It was over a year ago that we persuaded SCMer Ned Scudder to part with his beloved Turkis-colored 1972 2002 tii. And on Wednesday, Wendie is planning to drive it from Portland to Monterey.
But the path from acquisition to “in service” hasn’t been easy or short. The car was fundamentally sound, with a fresh engine and paint, comfy seats from an E30 M3 and nice Minilite mags.
But the injection was problematic. The warm-up regulator was frozen, and it took us nearly a year to find Pacific Fuel Injection in South San Francisco, where we had ours rebuilt. (You can buy a warm-up regulator here.) What a difference. Suddenly the car behaved like the Bavarian muscle car it was supposed to be.
Tom Black’s Garage attended to some bubbling in the left rear fender, and also shaped the inner fender lip to stop the minor rubbing we had when the trunk was laden. He also installed new Hella headlights and driving lamps.
Two weekends ago we drove the car to Hood River, about 90 miles away, in the company of Doug Hartman and his Giulia Super. As the car still has its stock 4-speed, 70 mph was a buzzy 4,000 rpm, and even with the windows down an old car gets hot on the freeways.
On the other hand, the shoulder harness we installed in the rear kept Bradley properly secured, and there is much more room for his iPad, Legos and other necessary accoutrement than there is in the GTV.
We also took the car on the Oregon Region BMW Car Club of America Motorfest tour this past Saturday, where the E30 M3 was featured. More than 40 BMWs participated in the morning tour, an easy 50-mile run through the countryside.
Bradley was my navigator, and at the age of six he was able to call out all of the instructions and keep track of the odometer readings. Maybe the family finally has a potential TSD fanatic in the wings.
As I write this, the car is across the street at Boyd Motor Werks for a final fettling. On the Motorfest tour we discovered that when we turned our headlights on, the temperature reading went up about 20 degrees. That’s almost Italian behavior.
A loose clamp is causing some rattling in the exhaust system, and the injection needs a final tweak.
Then Wednesday morning, Wendie sets off on her two-day journey (repeating the route we just took in the Alfa Giulia Spider) down Highway 101 to Monterey. We are staying in Monterey past the Historic Weekend, as the BMW CCA is holding its annual national convention, Oktoberfest, in Monterey that next week. (I will be the emcee of the concours on Tuesday.)
Wendie’s company, Enthusiast Media Group prints Roundel, their club magazine, and provides a host of promotional materials as well for them (and can do the same for your car club!). She wanted to have her own BMW to drive during Oktoberfest, looked in the garage, and grabbed the keys to the tii.
I’ll be driving back with her a week from Thursday – I’ve been practicing locking myself in the dryer with the heat set to “high cotton” to get ready for the trip.
See you in Monterey!
