1973 BMW 2002 "The Turkey" Runs and Drives But Has Structural Rust

1973 BMW 2002 (a. k. a. "The Turkey") Silver with Black Interior. but Originally Inka (orange) Starts Right Up. Runs. and Drives. But Right Rear Subframe Bushing Attachment Point is Completely Rotted Through. So THE CAR IS NOT CURRENTLY ROADWORTHY Great Project If You Can Weld Essentially a Complete Car. Virtually No Pieces Scavenged or Missing Please Help Me Save It From Being Parted It Out Insane Numbers of Photos and Two Videos The Front Grilles and Center Kidney Are Only Included With The Purchase if the Sale Price Reaches $1500. Otherwise. The Grilles Are NOT Included. Hi folks. I'm Rob Siegel. For 30 years. I've written the column "The Hack Mechanic" for BMW CCA Roundel Magazine. That doesn't mean I know more than you do. but it does mean you can trust me to tell you everything I know about a car. Behold. The Turkey. This is a largely intact 1973 BMW 2002. with a bad hip but still full of life. that I've been writing about in my Hack Mechanic Online columns. which is sort of a blog available to BMW Car Club members. But I've been copying the articles to bmw2002faq. eBay won't include links. but if you go to bmw2002faq and search for "The Flight of the Turkey. you'll find them. The odometer on the car reads 66. 40. but whether that's real or not I don't know. and it hardly matters because of the overall condition of the car. as you'll read below. I bought the car because it was offered to me at a price I couldn't turn down. I thought I'd part it out. but after writing about the car and getting feedback from the 2002 community. I'd much rather find it a good home with someone who can give it the attention it needs. Here's the issue. On the right rear underside of the car. the place where the rear subframe (also called the "suspension carrier") bushing bolts to the floor is completely rotted through. The bolt that normally comes down through a reinforced plate under the back seat and goes through the subframe bushing has nothing to attach to because a section of floor about the size of my hand has rusted away. So. it's not just that the car has so-called "structural rust. " The rust has already caused the structure to fail. While the car can be moved in my driveway. and I assume it can be driven on and off a trailer. you should not think that you can drive it home. or even take it for a test drive. You can't. It is not safe to drive on public roads in this condition. The left subframe attachment point also shows visible rust. but it has not broken through. In addition to this rust. the car has a variety of garden-variety BMW 2002 rust. The right rear shock tower looks terribly weak. though it has not yet failed. The left rear shock tower also has rust. though not as bad as the right. There are rust holes on the right rocker panel big enough to stick my hand through. There's a very substantial line of rust on the nose of the car. There's rust at the bottoms of both doors. There's a bit of rust-through on the right rear fender arch. But the floors and frame rails are actually pretty good. The frame rails themselves look good. though there are some small rust holes in a few places where the frame rails attach to the floors (that is. small holes in the floor adjacent to the frame rail attachment points). The weakest spots on the floors are the two roughly 3" metal plates at the corners of the floor and the front wheel wells. This is all photographed below. I am a mechanic. not a body man. I've always wanted to learn how to weld. but I have too many other projects. including another 2002 in much better shape (not for sale. don't ask). and this one does not strike me as the project I should use as the learning experience. I shot two videos. The first is a walk-around. the second a cold start. eBay won't allow direct links. but if search youtube for "1973 BMW 2002 The Turkey Walk Around" and "1973 BMW 2002 The Turkey Cold Start. you'll find them. Aside from the rust. there's a lot to like about this car. More of the good: --It's fairly original and nearly complete. --It was originally Inka. You can see some of the Inka peeking through the silver/gray repaint. So. if you DO have the skills to bring it back. and repaint it the original color. you can have yourself a highly desirable Inka roundie 02. --After a six-year slumber. it started up remarkably easily. The first time. the exhaust was smokey (much of which was likely from the Marvel Mystery Oil I poured down the cylinders; I turned it by hand and let it sit overnight to oil up the cylinders. rings. and pistons prior to its first start). Every time I run the car. it smokes less. --I've looked in the antifreeze each time before I've started it. I see no evidence of oil that would indicate a crackd head. --It has exhaust headers on it. I don't know what brand. --The black interior of the car is in very good shape. There are a few small cracks in the dash. but boy we've all seen much worse. The door panels are uncut (no speaker holes). though the backing material is weak. particularly the right one. from water intrusion. You could buy a pair of backing panels from my friend Dave Varco at Aardvarc Racing for about a hundred bucks and transfer the skins over. I originally thought the black front seats were nearly perfect. however. upon closer inspection. the driver's seat has a seam split in the back. and the passenger seat appears to have been Tobacco and dyed black. though you need to look closely to tell (see the pics). --It's got the cool red center tail lights. which. to some. are highly desirable. --The car has a nearly new set of tires on it. 165/80 13 tires are getting very hard to find. The Tire Rack no longer carries them. --The chrome trim is fairly complete. though I'll admit I tacked some of it back on for appearances (some of it was in the trunk). and a good slam of the driver's door will make its trim piece fall back off. And I have the little rubber bumperette pieces that fell off the rear bumper. --The front grilles. Oh. the front grilles. These. as I understand. list for about $450 for the side grilles