My O2 Zen Life
• Jun. 1, 2008 - Happy Face Pit Crew Comes to the Rescue
Happy out on the track for that last run of the day after her rescue via the pit crew (photo courtesy Scott Hannebaum)
This is an article I wrote for our local Houston BMW-CCA newsletter after a memorable day at the May-08 autocross.
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There's one thing about driving a 35 year old BMW, you just never know when it might.....quit.
I've had a few memorable incidents in my old car, I call her Happy Face because she used to sport a terrible red paint job which local club member Matt Groner inadvertently referred to as "happy-face red", the name stuck. Anyway, Happy Face can be a bit temperamental at times. There was one time a few years ago on a BMW drive when she blew her little distributor all to bits and pieces. We were in a caravan on I-45 at the time, coming home from a BMW club event. She backfired so loud that the other club members in their air conditioned cars, going 75mph thought it was a ballistic missile going off. There literally was a sonic boom from that backfire. Well, the BMW club folks all gathered up, put our respective wrenches together, and in about 2 hours or so she was rolling down the highway again. If it wasn't for my club friends, I'd have been waving down triple-A on a Sunday in the middle of nowhere.
Since then Happy Face has gone through a major restoration. But, as I have found out, she's still a temperamental little car and every now and then likes to remind me. I got a little reminder at Houston's May autocross event. After the first run, in which I posted a respectable 45 second time (good enough for 74th place I might add), she bucked and kicked through the stop box just like a stubborn jackass. I barely made it back to grid but it was clear the car wasn't going anywhere, especially home. I looked around for some friendly 2002 faces. Within just a few minutes a friendly crew of O2-gearheads were gathered around the car. Ken Finley, Dan Baker and Jerry Streeter were all standing there, rubbing their chins, pondering on just what could be wrong with little Happy. I was already lying down on the concrete trying to make a futile inspection of what I thought might have been a destroyed differential. Ken asked me what the heck I was doing lying on the ground. "Its not the differential!" he said, "its obviously a bad clutch!" Dan walked up and said something about bad fuel. Jerry wanted to know if I ever changed out the original gas tank.
Dave, Ken and Jerry diagnose the problem, photo by DanDan Baker
Ken and Dan took her for a 20-foot drive. That was enough to convince both of them that there was definitely a problem and Happy needed serious attention!
Fortunately I had on hand my fully-stocked toolbox (NEVER go anywhere in a 35-year old BMW without a toolbox!). We removed the air filter box and began our diagnosis of the patient. We convinced ourselves that there was something going on with the fuel (actually, they convinced me, it wasn't the differential). We talked ourselves into removing the top cover of the carburetor itself. Shucks, why not then pull out the jets and take a look? So, that's what we did. All the while heat #3 was happening out on the track. We managed to get down to the fuel bowl and found it caked in crud. Dan opened one of the little fuel line filters and found more crud. Could it be just bad gas?
putting the pieces back together again
Well, we cleaned up all the crud and put the carburetor back together again. I was instructed to get in the car and crank the motor. To my shock, started right up! And, heat #3 was still going on! I could actually still get in a run! So I did, the very last car of the day. Unfortunately, I hit a cone (or two).
So, the 'O2' club pit crew came to the rescue. Thanks to my friends Ken, Dan and Jerry for getting Happy Face operational, AGAIN. One last reminder, always remember to bring your toolbox!
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• May. 4, 2008 - looking for more HP
'
the latest projects on Happy Face have been focused on getting more power out of what is an underachieving anemic motor. With this rebuilt tii engine and its free flow exhaust, 9.5 CR pistons, Weber 32/36 carb, Crane electronic ignition, pushing through a 5-speed tranny followed by a geared up LSD differential, this car goes down the road like a grandma was driving it......its weak
so I've focused on a few problems. One is the severe oil blow by coming into the air cleaner. Its full of oil and I think the rich exhaust crud is largely due to the excess oil coming out of the valve cover vent. I addressed the problem by installing a blow by overflow tank.....
 
So this seems to have cleaned up the air intake quite a bit and I immediately noticed much less crud coming out of the exhauast.
Then I decided to take a look at the spark plugs, and I found these....
 
