Happy New Year.

Car of the Month February 2007

Bill Williams's Stunning 1972 2000 Tii Touring

(Funny enough the first ever Touring as my COTM, so lets see more of them).

The Journey, the Joy and the Story

It is not about the cars, it is about the people……

The genesis of this statement in unsure, it may have come from one of the many times several 2002 owners had together on the caravan to Keystone, Colorado, in 2002. Whenever or wherever it came to be, it was true then and is true today.

1. Start the fascination of BMW 2002s, 1972 Travel 28 years

Journeys often have defined moments of the beginning and the end, but my journey of enjoying the vintage BMW 2002 doesn’t have a defined beginning and the end is still out there at the end of a turn. However, the roads traveled and the people met along the way are worth every penny spent and hour invested keeping my two little cult cars on the road.

My affection for the BMW 2002 began in college in West Virginia reading David Davis’ articles on the 2002. Funding my college education myself, as many do, cash was short, too short to even think about a BMW. But somehow, I did save enough for a down payment to trade my 1967 Plymouth Fury on a 1972 Datsun 510. It was a nice alternative to the BMW 2002. After the Datsun, car life then took me through an MGB, Oldsmobile Cutlass, Dodge Colt, a BMW 320i and several other family vehicles until one fateful day, July 4, 2000.

2. Purchase my first BMW 1972 2002tii Travel 1 year

It was on our way to view fireworks, in all places, Martinsburg, West Virginia, when Evan, my youngest son, and I spotted a bright yellow 1972 BMW 2002tii sitting on King Street with a for sale sign. Two days later, the car made its way from West Virginia to our home in Maryland, with Nathan, my oldest son, driving, Evan in the shotgun seat, and me, pops, in the back seat. The seat I occupied many times over the next few years as the boys and I attended BMW 2002 events, gatherings and fun rallies.

From July 2000 to June 2005, the journey of the “yellow little car”, my wife’s affectionate name for Pikachu, the name the boys dubbed the car, took me through mechanical upgrades and pleasurable road trips. The road trips led me to all of the Mid-Atlantic States, North Carolina, Connecticut and 1,700 miles to Colorado meeting people captivated, and some obsessed, with the car that saved BMW from bankruptcy in the early 1970s. The trips were with other 2002 owners and drivers chasing each other around twists and turns. Most of the time, one of the boys was behind the wheel of my car and “pops” in one of the other seats.

3. Make a U turn on 9-11-2001 Travel 4 years

9-11 2001, the date changing the course of history also changed the Williams family and started the journey of my ownership of the 1972 BMW 2000tii Touring. Work took me to all three crash site immediately after 9-11.

Three days later, I needed to be in New Jersey to assist in efforts to restore communications in Manhattan, New York. Nathan went with me to help and we were going to continue on to 02 Fest East. On the way out of New Jersey to 02 Fest East, four days after the attack on America, we looked across the Hudson to sadly see the smoke still rising from Ground Zero in Manhattan. That sight had a profound impact on me and most of all Nathan.

4. Come to a sudden stop on 13 May 2005 Travel 1 month

It was that event and a desire to serve his country that led Nathan to serve his country in the United States Army as a master gunner in an up-armored HumV and ASV. On 13 May, 2005, he deployed to Iraq serving in and around Baghdad for 12 months.

5. Make a purchase of the second 2002 on June 11, 2005 Travel 4 months

This begins the story of my second BMW 2002tii and the refurbishment pictured in this book.

In a self defensive move to stay sane through Nathan’s deployment, I purchased a 1972 BMW 2000tii Touring a buddy of mine, Mike Pugh, found for sale in Connecticut.

If you are the parent of a soldier in war I need not explain the pain and worry parents of soldiers in battle endure, if you are not, I can not explain.

This leg of the journey begins on June 11, 2006. Evan, my youngest son, and I hooked up the car hauler to the wife’s truck and headed to Connecticut to get the car. At a fuel stop, we noticed a worn tire on the hauler. In the same amount of time it took me to fill the tank, Evan changed the tire and we were on our way. What great boys I have to still lend a hand to pops when they are teenagers. We made the exchange of money for title and headed back to Maryland though the never ending I-95 construction and traffic jams. We unloaded the touring and took it for our first drive. As usual, I was not driving.

I fixed some of the mechanicals needing attention and drove the car to work all summer. Driving the car allowed me to assess the level of restoration I could attempt financially and matching my level of competency. The motor needed drastic attention as well as the body. The choice for the motor builder was not a hard choice, Eric Kerman from Long Island, New York, built the motor for the yellow little car, and would be the one to build the touring’s motor. His ability as a professional motor builder would prove invaluable in the process finding a way to install piano top pistons into a 121 head. He did this to preserve the original 121 head.

