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The Roundie - 1973 BMW 2002

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  • #91
    next time you want to trailer, unhook the trailer and chock the wheels. then use the truck to pull it up on. way quicker.

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    • #92
      Originally posted by duct-tape View Post
      next time you want to trailer, unhook the trailer and chock the wheels. then use the truck to pull it up on. way quicker.
      This is genius, I would have never thought about it
      Also, I'd probably prefer dropping the whole exhaust instead of having to deal with it when removing subframes and diffs lol

      FB: @DumbassCarCrew - IG: @fruttolo_dumbasscrew

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      • #93
        Originally posted by duct-tape View Post
        next time you want to trailer, unhook the trailer and chock the wheels. then use the truck to pull it up on. way quicker.
        I wanted to, but every time we thought about just doing that, we almost got it on the trailer. We both agreed we should have just done that from the start, but I guess we were too deep into it to change course at that point. Stupid, but whatever, we got it done eventually.

        Originally posted by Fruttolo View Post
        This is genius, I would have never thought about it
        Also, I'd probably prefer dropping the whole exhaust instead of having to deal with it when removing subframes and diffs lol
        I may still do that, if I decide to fuss with the shifter linkage. The exhaust hangers and bushings are the most aggressive ones I have ever seen, and I can't figure out how to slip the exhaust off of them at all. They're 1x1 chunks of rubber, in solid metal brackets, welded to the car. They have absolutely no give. For now, this was the easier option. But the deeper I get into this project, the more of a pain they become haha.

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        • #94
          *See's BMW 2002*
          *See's Coilovers*
          *See's some splitty boi BBS's*
          *Smiles and nods*
          Bagged 2002 Lupo SE Project (Dead)
          1999 Polo 6N 1.4 CL Daily project


          Instagram: @lewdeak

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          • #95
            Originally posted by Deaky97 View Post
            *See's BMW 2002*
            *See's Coilovers*
            *See's some splitty boi BBS's*
            *Smiles and nods*


            Boring but necessary

            This weekend marked very slow progress, but progress all the same. I spent some time removing bushings, which is a very smelly process. It started with finally removing the control arms from the car. I had to borrow a ball joint separator to get the tie rods off. Also, as it turns out the M20 is very much in the way of getting the driver's side control arm off. While I eventually did manage to jump on a breaker bar and get everything loose, it wasted a ton of time. Perks of owning a hot rod I suppose.

            One thing I noticed, is the control arm bushings were toast on the passenger side. The car has had some wicked pull under braking, something I tried to iron out with new pads/rotors etc. But this was almost certainly the reason for it. In fact it was so bad on the bushing picture below, I could tear the bushing apart by hand. For the rest, I resorted to burning.


            Passenger side control arm


            I installed all of the bushings on the passenger side, which I later realized I have to undo. But here's photos of that process. The first (horrible, and underlit photo) is the new radius arm bushing. For any of you thinking of getting a 2002, and have to do this bushing, it is very much a pain to remove. I used the radius arm for leverage and eventually was able to pry out the stock bushing. The 2 piece poly unit went in much easier.




            After I pressed in those bushings, I felt it was a little bit of a waste to have the arm looking that grimey. Eager to test out the paint I had picked up the other day, I decided to test it out on the other control arm, and rear subframe push rods. I'm using Rustoleum Rust Inhibitor, and will do a final coat in glossy enamel. However yesterday was one of the two cold, rainy days we get here in Arizona. So despite my best efforts, it was far too humid and cold to properly paint.


            I hit everything with a wire wheel to knock off loose dirt and paint. I then scrubbed the whole piece down.


            The photo is pretty poor, which is par for the course in my thread. They were soaking wet with paint there, but did eventually dry an even coat once I got them in the garage where it was warmer. I decided to wait to lay down the final enamel coat due to the weather, I didn't want to make things worse, even if it would all be hidden under the car. Sometime this week I'll pull the other bushings from the control arm back out, and give that a good coat too. But for a test, things went about as well as I could hope. It should prevent any future rust or harm.

            I then finished the weekend out burning out the remaining trailing arm bushings. A miserable process, but necessary all the same.


