InitialInspection

From John Clarke Mills Project Wiki

My first '02

In hindsight I realize how lucky I am. I bought this car with really no prior knowledge of restoration, car mechanicals, let alone 2002s. The only 2002's I had ever driven are the rust bucket I test drove before I bought the one I own now! How and why did I do that? Well luckily I am young with nothing but time and money. Other than that, it was just something I had to do. There's no better way to learn than jumping right in. Also, I randomly walked into a good deal.

Research
Well the first thing I did was log onto the 2002 FAQ (http://www.bmw2002faq.com) and started reading. I read as much as I could and search through the archives. I also read the FAQ's of course. People there are very helpful and extremely knowledgeable. People build some some crazy 02's there. Thats where I got all inspiration.

Inspection and purchase
Well there's not much say. I am not going to write an inspection checklist because thats been done on the FAQ but I am going to say that you can get lucky. Random deals are out there. Anyway, one day that I was browsing Craigslist and found this 1973 2002 for sale in Novato, Ca for $2,700. After a few emails I was driving up the next day. On the way I had no idea what to expect nor did I think I would leave with the title. I was still becoming accustomed to these great machines and cars in general on a mechanical level.

Long story short, the paint was pretty clean, the electrical was great, the tranny was smooth, and the motor was responsive still but was burning some oil. I offered him $2,700 on the spot and he told me he would think about it. 15 minutes later on the way home he told me that his wife wants it gone to come back give him a $500 deposit! Despite its and age the fact that I was the fourth owner the body was true and straight! There was almost no rust on the car and what I did find was surface mostly in the engine compartment. The frame was completely rust free.

Post purchase inspection

Checked all of my grounds. Some seemed to be a little rusty so I sanded them down and reconnected them. The engine block ground still needs to be inspected.

I was low on brake fluid so I checked all my pipes and hoses; turns out one of my front right hoses had blown through. I am going to replace them with Ireland’s stainless steel lines.

Removed valve cover and checked clearances. To my surprise, they were all perfectly set at 0.007's. While I was under there I checked the timing chain which also seemed to be very new and in working order. Unfortunately I did not have a timing light so I am not sure on its sanity.

Drained my oil. To my surprise, it was horribly taken care of. The oil was thick like lubricating grease. I immediately replaced it with Mobil 1 synthetic 10W-30. I am going to run that out for a month and change it again in hope that it will remove most of the old oil. After changing the oil and driving the car I noticed a fair amount of white smoke which soon faded after a little use. I am guessing its from the old oil being burned out?

Put in the lower Ireland Engineering Motor mount. I wasn’t sure how to put in the left hand side mount so I left it out. I think its for a different model of mounts. I will most likely sell it on eBay.

Fixed my exhaust hanger. The one right behind the rear cross-member was completely soggy, draping the exhaust on the sway bar and cross-member. This completely fixed the vibration problem.