These plugs were gapped at 0.022, which is the 'stock' setting, but not really optimal for a high-compression motor fitted with an electronic ignition and a high-voltage coil. Not sure why all the oil is there, I hope its not trouble
anyway, I replaced these with some new NGK plugs gapped at 0.035, which should provide a stronger spark. I put some advance in the timing of the dizzy and the motor really runs a lot better. No question, the dirty rich crud is not coming out of the exhaust anymore and the car idles much nicer.
Still, when I take her out on the street, she just doesn't have much grunt.....something's still missing.....
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• Apr. 7, 2008 - Happy Face Autocross
Happy Face attended her first autocross in reborn form on Sunday, April 7th. She looked good. She sounded good, but she went real slow.
Here's a shot of here two years ago in her first body (Happy Face #1).
She leaned so much that I nearly fell out of the car door. She was sporting 'O2 stock suspension then. Today she has beefy sway bars, sport shocks, stiffer springs, strut brace, etc..
This is an entirely different car now; new shell, new motor, new paint, new everything (well almost).
I've got to learn how to drive this car but it should be fun, to say the least.
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• Mar. 16, 2008 - Houston WWT-IX
The Houston chapter of the BMW-CCA held its ninth annual Wash Wax and Tech, or as we call it, WWT. I've participated in most of the nine events. This is the first time though with Happy Face. For the past eight events, we've had one of the BMW dealerships host us. They let us have the entire dealership for a day (Sunday). They give us the run of the place. We usually get about 30 to 50 cars and spend the whole day washing, waxing and doing tech stuff. The dealerships usually have some of their mechanics on hand for anything we need. Its great.
Usually we have it at BMW of Houston North. This year we moved it to BMW of the Woodlands (same owners). The organizer of the whole affair is Warren Campbell. He does all the work, pulls all the people together and keeps everyone happy. This is one if the real benefits of BMW club membership. Its one of the highlights of the year.
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• Mar. 2, 2008 - Happy Face Update - March '08
I've had Happy Face back from restoration now for about 4 months. The car does have a few issues I need to look after. Most of these are minor. However this car drives like a dream. I am really liking the suspension set up that Pete Sliskovich put on the car and the headers have a wonderful growl. With the subwoofer now in place, a drive in this car with the windows open and music flowing is a real pleasure. The car handles great at speed. Every excuse I get I hop in Happy Face and take her for a spin. She is truly a pleasure to drive and I think I'm beginning to see why so many people love these cars. When they are set up properly, they are hard to beat. They just take tender loving care!
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• Jan. 20, 2008 - Stereo refit project complete
The stereo project was completed last week. I decided to replace the very good quality Eclipse receiver unit with a Pioneer system. The advantage of the Pioneer is that it gives me the ability to have access to blue tooth (for hands free cell), satellite radio, iPod controller and a plug in auxiillary option (to accommodate the GPS audio). Plus, the whole thing is controlled by remote. The new system was taken out of the glove box and moved to the space under the passenger seat. This gave me my glove box back. In addition, in order to overcome the missing low-end bass, I put in a custom subwoofer enclosure.
The work was done at River Oaks Car Stereo here in Houston. Here are some pictures of the completed work.
 
on the left is the 'before' trunk. on the right is the trunk after the subwoofer enclosure was added. It was covered in the same grey elephant skin as the existing trunk panelts. Worked out pretty well and still plenty of room in that big 'O2 trunk.
 
Here's the new Pioneer DEH-P7900BT installed under the passenger seat. On the right is the remote control unit.
 
Since the head unit is hidden, and the remote control is not ideal for driving, we decided to add the direct controls of the audio system to the center console. There are two clusters of buttons. It almost looks like the interior of a 747 cockpit but its easy to use. The left cluster is volume up/down and mute. The right cluster is channel selection up/down and a source selection button. So, I can control the volume up/down with the left side buttons, and choose the audio input source (e.g. satellite radio, local am/fm radio, iPod, bluetooth for cell phone, GPS audio input, etc..). I can then navigate through the different stations or iPod songs with the channel selection button. It actually works pretty well and can be easily managed while driving with minimal distraction (no need to take eyes off road).
 
The microphone for the hands-free bluetooth cell is located just above the AC center console. Next to it is the IR for the remote control. The mic is sensitive enough to overcome the loudish ambient interior road noise.
 
