BMW 1600 - frontend thrash

I'd love to show ya guys pics of a bunch of stuff getting done,
but these past couple weeks have been ass-kickers.
By the time I get to the shop,
I'm lucky to do an hour or 2 of brainless work,
which is perfect for that old BMW.

So...

before - yikes

There's an old saying I live.

"When you pull all the big weeds,
you see all the little weeds."

I'll get to the shop and its hard to get started,
there's just so many things to start - engine bay, dash, rust patches etc.
The best way though, is just to start!
As each one will only get finished with time spent working,
so time wasted thinking where to start wastes time.
Whew!

So one night just spent an hour or more with the die grinder and plastic wheel,
scrubbing all the black and (most of the) red paint out of the engine bay.
I had experimented  on the passenger side top part,
and realized I had to do the whole thing.
chit.

after - good enough!

Fortunately had some old black paint leftover from the CHIEF rebuild,
and a test spot looked good enough to paint the whole thing.
It's not a show car,
so if it looks good on a 640x480 picture,
that's good enough.

All fake rally race cars have tons of lights,
so this one will be no exception.

A bumper/lightbar would also be nice,
but the previous owner had cut off the actual mounting tabs.
Nothing's easy!

stool time - bumper tabs and lights

Dug out some old aluminum tube donated from one of my dad's dead friends,
and had a custom bumper.
RIP Nick! Thanks!
nickEatonEulogy.jpg 1373×969 pixels

bumper time

This car is a great way to clean up the shop.
I'm trying to not spend any money.
Which means using scrap metal, rubber,
 nuts, bolts, even wire from my stash.
It's a fun way to do this car.

love old signs

So in that vein,
used an old scratched up sign to cover the old heater hole in the firewall,
and philips head machine screws.
Perfect.

rally bmw 1600 / 2002

Unfortunately that means it may look like a rally car,
but it will be mostly stock running gear,
like those honda's with the giant muffler.

I need more lights.

TP

home protection - mace

A thread on a hot rod forum I'm on reminded me of the good old days in Ventura.
I got in big trouble using this PVC pipe on a tweaker who broke into the shop.

macey and the pipe

I keep this at the house now,
right by the door.

When the police finally arrived,
they said I was lucky to not kill or seriously injure the guy.
(who had pulled out this massive 6" knife!)

vaquero grande

I told the cops if I wanted to really hurt the guy I wouldn't have picked a PVC pipe,
as this was hidden right outside...

spikey pipe

They didn't like that too much.

Oh well, that was a long time ago.
Still have the old club though.

mace
(replica for show only)

I can't imagine every really using it though.
It's kind of a one shot deal.
Still good to have around.

Can you imagine living back in medieval times,
when this was a normal weapon?
Jeez.
Well I guess we do live in similar times,
when people in Africa are hacked up with machetes.

Good times, good times.

TP

holy crankshaft

Was on my way out to lunch,
and this was waiting out in the parking lot.
Had to take a couple pics.

diesel crankshaft

That's my van back there.
This things longer than a ford e350 van.
Crazy.
Also crazy that they're rebuilding the diesel inside the boat.
Fun.

big friggin crankshaft!

Cool how they're all crankshafts are basically the same,
just different sizes.
Can't imagine how much if cost to machine.
I'd like to see the special lathe they used!

TP

greener pastures - kenwood ka7002 & kt7001

There are some things I'll keep just out of sentimentality or memories,
especially when I've had it for a long time,
It's easier to flip stuff that doesn't get that connection.

However I had to part with my old Kenwood system,
the one that started this whole stereo obsession that I didn't know I had.
Yep, after, wow, 16 or more years, time to move on.

Funny story is,
I threw it on Craigslist for cheap one night,
and the next day,
a guy (steve) from missouri calls and says he wants it!
Any craigslist hunter will know that "craigslook" was taken down,
making it alot harder to search nationwide craigslists.
Anyway this guy knew a different trick.

kenwood kt-7001 last look

I used to buy and sell on ebay alot.
But it's such a pain in the ass to ship stuff,
that I found it easier to just give deals on craigslist,
no shipping, no paypal, no postal money orders, no feedback.

last look kenwood ka-7002

And especially no friggin crates or boxing.
Even though this was a give away price,
it was still worth protecting.
Hopefully the screws, glue and tape will hold up!

screwed and glued

Yeah there was a little padding and cardboard underneath the wood too!

Fortunately Steve only wanted the tuner,
which is kinda rare as its from 1971 or so.
The integrated amp is a great parts machine anyway.

ready to go

It's good to let something go into the hands of someone that will make it better.
But its better to not hear my wife complain about having a bunch of junk lying around the house!

TP

worm miners

A couple posts ago,
I showed you a picture.

liar's club

I didn't give the three choices,
but if you had picked "worm mine" you would have lost.
It's more like "worm fishing".

a "WTF" moment

Sometimes you have to eat shit to poop!

Add caption

Stay in school, behind a desk...right...

baiting the trap

Start by setting the hook...

Got one!

Wait, wait, snag it...
Yes.

