Vin # 2761775

Interior

Sun, 1 May 2016 04:50:39 -0400

Dynamat, refurbished door panels and complete perfect interior.

Grill and Badges

Sat, 5 Apr 2014 23:52:56 -0400

Needed some inspiration to motivate me. Installed some of the trim today and love the transformation.

Back in the garage

Tue, 25 Mar 2014 23:45:19 -0400

Drove a few miles on back roads without windows.

Time for ReAssembly

Thu, 23 Jan 2014 08:23:30 -0500

After a long process of taking the car down to bare metal and fixing any and every dent and blemish, the paint is done.
It is color matched to the original Malaga Red and has 4 coats of clear and has been wet sanded and buffed to a mirror finish. Now comes the fun part of reassembling this beauty.

Fresh Paint

Wed, 28 Aug 2013 23:46:32 -0400

Good color match in the paint.

Rock Guard

Sun, 9 Dec 2012 10:02:09 -0500

Final steps before paint include painting on the factory rock guard coating around the bottom of the car.

Final Steps Before Paint

Sun, 2 Sep 2012 14:52:10 -0400

High build primer is on before the final sanding occurs

Primer finally Goes Down

Sun, 26 Aug 2012 14:49:15 -0400

After 9 months of body work, there is finally a coat of primer down on the bimmer.

New Seats

Tue, 7 Aug 2012 08:56:55 -0400

Pulled these gems out of a 72 tii parts car. They are the very rare original Recaro Sport seats. I have never seen a 2002 with these seats, but I’ve seen the parts listed in the OEM and Accessory catalog.

Paint Prep

Sun, 5 Aug 2012 22:41:39 -0400

Stopped by the shop and moving forward with painting.

Body Work Complete

Fri, 1 Jun 2012 05:55:43 -0400

Now its down to sanding and priming, the process has taken a lot longer than I expected but the results will be worth it.

Primer soon

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 22:31:09 -0400

Final body work stages before the primer goes on, all the metal work is done.

Rear Quarter Repair

Sat, 3 Mar 2012 18:01:11 -0500

The only damage to the car was this rear section. Josh repaired the rear quarter and the rear clip.

More Grinding and Sanding

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:29:03 -0500

Dropped off the brand new grill for Josh to fit. Took a few shots of the progress.

Rust Dissolver

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 00:33:12 -0500

I have new mounting hardware, but wanted to see how well the rust dissolver I bought works. Some of these pieces are too far gone, but let’s see.

Prep Work

Sat, 4 Feb 2012 14:36:19 -0500

I stopped by Josh’s today to drop off some parts. Here are a few shots of the latest body work. Still a ways to go.

Anniversary Keychain

Sat, 4 Feb 2012 14:32:17 -0500

I have wanted one of these anniversary keychains since I first saw one, but they were only issued in the year 2002 for the anniversary event and are hard to find. I posted on the www.bmw2002faq.com parts wanted forum, and a fellow member was gracious enough to mail me one (free of charge). Its people like these that make the community so strong and loyal. Very cool.

Trim Repairs

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 21:21:36 -0500

A little practice has made restoring dented trim easy to repair. This piece of trim was pretty dinged up, but sanding and polishing made it look like new.

De-Anodizing

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:34:19 -0500

The original trim was in pretty good shape, but 40 years of age made it very dull. The aluminum was originally anodized and is impossible to polish, it shines up but has a cloudy haze to it. I found a video online where a guy uses a $7 bottle of hair and grease remover from Home Depot and treats the metal for 15-30 minutes. So I follow his advice and its amazing how beautiful the trim came up. I was able to do in a few minutes what I thought would take hours with a buffing wheel (and it shines like chrome). I love the internet!

Limited Slip Differential

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:30:48 -0500

Cleaned up and serviced a used 320is 3.91 limited slip differential that I got from my buddy Denny to replace the original 3.64 open differential. Now that the car has been converted to a 5 speed this rear will add much better acceleration and traction control.

Body Work (continued)

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:05:37 -0500

Many small surface rust spots and dings to repair. Josh is grinding down to bare metal, and pulling the dents (where necessary) and smoothing out with body filler. Lots of painstaking work.

Front Seats

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:20:22 -0500

The interior of the car was in good condition with the exception of the front seats. (Poorly re-covered driver’s seat, and a tear in the passenger seat). Its been difficult to find a close match in both color and pattern for the original Saddle Brown interior.

World Upholstery in CA sent samples which are a fairly close match. With the help of a talented local upholsterer (Upholstery by Jared) we opted to replace the horse hair pads with foam. New pads are available, but foam is longer lasting and more comfortable. He did a real nice job recovering the seats.

Rear Quarter Repair

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:14:44 -0500

The rear quarter had some impact damage that was there before I bought the car. If you look at the photo album of the bodywork you can see the buckle. This was what concerned me most about the body work, but Josh has made easy work of pulling and straightening the metal. He’s pretty talented... nice work so far.

