.040

I've regapped my spark plugs to .040 up from .032 to see if it helps with idle smoothness and acceleration. Also hoping it gives it a better high end. I'll find out tomorrow. I'm also looking to connect the valve breather to the carb as it is making a mess on the engine with the filter. Another thing I need to do is get into the valves and recheck gaps. The valve tick is getting annoying at times.

New rear sway bar end links and more tuning

I recently bought some new sway bar end links for the rear of my car since the old ones looked really bad. I never imagined how much it could improve the handling of the car.

These came from Ireland Engineering. Urethane and thicker bolt.

I had some trouble getting the old ones off. The right side one came off after some work. The left one did too but required a little more work.

This is what is left of it. I had to cut it because the metal sleeve that goes over the bolt had rusted to the bolt. I ended up cutting through the washer below the upper bracket to get it to come out.

 

Installation of the new ones was simple and I would have taken the car right out afterward but I decided I needed to move the vacuum advance line and tore the vacuum plug I had. Once I got some new ones and got everything in place I took it out for a run. Handling is much tighter, no more slop in the rear. It feels like the back end stays in place better now as it should.

As for the vacuum lines. Before I had the vacuum advance going to the manifold, apparently it should go to the base of the carb. I do believe it made a difference too. This morning idle was around 400RPM. Too low for my liking. Power was better but I need more so I advanced the distributor a little. It made starting a little easier and there is more power now. Along with that I adjusted the idle screw to bring it to about 800RPM.

New guibo and other shifter parts are on the way now and once those are on I'll finally try to get it up to 65mph.

Running good

So yesterday we got new tires put on the van. The old ones were quite worn and made the van shake and turning was hard. With the new ones on there, it feels like a new van, everything is so smooth. I actually liked driving it yesterday to work at 9:00pm to fix a server problem. I also now feel safer driving it long distances.

As for the 02, it is running great too. The engine is right on with the timing, I'm tweaking the carb still to help with the starting problem and it is getting closer. With the transmission and drive line all straight now there is no vibration, nothing coming loose and I'm almost forgetting that I should still take it easy until I can replace the guibo. I do have a slight coolant leak that I need to find and take care of. And an exhaust manifold stud that leaks some oil, I have the replacement one, just have to do it.

Parts ordered and snow driving

I've got parts ordered to fix the sloppy shifter and replace the slightly torn guibo. Also replacing the rear sway bar end links since the ones on there are toast. Actually they look like squished black marshmallows. I finally replaced the battery the other day after it got into the single digit temps and the 02 wouldn't start. Now I just need to figure out the hard starting problem since the timing is pretty much perfect, I think it is a fuel issue.

In my 75 I didn't seem to ever have a problem driving in the snow, probably because I learned to drive in the snow in it. That was 14 years ago. Now I'm relearning everything about how the car handles and what it can and can't do. It is getting better, but when the streets are complete ice there is nothing you can do. Although a limited slip might help and I do believe from my experience with my 75 I'm pretty sure it had a 3.91 limited slip, why didn't I pull that from the car?! I didn't know at the time I got rid of it unfortunately.

Drive line is better

I have everything straight now, I still think the drive shaft is a tad short and I need a new guibo and to figure out where the fluid leak is coming from. The only other place I can think of for the leak is the selector shaft opening.

Another thing that had been happening was the speedo was jumping all over and noisy. So I pulled the instrument cluster out and sprayed some lube and graphite into the cable and the speedo hole. Reinstalled the cluster and reconnected the speedo, making sure it was seated properly. This morning I got to test it and it works great, no noise and nice and steady. But now the tach doesn't work. I must have pulled the cable for it.

Oh, I did check the nuts and bolts at the guibo and 2 were loose. I tightened them back down. I think any time after you work on something like that, you should definitely check it a number of times in the next week or 2 to be sure everything is tight. Even the diff bolts needed some tightening.

60

Last night I was able to get the 02 up to 60 mph. Barely. I was going into a head wind so I had that against me and I'd realized the day before that the 02 seemed under-powered. It was only for a short run, maybe a mile. When I had to slow down for my turn it suddenly had the clanking sound again. But it went away and didn't come back the rest of the way home. Best of all there was no drive line vibration that I could tell.

So, today I decided to try tuning it a little better. At lunch I got the timing light out and got it so I could see the ball in the opening and put the idle mixture screw in a little more.  I still need to verify that I have the correct vacuum port hooked up. I was told it was right before, but I have to double check on it.