and the center kidney (each). are on worldwide back order. and are thus highly valued on eBay. The two side ones are in really nice shape. The center one is in very good shape. with a small ding/scrape visible right in the center. I'd originally planned to pull the grilles off and sell them separately. as many people have offered to buy them. but I don't want to start parting out the car. So here's the compromise between keeping the car complete and allowing me to recoup money for the time I've spent resurrecting The Turkey. If the sale price of the car tops $1500. I'll include the grilles. Otherwise. I won't. And more of the bad: --Obviously. the rust. --When I bought the car. it had no brake fluid in the reservoir. and thus a non-functioning brake system and clutch. I filled it and bled the clutch and got it working so I could move it in my driveway. Then it began losing brake fluid out the right rear wheel cylinder. I've ordered a new right rear wheel cylinder and will install it. I expect that that. and a through bleeding. will restore most of the brake function. I will do that and update this description when it has been done. Ironically. when I bought the car. the right rear wheel was seized because the brake shoes weren't retracting. At the time. I just needed to be able to roll it in my driveway. so I took a screwdriver and popped most of the brake linings off the shoes to give them clearance against the inside of the drum. Now. of course. I regret that. because the root cause of the seizing was undoubtedly the failed leaking wheel cylinder. So. I'll replace the wheel cylinder to hopefully seal up the brake system. but the brakes will still undoubtedly need attention. --It has these awful generic bendy side mirror things. Other than verifying that it starts and that the alternator light goes out. I have not done a checkout of the electrical systems of the car. since. you have to admit. it really doesn't matter. It's a car that will need restoration. So. to recap. this is a running. driving. nearly complete 1973 Roundie 2002. originally Inka. that can be started and moved in my driveway and driven on and off a trailer. It looks pretty decent from 20 feet in a flat paint not quite a rat rod sort of way. but it has structural rust that has caused the right subframe attachment point beneath the back seat to detach. and thus is not safe to be driven on public roads. It also has substantial rust on the right rear shock tower that should be repaired in order for the car to be safe to be driven. It also has the expected retinue of usual 2002 rust on the left rear shock tower. the left subframe attachment point. the right rocker. the right door. the right rear quarter panel. the nose of the car. and other places. Someone really should save it. but that someone can't be me. I really don't want to see it parted out. So. what's it worth? Well. that's what we're here to figure out. I bought the car as a dead could be anything what the hell I always need something to write about mystery. I've put a non-trivial amount of time into assessing its condition. putting fresh oil and antifreeze in it. gently getting it started. sorting out a minor fuel delivery issue. unseizing the right rear wheel. getting it to the point where it can be started and moved on and off a trailer. and describing it and photographing it thoroughly so it's no longer a question of what it might be -- you all can now see what it actually is. It's a no-reserve auction. You folks decide what it's worth. I've put a $1999 Buy It Now on the auction.  don't think the car is worth that. but the run-up in roundie 2002 prices has surprised many people. including me. The BIN is there so I'm certain I haven't underpriced the car. and so I don't have to keep asking questions about what I would take to stop the auction. I can assist with shipping. but: a) Pickup would have to be on a weekend. and: b) My street is too small for a big auto transporter to get down. A pickup truck with a small trailer or a U-Haul could. but not the big multi-level open or covered transporters. I'd need to drive the car around the corner to a larger street to do that. That's possible. but it would need to be arranged. Feel free to call me with any questions at 617-365-8303. but please make them as specific as possible to the car. I like to talk 2002s as much as the next guy or girl (maybe more than the next guy or girl). but I'm pretty busy these days. And please. only call between 5:30 pm and 10:30 pm EST. One more thing. The car lived in Minnesota for many years. and was brought east by the person I bought it from. There were several Minnesota licence plates in the trunk. the most recent of which had 2004 tags. There were a handful of repair receipts for the car. all of them 20 years old. I have a Minnesota title for the car dated 2003. signed over from two previous owners ago to the person I bought it from. That gentleman sold it to me. and I have a bill of sale. If your state requires a title. or a registration showing that the seller of the car had it registered in his name. I do not have either of those things. I will be selling the car with a bill of sale only. Lastly. I'm sure you'll agree that I've done a more candid and thorough job of describing and photographing the car than most eBay auctions. I do this not only because it's the right thing to do. but also because I have zero patience for winning bidders showing up and thinking that the eBay sale price is simply the starting point for a negotiation because they didn't see something or didn't know something. Know that if you try this. you will leave empty handed. On Apr-10-15 at 17:03:23 PDT. seller added the following information:Just to report back on the brakes. I replaced the right rear wheel cylinder (and the hard metal line that snapped off during the process) and bled the brakes. though I couldn't undo two of the three bleed nipples on the right front caliper. Nonetheless The Turkey now has a very firm brake pedal. stops much better in my driveway than it did before. and doesn't appear to be losing brake fluid like it was before.