1973 Bmw 2002 M2 with E30 M3 S14 engine

1973 BMW 2002 Description

1973 BMW 2002

** SoCal Vintage Award Winner October 2008 (Best Modified) **

**Bimmer Magazine Article (Search on google: "Homebrew 02 bmw") **

This conversion of the BMW 2002 with the power plant of the S14 from the e30 M3 is the superb weight combination without the sacrifice of its historic definition.

This project has been started from a car originally bought to drive everyday to work, with the horrible fuel economy combined with the archaic carburetion system, I had no choice to rebuild the motor. At that time, on the forums (Thank you S14.net) I managed to find an S14 motor available from an E30 M3, with a blown head gasket, so I turned to the S14 as a possible candidate without heavy modification. A trip was made to bring the engine home, the engine was totally disassembled and certain parts taken to the machine shop for calibration and correction/replacement if needed. With the new parts, the reassembly began; everything was done to make sure everything was done right (the first time)

With the engine put back together, before the install, the Engine bay was stripped then painted with hard polyurethane paint for durability. Before I got started with anything else I had to make sure the engine was running nicely and with a help of a dear friend (Thanks Richard!) the ECU was wired up and running like a champ.

After the installation of the engine the exterior paint process began. Everything was taken out. Seriously EVERYTHING! I took out so many parts I was beginning to question if the project would ever be complete. I sand blasted the inside cabin found rust and repaired it and sprayed PPG Primer immediately so it would not rust, and applied the sound dampening material shortly after the primer cured. After everything inside the car, I moved outside the car and applied aircraft paint stripper to remove many layers of paint section by section. I wanted to see what was under that paint to fix everything for a clean look with minimal use of body filler. The rocker panels were in horrible shape so I replaced them with new ones and before I spot welded them on, I applied the rust proofing to never have this rust problem again. In addition, I deleted the euro side marker lamps and the chrome trim, however it is easy to put it back without damage to paint if desired. After about four months of body preparation, a friend of mine was able to help me spray the car at his shop. After the paint and clear dried the parts started to come together. I removed the rear subframe to attend to the rear suspension. I replaced all the rubber accordingly with new polyeurethanebushings. After the rear end was done I tended to the front end and did the finishing touches such as the new interior carpet and new headliner. Then the seats and audio. Slowly the car was beginging to look like a 2002.

Somethings I would like to share: People have often asked me why I have not upgraded the brakes and feel I dont need to because I dont race or drive the car hard. The car did have components of what looked like A/C but I removed them. The picture of the rear bumper end piece was like that when I bought the car, I just didnt have a chance to replace that piece. I felt I would replace them when the bumpers were going to be rechromed ( have not done).

Body / Exterior:

· DuPont Two Stage paint Henna Red

· POR 15 Rust Proofing

· Welded Trim holes

· New Rocker Panels (POR 15 anti rust inside)

· New OEM door and window seals

· Euro turn signals

Transmission:

· Stock transmission from an e30 m3

o New Input Shaft Seal

o New Output Shaft Seal

o New Selector Shaft Seal

· New Clutch Kit w/ Throw out bearing

· New Shifter Assembly (Z3 M-coupe)

· Redline MTL

Motor / Transmission:

· Rebuilt S14 (Full OEM BMW Engine gasket kit used)

o Block re-honed using cross hatching

o Crank Balanced and micro-polished

o Valve stem seals replaced

o Piston rings replaced

o Main bearings replaced

o Rod bearings replaced

o Timing chain replaced

o Timing chain tensioner replaced

· Oil pump replaced

· Aluminum Radiator

· New Water pump

· New Electric Fan installed w/ Aux switch

· IE Polyurethane Motor Mounts

· IE Polyurethane Alternator Mounts

· New Alternator

· New Starter

Sound:

· Sony Head unit with OEM white color illumination

o Bluetooth Phone

o Bluetooth Music player

o Aux Input

· (Front) JBL 6.5 inch speakers and Tweeters with crossovers

· (Rear) JBL 6X9 three way adjustable speakers

Suspension:

· Ireland Engineering Stage 2 Springs

· Bilstein Sport Shocks

· IE Polyurethane sway-bar bushings

· IE Polyurethane sub-frame bushings

· New front and rear wheel bearings

Interior:

· Reupholstered Dash

· Sound insulating paint used for quiet cabin

· Black carpet kit replaced

· Headliner replaced

· E30 Seatbelts installed (California Law)

· Upgraded tii instrument cluster

Brakes:

· New OEM calipers in front

· New OEM Rotors in rear

· New OEM break lines

· New OEM Pads

Miscellaneous:

· BBS RS wheels

· 2.5 inch piping throughout

o Magnaflow Muffler

o Magnaflow Resonator