On the way back to work the clanking came back, so I know another bolt has come loose. So I'll be fixing that one tonight. Oh, the other night I got under the car and found that 2 of the diff mounting bolts were loose. Took care of those ones and double checked all the others.

Comments are open to anyone now

I've opened the comments to anyone now, hopefully I don't get a bunch of spam, but I figure there will be a way to take care of that.

02 sighting

On my way back to work after lunch today I spotted another 02. This one was on a trailer. I've never seen that one around before that I know of. It was Verona (that's the color for non 02 readers). Unfortunately I didn't see if good enough to know if it was a early or late model. More than likely it had probably been sitting in someone's garage for years had just been sold, hopefully not to the junk yard.

As for my 02. It is running really good. The stuff I listed yesterday in no way keeps it from running, it mainly stuff that will allow it to run better. I need the alternator if I ever put a radio in the car. I have realized that at cruising speed (45) the exhaust is not loud at all (in the car). So I think a radio is in the future. The sway bar bushings will help stiff the ride and keep the 02 more level in the turns and allow better control of the rear end. The door panel will help keep out the cold in the winter and make it look better.

The M3 starter would be nice, but isn't needed. It's lighter weight and helps start the car quicker. Big front brakes would really be nice and this is one that will hopefully happen sometime, but I need to redo the brake lines first.

For now though, I just need figure out why the temperature keeps going up, not to the red, but about 3/4 up the gauge. Probably an air bubble that I need to get out of it. Also need to check the spark plugs to make sure they are gapped right and tweak the timing a little more.

Rumblings

Now that the 02 is in the garage I don't have to worry about it getting cold and wet. I still need to find the leak that allows the water to pool up in the drivers side foot well. And the battery will still have to be replaced soon. Right now we are waiting on the money from the Sunfire before I can do anything with it. Here is a list of things I need soon for the car

Rear sway bar bushings
Driver side door panel
320 alternator

Other things I would like to do are:

M3 starter
Stiffer front struts
Redo the front brakes

I did manage to tune it again yesterday and got it running really good. It had been running rough and jerking when coasting, plus the engine didn't want to rev higher than 4000 very easily. Now it is smooth and the power kicks in at 2200 and can easily go to 4000 and beyond. But, I'm also trying to save gas at the same time so I am taking it a little easy on the accelerator.

02 doesn't like the cold

Apparently my 02 doesn't like the cold much. Could be the older battery, might be the linkage is cold. But for whatever reason it is hard to start. I did finally get it started yesterday after messing with it for an hour off and on. I found that pressing and holding gas pedal all the way down allowed it to finally start. Someone had mentioned once before that to engage the choke on a water choke 32/36 you just press the gas to the floor and it opens, they didn't say leave your foot on it. So I had been pressing it then pumping it and I couldn't figure out why it didn't want to start until I realized that the butterfly valves were basically shut if I didn't hold the gas pedal to the floor.

But because I have a rental right now and the weather has been nasty I haven't driven the 02. Why the rental? The Sunfire has some damage to the rear thanks to snow/slush covered roads.

Another loose bolt

Last night I tightened all the bolts. Today another one came loose. So I replaced it with a non-nylock nut. Let's see if this one works.

As for the engine tuning. I'm still tweaking it. I can't seem to find the happy spot. It either runs great and hard to start or easy to start and runs like a tractor. In a few years maybe I'll do the mega squirt setup. By the way, has any one put together a list for one of these for the 02?

5500

Got the 02 up to 5500 RPM today. Wasn't sure if it would do it with its state of tune, but it managed. It was in second gear, not sure how fast I was going but I think it was about 40 to 45. I think it also managed to clean the cylinders out a little when I did it because it seemed to run a little better afterward. Hopefully tonight I will be able to replace that nut and washer and double check all the bolts again.

Running even better

I managed today to get the 02 running even better than before. It now idles around 1000 RPM and starts somewhat easy. I had to turn in the idle mixture screw about 1 turn and then backed out the idle screw just a tad. Still has plenty of power through the range, yet is much quieter when at the lights. Should be able to catch more people off guard now. :)

Still need to replace the nut and washer on the guibo, but so far it is holding. It's so nice when things work.

Tuned again

After work on Friday I spent a little bit of time trying to smooth out the engine. It was running rough even though it was easier to start. I turned the dizzy clockwise a little more to smooth it out and it doesn't seem to have affected the starting. It definitely helped, it drives a lot smoother and even sounds better I think.

I know, I still need to get some more pictures. I'm hoping tomorrow will be a good day for it and maybe even some driving video so I can finally share what it sounds like. My wife says she can hear me coming from over a mile away.

