Quote:
Originally Posted by seedyrom
Omera, don’t forget it’s a 40+ year old car. Daily drivability, cornering speed, comfort levels, are all words which make sense when talking about restoring a 1999 Nissan GTR ... just don’t forget the age and the age in which this car was made.
It was seen as an excellent handling beast in its day.
“That engine is too big!” The detractors cried .... but these days a Corolla will out handle and outrace one.
2002s can be made to handle ... I’m just saying to respect that it isn’t a modern car.
I was once going to sell one of mine. A young guy came to look at it, but he had never driven one before. I threw him the keys and he went off in it. He came back as white as a ghost.
It wasn’t what he was expecting at all. Wheel slop, slow brakes, gear shift not as tight as a modern car.
2002s are great ... but they are an older car, and your expectations should be set accordingly
|
Seedyrom,
Thank you for your insight.
I want to restore the car to its original state as it left the factory in November of 1974, however, I also want to drive around with it in my day to day life without worrying about overheating, being starnded or rolling when coming into a sharp corner. That's why I feel the need to help the engine with some modern-day tech like a cooling fan or new suspension system. Of course, I'm not expecting a 40+-year-old car to perform as my 2016 2 Coupe. I respect the car which is older than me and I know what it symbolizes and means for the many. About a month ago I borrowed an i8 from my dealer for 2 weeks just for fun. It was all fun and games until I started to notice how people were looking at the car with envy as a 20-year-old was driving it, this got me really uncomfortable. However, the story changes with 2002. People look at it as a reminiscent of their youth, they look at it with love and passion and the car isn't even complete. The day I bought it I was taking it to my place, it's about 3-4km max drive in the city. I was stopped by 12 different strangers along the road who came to me while I was waiting at red lights just to admire the car and started telling me stories about their 2002's or their memories of one which they saw back in the day. This car gets love not hate. My dad told me that driving a BMW 2002 back in the day in Turkey was like driving a Lamborghini today. It was extremely rare.
I want all the funkiness and quirks of it, what I am trying to overcome is just to be able to use it without running into issues that 1970's engineers didn't expect(read: traffic, high temperatures etc.).
That's why I am having constant debates over my head about what to change and what not to. For example, this car has the E21 5 Speed swap done to it. Should I change it or keep it, 5 speed will help me in the day to day driving but the original was a 4 Speed. So this is where Originality vs practicality debate starts for me. I also got a 4 speed as a gift as my father recently couldn't resist and acquired a 2002 but with original Alpina A2 level modifications done to it when it was bought and sent back to Alpina/Germany. The owner gave me the original 4 speed as it was replaced with a Getrag 5 speed dogleg at Alpina. We are the 3rd owner of the car.
Also, you don't need to use my username, my name is Omer
Quote:
Originally Posted by 02Pilot
As someone who's owned 2002s for the last 25 years, worked on basically every component of them at one point or another, and driven them in competition, let me offer you a few bits of advice.
You've got the car disassembled to the point that rebuilding whole systems makes a lot of sense. Work in this order: brakes, suspension, power. If you can't stop, bad things happen; if you can stop but can't control the car precisely, bad things happen; if you're making less power than you'd like, you're slow.
The braking system is pretty straightforward and easy to rebuild. The soft lines can degrade internally and cause fluid pressure to be retained at the wheels. Wheel cylinders are cheap. Get good pads and rotors for the front, and shoes for the rear. Make sure the adjusters on the rear baking plates are free, otherwise you won't be able to adjust the rears properly and you'll have excessive pedal travel.
Suspension is where you have to start making choices. If you want a street car with compliant handling, replace every bushing with rubber. If you want a tighter suspension that trades comfort for handling, replace every bushing with polyurethane. Do not leave old bushings in place, as they will compromise everything else you do to the suspension. The steering linkage should be dealt with at this point as well; the shaft coupler can fail, so replace that too. There are plenty of options for springs and shocks. I prefer Bilsteins to Konis, but that's a personal choice. Any modern shock and spring combo will be superior to the factory units; the question again is how much lowering you want (if any) and how firm you want the suspension to feel.
Get those things squared away and then worry about the engine and drivetrain. Always keep in mind that it's generally more fun to drive a slow car fast than it is to drive a fast car slow.
|
I am repairing everything and replacing the things that cannot be repaired or that needs to be changed, this is a bare bone restoration as it makes the most sense to get in the way of any potential issues that may arise down the road. Thank you for the advice, I really appreciate it
