Popular Post Duddley Posted March 9, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted March 9, 2014 (edited) I've always wanted a cheeky little 2002. Now I have one!Discussions! It's a 1971 and was last registered in 1993 and was never put on hold. So I'll have to go through all the hoops to get this thing on the road again. Awesome shape for it's age. Everything's there except for a few interior trim bits missing and headrests, but should hopefully be able to get em with not much worries. Externally there's a bit of rust in tops/bottoms of both doors, along the front of the bonnet and a bit of a hole in the sill on the drivers side. Other than that, it's straight as. It looks like it's had a bit of a bad respray at some stage as the top coat is flaking off badly on the roof and other parts. The bonnet is from a tii version and is a lighter shade. However I'll be sanding it all back and will get it resprayed heaps betterer. Power comes from a 2ltr Mazda 4cyl and wont turn over. We're thinking something's up with the fuel line as it wants to crank over, but doesn't. Meh. No worries though.. If you know me, then I'm all about the engine swaps! The engine bay is pretty little and tight. I'd love to stuff a m50b25 (DOHC 2.5ltr 6cyl) under there, but I want to stick something of the same make in there without much hastle and modification to firewall etc.. So I might have to settle down and go with a 4cyl. There's heaps of documentation out there and kits to swap in m42b18 (DOHC 1.8ltr 4cyl) which sounds like a decent option and something I could have a crack at myself. So yeah, plans are to tidy it up lushly, replace all the cracked door/window rubber, swap out the dildos mazda engine for a modern bmw engine, maybe a set of coilovers, then get it cert'd and legal. After that, fun stuff like wheels and maybe a front airdam will finish it up super sweetly. Thanks Sparkle for posting this up on marketplace ready for me to pounce on! Edited March 9, 2014 by Duddley flickr was being dumb 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duddley Posted March 9, 2014 Author Share Posted March 9, 2014 (edited) Water blasted the diff n stuff! Before: After! Edited March 9, 2014 by Duddley flickr being dumb again 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duddley Posted March 10, 2014 Author Share Posted March 10, 2014 It fires up! Just had to replace a rooted fuel line, wait for the fuel pump to suck and wait a while till the engine turned over. However the clutch and/or gear box ain't doing anything. So will jack it up this weekend and have a gander under it's skirt. If the engine's gotta come out to fix it, then it'll stay out. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duddley Posted June 23, 2014 Author Share Posted June 23, 2014 I've been doing stuff to this without making mention of it here on this mistreated thread! For shame Cazz n' I are in hardcore super savings mode (with furious results) for our impending wedding that's slated for end of next year, so I was in the mind set that I better not touch this until after then.. However I realised I can still work on it, just without any finances involved! Soo.. yay?! First up, I made some space in the shed and got it in out of the rain I took the front grill(s) off to have a look at rust etc. It's pretty rusty/bad towards the black bottom there and would think it'd be a mish to fix.. But instead of fixing it, I'm thinking I'll fit an airdam and cut the rusty blah stuff off. The mazda engine is still in it and probably will be until after the wedding. The engine swap of choice at the mo' is still an m42 or m44 as it should be an easy-ish swap and is roughly the same weight as the original m10 engines these came with. Will be able to tickle it up a bit and get it nice n punchy and use it as a zippy daily runner as well as a track car now and again. In other words: getting too sensible compared to the days of cressida. I've been working on taking all the dents and bends out of the chrome belt trim every second night. It's a bit of a mish, but it's something I can do without spending money (yet).. Chuck a modified/grinded flat head bolt up into a drill press and you have yourself a pretty nifty dent squasher Here's a before shot followed with an after shot.. Damn, with all the shiny it's a bit hard to tell what's dented and what isn't.. The first shot shows a deep dent right at the end/top of the trim. The second shows it mostly flat and level. Unfortunately this is chrome and not polished stainless so I'll prolly have to get them redone at some stage. But yeah, that's what I've been doing and will continue to be doing on this thing for the next aaaaaaages. After I've made the chrome trim better (or worse) I'll move onto working on the panels and stripping all the interior so I know what I'm working with a bit better. That'll happen once we have Cazz's dads Cortina GXL road going again after it's new bushes are in. Here's a shot of the passenger foot well with the carpet lifted out. It's pretty good under there! Just a spot of light surface rust here n there. What's the best way of getting that super hard shitty factory insulation off? How does that dry ice method work? Engage conversation here 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duddley Posted June 30, 2014 Author Share Posted