti carbs or Webers along with a cam and maybe a header. A 5 speed OD will probably be added also.

I'm probably going to make my own big brake kit using the stock front calipers and hubs and change the rear to disc brake also. The interior is pretty beat up and needs to be redone and I'll do it myself also (probably in Tan).

A few pics, It's a little rough around the edges, just a little

EDIT :

I ended up replacing the stock 4 spoke wheel with a 320 4 spoke wheel.

[Jim_75Sahara]

Very nice so far. You might consider making the interior all black which is non-stock, but looks right somehow. I saw a Sahara roundie done that way at Watkins Glen in '07. Nice look. Sahara is a good color. Kind of unloved, but it grows on you espec. if kept clean & shiny.

[Fishhead]

When I first picked it up, my initial thoughts were "That tan color has gotta go" but it has since grown on me and I'll probably repaint it tan. I have washed it since the pic were taken and it looks even better (but the "patina" spots look even worse).

As for the interior color, until I actually get the material and start on the re-upholstery, it's still up in the air as to what color it will actually be. Probably tan, but who knows.

Since the pics were taken, I have added an oil cooler set up (modified E30)

Link

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,50/page,viewtopic/t,335066/highlight,/

and I have started adding fog /driving lights wiring. I'm using a blower motor switch (4 position- off/low/med/high) in the stock fog light hole in the dash.

The low position would be for the fogs, med for the driving lights, and high for both. In the high position, both fogs and driving lights won't be on simultaneously as I am using the stock headlight power as a switch source for the fog/ driving light relays I am using. By wiring it to use the headlight for power to switch the relays, I will only have the fog lights on when the low beams are on and driving lights when the high beams are on. The fog light switch (blower switch) will act like a "master" on/off power switch for both of the aux. lights and the stock high / low beam switch will act like a "slave" switch to activate either the fogs or the driving lights.

And of course, I'll be up grading the alternator also.

[Fishhead]

Changing it to a Ti.

I started with a set of 1800 Ti Solex carbs that I found for relatively cheap. I didn't know what the actual application was when I bought them. I ordered new jets and rebuild kits to get them up the the 2 liter specs.

I also had to bore out the "choke" tubes from 32mm to 34mm. The 1800 manifold needed to be opened up for a better fit to the '02 head and accelerator linkage needed to be made.

1st pic: The choke tube bored out to 34mm (on left)

2nd pic: The '02 intake gasket on the 1800 manifold. It was opened up and the casting were "smoothed" on the insides.

3rd pic:The old 2bbl Weber.

4th pic: side draft mock up.

I did end up getting it all mounted up, but I still need to connect and run the choke cable. I haven't started it yet as I didn't have any anti freeze. Should be finishing it up today.

5th pic: a crappy picture of where I left off yesterday.

[Fishhead]

A few pics of the conversion close to finished (I still need to sync the carbs).

Pic 1:

I ended up lengthening the stock 2 bbl "throttle rod/shaft" to work with the side drafts.

Pic 2:

The 1800 originally had the ball for the ball and socket joint mounted to the lever where the return spring mounted. The 1800 used a linkage mounted to the manifold for actuation. I moved the ball to behind the idle adjustment screw to have a push to operate the throttle. The 1800 linkage stuff can be seen in the pics above. I used part of the 1800 linkage for the ball and lever for the throttle shaft. I made a plate that mounted to the front carb for the pivot ball for the throttle shaft ( also made out of the 1800 pieces)

Pic 3:

Firewall linkage. I used the stock 2bbl firewall mount and made relocation plates to move it to where it needed to be.

Pic 4:

I used a Honda motorcycle choke cable. I left the cable long as the knob won't unscrew to allow the bottom steering column piece to be completely removed, but the column peice can be removed and dangle out of the way if needed.

The cars runs great. I still need to fine tune the idle (mostly carb sync- my motorcycle mercury gauges wouldn't work with the carbs- no where to hook them up).

[Fishhead]

Geez.., Its been over a year since I updated my build.

Well I got it on the road last month and have been driving the wheels off it.

Changed the Solexes over to Weber 40 DCOE's, different wheels, sways, poly bushings,Recaro's, blah,blah, blah... I'll get more pics..

I decided to refurbish my gauges and put in an indicator light for my fog lights. I have a bunch of tag bolt LED's lights that I picked up at a clearance store.

Pic #1 shows the LED and the hole I drilled in my woodgrained cover to mount the light. I pulled the LED out of the bolt as it will be installed sandwiched between the 2 panels (woodgrain and dash panels.)

Pic #2 shows where I drilled the hole on the back of the woodgrain panel. I drilled it here so the ribbing in the back of the panel will hold it in. The LED has a small lip on the bottom of it that keeps it from moving around when the woodpanel is replaced.

Pic#3. I drilled a hole in the dash panel for the wires to pass through. I also drilled a hole in the speedo mounting plate to get the wires out of the gauge area. Another "thing" I did while I was in there was to put "Chrome/Mirror" decal tape on the inside of the inside of the dash cluster (It can be seen on top of the speedo area). This made a world of difference in lighting up the gauges at night. I did all of the sides of the inner cluster.

Pic#4. The LED bulb was awful bright so I sanded the bulb with 320 grit to scratch it up to difuse the light(not sanded in th is pic).

Pic#6. The gauge cluster all put back together and the LED light diffused.

[Fishhead]

15 X 6 Enkei wheel with 195/50-15 Kuhmo tires. The drivers side has the only 2 correct center caps that I could find and the other side has a set off a Ford Taurus.

I put the front bumper off a 83 E21 on it with the fog lights. It matches the front end contour better than the 02 bumper did (no bumper tuck).

[Fishhead]

I pulled the Solex'es off and replaced them with a set of Weber 40 DCOE's. It runs about the same as it did with the Solex'es, its just easier(and faster) to get parts for the Webers and the Webers are alot easier to work with (ie: simple stuff like setting the float level) and I have more experience with the Webers. An Airtex electric fuel pump supplies the juice. I had an extra fuel pressure gauge so it was added at the same time.

The strut brace is home made with a cheap (acttually 2) ebay strut braces for an E21. The oil filter housing has been drilled for a Temp sender and a pressure sender for a Stewart-Warner Mini gauge panel.

It has a Stahl header now and the resonator was removed (rusty) and replaced with a straight pipe and the muffler was replaced with an Ansa side exit.

[Fishhead]

As part of getting a reliable ignition system, I modified a Mallory dual point dist a while back and recently bought a Mallory Unilte and modified it to fit the '02. The Unilite works as it should and with the MSD 6200 box gives me a very reliable ignition system.

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,50/page,viewtopic/t,345912/highlight,/

I must have had a intermittent connection with my MSD tach adapter (because it never worked reliably with the points,it was jumpy), but now it works like it supposed to.(the Unilite uses the same tach adapter as the points)

I also replaced the strut braces with 2 straight aluminum tubes. The other braces were bent and were more flexible than I thought they should be..