Car of the Month

May 2009

John Paulding's "Modern" 2002

Want to see your 02 featured here? Email me any 02, any condition richstern@hotmail.com.

It’s always a good idea to begin at the beginning, so…

The car was purchased in 1978, having had two previous owners, and was used as a daily driver. Being used in London and being kept out in the road it picked up lots of scuffs, minor dents and stone chips. In 1982 it was involved in a minor shunt and we then realised that the front panel and wings were pretty rotten. The front panel, original alloy grille, wings and rear panel with round lights were all replaced by later mid ’73 on plastic grill/square taillight items. At that time the round taillights hadn’t achieved the cult status that they enjoy today! The car was stripped to bare metal and given a complete respray.

The car, now almost ten years old, looked absolutely splendid again, however the moment of glory was fleeting because within a couple of months the gearbox seized solid and the car was dragged home with the prop shaft disconnected and stored in a neighbour’s garage. A new job over 30 miles away meant that a more reliable and ‘sensible’ car was needed, so the 02 was replaced by a Volvo! The ’02 was largely forgotten about until we moved to Cambridgeshire. When it emerged from the garage the paintwork was covered in seven or eight years worth of grim but responded to a T-Cut and polish. Mechanically though, it was a wreck. Parts had seized and perished. I managed to get it up to Cambridgeshire but it was in dire need of some intensive care.

Over the next few years it had a complete engine rebuild at Jaymic and a five speed gearbox conversion (the rebuilt 4 speed was never really satisfactory and kept crunching into first). Jaymic also supplied the alloy wheels. By now the car was no longer just an old banger. It was a classic. I was now running a publicity company representing manufacturers in the performance motor industry and they started to take an interest in the car and wanted to use it in promotions. Tar Ox provided a set of their multi grooved, and heat treated G88 discs which worked incredibly well with the new OE callipers and ‘new-old-stock’ servos from Jaymic. Spax provided the PSX suspension and springs (featured in Total BMW) and Mini Spares even provided the driving lights for a BMW Mini that perfectly complement the front end. These are genuine BMW parts and even the relay included in the kit is branded ‘BMW’!

By now the car was back to reasonable condition. It had new front seats – Corbeau (not Recaro as many people think) which were retrimmed in leather by Corbeau themselves,, and who also retrimmed the original rear seat to match. I found a pair of E30 rear headrests at the BMW Festival and used the headrest tubes from the old front seats to make mounts for them in the newly retrimmed rear. Yes they ‘click’ up and down and adjust just as they should.

With most of the renovation work done, the car became a hobby. I now started to play with little ‘trick’ items such as the electric mirrors. They were from a Jaguar XJS. They were rechromed and wired to work from the original Jaguar ‘joystick’ switch, which was a perfect fit between the console and the steering column. Having a nearside mirror which could be adjusted from the driver’s seat proved invaluable on Continental runs!

The next item was the air con. It seemed ridiculous that for most of the year I was driving around in an every-day car that had air conditioning, but when the summer came I was swapping it for the ’02 that felt like a sauna with the windows closed or was so noisy with them open that you couldn’t hold a conversation. Air con was the only answer. I looked through ads for an American system but couldn’t find anything suitable. Then I came across a Hella unit intended for vans and commercial vehicles. I enlarged the plans to full size, stuck them onto cardboard to make a full size model and found it fitted perfectly into the glovebox recess. The units were distributed by a company in Newport Pagnell who could also perform the installation.

They had to have a new crankshaft pulley custom made to take the compressor drive belt but apart from that all the parts came from their stocks. They system works great and having the vents on one side of the car isn’t really an issue. The 2002 is so small that it doesn’t make much difference, although I’m planning to build some ducting to move the vents to the top of the centre column. The other change that was made necessary by the air con installation was an upgrade of the electrics. The alternator was replaced by an 80 amp/hr unit using info found on the internet. The same website provided the information to fit a sealed battery under the rear seat. This is wired to a cut off switch located in the boot to avoid current drain when the car is stored over the winter months.

The car has had so many little tweaks and improvements that I’ve lost count of them all. The Sony ICE system has a remote control on the steering column. I found that on e-Bay. The rear fog lights kept getting knocked off on steep driveways so when I saw some flush mounted Hella units in Germany, intended for a VW Bus, I snapped them up. They now use LED bulbs to prevent the plastic lenses getting too hot, but the prize blag must be the original headlight washer/wiper kit that I bought from Richard a couple of years ago. They were made by Bosch back in the days when the 02 was new and offered as optional extras but this is the only one I’ve ever seen, although I’m told they were popular in Scandinavia. If you are looking for the switch it’s where the choke used to be. The choke was made redundant when I found a twin choke carb. with electric choke on a scrap 02 Automatic.

Will it ever be finished? I doubt it! Future plans include a coilover suspension kit designed for the street. This is currently being developed by GAZ. More about this when it’s finished. (I’ve just fitted a rear strut brace in preparation for this).

I’m also toying with the idea of fitting electric power steering using the components from a modern car. I’ve found a company in Holland that have converted two 2002s so far. Again, more about that if, and when, it happens.

I am also working with Webcon to produce a full throttle body fuel injection Weber Alpha kit to convert the standard 2002 to electronic fuel injection. That should be a rear winner once we get it right.

Right. That’s enough writing for now. I’ve finally got the rear camber adjusters mentioned in the wheel arch rolling article on this website and I need to figure out what’s involved in fitting them. I’m off to the garage to play. As Richard would say “Keep 02ing” I certainly will.