I did have another thing. I had noticed a couple of weeks ago that quick turns and maneuvers made it feel like the back wheels were helping turn the car. Turned out that the tires were low on air and once aired up it took away that feeling and tightened it up. Also the other day it got below zero and the 02 wouldn't start, had to charge the battery at lunchtime and then could drive it. Apparently I had forgotten that the battery that is in there was bought about 5 years ago and had been used not only while building this car but also in a Sentra SE-R and a Porsche 944 for a while (both had issues). I might be needing a new one soon.

Loose bolt

It was a loose bolt, pictures don't show much so I didn't put them on here. Not sure why it loosened up but I think I need to get some different nylock nuts. Guibo doesn't look damaged either so that is good. Need to take it out for a test drive now.

Ticking sound

So yesterday a sound started coming from the shifter area. Today it got worse. There really isn't any vibration with it so I don't think it is the flex disc going out, but instead I think it is a bolt coming loose. I need to go out and look at it and see if it caused any damage. Other than that it has been running great for the last few days. Well, here I go with the camera to see what is wrong this time.

Tuned and ready

I was able to get under the car and under the hood today to make sure everything is still tight, most of it was. The nut that connects the 2 drive shaft halves together was slightly loose (hardly at all). Everything else looked good, no cracks in the rubber pieces. Once that was done it was under the hood to get the engine running a little better. I made sure the distributor was working well and oiled and then adjusted the timing. The 02 will now pretty much start right up and idles even when semi cold. Had to top off the coolant too as it had dropped a little. Now I can't wait for the morning to take it to work and push it a little more. I love Mondays.

50 mph

I got it up to 50 this morning with no vibration, of course it was only for a couple hundred yards. I would have taken it out again just now but the battery still isn't fully charged and doesn't want to start without a jump. I did notice while tightening the rear drive shaft bolts at the diff that the upper sway bar bushings are pancakes, I don't think they are supposed to be like that. Luckily, this is not something that will keep me from driving the car, but I know what is next on the list. Also on the list

320 alternator
drive side door panel
replace both doors and paint them

Finally, the drive shaft is in

After weeks of waiting and working to get the drive shaft apart and then back together with the good rear half I finally had a chance to finish putting it in the 02 tonight. Bolting it up doesn't take long when you've done it a number of times in one year. After getting it in, and charging the battery I managed to get the car started and took it for its first drive in probably 2 months around the block. Up to 20 mph there is no vibration, that's good. Maybe tomorrow I'll have a chance to get it out on a road and push it to 40 to see how it will do when it comes time to go to work Monday. Now that it running and driving, I'll have more to update on here so stay tuned.

Pulling the drive shaft tonight

I plan on pulling the drive shaft tonight so that next week I can take it to a friends house (he has a vise) to get it apart. I haven't really been pushing it since I'm afraid of what will be next that will take it off the road. I guess though that this is the life of an 02 driver, my first one was kind of like this too. But at least it ran for long periods of time.

Drive shaft

As for the drive shaft on my car, I tried to get the nut off to take it apart while on the car, but it won't budge there. So I'll have to remove it and somehow get it so that it won't move when really torquing on the nut. I remember the last time I had to do it on the other drive shaft and it took a long time to get to even move. Since I don't have a vise this time, I'll have to come up with some other method.

Porsche 356C

Ever since playing Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed I have wanted a 356 Coupe.They are such a cool little car. While they aren't high on the horse power chart they can be modified. Along with the 356 I love the PGO remake of it that is a modern version of it. To see more info about the PGOs go here, http://www.pgo.fr/models/speedster/index-en.html

And another one

This is the just released (yesterday) MINI Coupe Concept. Today we learned that it will be available in 2011. Pricing is estimated to be around $35000, a little high, but that is with the John Cooper Works engine putting out over 200HP in a car that is lighter than the Cooper and Cooper S. I want one. Some of the next cars on the list will not be new ones, I need some classics.

I might have a solution

I remembered yesterday that I have another drive shaft. Since the u-joint is on the back part of the drive shaft I should be able to take the 2 drive shafts apart and use the shortened end on the good back end. Not to mention my old drive shaft has a brand new center bearing that I installed a year before the 4 speed came out of the car. My problem though is getting the thing balanced, I have to find a place that could do this. The good thing is that the tempatures are dropping to more comfortable levels to be able to work outside on the car.

Here's another

This is one that I've wanted for quite sometime. It is a classic that is still going up in value. The BMW 328, from the 1930s.