New Fenders Installed

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:48:57 -0500

Front fenders are cleaned up and installed. The welds are being done this week and the rest of the sanding and priming should start soon.

Body Work

Mon, 5 Dec 2011 23:49:02 -0500

Turns out these fenders needed a lot more work than originally anticipated. Found the right body shop guy to work on this project. He’s taking the time to do it right. Fenders have been fitted and straightened.

Door Panel Repair

Sat, 26 Nov 2011 23:31:11 -0500

Spent the day cleaning the door panels and stripping off the limp cardboard backer board. I bought a $35 wood backer board from Aardvark and installed it. Fits perfectly and the door panel looks tight. I still need to install the new chrome mylar strips.

Pulled the Trim and Glass

Sun, 9 Oct 2011 23:28:35 -0400

Got all the bright work off without any mishaps. Most of it will polish up nicely. Glass and gaskets are out and I’m happy there aren’t any rust spots.

Paint Prep

Sun, 9 Oct 2011 23:26:03 -0400

Only a few more weeks until its off to paint for the car. Wantd to make sure the small areas of surface rust didn’t go too deep... Fortunately they didn’t.

OEM Fenders

Sun, 9 Oct 2011 23:21:57 -0400

These fenders were in a collapsed garage at my parents house. Dug them out and realized they only had a bit of surface rust. Media blasted and sanded them and they cleaned up nicely. This will replace the only bit of rust on the car.

Heater Box Repair

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 23:18:39 -0400

Had two donor heater boxes for parts to fix mine. This blower motor was shot and the heater valve was rusted. With a little bit of luck and a lot of patience I got it all back together working perfectly.

Clock Repair

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 00:23:55 -0400

Today I decided to repair my tii clock, and as usual was able to find detailed instructions on the faq site. It was tricky getting the clock out and taken all apart. The soldering of the tabs worked as described, however afterwards the clock still did not work. I was able to use a string to “paint” teflon lubricant on the moving pieces of the winding movement, and its working like a champ.

5 Speed Conversion

Fri, 3 Jun 2011 00:28:24 -0400

So I started out with replacing the center support bearing for the driveshaft, which led to a new guibo, which led to the shifter and shift tower rebuild, which led to pulling the exhaust studs and lock-titing them. Which now leads me to a 5 speed conversion.

Wooden Wheel

Mon, 30 May 2011 22:23:10 -0400

I did the pre inspection check on the 02 before tomorrow’s inspection and the horn was broken. The old tired wheel was in need of some repair and my new wheel was begging for a go. Looks great I think.

Odometer Repair

Mon, 30 May 2011 22:20:17 -0400

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/content/view/72/32/

Followed the instructions from the FAQ site and it worked like a charm. Ticking off the miles again.

What’s that grinding sound?

Sat, 28 May 2011 22:26:50 -0400

Couldn’t ignore that grinding noise any more, and upon further investigation this is what my wheel bearing looked like after it I popped the hub. Luckily, no damage to the trailing arm.

Easier than I thought

Fri, 27 May 2011 22:30:57 -0400

Friday night project - pull the driver side motor mount and replace.

MT-90 Fluid Change

Wed, 25 May 2011 22:16:51 -0400

Got a grinding 2nd gear (shocker right?), thought I’d do a fluid change to improve the situation.

Better, but not great... guess the 5 speed conversion is gonna happen soon.

Sorted Fuel Problems

Wed, 25 May 2011 01:02:17 -0400

Installed a new Thermo Time Switch (from Maximillian Importing Company)... starts and runs great!

Brightwork repairs

Sat, 14 May 2011 00:52:04 -0400

Removed all the trim and my winter project is to repair and polish all of it.

Fuel System and Timing

Sat, 7 May 2011 00:35:13 -0400

Frank Keytanjian diagnosed some key problems and put me on the right track to getting the 02 running correctly. With a donated distributor from Bob Ball and a cold start valve from Frank, the car is finally running great. Thanks Frank!

Mechanicals

Sat, 9 Apr 2011 00:28:27 -0400

With the help of my friend Ben Griesler, we were able to determine that the engine was sound, it just needed some serious maintenance. Wrong battery, wrong plugs, bad distributor, bad cold start valve, bad battery cables, bad thermo time switch, dry rotted hoses, worn linkage and engine in need of full service.

Pickup

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 00:09:44 -0400

Picked up the car from this guy off the turnpike a few miles from my house. The car ran poorly but I was able to drive it home.

Hiring a transport service

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 00:05:46 -0400

Hired a transport service out of Seatle to deliver the bimmer. Cost me $900 but it was a simple and painless transaction.

eBay Auction Ends

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 20:50:32 -0400

Won the auction for the 2002tii, and had two people try to buy it from me after it ended... makes me feel good about the purchase. Now I just have to get it home.