The Bimmer Basement

[Mpower5266]

At least you have the option of doing so! It also might help with your more permanent plans for your space as this shows you what potential it can have and what needs to be done when you get more cars in there.

Oh yeah I'm really happy with the amount of space I have and with careful organization I could get at least one more car in.

Seeing a Malaga 2002 brings back fond memories. I had a 2004 in Malaga, until it was totaled by being rear-ended at a traffic light in Brooklyn by a Lincoln Town Car (NYC Black Car). Lost my fully restored 1972 Bavaria in the same year, stolen from the sidewalk in front of my house. Those two events really soured me on living in Brooklyn.



Your dad is very lucky to get a 2002 as clean as that. They are starting to really go up in value, so it's getting really hard to think about modding them. On the one hand they really do respond well to some basic tweaks, on the other, you want to preserve the value. There was a time when originality didn't matter on 2002s, it was just a fun, somewhat inexpensive car. Unfortunately those days are numbered. Perhaps the solution is to keep all the mods reversible, and hang on to all the original parts.



These days, I have trouble living with a car without air-conditioning, and we certainly know that even though few 02's came with it, and it could easily be added aftermarket, (all 2002 air systems were dealer installed!) The problem was that the cooling system was barely up to the extra load of running A/C, and it sucked valuable HP...of which the capable 02 needed every bit, (given how good the suspension was).

I think we are leaving this one pretty much stock, he plans on keeping it for a few years and hopefully making a profit on it. It actually has a/c but it's not functional right now, I think we are going to pull it off, box it up and eventually fix it.

So have you put up a vapor/fume barrier yet? I started reading this thread and got 7 pages in and have not noticed it yet.

Nice Vermillion 02 did you goto Vintage fest over the weekend?

It's too far from me so I did not.

Here are my two M3's and a 3rd E30 shell in the back of the garage. Need to go finish looking through this thread.

The barrier is coming, I have to finish the renovation on the bathroom and finalize some electrical before I can dry wall. I don't want to pull down new drywall every month or so to work on something. And I love your cars man.


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[Mpower5266]

I did actually get some work done today. I started with removing the a/c compressor, we werent sure if it even works and since it wasnt hooked up there was really no reason to leave it in the car. It was going well and then I ran into these two bolts, I hate these two bolts.

I couldn't bust them loose with anything I had, so I had to make an emergency run to Harbor Freight. This is actually surprisingly nice.

Finally, its free. Its going to get boxed up and stored until we figure out what to do with it.

After that I decided to go ahead and work on flushing the radiator. Judging by the way the hose is bent I dont think this is right radiator for the car.

Upon inspecting a radiator I had sitting around, the radiator in the car was wrong so I pulled it out. Im going to have this one tested and I hope its good because Im not going to put an incorrect radiator back in.

I will order new hoses this week, they are so cheap that it would be dumb to not replace them. I went ahead and flushed the system while it was all apart, from the looks of the "coolant" it needed to be changed.

I made a huge mess but today was pretty successful.

 

[Mpower5266]

I didnt get a ton done last night but took care of a few things.

First I cleaned and oiled the airfilter.

I also cleaned up some of the grime in the engine bay, far from perfect but much better.

Then I tried to figure out why the center kidney grill was up side down, looks like someone broke the stud on the top mount. I think I can cut this out and epoxy a bolt back in there but Im going to weight my options, pre 74 grilles are tough to find.

While I was removing the center grille I noticed that the head light grilles were looking a little rough. Pre-74 grilles are metal with black slats covering the aluminum on 2002's, but the slats are not on the 1600's. I like the look of the polished grills so I decided to remove them, after doing some research and finding that they are still available. Missing, miss colored, and generally beat up slats.

And slats removed and stripper applied to remove the glue.

While removing the grilles I noticed that the p.o. had about 6 different screws holding them in, so I picked up some stainless screws and proper tinnerman clips from work. Thats it until tonight, I hope to finish stripping the glue and put a little polish on the grilles.

 

[Squankum]

While removing the grilles I noticed that the p.o. had about 6 different screws holding them in,

At this point in the 21st century, that's probably six different owners or mechanics losing one screw at a time over the years!*

I just bought that big ratchet, too. When it comes to HF's stuff made in Taiwan, the price/quality ratio is silly.

