Project 2002
| by Adrian Burford
According to
African time…
Project 2002 is moving slowly towards the objective: a classic
car which takes advantage of more modern technology to
make it safer, more drivable and more economical, while
retaining its charm
I
n the last couple of months we’ve
taken a fundamental decision with our
BMW project car: it’ll be ready when
it’ll be ready. At the time of writing we had
overshot the original deadline by more
than four months, and it is likely that we
won’t be driving anywhere in it before the
New Year.
Other complications we’re facing include
modifying the lower shock absorber
mounting point to accept our Bilsteins,
while we may also have to make some
changes to the spring mountings.
One of the biggest challenges has been
the redesign of the rear suspension, which
is a “hybrid” arrangement now, combining
the original BMW 2002 rear sub-frame
but modified to accept BMW E30 trailing
arms.
Project 2002
the official BMW defensive driving course.
Now all he needs is a BMW of his own…
This issue goes back to the original ‘box,
which had the incorrect input shaft spline,
and was swapped, but we failed to double
check the bolt pattern and starter position
of the new box at that point.
Nevertheless, we have to keep our foot
on the gas, or we are at risk of becoming
just another unfinished project - and
we have a commitment to far too many
commercial partners to let that happen.
On a more personal (and emotional) level,
there’s a young man who is still dreaming
of the car of his dreams.
The logic behind this is that the
E30 items are already designed
to carry the ABS sensors, while
it will also simplify the driveshaft
solution - E30 axles will only
need to be modified to bolt to a
stock 2002 diff.
➲ James Burford has successfully completed
➲ Our classy-looking OMP style seats will sit
nice and low. We’ll lower the steering column
slightly too
There has been a fair amount of twosteps-forward-one-step-back progress,
but we’ve now got our front brake
assemblies ready and
can complete the
front end – BMW E36
calipers and Ferodo DS
pads and discs should
ensure good stopping
power. Most of the
drivetrain is in, though
this was only successful
at the second attempt,
when we realised the
gearbox’s bell housing
shape was incorrect
and our starter
Thanks to Donovan at Motozone in Midrand, we have
➲
wouldn’t fit.
all the hardware for the back axle ready for assembly
| words in action
34
One area where we’ve been lucky is the
service from Motozone, the Autobarnaffiliated parts outlet in Midrand. Young
Donovan Backos has been our contact
there and in the last few weeks we’ve
sourced a variety of items, including all
the hardware (discs, pad, wheel bearings)
for our back axle, as well as doing some
swapping/sourcing of filters, tensioners,
radiator hoses and ribbed belts to suit our
custom engine installation. When it comes
to rubbery things we’re also indebted
to Pro Auto Rubber, who have supplied
gearbox mountings, windscreen rubbers
(they boast an amazing selection of
profiles), and high pressure fuel line.
By the time you read this, we’ll have Indy
Oil’s best in the sump and should be ready
to crank the engine, if not fire it up.
Finally, where would we be without
friends? Rob Green from RGMotorsport
quickly solved a problem with our front
suspension bushes; modifying a set of
aftermarket polyurethane bushes to locate
our radius arms that now run backwards
to the chassis rails. We’ve also been lucky
enough that demon race driver - Graeme
Nathan – has undertaken to install the
OMP style seats on an all-new mounting
arrangement, while classic BMW specialist
Alec Ceprnich has regularly dug into his
spares stock and donated parts - not to
mention surrendering a significant corner of
the Evolution 2 workshop to the build!
december 2014 / January 2015