1975 bmw 2002

You have a PM.

Good to see Chris. I remember you selling off a car and got worried this project got tanked. I hope to see it in person some time! If you need some help or some beer. Let me know.

Jeremy

kooyajerms said:

Good to see Chris. I remember you selling off a car and got worried this project got tanked. I hope to see it in person some time! If you need some help or some beer. Let me know.

Jeremy

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Hi Jeremy,

I had to sell the Golf because I have too many cars. No worries though, I'm still plugging away, slowly but surely. When it comes time to tackle the wiring, I could sure use some help. I'm an idiot when it comes to automotive electronics...

You bring beer...I can cook some thai food....

Transmission mount

In order to fit the W58 trans I had to cut out the original 2002 transmission mounting tabs in the transmission tunnel. Here is how I made my transmission crossmember to mount the transmission...




Here is the transmission with crossmember mounted to the car...

I ended up just bolting the crossmember to the floor and through a small steel plate on the interior of the car. I may have to beef this up a bit in the future by fabricating a larger plate that also bolts to the transmission tunnel, or just a larger steel plate with more surface area covering the floor.

Really like that crossmember! Nice work.

crossmember looks great, I would consider making some larger plates for the inside and possibly perimeter welding them to the body for added strength. you sure didn't leave much space between the tailpiece/shifter and the trans tunnel did you? what happens if your engine/trans combo flexes a bit? you could be in for some nasty squeaks.

overall, you are doing an awesome job. love the attention to detail and the custom fabrication going on.

Great job on that crossmember and the motor mounts - can't wait to see the completed project!

Top-notch workmanship! Thanks for the pix and please keep 'em coming!

Top notch work sir, really. Can't wait to see this finished. When the trans in my Bug dies I'm gonna do this.

Very good stuff, but a 320d engine would be cool in there too

CrAzYDr1veR said:

Very good stuff, but a 320d engine would be cool in there too

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Didn't come to USA. The only BMW diesels we got are E90 335d, E70 X5d and E28 524TD, all with automatics only.

Just out of curiousity, and to expand on Growler's concern, what happens with that solid rear trans mount when the driveline does flex? Are you not worried about those four bolts pulling out or damaging the trans? Or is there a soft mount up top that is just not visible in the picture? Still loving this conversion though, I hope to be able to set up a fab shop when I buy a house so I can do stuff like this at home!

mlemorie said:

Just out of curiousity, and to expand on Growler's concern, what happens with that solid rear trans mount when the driveline does flex? Are you not worried about those four bolts pulling out or damaging the trans? Or is there a soft mount up top that is just not visible in the picture?

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w58 trans mount

mlemorie said:

Just out of curiousity, and to expand on Growler's concern, what happens with that solid rear trans mount when the driveline does flex? Are you not worried about those four bolts pulling out or damaging the trans? Or is there a soft mount up top that is just not visible in the picture? Still loving this conversion though, I hope to be able to set up a fab shop when I buy a house so I can do stuff like this at home!

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here's a better pic of the W58 transmission mount. You can't see it in the other photo I posted...

Yes, I am concerned about the durability of the mounting solution. I know some on the 2002 forum have used bolt in trans mounts for 5-speed conversions, however, they are bolted in a more vertical orientation in the trans tunnel. I think when I get the car running I can take it to work and weld in something in the trans tunnel for added support....and just so you know I can't fab anything at home...I don't even have a 220 power source in my garage. I'm a car designer at KIA motors in Irvine CA and we have a multi-million design center with just about everything one would need to fabricate something for a car...

shifter hole

Growler said:

crossmember looks great, I would consider making some larger plates for the inside and possibly perimeter welding them to the body for added strength. you sure didn't leave much space between the tailpiece/shifter and the trans tunnel did you? what happens if your engine/trans combo flexes a bit? you could be in for some nasty squeaks.
overall, you are doing an awesome job. love the attention to detail and the custom fabrication going on.

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Growler, you are right about the clearance around shifter hole in the interior. There is only about 1/4 clearance in all directions...here's a pic, but it's difficult to see...

I don't think it will be difficult to trim more metal out to make more clearance. I'm going to pull the engine/trans out before final install at which time I can make that hole bigger. Consider this a test fit. Stock 2002's use a thick foam insert for noise and heat dissipation around the shifter and I'll probably find some durable closed cell foam and do the same.

Diesel choices

CrAzYDr1veR said:

Very good stuff, but a 320d engine would be cool in there too

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I was considering this option for about a minute....lack of vendor supply and tuner support scared me off. However, if anyone ever figure's out how to use a modern BMW diesel in an old car I would put one in my CS coupe....that would really piss some people off I imagine....