My first choice for the body work was a shop in Connecticut but attempts to reach them were not successful. During the 2005 BMW Oktoberfest in Greensboro, North Carolina, I stumbled on a shop in Greensboro that did some nice work on a cabriolet and a supercharged 2002. Greg Rogers, owner of Romans 8:36 Paint and Body Center, and I talked, agreed on a pricing plan and time schedule. This was not a stumble, it was meant to be.

6. Begin dissassembley of the Touring on October 7, 2005 Travel 10 months

October 7th, was the day we started disassembling the car and in three days it was torn apart. On Friday, October 28, 2005, Evan and I headed to North Carolina to deliver the car to Greg on Saturday morning. As usual, Evan was driving, and driving his big Dodge diesel truck with the shell of the touring strapped into a borrowed covered car hauler.

The plan for the refurbishment, a term I use rather that restoration (I refurbish – professionals do restorations), was to work on all the components and sub-systems while the car was away at the body shop. The motor was delivered to Eric and picked up from him right on schedule. Visits with Eric are always enlightening and educational. The Kugelfisher, (the mechanical fuel injection pump on the tii) was entrusted to Dave Redszuz in Bensenville, Illinois, along with the fuel injectors and distributor. Dave restores the pump, injectors and distributors to factory specifications and restores the appearance to museum quality.

The stock 3:45 limited slip differential was a disaster. I found two spun bearings and worn gears. Jim, at Metric Mechanics, worked his magic restoring the differential. He replaced all of the bearings and found a new gear set. He had to machine the front carrier bearing from an e-21 to retain the stock differential.

Chrome was restored by Royal Silver in Norfolk, Virginia. It was good fortune to find Mac at Royal Silver. The chrome side pieces to the seats became a challenge. They are no longer available, that dreaded NLA term we hate to see or hear, so a restoration of the existing pieces was necessary. Chroming the side pieces was not a problem, but the huge springs inside the side pieces were. I knew if I tried to remove that spring so the side pieces could be chromed, everyone in the same county with me was in danger. Mac found a local machine shop catering to Porshes that would disassemble the springs and reassemble them after they were chromed.

Five factory sport alloy wheels that came with the car were showing the wear of 30 some years had to be straightened, repaired and refinished. Collison Wheel in Bath, Pennsylvania, did an incredible job bringing the wheels back to original condition.

For some reason, the sub-frames became a passion for me to restore very well, maybe because I could do this myself. I disassembled the front and rear sub-frames, sent them to the sandblaster and had them powder coated. The color of the sub-frames is different than any other restorations I have seen. It was my observation, on the early 2002s, the original sub-frames were a dark olive green color, much like the color of the brake lines. My understanding, the green color was some type of protective coating BMW put on them. I spent much of the cold weather months, in the midget garage (my term for the shed we built) working on the sub-frames, bushing, sealing, and installing new bearing. Those were finished and set aside until the body was in a state they could be hung on the car.

During the time the shell was at the body shop, I worked on all of those smaller components that take time to refurbish. The heater box, steering shaft, jack, hardware, headlight buckets, brake booster, pedal box, dash cluster, fuel tank were refurbished. I also assemble the components on the rebuilt motor stripping the “moil” (mud and oil) from the intake manifolds and front cover. I powder coated them myself with an Eastwood powder coating gun and curing them in an old kitchen oven.

6. Drive to North Carolina on August 4, 2006 Travel 9 days

August 4, 2006, Ruth, Nathan and I picked up the finished shell from Greg. It was a close of business pick up and as we drove back to Maryland late at night, we drove though a tremendous summer thunderstorm but with the car safe in an enclosed trailer, all was well. This was a good day; the shell looked great with its new metal and fresh Colorado paint. Colorado, a dreamsicle shade, was chosen from sands and heat of Iraq. During one of our many satellite telephone conversations, SPC Nathan Williams talked me out of my other color choices, so Colorado it is. My choice for a body shop had not disappointed me. Greg and his crew did an incredible job with the body work and sourcing parts with the assistance of Maximillian Conover at Maximillian Importing, and Eddie Vega at Crown BMW.

7. Begin reassembly in Clarksville, Maryland, on August 13, 2006 Travel 20 days

It is now the second week in August and the car needs finished by the first of September if it wants to see the Rolex vintage event at Lime Rock Park.

On August 13, 2006, “the people” start showing up to help with experience and helpful hands. Mike Pugh, Matthew Cervi and the oldest son, Nathan, help prepare the motor for installation through the bottom of the car. The morning of August 14, 2006, Mike and I install the motor and transmission into the car. Our day is cut short so I can go to Baltimore’s Shock Trauma to be with Evan, as he goes through his second surgery to repair a severely damaged knee. On August 9, Evan and Nathan were riding their motorcycles when a non-driver pulls in front of them causing Evan to lay his bike down. He sustained road rash over most of his body and removed the skin and soft tissue from his right knee. It is hard to focus on the car right now.

