1974 2002tii refresh

[wobpb377]

Well after much thought with friends and a lil nudge from BLUNT, I decided to make a semi blog.

A little bit about me to start. I have made the jump over from VW's. I have owned a few ranging from a 59 Single Cab to my current 08 VW R32. I last sold my 78 Beetle Convertible and wanted a new weekend cruiser/project. I have always liked the styling of the 02's so I though Id make the leap since I had this money in my pocket.

I bought the car sight unseen BUT i had Tom Jones look at the car for me. He was very thorough in inspecting the car and gave me a detailed email and photos of the car. I bought the car from a shop in the San Fran area--Beyond2. Kwan was very easy to deal with and told me everything about the car that I asked. Since shipping out to hawaii is so expensive I opted to find a set of recaros on the right Coast and had them put in before I got the car out here. I know I know do mechanical first then cosmetic but I am trying to save a few bucks here.

The car arrived on island in Oct and I drove the car for a few weeks until I could save up more money in my toy fund. I first belled the brakes with the motive power bleeder--WOW so simple. I wanted to see if I could get the stuck caliper free, no avail. So I drove as is for a bit then I went to the store and KABLAM the passenger side window reg broke. So this is what ultimately started me wrenching. I purchased a used one off here from Arden and it was just as he described. Great condition. If you have never replaced one its simple. it actually took more time to pull the door panel vs replacing the reg.

I was first going to just replace the shocks and struts but decided against that. I went all out. I ordered all new bushings, some new hardware, new springs, complete new brake components, and a few other parts here and there. I also sent all the parts out to powder coat and they look amazing. To bad the car doesn't...yet

Well now on to some photos. I will try to keep this up to date and take photos along the way. But I just love going out there getting dirty and getting to work Half the time I forget the camera. Also heres a link to all the other photos. Any comments or hints or techniques are greatly appreciated.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v469/anthnmnt/BMW%202002tii/

Heres a pic of how it started. About a week after i got it.

And the car Currently

The amazing powder coat job.

[calicolorado]

Very nice powder coating! Those will look very nice underneath and give you TONS of peace of mind. It's easy to forget the camera, as you say! I usually do and now have to sort through everything which takes time away from working on the car!! Keep up the good work!

[wobpb377]

Well I have a small update. If you saw in the general forum I have been working with James and Sean parting out seans 02.

I am now wondering how far I should go. I spent the evening cleaning the underside and getting all the years of road grime off. I didnt take any before photos but I have some from when the PO took some photos for me. The car was up on a lift so it was easer for the PO to take pics--I had to settle for the ghetto hold camera under car and pray.

Before of course

After

[wobpb377]

So there is one other area besides the the pedal box that has some rust--and the plug as you see in the photo. I was taking to my friend and he said go all out and strip the floor. What are the thoughts of the FAQ? Strip to bare metal, fix any issues and undercoat? Clean a little bit more fix the two rust areas and call it good to go?

I want to strip the undercoat and redo it but I think it might be too much work. My friend will help me weld new sheet metal in. He can do rough work but not finish work.

[wobpb377]

I acquired another front subframe for a local 02er. Since i am unsure of the condition and since mine is a lil cut on the outside i opted for a newer cleaner one. And since i recently bought stock in the local powder coater I thought I would give him some more money and help my stock.

The subframe had no cracks so we attempted to reinforce the bracket. Most links we found had dead photos so we did the best we could. The welds might look bad but they are solid and they have penetration. We took a piece of metal and ran it vertically from the bottom of the bracket to about an inch or so from the attachment point at the top. We then added another piece right next to it. Hopefully it will work out.. I am sure it will be fine. He hasn't welded in a bit so thats another reason they are choppy so to say. I have faith though since he has done alot of fab welding and he has redone his motor mounts in his 400HP MK1 Jetta.

On to the photos. The tow hooks were also bent and it tore the metal a bit so we straightened them out and re-welded the attachment points and the parts where they tore.