The other engine I strongly considered was the mercedes 190d motor. it's already longitudinal and has a mechanical injection pump. Ultimately, my experience (not much really) with VW's ALH and the possibility of big power AND big MPG's steered me toward this swap.

couttsdesign said:

Growler, you are right about the clearance around shifter hole in the interior. There is only about 1/4 clearance in all directions...here's a pic, but it's difficult to see...
I don't think it will be difficult to trim more metal out to make more clearance. I'm going to pull the engine/trans out before final install at which time I can make that hole bigger. Consider this a test fit. Stock 2002's use a thick foam insert for noise and heat dissipation around the shifter and I'll probably find some durable closed cell foam and do the same.

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Glad you took my note as well as you did, I certainly didn't mean to be super critical, I was just noting what I thought might be a concern in the future when the rubbers get broken in and she gets all squishy in there .

I am very much enjoying this thread as I can easily see myself going down this road someday.

couttsdesign said:

I don't even have a 220 power source in my garage.

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A 120V mig welder would be fine for everything you've built, once you own a welder you'll wonder how you ever lived without one

Awesome swap, this car will be so much fun!

Some nice welding there Chris!
I better drop by to check it out before you are done!

I did indeed miss the rubber mount. Im not terribly familiar with toyota stuff, so that is probably part of the reason why I didnt spot it at first. I know how it goes having to make stuff at work lol. Im a dyno tech for Isuzu, and any time I need to make some small tools, or parts for my RC stuff, I use the machine shop at work since I have nothing at home lol. Im house shopping, and Im hoping to find a place with a big enough garage, or a seperate pole barn so I can set up a workshop and do it at home. All the parts are still looking fantastic though!

couttsdesign said:

I'm a car designer at KIA motors in Irvine CA and we have a multi-million design center with just about everything one would need to fabricate something for a car...

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C'mon, that is just straight up cheating!

Just kidding! Nice work and good job taking advantage of your available resources! I wonder how many other designers are building their own car?

Best use of 75 2002 I have seen

Really like this idea. Original engines in these weren't that exciting anyway, all torque anyway. Plus that square car needs torque to cruise. Please put older bumpers on it. Never liked the baby bumpers.

Wow... awesome project! Impressive photography of impressive work.

Hey Chris, how goes the project?

Bring it to the GTG maybe? =)

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?p=4002371

Such a nice car. I thought I was really something with 110 hp and 110 ft lbs of tq in my 76 2002. I can't imagine that thing with some real torque behind it. I considered an SR20 swap but the factory motor and trans never died so I left it in, had I thought about it long enough I'd be doing this swap as well.

Good luck to you sir!

Sweet conversion. Now have you finalized your serpentine belt arrangement without the power steering and A/C components? This to me is a car worth putting a TDI in. Classic lines, and it'll sound oh so nice.

Are you going to put the oil filter assembly very far from the block then? You mentioned the steering was in the way, wondered how close it was.

FredS said:

Are you going to put the oil filter assembly very far from the block then? You mentioned the steering was in the way, wondered how close it was.

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the oil filter housing will be about 1 foot away from the stock location. There is absolutely no way the oil filter housing can stay in the stock location and not interfere with the steering box of the 02.

rear subframe/differential swap

It's been awhile since my last post, but I've been slowly and steadily working on the project. I've been busy with work and that has cut into my time alot. Anyway, one of the most important aspects to this project is getting the gearing right, which for me was to get it as close to the stock VW TDI driving experience. I used to drive my Golf pretty much between 2000-3000 rpm 90% of the time. Also, I like being able to do 80 on the freeway at around 2800 rpm's. I used some online gearing calculators and determined the stock 2002 diff (3.64 ratio) would not work...it simply would rev too high. In fact there is not a bolt in differential with a tall enough ratio that would work. My solution was to swap in a BMW medium case differential from an E30 bmw, which comes in a wide range of gear ratios, but i'm most interested in the 2.79 or 2.93 ratios. Another important part of the equation is to use a diff cover from an e36 because it has two mounting ears. The problem is the medium case diff requires total fabrication to get it mounted into a 2002. Here's how I did it....

I started by digitally scanning the 2002 rear subframe, 2002 differential, and e30 medium case differential with e36 diff cover. This allows me to manipulate the parts in the computer and create exact templates for the new "cage" that needed to be fabricated. in pics below, 2002 diff is blue and e30 diff is red.


Templates made and 1/4" steel about to be cut.

The "cage" tacked together for test fitting

All jigged and prepped for welding.


After test fitting the assembly on the car I was not happy with the location of the diff and cage. Basically, it was nestled right up against the underside of the 2002 trunk floor. There was no room for access to the bolts that hold the diff on top of the cage. So chop and drop the whole thing about 20mm.


Test fitting was all good...and here is the finished subframe.


This is only part of the solution....rear diff mount and half shafts still to come in the next posting....stay tuned friends.

Holy cow.... talk about going the extra mile. Very nice work sir. I am super jealous of your 3d scanner.. while you are at it. Pop off about 10 of those subframe adapters and motor mounts and trans cross members.. bet you could find buyers lol.

Simply masterful work. Thanks for sharing your progress with us.