            This week I'm waiting for a pretty important part to arrive in the mail. Once that arrives, I can place yet another order with Ireland Engineering, and hopefully I'll be set to start putting the car back together. I miss driving it a lot, so the anxiety of having it sit in the garage all torn apart is starting to get to me.

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            • #96
              Probably overkill

              Things are rapidly getting out of hand in terms of upgrading. I couldn't stand putting an open differential back in the car after going to all the effort to refresh the suspension. So I sourced an E21 Limited Slip. These seem to be absolutely impossible to find, so I had one shipped in from Chicago. In that crate you see it pictured in. It's a little ugly, but it engages smoothly and had low-ish miles on it. So I trust it to hold up.


              As you can see, it wasn't drained before shipping.

              I popped out the flanges real quick, and sent them off to Ireland Engineering. There they will get redrilled, and sent back. That'll accept the 2002 CV axle bolt pattern, and with a spacer will bolt right up.


              My least favorite smell in the world is gear oil. So this is a miserable piece to store in my garage right now. Once the flanges come back, I'll pop the cover off, clean the case, and put the 2002 cover on.

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              • #97
                Nice score that E21 LSD, I still haven't found a decent one.

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                • #98
                  Originally posted by bwwaaaa View Post
                  I guess we were too deep into it to change course at that point.
                  this is literally how I operate on pretty much everything

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                  • #99
                    Originally posted by DawsonLiri View Post
                    Nice score that E21 LSD, I still haven't found a decent one.
                    Thanks, it was a lucky Facebook find! If you're still looking, join some of the E21 Facebook groups, they pop up from time to time.

                    Originally posted by duct-tape View Post
                    this is literally how I operate on pretty much everything
                    I wish I could say I learned my lesson, but this update proves otherwise.

                    Jumping the Shark

                    So in trying to remove the diff from the drive shaft, I was poking around the underside of the car and discovered something fairly alarming. At some point, the nuts holding the tranmisssion brace had rattled off, and the whole brace had fallen onto the exhaust. It wasn't that far off, not even the length of the studs extending under the car. Maybe half an inch total lower then it should be. However, I think we all know that an exhaust should not be holding your transmission in the car. Discovering this, I made a snap decision to just pull the engine.


                    Here's my logic... Since I purchased this car, I've been less than impressed with the plumbing and wiring. It always felt like a rush job. The previous owner told me that he brought it to a shop in his area to have them complete those two areas, and they clearly just phoned it in. While it is functional, the car did run afterall, it is ugly and completely unservicable. For example, if the shift linkage failed, the exhaust would have to come out completely to reach it. In order to remove the exhaust, the subframe has to come out. This is because the exhaust is one piece front to back, a removable mid section would prevent this. Same with the wiring, the radiator fan wiring ran a full loop of the engine bay for no apparent reason, and every single wire coming off the relay was the same color. These are details that make working on the car a nightmare.

                    So time to redo everything.

                    First the hood came off. Side note, Jesus Christ the 2002 has a heavy hood. Like surprisingly so. You can see I started moving things around in the engine bay. I cut the exhaust off the car underneath, but the bolts from the header to the midsection were seized, so it's stuck together. I can't drop the exhaust out the gap, so it'll have to come out after the engine. It is free from the car entirely though.


                    Below are some examples of the things that drive me nuts about this swap. The wiring is zip tied to coolant hoses, relay blocks are shoved where ever they'll sit, dead systems just remain in the car for no real reason. I found quite a few wires sitting in the engine bay that just generally lead no where on either end.






                    These zip ties were all removed from coolant hoses. Almost all of them were tightened to the point where they were digging into the hose. In many cases wiring harness portions were also ziptied to the hose, and then the whole lot was zip tied to the chassis. Look, zip ties are useful in moderation. But this engine bay basically fell apart when I started removing zip ties.


                    I finished the weekend removing the intake manifold. A hateful job that was 100% designed by someone who had a grudge against people with big hands. I spent far too much time removing that manifold from the engine. I wanted to do it in the bay to give myself more room to extract the engine, but I borderline regret doing that now. It ate up hours. The cooling system was removed as well, and the wiring harness was labeled and separated from the engine as best as I could. I'm sure we'll discover how good a job I did when the engine comes out.


