CubbyChowder finally got a BMW 2002 - it's project time

[coockiemonster]

looks 2 god damn nice

[jimbo]

I love this build. And it's really motivating for me as I have an '02 myself!

[98z24ragtop]

Wow, this thread makes me want a 2002. Like badly. Its coming along nicely, those flares and steelies look killer! Keep it up!

[renngolf]

Nice work man. Those flares look like they were meant to be there

[CubbyChowder]

Thanks everyone! The comments are huge motivation for me, I'm off to go work on the '02. More updates later

[TeckniX]

Hellz yea man, that thing is actually starting to belong in the stance family!! Really those MK1 fenders were meant to be on the 02... lookin' sooooo good.

Keep it up and let's see that thing with all 4 corners done.

[CubbyChowder]

^^Thanks man!

Got back to work on the fender. This thing is taking a lot longer than I anticipated, but I've grown to expect that with every aspect of this build so I'm at peace with it. I'm sure every fender from here on out will take half as long as the previous one.

However, I was not so at peace earlier when I started working on the inner wheel well area. I wanted to weld it back to the fender so it can all be connected again, like it's supposed to be. I started hammering it a bunch, cutting it into sections so it'd be easier to bend and then started welding it to the fender. This proved to be the hugest bitch ever and was very frustrating since I had to basically curl up inside the wheel well area with my huge welding mask which got caught on everything and I had to push the metal with one hand while I welded with the other haha I was a mess. It wasn't really working out at first, but I eventually started getting the hang of it. I didn't finish this area today because I got sooo over it, I'll finish it next time I go up so I can grind it down, hit it with some seam sealer and be done with it. Sorry for the rant, this is the area:



Decided to work on a different section of the fender since it all has to be done anyways. This is the rear area of the fender, which has a gap between the MK1 fender and the '02 body:



Started grinding away at a piece of metal little by little until it fit the gap perfectly, ended up with this:



Tacked it in:



Welded it up:



And ground it down. I was pretty happy with how it turned out, it cheered me up a bit from being all flustered with the inner fender area haha. I cut the bottom too to flow with the body:





This is what the bottom of that area looked like:



So I wanted to fill that gap with metal so it flowed well:



Welded it up, ground it down, and ended up with this. Needs a little more work but I think it's pretty much there:



So next time I go up, I will be focusing on the front of the fender where the bottom meets and make it flow well with the body (sorry I keep saying "flow" so much haha). It looks like this:

[Rubens]

Great progress!

[jackjamesw910i]

Seen you comment on heists build quite a bit and clicked your thread in the sig. Love this build and the quality throughout - the pictures, writeup and work are all inspiring. Keep it up

[99sil-teg]

Doing some great work on this thing! Love the attention to detail and actually doing stuff right instead of just slapping it together

[mtmorto]

Looks great! It's good to see another sweet '02 build on here. I am sure you thought of this already, but make sure you put something on the inside fenders to keep them from rusting in the future. That's a common rust area for 2002s. Keep up the good work!

[CubbyChowder]

Thanks everybody for the comments! I'm trying to do everything right the first time around, I don't want to cut any corners. The reason why I'm documenting so thoroughly is because everything I've ever learned about cars has been online, through detailed write-ups, tutorials, articles, etc. I really appreciate the people who take their time to document every step of a process and describe in detail what's going on, because without those, I wouldn't be nearly as educated as I am now (although I still have a TON to learn). I figured this is my way of giving back, and hopefully this build thread can help some people out or provide some inspiration in one way or another.

[Kochiro]

The reason why I'm documenting so thoroughly is because everything I've ever learned about cars has been online, through detailed write-ups, tutorials, articles, etc. I really appreciate the people who take their time to document every step of a process and describe in detail what's going on, because without those, I wouldn't be nearly as educated as I am now (although I still have a TON to learn). I figured this is my way of giving back, and hopefully this build thread can help some people out or provide some inspiration in one way or another.

Gotta say, this just earned you a lot more respect in my book. Been enjoying your build so far but I really appreciate this post as I feel the same way. My build thread is also going to be very picture heavy.

[SlowProgress]

Very nice!! Keep us posted!!

[CubbyChowder]

Gotta say, this just earned you a lot more respect in my book. Been enjoying your build so far but I really appreciate this post as I feel the same way. My build thread is also going to be very picture heavy.

Thanks man, send me a link to your build once you have it up.

Well, this isn't really an update for the BMW. Found this 1984 GTI on craigslist and had to have it. It's a future project, I'm not going to let it get in the way of working on the '02, don't worry . I've always loved MK1's and have wanted one forever, I don't really have the money for this but I got a good deal and he's giving me a bunch of extra parts which I can sell off and make a lot of my money back. Crappy cell pics from my girlfriend's phone, I didn't have my camera. I can't wait to tear into this thing!