There are abuse videos out there. Here's a heavy equipment mechanic finding out what it takes to make it break:

Of course, an impact gun is nice, too.



_

 

[Squankum]

Hmmm... maybe the Germans made three kinds of automotive cooling systems back then: aircooled, watercooled, and chocolatecooled?

I made a huge mess but today was pretty successful.

Well, I'm glad you got that mess cleaned up... wait, is that the mess?!


____

 

[Mpower5266]

Yeah I am really impressed with the Harbor Freight ratchet, hell of a tool for the price. And while the garage wasnt that messy, its certainly a huge mess for me. Haha.

A few updates over the last few days.

A couple of nights ago I got the adhesive stripped off the the grilles and did a quick polish.

Picked up some stainless screws and tinnerman nuts from work, now all the hardware will match.

Then reinstalled the grilles.

Last night I cut out the broken stud, drilled out a hole, and epoxied a 3/16" piece of aluminum rod. Before I epoxied it in I threaded it to match the other m5x.08 thread. I dont know why it looks crooked but its just the picture.

Tonight I decided to polish and clean up the center grille, as you can see it was kinda cruddy.

After a few coats of Nuvite polish and some compound and polish on the center slats. Far from perfect but looking much better.

I also ordered a ton of parts, that should show up in the next few days. Im excited to some more productive stuff.

 

[RedRabbit]

Dammit now I want a 2002 and an e36 M3. Nice cars and nice work. BMW's are some of the best cars out there. Your E36 says Dinan, I know how hard it is to get one of those badges, what modifications have you made to it?

 

[Mpower5266]

Dammit now I want a 2002 and an e36 M3. Nice cars and nice work. BMW's are some of the best cars out there. Your E36 says Dinan, I know how hard it is to get one of those badges, what modifications have you made to it?

You have to get I believe 10 points from Dinan to get the badge, I think exhaust is 3, suspension is 5, etc etc. Mine was actually purchased new in 1997 as a Dinan stage 1 car so its had all the mods on it since new. There is a third less reputable way to get one and that way is called "ebay." Haha

 

[Tyberius]

How did you move your bench over? Did you use dollies or just scoot it?

It might be nice if you put casters on it to make the move easier.

I would love to have the space that you have which allows you to have 2 disassembled cars and one driver. It makes the work so much faster.

I have to plan to have everything put away before nighttime and sometimes I have to drive the car the next day.

It looks easier than it actually is. It's nice to be able to get them in there but I had to move a ton of stuff to make it happen.






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[Mpower5266]

How did you move your bench over? Did you use dollies or just scoot it?

It might be nice if you put casters on it to make the move easier.

I would love to have the space that you have which allows you to have 2 disassembled cars and one driver. It makes the work so much faster.

I have to plan to have everything put away before nighttime and sometimes I have to drive the car the next day.

I actually just lifted the corner of the bench and walked it over with the floor jack under it. Putting it back was much easier since I got my neighbor to come over and help, I did have to give him a few beers though.

 

[RedRabbit]

You have to get I believe 10 points from Dinan to get the badge, I think exhaust is 3, suspension is 5, etc etc. Mine was actually purchased new in 1997 as a Dinan stage 1 car so its had all the mods on it since new. There is a third less reputable way to get one and that way is called "ebay." Haha

Yes you are correct on the points system. And very correct on ebay. That's cool you bought it like that. Enjoy the car it's beautiful. The m3 is one of the best cars ever made.

 

[Mpower5266]

Boring update. Yanked the battery and noticed the tray was looking a little rough. So I scuffed it up, taped everything up and shot some paint on it.

I sell some aviation battery box paint at work so I will probably hit with that too before I put the battery back in.

 

[Squankum]

I sell some aviation battery box paint at work so I will probably hit with that too before I put the battery back in.

What the?! Why was I not informed?!

I googled. I was not aware of such a product. I'm not even sure what I sprayed on my Quantum's battery tray seven years ago-- undercoating, I think. Acid-resistant, eh? Another day on GJ, another thing I need to buy


_

 

[Mpower5266]

What the?! Why was I not informed?!