June 30, 2014 Oh no, the carpet and seats fell off.. Where have they gone Here they are This is how I spent some of my weekend. Stripping like the any good lady of the night. It's surprisingly pretty good under the carpets and seats. Haven't found any rust inside there yet! Plan is to continue removing everything from inside, have a good perv at it all and work out whats able to be cleaned up and reused. So far - all the seats are in awesome nick and the vinyl of the door cards, parcel tray and dash are pretty good (some minimal cracks/splits here n there).. But all the funny plasticy chrome stuff they used in the dash and door cards is all flaking off and looks horrid. So will either try find replacements or find some sticky chrome shit to replace with. But that can come later. Tail lights are super good. Should come up sweet with a decent wash and polish. Not this though. Someones put the dick all over this thing. This is the result of an hour and a half of pissing about with it trying to straighten it all out and get rid of the dings. It might be ok if I give it more time, but it'll never be back to its former glory (without professional help at least). So this might be one of those things I might just buy new. So yeah! Next plan is to ice ice baby the shit out of the sticky sound dampening crap on the floor and firewall behind the dash and try find any rust. If not, then I'll continue to strip the outside and then get into cleaning up the rust in the bonnet and the sills. I'm also gona try and get the engine/gearbox out this weekend and see what part of the undercarriage is good. Cazz's dad and I are gona set up a spot in the shed to do some sandblasting so will clean up some of the worst offending parts. Seeing as I'm a good dirty lil stripper - been thinking about stripping everything including the paint and changing up the colour.. BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT?! What ya recon? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duddley Posted July 5, 2014 Author Share Posted July 5, 2014 Dry ice worked a treat on the floor! Managed to lift out all of this shits worth of floor stuff The floor is all awesome and rust free so I stopped clearing this stuff out after I'd done the foot wells. The stuff under the back seats and the tunnel looks like it's just been laid in there. So I thought why mess it up, just leave it as is. However, this thing was cramping my style.. Get outta there turkey Thaaaaat's better Now I'll be stripping the engine bay, sandblasting and refurbishing the brake boosters/master and taking the subframe out as well as continuing to do the trim and the interior. Mean. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duddley Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 Long over due update. It feels like bugger all has been done, but I have been messing with it a few nights every week so I guess somethings getting done! I've stripped the engine bay along with the interior a bit more, but have done nothing to the subframe as all our axel stands are still being used on Cazz's Dad's mk3 Cortina. Shouldn't be too much longer till that's back on the road. Anyway.. I went on a rust hunt and found it in the sills, doors and the bottom of the front nose panel. Got the wire wheel out and went on the attack expecting to find shit loads of rust. Was surprised that there's bugger all rust! What you see is what you get. I could just fibreglass and bog the sills, but I'm thinking i'll not be a dodgy bugger and I'll get 'em cut out and replaced as I wana take a peek at the inner sills are looking like. Passenger front sill Passenger back sill Drivers front sill Passenger back sill - Worst of the lot All is pretty good.. However, here's the passenger door: Pretty bad.. I've found a guy in auckland/northland that has a heap of spares and has some rust free doors. The drivers door only has a spot or two of rust. So will grab a passenger side (or both) when I'm allowed to spend money. Other than the rust, I've been continuing to fix and polish the trim. Next up: strip it inside and out and do some panel work. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duddley Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 Stripped all the black underseal stuff from out of the passenger footwell to find that a patch plates been welded in there to accommodate the mazda gearbox: Keen eyes will also note that the gear shifter hole has also been moved forward too. I'm taking this as good news, cause when I get new engine (still thinking it'll be a 318ti manual) it wouldn't matter if it fits or not as I can't make it any uglier than it already is! Woo! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duddley Posted November 30, 2014 Author Share Posted November 30, 2014 Boring progress update Finished cleaning up the floor and fixing the small rust problems.. You'll see there's a fair bit more paint I could've continued to grind off, but the bare metal and problem parts were already starting to get some surface rust going on.. So gotta do something about that quick.. Boom! POR-15 all up in there. That should hold up nice till I'm ready to spend up on sound deadening stuff and carpets. Oh yeah, decided to go carpets instead of the clean cabin (like in the porsche shots above) as some of you fine OSer's pointed out that it usually looks like shit in no time and it'll just look like it's unfinished. Anyway, update over. However! I keep changing my damn mind on what to do on the engine side of things.. My latest idea is to do the M20 swap from an e30 325i. The swaps been well documented by lots of '02 peeps and it looks as though it'd be easier than the M42. The M20B25 is roughly 40kg heavier than the original M10 engines and won't take much effort to fit. The gearbox tunnel is already in a bit of a state so bashing/cutting that up to fit engine and box ain't no thang. All I'll need is a doner e30 325i manual and I should be set. The tricky bit will be fitting a larger radiator in the front and moving it forward. No doubt I'll change my mind again.. but for now.. That's it! Next up: rust holes all up in the badunkadunk 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duddley Posted December 6, 2014 Author Share Posted December 6, 2014 Tank out and cleaned up Dents underneath and dumbness Not sure what to do about that dent. Other than getting professional help.. What else have I done.. I've polished up the front bumper and some other stuff. Taken the headlights apart and have cleaned and painted the housings matty black. Taken some other bits apart.. About to get stuck into the boot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duddley Posted December 8, 2014 Author Share Posted December 8, 2014 Surprise surprise.. Rust holes in the wheel well Crappy welding/brazing here n there Aaaaand bogged up seams that were supposed to be welded! (Gif is me turning light on/off where gap is between floor and behind drivers side wheel arch panel) I'm thinking the floor has been replaced at some stage.. Badly. Time to clean this shit up 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duddley Posted December 17, 2014 Author Share Posted December 17, 2014 Decided to take this center boot support out so I can figure out where the rust began and ended. So drilled the spot welds out and broke the super crappy brazing/welds off and found that it wasn't too bad under there. Will ditch it and fab a new one soon Decided to also to take the boot catch assembly out as well so I can tidy what's in behind there too. However someone put the dick on this thing.. It's structurally strong still so will bash it back into shape, clean it up and reuse. I'm thinking someone previously replaced the boot floor and bent this thing up (where the rusty bits are towards the top of the photo), then bent it back down and welded it in place and called it a day. Stink. Anyway. Time to get stuck in and get it ready for paint 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duddley Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 So this m20b25 happened.. It's missing a few bits and it's in pretty rough condition. Nothin but a bit of spit n' polish and a small fortune on rebuild bits can't handle I WILL MAKE IT FIT BY CRIKEY 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duddley Posted February 16, 2015 Author Share Posted February 16, 2015 Got the fenders off. What a bugger of a job. They were held on with 12 screw/bolts each with some of them easily accessible from the outside, then most of them were up under the guards under an inch of muck and underseal. It's as if the guy who previously tried to restore this had the bright idea of painting five cars worth of underseal up under there, then parking it in a swamp. Great work Here's the fun part. The 2002s were braised with lead on the very top end where the fender meets the nose so it's nice and flush with no gap. I've read that it's a simple job of melting the lead away and separating the fender away from it. The guy who fixed this up previously not only leaded the seam but also spot welded it. You'll have to imagine me flailing away on the end of a fender trying to rip the thing off, fighting some shitty welds. I'm surprised I didn't rip any sheet metal, or worse.. Careful application with an angle grinder soon fixed that. I should be a surgeon Next update will be after all that old underseal/filler muck has been cleaned up as well as fixing some rust holes n shit. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duddley Posted February 25, 2015 Author Share Posted February 25, 2015 In keeping with tradition of not doing what I said I'd do next from my previous post.. This'll make it heeeeeeaps easier to mount the M20 and jazz it up A popular fix for fitting the M20 into these engine bays is to hack the top of the nose so a larger radiator can be installed and be brought forward. However, I've read that people have opted for not cutting up the nose by using a wasted spark setup and an electric water pump for the M20 as these can be remotely mounted. Doing this can save a fair bit of space at the front of the engine. So I might look into that! Been having a tough time deciding whether to restore the bottom of the nose back to original and roll as is, or buy a fiberglass airdam and stick it on. The airdam option will be by far the easiest, but I'm liking the original bumperless look more and more. Restoring the nose to original is beyond my amature tom-foolery, so I'll have to way up the two options financially and do some pros and cons. Hmm. Next up: get the engine in there and make up some mounts. Might be hard to do it properly without