The GPS is a Garmin Nuvi 750. It has a direct audio out which is plugged into the Pioneer unit. I can control it with one of my red source bottons on the center console. So when we're driving through the hill country on one of our bimmer drives my nice GPS lady's voice comes through the car's stereo speakers. Of course if the phone rings, no matter what is going through the audio system the phone immediatly cuts in!
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• Jan. 7, 2008 - New wheels and tires
The E30 bottecap wheels that were on the car had a rubbing problem with the front struts (because of their 35mm offset). Coupe King had put 5mm spacers on the front to deal with the problem. I decided to replace them with some Superlite 14x6, 26mm offset wheels. These are Minilite knockoffs manufactured in Australia. They are available through Pack Racing. I like the look better than the bottlecaps and prefer not having to use spacers. While I was at it I replaced the tires as well. Went with a set of 195/60HR-14 Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S. The Yokos that were on the car were old and I suspected they were flat spotted. All in all, I think a nice upgrade.
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• Jan. 4, 2008 - Stereo project
This is what it takes to reinstall the glove box on a 2002. Not an easy task that requires the addition of a second set of hands. In this case, my daughter's.
One of the things I have found in the new audio system in Happy Face is that in spite of the addition of new sound insulation in the doors and other areas, the car is very loud at speed. Some of this has to do with the new headers which have a mighty growl at 3500 rpm or so. Also, just the normal ambient wind noise on these cars is just something that we have to live with. As a result, the nice stereo system that Coupe King put in just isn't very effective on the highway. You can't hear the front speakers at all and you have to blast the rear volume to raise it above all that road noise. So we are going to readdress the system and make some changes. Part of that will be the addition of a custom-built subwoofer enclosure in rear of the car to fill in the low end of the sound spectrum. Its not going to be one of those boom boxes you hear at the stop light but will provide a fuller sound. In addition I'm putting in a good bluetooth system that will allow me to go hands free for phone calls while driving. More on the audio system in the next post.
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• Jan. 1, 2008 - 2008 Hair of the Dog drive
• Dec. 20, 2007 - "What year is your car?"
That's the question I keep getting as I drive Happy Face around. Several people have shouted out comments or questions about the car from traffic light stops and gas stations. When I stopped in at the local BMW club coffee the gear heads gathered around for inspection.
Is this where the fun begins?
:-)
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• Dec. 11, 2007 - Final Delivery and the trip home to Texas!
• Dec. 1, 2007 - One week away from delivery!
Well, the restoration is only a few days away from completion. Next week I'll fly out to Long Beach and pick up Happy Face. Here are a few shots taken out in front of the shop. She's ready for the drive home to Houston.
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• Nov. 10, 2007 - A visit to Coupe King to see Happy Face
• Sep. 6, 2007 - Exhaust and Header
Report from KC, 9/2/07: Custom stainless exhaust and thermal coated header installed. Sound is mellow and powerful, just right. Now to install the heater box, AC and details.
 
Left: Subtly enlarged stock appearing exhaust pipe. Right: Thermal coating will keep engine temps down. Important in Houston with an AC car! Also looks nice, and easy to keep that way. Also note the nifty 'hammertone' powder coated valve cover.
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• Aug. 5, 2007 - Coming down the home stretch - more
Here's the home stretch report from Coupe King:
6/21 On the lift, scrubbed the pan and undercoated everything. Let it dry and begin the reassemble from the bottom up.
7/21 Motor and trans up and in, and custom AC bracket is made to mount late compressor to tii motor. Rear seats back from the trimmer and have the new side window gaskets that we'd been out of. Now to close the car up with glass and trim and install the interior. Then we make it run.
8/5 Motor runs...It's alive! It's alive!... Tii brakes in the front with new KYB's and ST springs. Bigger swaybars ordered. Header on and awaiting thermal coat and connection to a complete stainless exhaust system next week.
 
Hella lights and detailed horns. Redone vent assemblies and door glass installed.
 
New tii calipers... Tii struts, new rotors and calipers, SS brake lines. Need bleed the system and ready to go...and stop too.
 
Rear seat and door panels in place. Nice shot of the new carpet. Rear speakers mounted and insulated. We will cover this area with speaker cloth and the speakers will be hidden entirely.
Big 'ol header. In place for fitting only. It will be modified when it returns from the muffler shop, and a thermal coat will finish it up. Important to minimize engine heat with the AC system nearby and the Texas sun overhead.
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• Jul. 29, 2007 - Coming down the home stretch
Happy Face is near her rebirth. We're down to some of the last bits and pieces now but as they say, the devil is in the details.....
 
Motor nestled in the bay. Mounted from below to save the paintwork. Powder coated valve cover, 32/36. 2nd pic is a detail shot of the AC compressor. Tii exhaust is high temp coated. Headers and a custom stainless steel exhaust will also go in.
Rear seat is a stock 2002 seat that has had a 320i rear seat cover modified to fit. Matches the front Recaros.
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• Jul. 21, 2007 - The Motor
 
Here's the motor. 9.5CR new oversize pistons. Balanced and blueprinted and dyno run already 30 minutes. Ready to go into the car. Heat coated tii exhaust manifold, 'peanut' intake manifold with a light port matching and a 32/36 removed from the original car.
 
AC pulleys and mounts also on the engine now.
Here is the car's new front subframe. The steering box mount has been boxed and reinforced before the whole item was powder coated. Then new bushings are mounted and the suspension will follow. The motor will be built atop this carriage and go up into the car from below. (Note we are using the Ireland motor mount from the old car)
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• Jun. 21, 2007 - The bottom
 
On the lift, scrubbed the pan and undercoated everything
 
Let it dry and begin the reassemble from the bottom up. |
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• Jun. 18, 2007 - Putting more pieces back on
 
Back from the trimmers. Carpet and headliner installed.
 
Headliner and trim coming all back now
 
The one compromise - a one-piece dash hey, how bout that trim?
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• May. 19, 2007 - Putting the pieces back together
 
Sound deadening on the firewall from a later model 2002. Engine bay prep for the motor.
 
Reinstall the wiring harness after it's been cleaned and rewrapped. A lot of pretty little details here...
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