I googled. I was not aware of such a product. I'm not even sure what I sprayed on my Quantum's battery tray seven years ago-- undercoating, I think. Acid-resistant, eh? Another day on GJ, another thing I need to buy


_

Boom..

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/blkfloatbtm.php?clickkey=32150

Its good stuff too.

 

[Mpower5266]

Weekend update.

Missing hood latch roller.

Worn out roller.

New rollers on both sides.

Pulled the old dented door trim off.

The new one looks much better.

Installed on the car.

I need to still do some adjustments on the hood but its closing much better.

Picked up the rust converter from my folks and got some oil and engine cleaner for later this week. Theres not a lot of rust on the car but I noticed a few spots of light surface rust while I was laying under the car, so I decided to throw a little rust converter on it.

I hope this is the last of the of the boring updates, all of this is showing up tomorrow.

 

[madoc1]

not boring at all. keep it coming. I rebuilt a 2002 engine back in the early 90s - my bros. he over heated it once and had the head rebuilt and then proceded to overheat it again. just parked it then for a number of years with water in the cylinders. told him if he paid for the parts I would redo it. literally pulled the engine using a shade tree. for a used head in a santa fe junk yard while visiting and had a local Austin guy rebuild it. a local shop gave me a good block, so I was all set. also, this car had a/c.

jim

 

[M-technik-3]

Who are using as a parts source? One of www.2002faq.com sponsors?

If not check out www.bluntech.com or www.gutenparts.com/ both come highly recommended in 2002 world.

 

[Skyline]

Since your Dad's objective is to keep the 2002 for a while and sell it off for a profit, I would think that getting the A/C back in would be a big plus for that goal. A round taillight car with a sunroof AND working A/C is ultra rare, and will add a considerable sum to the selling price. Generally only the Luxes (all automatics AFAIK) came like that. But in the early days of the 2002's, there was NO factory A/C, the units were all dealer installed. So in theory, ANY 2002 could have gotten A/C...but few did.

Obviously, it takes more than a compressor to make a working A/C system, and it appears the console with A/C vents and remaining unit inside the car is missing??? Is that correct? If you don't have that, restoring A/C will be very, very difficult; I would imagine hoses, receiver/dryer and perhaps even condenser are much easier to locate. Up until a few years ago, complete NIB systems were still available, but today, I would imagine that those are gone. Obviously Vintage air systems are available, but without that correct console, it would not add value to the car.

 

[Squankum]

Aw, who needs an air conditioner in Georgia?

Hmmm... these guys are based in GA:
http://coolshirt.com/product/white-cool-water-shirt-ms/

Keep the little repairs coming. That's my idea of a good time!

I am digging the red columns, BTW.

_

 

[Mpower5266]

Who are using as a parts source? One of www.2002faq.com sponsors?

If not check out www.bluntech.com or www.gutenparts.com/ both come highly recommended in 2002 world.

Most of the parts have been coming from bavauto and 2002ad. I have had good luck with 2002ad for hard to find and random parts and bav has been okay for maintenance stuff. We were going to order most of this from another company that was about $20 cheaper than bav but they wanted almost $100 for shipping. Bav was free shipping.

Since your Dad's objective is to keep the 2002 for a while and sell it off for a profit, I would think that getting the A/C back in would be a big plus for that goal. A round taillight car with a sunroof AND working A/C is ultra rare, and will add a considerable sum to the selling price. Generally only the Luxes (all automatics AFAIK) came like that. But in the early days of the 2002's, there was NO factory A/C, the units were all dealer installed. So in theory, ANY 2002 could have gotten A/C...but few did.

Obviously, it takes more than a compressor to make a working A/C system, and it appears the console with A/C vents and remaining unit inside the car is missing??? Is that correct? If you don't have that, restoring A/C will be very, very difficult; I would imagine hoses, receiver/dryer and perhaps even condenser are much easier to locate. Up until a few years ago, complete NIB systems were still available, but today, I would imagine that those are gone. Obviously Vintage air systems are available, but without that correct console, it would not add value to the car.