The 1938 BMW 328 had a 2.0L straight 6 cylinder engine that produced 80hp (which was a lot for its day). It had all round drum brakes and a 4 speed manual transmission. Total weight for the car was 1800 lbs. Power was sent to the rear wheels like all BMWs.

Which one is next?

The Lotus Exige is the ultimate driver car. Bare bones and lots of horsepower. Okay, not lots of horsepower but for how much it ways it is a lot. Most of us that own the BMW 2002 know exactly what light weight with enough horsepower means, really fun driving. So add more horsepower and more grip and it must mean even more fun. And the price isn't that bad either. Plus it looks great.

Here's the next car

This is a brand new car that just looks awesome and apparently can back up those looks with performance. The Devon GTX.

If I could buy it

A post on BMW2002FAQ about if you won the lottery what would be the first car you would buy got me thinking. If was pretty easy for my first one. It would be something that I wouldn't have to search much for that offered a balance between economy (that is fuel economy) and power. The BMW 135i would be my first choice. I would be able to get the one I want in a couple of months (I tend to prefer to order my new cars rather than pick it out from the selection on the lot). But after that car, what would be next?



I'll post my top 20 over the next few days. Hopefully by then I'll have been able to get the u-joint welded and the 02 running again.

It was fun

I had a blast driving the 02 today. Unfortunately on the way to Walmart to pick up somethings the U-joint started to come loose. One of the caps had backed out some causing a bad vibration. Luckily I was able to get the car parked and knock it back in with a screwdriver. Managed to get to Walmart, get the stuff and get back home with no further problems. But I'll have to park it until I can get it to a shop that can weld the cap in there good. I have to check out my other drive shaft to see what kind of weld it is supposed to be. The ones that were on this one are just small spot welds that apparently weren't good enough.

The write up on the drive shaft stuff will have to wait a little bit.

It's back

The rain held off long enough today for me to get under the car and take a look at what could be making the noise. Right off I think I found part of it. One of the bolt was loose and starting to come out, it was probably hitting something. I knew the locking collar for the flange nut was not in there right so I took everything apart again and made sure I got it right this time. Also I needed to take some pictures so I could document it since it appears there is no other information out there about some pieces. That will come tomorrow.

As for now, having done this a few times now it went much quicker this time. Once I got to the locking collar I found it just barely sitting in there. First thing I did though before putting the collar in was to make sure the flange nut was tight enough, it wasn't, it actually had a bit more to go. With it on I used a screw driver and hammer to tap the collar into place farther into the opening than before, it's in there good now. (There is a small area on the flange that allows you to get a screw driver down in there to remove it later if you need too).

With that done I put it all back together making sure to put molly grease into the end of the drive shaft. All the nuts and bolts are nice and tight now and the exhaust pipe doesn't hit the rear sway bar or the back of the car. I took it around the block once I charged up the battery and it ran great with no clanking or any sort of noticeable problem. Tomorrow I'll take it to work and find out just how fun it really is. I think I'll finally be able to drive like it is meant to be driven.

Clanking noise

So the noise is most likely the locking collar for the flange nut. I must of not got it installed properly and now I need to take it apart to get it in there right. At least this way I can document the removal and replacement of the output shaft seal. Just need it to stop raining. If the rain lets up early enough tomorrow I hope to get some work done on the car and promise to get some pictures to help explain a few things.

Obviously this blog is fairly new. But I have had a website about my 02s since 1997 in some form or another. The current site is at http://www.lovingeveryminuteofit.com/bmw2002.

While mine is down...

Figured I find some 02 related stuff to share with everyone.




This definitely shows why the 02 is such a good car. Awesome driving too. Keep up the good work Pete.



WOW!

It's fixed, sorta

I got everything back together and drove it on Monday and Tuesday, but there is a rattle noise coming from the driveshaft area that increases with speed. I need to get back in there and take it apart to see what might be causing it. The good thing is the vibration is gone. The bad thing is, it was leaking from somewhere else.

Bringing up to speed

Now to bring you all up to speed on what has happened since mid June. The flex disc between the drive shaft and the transmission came apart. Luckily it held together until I could get home, but when I inspected it and took it out it fell apart in 3 pieces. I had another but rather than put it on and have it fail also I needed to do something about the alignment of the driveshaft. So I ordered the rear mount that 2002 haus makes.


I now have this installed on the 02, but the alignment is just off a little still, mainly the drive shaft is too short and has to be moved forward about 4mm. This can me done by moving the diff forward.

