1971 BMW 1600 Project

[ak-]

I can't wait to stand here and take a picture of all the parts of your car I'll be touching soon on this bridge.

[phreshkid]

Whoa. I want to touch it like,

I'll let you touch any part of my car.

Looks clean. Keep up the good work

Thanks man, I'll do my best.

That looks a hundred times better. Nice work.

Thank you. I hope to finish up polishing and sealing this week.

It is looking as good as I thought it would.

That's what I was saying the whole time. Such a dramatic difference in paint. The paint still has very deep scratches that are highly visible at 2+ feet, but it's now a decent 20' car.

That shines!!

Yes

out there in bare feet, fucking love that shit.

Comes with the zipcode. No shoes and getting shacked out of my mind is what I live for.

Looking good Ryan, this is such a rad little roundie

Mikey, I'm planning a Big Sur trip soon and would like to pass through SB and grab a bite. Would you have time to hang?

Well it's confirmed.... I love roundies. Sweet thread, just finished reading the whole thing! Only part I didn't like is the bare feet as its currently 1 degree without the windchill here.

Thanks! I really enjoy taking crappy photos and writing sentences about my progress. It's tedious, but without this blog, I wouldn't be able to recall all the things I've done to the car.

It's a very unconventional build, but I like that it is different.
Glad you can enjoy it.

[elcoy]

Well it's confirmed.... I love roundies. Sweet thread, just finished reading the whole thing! Only part I didn't like is the bare feet as its currently 1 degree without the windchill here.

[CubbyChowder]

Looking good Ryan, this is such a rad little roundie

[kid325e]

wow, that first pic after cutting really shows the difference!

out there in bare feet, fucking love that shit.

[e30m3s54turbo]

That shines!!

[rzerob]

It is looking as good as I thought it would.

[rturbo 930]

That looks a hundred times better. Nice work.

[efficient]

Looks clean. Keep up the good work

[ak-]

Whoa. I want to touch it like,

[phreshkid]

Bonus pictures of me pretending like I know what I'm doing while cutting.










And double bonus of a detailed photo of the bullet hole patina

[phreshkid]

Yesterday was experiment time.

I wetsanded everything above the belt line trim. 1000, 1200, 1500. Then I got to work with Meguiar's M105 for cutting, M205 for polishing, and I'll be finishing with Mazerna Power Lock *synthetic sealant).

Before the cutting, but after the wetsanding:




After cutting but before polishing:




And after polishing the hood (not me in the photo):








So from this:


to this:






I'll probably do the lower half tomorrow. Depending on the weather, I may be able to seal the paint with the synthetic polish as well. I'm pretty shocked at how well the paint "pops" now. Still crappy paint, but now it's shiny and sort of reflects light.

[phreshkid]

New coilovers look really good.

Damn, I can't wait to start driving my 2002 and worrying about the little shit. This thread is giving me so much motivation, also giving me a craving for Pizza.

You should start driving your 02. They are great little cars. Like driving around your very own dinosaur. And pizza is good, just not Domino's.

Nice to see some other 02's around! Nice car.

Thanks man!

Great thread, and nice progress. Those coils go low! If that's max height I can see why you'd want an 8" spring.

Yeah, trial and error. You'll never know unless you try. But otherwise, I kind of like the handling, even though I only drove it last night for about 20 minutes.

I like this car more and more every time I see it. It is turning into my dream 02. The only things I would do other than interior, is EFI and ITB's and then done. Once the paint is polished it is really going to look good.

I assume LS swap is joking around, although yes it would be interesting. I feel it would destroy the build. But it's your car, do what you want. I will still read your updates.

The LS comment was half of a joke. I'd probably go f22c before I went LSx.

But I agree. Still debating how I want to set up EFI. For NA, it will get ITBs and Megasquirt. For Turbo, it will get early e30 318i stuff and splice Megasquirt in.

The car is super enjoyable as it is, but I do like crisp throttle response and instant power delivery. But with ITBs, you will lose some torque. And I like torque.

I'll probably be seduced into turbo. Actually, I've already been seduced. Still healing.

[rzerob]

I need to start thinking about EFI.


Then turbo.


Or LS/T56. I feel like that would interesting.

I like this car more and more every time I see it. It is turning into my dream 02. The only things I would do other than interior, is EFI and ITB's and then done. Once the paint is polished it is really going to look good.

I assume LS swap is joking around, although yes it would be interesting. I feel it would destroy the build. But it's your car, do what you want. I will still read your updates.

[AbsorbantNut]

Great thread, and nice progress. Those coils go low! If that's max height I can see why you'd want an 8" spring.