As Evan improves, more of my spare time finds me in the midget garage working on the touring bearing down on completion by Labor Day.

Several friends invested their time with me putting in the motor (Mike Pugh, Matthew Cervi and Nathan), placing the front windscreen (Mathew and Ruth) and installing the bumpers, bleeding the hydraulic system and starting the motor (Bill Riblett). Their help during the final assembly stage is invaluable. They kept me on track and kept me from making any neophyte blunders. Eric Grable, my 78 year old German neighbor, is a real friend and wanders over regularly to check on me and spend time in the “laboratory”.

8. Restart the motor on September 2, 2006 Travel 7 days

Oh yeah, did you catch the part that the motor started? Fire up date was September 2, 2006. It started well, as Bill Riblett and I fiddled with the timing and fuel mixture. We worked most of the day trying to get the car to idle below 1,700 rpms. No success.

During the first day of running the motor, I had the one mishap. The one I knew would happen, but not sure what it would be. During a tuning run in the midget shed, the car made a sickening screech and squeal from the front part of the motor. Scared and sick I thought the worst, a motor or pump failure. It turned out to be neither.

I failed to tighten the two bolts that secure the Kuglefisher pump to the front cover. One of them backed out; bringing the aluminum toothed pulley to a halt and stripping the toothed belt of 2 inches of teeth. So, apart come the grills, radiator, crank pulley and plastic covers to replace the toothed belt and ensure that all of the bolts and nuts on the pump are tight.

Labor Day 2006 weekend happened as it does every year but I am not in Lakeville, Connecticut, at the Rolex Vintage Event at Lime Rock Park. Oh well, the car is not quite finished, but it will be soon.

9. Head north to Lakeville, Connecticut, on September 9, 2006

The Annual ’02 Fest East happens annually the weekend after Labor Day at Lime Rock Park. An event the boys and I attended three times. With the car 90% complete, Nathan, Evan, and I decide to stuff the car in the hauler and head to the event. Unfortunately Evan gets held up working a side job and in not able to go with us. He is trying to make extra money to pay his medical bills from his motorcycle accident. I am disappointed, but understand.

Again rain falls out of thunderstorms as we transport the touring. Nathan and I end up at a bed and breakfast a mile from the track around 9:30 pm., a weird night. The bed and breakfast is a white farm house set along side the road to the track. This night it is surrounded by a light mist and fog, a light on the porch shows us to the front door. On the door is an envelope with the key to the front door and our room. We find our way upstairs and go to our room. During the night, we hear a person or two clumber up the stairs and return to the downstairs. The next morning, we leave for the track, not seeing anyone. Only the lone arm of a man in “wife beater” undershirt was seen in the window.

We arrive at the track, anxious I guess; we are first. We unload the car and wait for the gates to open. It was a clear and beautiful day. Almost 40 cars show up in wearing many different colors, suffering from varying degrees of rust, but all clean. The owners excited to be there.

The touring gets many on looks because of it rarity. It is the first look at a touring for most of those there. So rare it is, the crowd voted it the Peoples Choice Award and the Judges, the Most Original award.

So, on 9-11-06, I reflect, with a wide range of emotions, on the journey shared by many friends that started way back in 1972.

So what about the people?

It is all of the people connected to these cars that makes the journey rewarding. Who are they?

Ruth Williams for encouraging me along the way. Her help with those two person jobs were invaluable to me and treacherous for the manicure.

Nathan Williams providing the impetus for taking on this project and help along the way on wheel bearings and such.

Evan Willliams assisting me through the tear down process and hauling the car from Connecticut to North Carolina.

Mike Pugh for getting me into this fine mess and providing technical advice and assistance along the way.

Maximillian Conover and Jim Eagan for sourcing many difficult parts and material from Mobile Traditions.

Greg Rogers and crew at Romans 8:36 Body and Paint Center for fighting the rust and laying down an excellent paint job.

Eric Kerman for building another quality motor preserving the 121 head.

Dave Redszus rebuilding the Kuglefisher, injectors and distributor.

Fred Cocca for giving me the light bar and driving lights, one of the real nice guys in the community.

Bill Riblett for his help in moving the car from the poor boy lift to the trailer, guiding me to the sport steering wheel in Greensboro, North Carolina, bleeding brakes and installing the drive train to bearing with me through the process of starting the motor.

Dr. Humberto Marti sourcing a rare sales brochure.

Mac at Royal Silver for the chrome work.

Matthew Cervi for helping install the windscreen.

All the friends on the FAQ site for answering my questions and providing support and encouragement.

See you in the next turn!

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