The A/C will go back on at some point and I think I have the correct console at my parents house. I was tasked a few years ago with helping a woman go through and catalog a bunch of 02 parts after her husband passed. While I was helping her I made a pile of odd or rare stuff that I wanted and offered her a very fair price, she wouldnt take a dollar and gave it all to me for helping her catalog the rest of the stuff. I think there was an A/C console in the mix, I just need to locate it.

Aw, who needs an air conditioner in Georgia?

Hmmm... these guys are based in GA:
http://coolshirt.com/product/white-cool-water-shirt-ms/

Keep the little repairs coming. That's my idea of a good time!

I am digging the red columns, BTW.

_

Thanks, Im glad I painted them.

Last night a bunch of parts showed up, I hope I can figure out where all of this goes.

Removed the water pump.

This is why you dont put that "stop leak" **** in. It was nasty.

Prepped the mounting surface for the pump, dont worry the engine is going to get detailed soon and I will get all that crud off.

Did a quick mock up with the radiator and the new hoses, I think I have it right but Im looking for a hose diagram to be sure.

The I went ahead and drained the oil. One of my customers taught me this little trick using the bags we have at work. They are pretty high quality bags so they will actually catch the oil if you put it around the filter as your are removing it. It saved me from making a pretty big mess, I couldnt get the drain pan under the filter because of the jack stand placement.

While the oil was drained I popped the valve cover off and threw on a new gasket, everything looked pretty clean under there.

And since I had it laying around I used a valve cover that I polished a while back, Ill polish it up a little more when I do the engine detail.

 

[Skyline]

For the A/C, in addition to the correct console, you'll need an evaporator to go behind it. But if you don't have one of those, you might get by with a Vintage Air unit of some sort; given that it's hidden anyway...there's just not much room there.

I think that polished valve cover looks great BTW...but not right for a car you're keeping original. There's a million ways to resto-mod a 2002, but once you go down that path, you start eroding the appearance of a clean stocker like your Dad's car.

 

[Mpower5266]

For the A/C, in addition to the correct console, you'll need an evaporator to go behind it. But if you don't have one of those, you might get by with a Vintage Air unit of some sort; given that it's hidden anyway...there's just not much room there.

I think that polished valve cover looks great BTW...but not right for a car you're keeping original. There's a million ways to resto-mod a 2002, but once you go down that path, you start eroding the appearance of a clean stocker like your Dad's car.

Its a $4 gasket and about 10 minutes of time to put it back stock. And if I dont take care of the polished one it will put itself back to original soon enough.

 

[Mpower5266]

Small update. I found the a/c unit Skyline was talking about, I still need to find the console.

Water pump, fan, belt, cap, rotor, plugs, etc etc re-installed. Coolant hoses mocked up and oil topped off. If all goes well tonight I should be able to get it on is wheels and started, hopefully a test drive by friday or saturday.

And the score of the day yesterday, I couldnt find this hose anywhere online. But some how I found one at autozone.

 

[grease_monkey]

Nice find! Was it coded for a 2002? Or did you find another application that was the same?

 

[Squankum]

What kind of camera are you using? These pics are really good. My phone-cam stuff looks lame now.



_

 

[Mpower5266]

Nice find! Was it coded for a 2002? Or did you find another application that was the same?

I think its been swapped around over the years, I dont think the original hose looked like this one. Im guessing the one I was replacing was from Autozone in the first place.

What kind of camera are you using? These pics are really good. My phone-cam stuff looks lame now.



_

These are from my iphone 5s, but when I shoot real pictures I use a canon d60.

 

[Squankum]

Hmmm... I use an iPhone 3GS. (I'm a caveman, even when I'm modern.)

Sometimes I use an iPad; always use that to upload. How are you putting pics into the body of your posts? Sorry if this is an elemental issue for most, I'm not a high tech whiz. Your pics load for me at work, so I know you're not using a photohosting service... right?

 

[Mpower5266]

Hmmm... I use an iPhone 3GS. (I'm a caveman, even when I'm modern.)

Sometimes I use an iPad; always use that to upload. How are you putting pics into the body of your posts? Sorry if this is an elemental issue for most, I'm not a high tech whiz. Your pics load for me at work, so I know you're not using a photohosting service... right?