We win!

This one was tore up,
usually they come out nice and big.
Shitty job,
but hopefully it got us in the door.

Ok,
its not a worm mine,
it's actually a "stuffing box" for a rudder shaft.
This is the old packing seal,
basically a rope/wax seal, like for a crankshaft.

tug boat

For car engine's,
the tool is called a "sneaky pete" and is a corkscrew with a piece of wire.
Cool how big boat stuff is just a really big version.
Might edit in a pic later.

What I'll do for my brother!

TP

panga to the promised land

You hear or read the stories in the news.
20 or more illegals washing up a San Diego beach in Panga's,
basically mexican fishing boats.

I've always wanted one of these things,
the real ones though, not the $30K yacht version.
Down in Baja the fisherman take these things miles offshore,
but way underpowered  in comparison to the coyote boats.

typical fishing panga

You'd figure it would be kinda obvious,
if you're walking around Popotla,
one of the main exit points for the trip up,
to see a 60HP engine on a 25 foot panga,
or a 250HP boat on a 25 foot ponga,
to know something not quite right is going on!

250 HP panga hot rod

It's a great racket,
you figure the coyote hauls about 20+ people,
at about $3-5000 a pop.
No deals on moms with kids either.
That's about $60K-$100K a trip!
Throw in a bale or two of weed or blow,
and you're just sweetening the deal!

The boat itself is relatively cheap, they're no showboat,
but a newer big HP engine is gonna be a pricey donation,
since the chance of returning with the boat is probably 50%.

$100K gamble on a 3 penny nail

Most likely the engines were ripped off anyway,

but you'd figure they wouldn't risk $100K on a rusty nail!

Do you think these immigrants,

most likely not mexicans, 

but central americans from guatemala, el salvador or nicaragua,

have any idea of the boat ride they are about to embark on?

All these travellers have crazy stories,

like...

El Norte

or


Sin Nombre...

(one of the craziest realistic movies ever)


or Machete

which I haven't actually seen, yet...



Anyway, where was I.

Oh yeah.

So you travel the thousands of miles north,
figuring to sneak over the mountainous desert,
only to be delivered to the Coronado Island(s) 10 miles offshore.
Waiting for another boat ride to America.
Haulin ass in the middle of the night,
to the promised land.





you knew I had to throw a grateful dead (cover) song in there somewhere!




Slow to start this one is,
but right when you think the songs over,
check out the 30 second solo from 4:50....





Thanks Chuck Berry!

Anyway,
this is the land of broken dreams.

ruined dreams

There are 4 pangas at this boatyard.
Makes me wonder how many trips these boats completed successfully,
and how many are out there still running.

Crazy times.

TP

how NOT to install a roll bar

Since the (temporary) sweatshop starts early,
i'm trying to get at least a couple hours in a "night"
once the sweet spot was 12-3am,
now its 5-8pm.
Wow.
The BMW is a perfect project for this afterwork time,
since a "big box" type boatyard saps any desire to think correctly.
So why not start tearing things up!

This is the biggest joke of the car,
as a roll car automatically makes it a race car.

big red roll bar

I swear its the first thing people talk about when they see it.
"Oh, its a race car cool!"
"Look at the rollbar!"
Maybe cause its so red.

Anyway the roll bar itself isn't that bad,
its how the guys mounted it.

spittle

When in doubt,
thru-bolt the base plate to a piece of sheetmetal not attached to the floor,
and never use washers on the bottom.

droppings

When in doubt, don't worry about using bolts,
even if the baseplate holes are predrilled.
The welding smoke must have been unbearable for the welder.
These rear pads popped off with one light smack with a hammer!

we don't need no stinkin bolts!

When in doubt,
just paint over everything!
Even better that the seatbelts were attached to the rollbar!

square one

I don't think the roll bar will be reinstalled.
Some sembleance of a back seat would be better.
Anyone in need of a small car roll cage? craigslist time...

Gotta love those flintstone holes huh!
And whats with that part underneath the window?
For some reason it was cut and resectioned in, badly.
Maybe someone replaced the window bottom with a different year.
Sigh.

little whistler

Also found the source of that exhaust leak!
It sounded like the exhaust had a lisp.
And yes,
I rarely use exhaust gaskets,
just some high-temp RTV.
The trick is to coat it with the hi-temp,
bolt it all up but not too tight.
Let it harden a bit maybe half hour or less,
than tighten it up as much as normal.

6 big bolts 10 little bolts

Why stop there?
Might as well really clean up the engine bay,
clean and rebush the front suspension...
There's also some good rust holes in the actual subframe that will be easier to fix.
This is a surprisingly easy car to strip down...
please get back together as easily!

...Sigh...

These 2002's, well 1600's, are made almost entirely of very thin sheetmetal.
Its like metal origami.
No wonder they were popular for rally cars.

If you think this is bad,
than take a look at this.

liar's club entry #3

If anyone knows what this is,
you win.

Makes the Beemer look like a cakewalk.
Come on friday.
Now I know why they invented beer!

TP