                    Once the engine is out, it's time for some clean up. I'll be cutting off any brackets that are not needed, plugging any holes that serve no purpose, and sending the car off again for some fresh engine bay paint. I won't call it a shaved bay, but... trimmed? Yeah, sure trimmed bay. I also ordered something I'm extremely excited about, this part is the crowning jewel to this car. It'll realize the dream 2002 for me. I'm being intentionally vague until they get in, so in the mean time, here's a picture of my dog.

                    Last edited by bwwaaaa; 01-14-2019, 07:55 AM.

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                    • Boy, am I glad to see you do it right! It will be frustrating, from what can be seen in the pictures, but in the end you will be so happy you took the time to get rid of the mess. Hack jobs by mental self-proclaimed mechanics are the worst.
                      "You could roll an E30 in a BMW showroom today and people would think:
                      Well, they finally got the 1 series right!"

                      3.0 L e30 ground up build

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                      • I think I know what the surprise is LOL
                        You're going down the right path IMO, do it once and do it right

                        FB: @DumbassCarCrew - IG: @fruttolo_dumbasscrew

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                        • Originally posted by gnmzl View Post
                          Boy, am I glad to see you do it right! It will be frustrating, from what can be seen in the pictures, but in the end you will be so happy you took the time to get rid of the mess. Hack jobs by mental self-proclaimed mechanics are the worst.
                          Thanks! What's a bummer, is the shop has put out some quality work in the past. Whether it was budget, or a lack of attention to detail, they really just slapped this poor 2002 together. But this car is worth the effort, I want to make it right.

                          Originally posted by Fruttolo View Post
                          I think I know what the surprise is LOL
                          You're going down the right path IMO, do it once and do it right
                          You do know what it is

                          Now here's hoping it goes smoothly, I'm in uncharted territory here haha.

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                          • Excited to see where this car goes, all the wheel action at the beginning of the thread makes me jealous lol.

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                            • I **** wiring

                              This weekend I spent some time mapping out wiring. Below is a comparison picture of how it sat as I got the car, versus how it looked with the harness out of the bay. I think we can all agree it's a lot cleaner. After some discussion, mainly with myself, I figured I should go the extra mile and tuck the harness. The goal is to route the engine harness under the dash, and exit mid-firewall to allow it to reach all the necessary sensors. The headlight harness (you can see it spans the missing core support in the top picture, will be lengthened, run under the fender and then under the radiator. Same for the fan harness.


                              The engine harness is out of the car now, and ready to be sent off for modifcation. I'm stuck waiting on parts so I can measure and test fit a few things before I take that step though.


                              Also I realize that I've mentioned this a few times, but I just can't stress enough how frustrating finding things like this is. This wiring mess pictured below? I removed that from my engine bay, the two modules were screwed into the firewall and looked original to the car. Their function? Choke and idle control for an M10. Which this car doesn't have. It was just left in! It took four screws and about 45 additional seconds of untangling to remove it from the car. Why leave it in?


                              Like I said, I'm stuck waiting on one thing right now. It has to be test fit to ensure everything else around it clears, and then I can move on. In the mean time, I can't finish putting the suspension back together until my diff flanges arrive in the mail. I also need to powder coat the sway bars. My Ireland Engineering drop center sway bars came in, and they are bright blue. While I'm not going for full restoration with powder coated perfection under the car, I can't stand to have bright blue bars sticking out my otherwise pretty mellow looking car.

                              To be clear, I'm not going for show car perfection here, but rather something that isn't offensive to look at. I need to be able to work on it relatively easily, and in it's current setup that simply isn't possible. My 2002 is far from perfect, it's full of character that I have learned to appreciate. It'll never be a Pebble Beach contender, but it also doesn't have to be a complete hack job.

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                              • They're Here







                                The parts I have been waiting for? They came in.

                                RHD M20 ITB kit. Note, the on engine pictures are absolutely the bare minimum to mock the whole thing up. I have a long way to go before they're actually on and functional, but I wanted to see how they fit in this chassis. The kit was designed for an E30, so I may have some challenges clearing the firewall. Though it fits mocked up, it's a very tight fit.

                                As if rewiring, replumbing and doing a full interior wasn't enough of a pain. I have other updates, but I'll catch up on those later. I'm just excited to share this bit.

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