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

[NegativeCamber]

lucky you. nice pickup. the 318is is definitely a keeper. wish i could have kept mine. the 02 stays a priority though ;P

[MattyHacks71]

Do you plan to just keep her stock?

[D&W]

killin it

[martinm13]

This thread can't move fast enough. Every time I see it bumped to the top, I hope there has been an update.

[CubbyChowder]

This thread can't move fast enough. Every time I see it bumped to the top, I hope there has been an update.

haha I **** when that happens to threads I'm following. Anyways, new updates will come very soon, I'm working on the '02 all day tomorrow

[martinm13]

Perfect. I'm looking forward to the update

[chris7]

subscribed , love the videos and ive just been an hour reading your whole build it is awsome!! supper jealous of your workspace
Keep up the good work its inspiring to see!!

[zumjosh]

Thanks for the input, I've been researching the z3 shifter. I'd like to find something that isn't super notchy but sits a bit lower with shorter throws. The timing chain and chain guides were just replaced, along with new valves, clutch, clutch master cylinder and brakes. It runs and drives really nice

I thought the Z3 shifter would be notchy as well. It worked great in my E36 M3 and I had tried other short shifts, most of them aftermarket and hands down, the Z3 shifter felt the most comfortable and easy going while still cutting a large distance. And it's not too expensive. I picked up mine from a BMW dealership and paid a little under $120. I'm sure you can find one for cheaper.

[CubbyChowder]

I thought the Z3 shifter would be notchy as well. It worked great in my E36 M3 and I had tried other short shifts, most of them aftermarket and hands down, the Z3 shifter felt the most comfortable and easy going while still cutting a large distance. And it's not too expensive. I picked up mine from a BMW dealership and paid a little under $120. I'm sure you can find one for cheaper.

I'm reading really good things about the Z4 2.5 shifter as well, which seems to be a bit more what I'm looking for.

[CubbyChowder]

well unfortunately I didn't get nearly as much done today as I thought I would. I ended up only working on the car for an hour, which was spent grinding down the welds on the new front fender with a flap disk. It's kind of hard to tell in the pictures, and it looks pretty terrible with all the different shades of previous paint/filler everywhere, but it's one step closer. The front area where it wraps around looks a bit rough right now but I think it will clean up nicely with some filler.

[MattyHacks71]

I still can't get over how damn good those flares are going to look Can't wait for more!

[tomshouse516]

So psyched on this car

[CubbyChowder]

^^Thanks guys!

Spent a few more hours on the fender today. Did a bit of welding on each end of the fender flare to close it off and also shaved a few trim/side marker holes. I then proceeded to spend the next 2-3 hours getting it down to bare metal. I came across yet another large area of body filler and unveiled a pretty enormous dent in the fender. It's beyond me why the people who did the body work on this car just covered everything up with filler instead of hammering out any of the dents at all. I guess now is a good time for me to purchase a hammer/dolly set and learn how to straighten out panels! I'll be making a trip to Harbor Freight tomorrow for some supplies. I was very relieved to find that the rest of fender had hardly any dents and is very straight for the most part.

First, this is the backside of the front end of the fender flare which wraps down and around the curve of the body:



I welded a tab to it, this shows the frontside of it, most of which will be cut/ground off. I didn't take a pic of the backside at this stage:



This is how far I got on that section today, it looks all rough and unfinished right now but with a bit more work I think it'll look ok:



This is how the fender looked after a few hours of grinding:






And here's that lovely dent I was telling you about earlier, I think I should be able to hammer most of it out and keep filler to a minimum:



That's it for today, next step is taking care of that dent and then onto body filler!

[mattmac2007]

lookin good dude

[NorCalFocus]

Thats a huge dent just to bondo over.