gearbox/clutch/bellhousing 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duddley Posted April 19, 2015 Author Share Posted April 19, 2015 Have finally done some body work! Today's effort was cutting and replacing the manky big rust hole in the spare tire well in the boot. Started by drawing where I gotta cut Cut along the lines Make cardboard template from original, cut new piece and smack with a hammer until matching, grind and tweak until it fits in hole Weld and grind Now to do the same with some of the other bits here and there.. Gona leave the exterior welding for someone that can do this proper. Not a half-wit like me Other stuff I've done is to start stripping the new engine down a bit. It all looks pretty good so far! Have got in touch with a chap in the states that's just made a set of engine mounts to mount a m20b25 into a 2002 and said he'll be making a few sets. He's making the mounts so the engine will sit further back into the car, which means I'll need to give the firewall a nudge with a hitter. Better that than cutting up the nose and having to fab up a heap of strengthening supports etc. Mean maori mean 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Duddley Posted June 22, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 22, 2015 Sorry to keep you waiting. I know this is a long overdue update so I'll keep it brief with lotsa photos Here's it's current state Removed the subframe and struts then water blasted the muck out and had a look for signs of serious rot - which there was none! Just some light surface rust. The boots almost ready to go. Just need to cut, fold up and weld in a support bracket that spans the lock assembly support (took ages to hammer that back into shape) to the end between the shock towers. Then it's ready for base coat (that's POR-15 painted there so far) I was lucky enough to get a pair of awesome mounting brackets form a chap in the states that was making a few for himself and his mates! This will make the m20 mount onto the standard subframe mounts! Another benefit is it will push the engine further back into the center of the car and means I don't need to hack the nose-panel up to make it fit! Woo! Here's the test fit on the subframe - lookin good! I'll need to drill new mounting holes in the drivers side subframe mount as it sits roughly 15-20mm out which is no biggy. I'll do that once the subframe is bolted back into the car and the engine is resting on there naturally. Don't want to drill now in-case it's not straight etc and don't want to put extra stress on the mounts. So vice grips will do for now. However, the passenger side is perfect! Will add a strengthening plate to the inside of that subframe mount as thats a classic spot for stress cracks. One issue is the steering box vs the headers. In short.. It fits! but... The guibo heat shield is touching the headers. Not by much, but those headers will cook the guibo and the steering box in no time. I'll have to make up some headers myself one day. I'll also need to look into an oil filter relocation kit as the steering box definitely interferes with the filter. All in all - I'm very happy that the engine fits and there's space for future headers to flow around the steering box! I was starting to stress if there was going to be enough space and would have to forego the M20. I always figured I'd need to make up some headers and think about relocating the oil filter anyway. So next up is bolting the subframe back into the car, dropping the engine back on and align it all, drill those holes and check the clearance on the firewall end (thinking of taking out the rain tray there) then get the engine tested to see if it's worth building back up. I'll also be prepping the engine bay ready for paint. EXCITING! 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duddley Posted June 28, 2015 Author Share Posted June 28, 2015 Today's effort was removing a thing from the engine bay! Before.. After! Before... After! That thing was there to hold the bonnet release bar, the windscreen squirters and, I'm guessing, bracing. Nothing a strut brace wont fix. Main reason for taking it out was that it was going to interfere with new engine. So seeing as I'll be going with a fibreglass bonnet (remembering the current ones super rusty and poos), why not take it out completely! That means I wont need the bonnet release stuff as fibreglass bonnet wont be strong enough and am thinking about using those rubber bonnet latches that the old porches used to use instead (or the leather ones.. or bonnet pins.. Something!) I'd like to think I've made some weight saving too, but the panel feels like it only weighs a kg or two. Meh. Hoping to have an engine crane next weekend so will do the test fitting.. if life doesn't get in the way! Stupid life 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duddley Posted February 29, 2016 Author Share Posted February 29, 2016 Splatted paint all over engine bay Did this a while ago now. More updates will come through thick and fast! Stay tuned 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duddley Posted March 12, 2016 Author Share Posted March 12, 2016 Success! E21 trailing arms truely are 'bolt on'! Thanks heaps brockzila! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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