I upload to Flickr from my phone and usually post them from my work computer, you know, when I should be working. I sometimes upload from the tapatalk app directly from my phone.


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[Mpower5266]

So today I got the car pulled out and took it on a test drive, it ran alright but seemed to be running hot. I let it cool down and degreased the engine and washed it.

I drove it again and noticed that it wasnt heating up when it should have been, like sitting at a red light. It was more so just kinda randomly heating up and cooling down. I decided to swap out the cluster with one I restored for my other 02.

Not only did it fix the temp indicator, but also my speedometer works now. The speedo cable wasnt hooked up right, I have been noticing a lot of stuff like that. I will eventually go back to an all black cluster as this one is post '74 but for now it works.

After that I decided to address the seats. The drivers side seat didnt like to slide back and forth and the passenger side was loose. So out they go. Three bolts holding in the drivers seat and only one on the pass side. I have noticed a lot stuff like that, it seems the PO didnt know how to fix things so he would just give up and slap it together.

While they are out I fixed the seat back that was pulling away and did some cleaning.

I also figure out why the drivers seat didnt want to move, the left seat rail is on backwards.

I also found out why the passenger seat only had one bolt in it, the rails were on the wrong sides of the seat and they were backwards. :rofl

Corrected. Actually I just noticed that I put the right one on upside down, oh well they work I can fix it later.

All cleaned up and installed. I need to get a nardi wheel and a nicer shift knob.

And I ended the afternoon by installing a sticker I have had laying around.

 

[Mpower5266]

I got sick of waiting for 2002ad to ship my grill part so I snagged some scrap steel from work and busted out my trusty dewalt angle grinder. It took about 45 minutes but with a cut off wheel, grinding wheel, a file, bench vise and a hammer I was able to put something together.

Still needs some trimming and grinding but its getting there.

All cleaned up and mounted, its starting to come together.

Got it up on jack stands and pulled off the wheels.

I just thought this was a cool looking pic.

Off to the tire shop tomorrow for some 185 "meat."

 

[Mpower5266]

New meat.

Without hubcaps before the test drive.

It rode great, so I popped the caps back on. It really just needs a detail now and then we can work on some little trim stuff.

 

[E12-535iTurbo]

I absolutely love that car! It reminds me of my E12 and E30 that I miss dearly.

 

[RedRabbit]

Great work. Each update is better and better. I really love that color though.

 

[Mpower5266]

Thanks for the support and kind words guys. Very small update but last night I pulled out the buffer and hit the car with some compound.

Hopefully I will be able to polish it and seal it tonight.

 

[madoc1]

looking really nice! what size were the old tires, or were they just worn out? you're doing very fine work. could probably flip and come out ahead right now.

jim

 

[Squankum]

Mmmm.... so boxy....

 

[Boosted1]

The 2002 looks great.

 

[crab]

That's a nice car !

 

[Mpower5266]

looking really nice! what size were the old tires, or were they just worn out? you're doing very fine work. could probably flip and come out ahead right now.

jim

It had worn out 165's on it, which are pretty much unavailable locally unless youre buying trailer tires. So I went with 185's. We probably could make a little on it but Im hoping to keep it for a little while and enjoy it.

Mmmm.... so boxy....

The boxiness is the best part.

The 2002 looks great.

Thanks.

 

[Mpower5266]

I havent posted much lately but I have been working on the car. I picked up a new old stock amco walnut shift knob.

I also finished the exterior detail but I havent taken any pics due to it still having an over heating issue. I have pretty much changed everything in the cooling system but its still running hot, at least at the gauge. I even changed the temp sensor yesterday with no change. The gauge was "bouncing" and I seem to have helped that by cleaning up the battery terminals and the negative/engine block ground and the alternator ground. The gauge is good for the most part but I still need to address the ground for the cluster. This is where my gauge was sitting tonight after a short drive in 85 degree weather.

Top hose from the radiator to the head.

Head to the t-stat.

T-stat itself.

And the t-stat to the bottom of the radiator.

It seems to me that its running within normal ranges, maybe even on the low end but the gauge does not reflect that. I hsve a 71c t stat on the way to replace the 80c degree one currently in the car but I will just have to wait and see if that changes anything.