Another note to make is that the 02 has been outside for the last 2 weeks and there is no visible sign of water getting in when it rains. My 75 would flood every time it rained.

Oil

Originally from June 10th 2009

I changed the oil today in the 02 and cleaned up some of the oil on the engine to try to see where oil might be leaking from. I know one is the front exhaust stud and the fix should be easy as long as I don't have to remove the manifold. But even that isn't too bad, I've done it enough. Actually the exhaust manifold was the first major work I ever did on an 02, actually on a car in general when the one on my 75 02 broke and the dealer wanted over $400 for the replacement. My mom actually found a junk yard in Colorado that had one and shipped it out to us. It took me probably 3 to 4 hours to replace it, but that was when I realized that I could do the work rather than paying someone else too.

14 years later and I have built an 02 from the ground up. Sure the body work isn't good, but it runs and it hasn't fallen apart on me.

So the oil was black and only about 2 quarts came out. That is all that was in there, I know not good. Hopefully it didn't harm it.

While I was checking things out under the car I noticed a lot of fluid at the end of the transmission. Looks like the rear seal on the 5 spd is bad and needs replacing, hopefully it is something that can be done with it in the car. That is not a fun job trying to get the transmission in there.

20 mpg

I managed to pull 20 mpg with this last tank of gas in the 02. Not bad but I'm going for better. I'm trying really hard to keep it under 3000RPM like I did in the Sunfire, but this is a 2002, it is meant to be driven. With it tuned a little better I'm sure that will improve things. It does start much better now and it still has plenty of power, although it doesn't like going up a hill in 5th gear.

Now I need to change the oil, it is the same oil I put in when I put the engine in the car 5 years ago, but it only has 3000 miles on it, if that.

It started easier

Originally from June 7th 2009

I was able to get a little time today to start the car and get it out of the garage, although not drive it since the other cars were blocking it and we were getting ready for a bike ride. It actually started much easier than it had been, I think I am close. Also once it was able to stay running with out it being rev'd to 2000 RPM it idled at about 800 RPM, much lower than it has been able to in the past (well, since I put everything together). Tomorrow should be a good time going to work, roads will be a little wet from the storms tonight, makes it easier to break the rear end loose.

More tuning the 02

Originally from June 6th 2009

Among all the stuff that was going on today I had a little time to test out the 02 while going to Taco Bell to get lunch. While it drove really nice, it was really hard to start. I think I went a little to far on the timing.

So a little later while waiting to go pick up the 2 oldest daughters I had a little more time to try to get it right. I backed the timing up a little bit and then backed out the idle mixture screw 1/4 turn. Then I took it around the block, while it drove nice I will have to wait until Monday to see how it starts.

2002 Update

Originally from June 5th 2009

This last week I have been able to drive the 02 everyday to work. What a great feeling, so much more fun than the Sunfire. The engine still ran a little rough, but so far have over 140 miles on this tank of gas and it still has some to go. I know, that isn't great but I'm still tuning it.

Speaking of better mileage, I managed to figure the fuel problem with the Sunfire too. Apparently is was a heavy foot. Letting up and almost never going over 3000RPM allowed me to go from 240 miles per tank to 315 per tank. But the car is boring to drive and hot with no A/C.

So back to the 02, it was having a charging problem, I thought. Turned out something was draining the battery fairly quickly. I figured it must have been one of the add-ons that I had put on so I started by putting a voltmeter on the battery and then disconnected the electric fuel pump. Volts were still dropping. Disconnected the electric fan, still dropping. Disconnected the coil to carb solenoid line and it was still dropping. So I went into the cabin and disconnected the switch for the electric fuel pump. Volt dropping slow down and eventually stopped. I still can't let the car sit for more than a couple of week without starting it since the drainage problem damaged the battery over the winter when the car just sat in the garage. The switch had a light that burned out soon after installing it and I didn't think much of it, I wasn't really using the electric pump any way after replacing the mechanical one with another that I had. Apparently that light had shorted it out and caused the drain.

The 5 speed is great, but the rear cross mount and the exhaust pipe rub each other. Not bad, but can be annoying.

Earlier tonight I tuned the car a little more and improved the throttle response and acceleration and the engine sound. Hopefully it improved power and fuel economy also. I back out the idle mixture screw half a turn and turned the distributor just a little more clockwise (I can never remember if that is retarding it or advancing it).

Moving 02 stuff

Hi, I'm moving my 02 stuff to this blog to setup my other blog as an technology information blog. I figured the stuff would just get to cluttered having it all on one.