More bimmer progress

I had a good series of races at NJMP last weekend and will get to them in another post shortly. But first some 2002 updates. I've been toiling away in the garage, making good progress. I'm thinking this is the 2nd phase of my '02 ownership. The first was the mechanical reliability phase. I spent the first couple of years just fixing all the little piddly stuff the previous owners ignored or neglected or just screwed up. Eventually I reached a point where the car was reliable and fun to drive. Things like turn signals, heat, etc just worked. That brought me to the 2nd phase where I'm at now: Serious Cosmetic and Mechanical Restoration. I'd say I'm about 85% complete now. Most of the interior is done. I've been working from the back forward and I'm just about ready to start in the motor compartment. The 3rd phase will be suspension replacement and tuning. That will probably take place this winter when my credit cards aren't so tender to the touch.

So lets go show what I've been up to.

The trunk area is done. gas tank connected, rear trim installed, rear "roundie" lights installed and wired. New trunk gasket glued and installed. Trunk panels cleaned and scrubbed.

Next has been the installation of the stainless steel belt-line trim that I was part of the group buy from BMW2002FAQ.com. It took almost 6 months from order to delivery but it's finally here. With the paint job putting the old tired, and dented trim back on was a non-starter. I didn't replace all the trim, that would be several thousands dollars if you can find it, but kept the decent pieces. When painting I had the lower knee trim deleted, so I decided to just replace the belt-line & rocker panel trim and front grilles.

Stainless steel trunk trim installed

new rocker trim in place.

Even though I got rid of the trunk spoiler, I'm keeping the fender flares. I haven't decided on whether to install the front air dam or not. I'm leaning to leaving it off. We'll see.

Fender Flare - original BMW part for the Turbo

Flares installed - New sealing gaskets from Ireland Racing, and stainless
steel install kit from Walloth and Nesch in Germany

As I head toward the front of the car I did a little prep work on some hood hardware.

As removed, old and tired and corroded.

After a trip to the plating station

Installed the door seals. These were a pain in the ass. There's a tiny grooved slot you need to work the seal into otherwise it won't seal correctly. And you can only do about 4-6 inches at a time. You goop up the door and the seal with trim adhesive, wait 10 mins for both to get tacky and then try to fit it all together in the groove and not smear the goop over everything. If your successful, clamp it and go away and wait for it to dry. Then do the next 4 inches. On a good night I might get 12-18 inches done. Luckily I had bought the drivers side seal about a year ago as they are over $200 apiece now and have been on backorder forever.

inch by inch, ....

My old rocker panel trim piece was seriously screwed up so I ended up throwing it away and driving the car without it. That let a nice stream of air in at speed since the door wasn't sealed - made it noisy also. Not so bad in the summer heat, but sucked when it was 35 degrees out. I had Steve at BluntTech send me two new trim strips.

New interior rocker trim

Ok, other than doing something about my dirty headliner I've arrived at the front. First order of business is to drop the subframe because eventually the motor and tranny will be bolted to in and lifted back into the car. But we have some work to do first (of course).

Naked subframe - rated R for rusty.

I unbolted the calipers and hung them from the car, unbolted the shock towers, undid the 6 bolts holding the subframe and lifted the car up into the air leaving the subframe perched on the jack.

Remember Phase III is the Suspension Rehab/Tune and that's scheduled for this winter so I'm not going to go hog wild here. The goal is to clean stuff up I can and get the running gear back into the car and working again. It's been down for 8 months now and I'd like to have it back on the road this fall.

So the plan is to unbolt bits and pieces, knock off the rust, a little paint, a little POR15, reassemble, attach the motor and tranny and stuff. There's still a lot of work ahead without wandering down a sideroad.

Closer view of the subframe, steering box, struts, etc.
Not great, but not too bad either.

Now the struts, that's another story.

Yuck.

I know, I know. I said no scope creep, but I just can't re-bolt those struts back on the car. Just can't do it. Off to the Restoration Chamber!

After some serious wire brushing

Applying lipstick to the pig - aka Rustoleum Safety Red

Okay, they cleaned up nice.

The inserts and springs will have to wait until this winter after I decide what to do with the suspension. I thinking about an Ireland Stage 1 or 2 kit. But at least it will look nice until then.

Now that it's back on the lift, I'll be spending some quality time inside the engine compartment - some paint touchups, re-wrapping the wiring, cleaning up some paint over-spray, etc.

Hopefully my careful labeling of the master fuse panel will pay off as I reconnect everything.

Plenty more work to come but it's all good. My beer fridge is calling my name, telling me it has an Otter Creek Black IPA and a Stovepipe Porter as well.