Ryan's 1974 M2

[econti]

This should be an absolute rocket.
I'm always so jealous of the availability and price of awesome BMW stuff in America.

[ST1G]

A forum member photoshop'd them for me. This picture is of the light blue 2002 on the same wheel set up I plan to use. He changed the car to white, and wheels to bronze/ gold. I plan on going a little more gold, like a BBS bronze. I dont have caps, so Ill do the center hub in black and use some standard BMW caps with Alpina decals on them in the center. Comments/ concerns?

I really like the gold. I think that would be a fantastic route to go.

[jhaurimn]

...I might be underestimating the buzzy nature of the 4 cylinder however .

I think you might be :p

[RCM3]

I really like the gold. I think that would be a fantastic route to go.

Thanks for the feedback, Im looking into buying all the supplies now to do the wheels. I need to take some curb damage out first, but they should look great once theyre done.

I think you might be :p

Hope the solid mounts plus the S14 dont drive me crazy :crazy:, only one way to find out!

[RCM3]

Small update.

Finally got the exhaust side coolant pipe shortened to allow or more clearance for the coolant hoses. Glad it went well, welds look solid! Here is a picture to show the location and better visualize why it needed to be cut down, it just sticks ways out there, and leaves no space between it and the radiator.







I'm almost done taking all my National and State Board Examinations, and with graduation a few days away Ill have a 4 week window to work on the 2002 and finish everything up while my licensure goes through. There should be some very worthy updates soon! Just waiting on halfshafts and the custom shortened IE driveline to come in the mail. Ground Control is putting the finishing touches on the coilovers now also. That should get me all the needed bits to finish her up...

[Mistawall]

Yayyyy

[RCM3]

Started with the rear end rebuild a few days ago. Began with cleaning up all the components! First I polished the rear diff cover.



Next, pushed in all my new bushings after having fun with a torch to get the original 40 year old rubber out. Subframe:



Rear differential carrier, next to the finished rear diff cover:



With the bushings pressed into the trailing arms, reassembly began on the ground before lifting up onto the car.



Diff cleaned up and put together, next installed onto the subframe:




And finally, installed onto the 2002!!



Tomorrow the S14 is coming out so the wiring can be competed. Ill be cutting away some sheet metal up from to open up room for the air intake and the radiator. Also, 2 holes will be drilled for the ECU plug and the new battery wiring.

The Alpinas were finished today. Tires will be installed tomorrow, many more pics to follow!

[phreshkid]

ok ok tomorrow I'll mail out those half shafts.

[RCM3]

Progress has really slowed. Although the wiring job seemingly should be easy, I cannot figure out exactly which wires are what based off of their color codes. I have the complete E30 M3 harness, and the other side of the C101 connector modded for the M2 swap, but I haven't been able to solder in the C101 into the 2002 harness just yet. Still digging through other builds to figure out more.

On a brighter note, my wheels were finished today, tires mounted, and balanced! I went with a BBS bronze finish on the Alpinas:



More to come, just waiting for parts to be delivered.

[QUKBMER]

Nice build you have going here !!! I loved the earlier pic's of the car being held up by cut tree logs !! :nice:

[CorvallisBMW]

I love it!!! This is an awesome build.

[RCM3]

Thanks guys!

Since I'm building the car at my parent's ranch out in the sticks, oak rounds are plentiful and make great temporary stands when weight distribution is key! Haha

[1owNslo]

i sub'd so hard to this...

[Lof8]

Awesome project. That color combo you posted looks really good and unique. Do it!

[RCM3]

Its starting to actually look like a car again now that she's able to roll! Special thanks to Mark and the guys at Ground Control for putting in all the time and effort to build up the suspension for the 02. We changed the specs on them a few times, ill post up the final spring rates once I have the build sheet in front of me. Ground Control has always gone out of their way to make sure I was a very happy customer and I will continue to use GC for my future builds. Quick shot of the front suspension:



I had to do a mock up once I picked the stuff up, mainly to ensure everything fit properly. I'm referring to the wheels and tires, I was very nervous during the wheel mounting. Once I got them on... Wow there is maybe 1-2mm's of space between the inner wheel and tire and the front, lower GC spring adjuster. Same story in the back, 2mm's between the trailing arm and the rear wheel and tire. The space was so thin the rear wheel balance weights had to come off as they prevented the wheel from turning a full revolution. Ill have to bring them back and have flat weights used opposed to the type that snap onto the lip of the inner barrel. Both front and rear wheel faces sit flush with the factory fender flares.

On a stock fender 2002, these wheels and tires are just about the widest that I can see fitting without doing other changes to the suspension. I am beyond happy with the fitment, no need to run turbo flares as of now.

Front: 16x7 et28 195 45 r16
Rear: 16x8 et28 215 40 r16