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I picked up a set of used, but never installed, sport seats locally on ebay for about $100. These are made by 3A. They are basically the kind of thing you get from PepBoys for $250 or $300. They are pretty good looking and seem like a quality seat. They weigh about 35 lbs each which is the same as the stock seats, so I am not saving any weight. I would like to buy a more quality set of racing seats someday, but these should work fine.
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The seats came with rails. The mounting width of the seats is narrower than the stock rails, but only by about 1.5 inches. That means that they would not simply mount to the existing rails and that attempts to center them on some flat stock would interfere with the car's brackets. I decided to use the stock seat rails because they seem stronger than the aftermarket rails and because I like to use stock parts where I can. I obtained two 1/8"x3"x18.75" pieces of steel for each side to run between each stock seat rail. I then offset the seats toward the center of the car so that the inner set of seat bolts go through the stock center rail and the steel plates. The outer seat bolts go through holes in the steel plate. The plate is then bolted to the stock seat rails on the outboard side. There is an FAQ that is very helpful at BMW2002FAQ.
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The outboard side is visible. A scrap of carpet or something can cover that.
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As you can see these seats definitely look better. They put the occupant at about the same height as the stock seats, but provide a lot more lateral support.
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The project took me about six or seven hours spread over a few days. Most of that was measuring and drilling holes.
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The seats seem comfortable. We'll see how they feel on a long trip with the new Stage II springs and Sport shocks.
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There is a lot of debate on the bmw2002faq.com about how to correctly use POR-15. My experience with this front subframe is that POR-15 sticks great to freshly sandblasted metal. We will see how it holds up as the years go by, but here's a picture of the finished product:
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I am really happy with it. The hardware in the picture spent a night or so in a gallon can of parts cleaner that I got from Salvo Auto Parts.
My passenger side motor mount seemed to be splitting apart so I bolted up the one that Casey gave me. Here is a picture of the whole assembly going back in. I will install the steering later. I need to mess with the transmission first.
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Installation is the opposite of removal as they say. I supported the part under the car with a jack and scrap 2x4. I lined up the driver side motor mount first and then raised the jack until the passenger side mount slipped into place.
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The new Ireland sway bar mounts come with longer bolts to compensate for the thickness of the aluminum blocks.
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After torquing everything to the published specs I removed the cradle and straps that I used to support the engine during the swap.
Next up are the struts and suspension arms.
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With the new front subframe painted and ready to go in, I needed to remove the old one. The problem is that the subframe supports the engine. I really did not want to pull the engine so I decided to support it from above. Using a scrap 2x6 and a pair of 500 lb tie down straps, I built a cradle. I am using the header and the intake as my support points. The rear of the engine is still supported by the transmission mount. [Disclaimer: I'm not sure that this is the smartest thing to do. So please do not consider this a how-to. If you know of a better method, please email me.]
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I then disconnected two of the bolts at the flexible steering coupling. I loosened the driver's side engine mount nut and removed the nut from the passenger side mount. I then supported the subframe with a jack, removed the six bolts, and carefully lowered it. Here is a picture of the old subframe. I need to degrease the steering box and swap it on to the new subframe.
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In other news....I found a set of generic seats on eBay for next-to-nothing. I need to fabricate a set of mounts. They should be good enough for now. Maybe I will look for something nicer in a few years.
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BMW purists are gonna hate me, but I bought a new set of non BMW wheels. The Michelin's were getting bald and dangerous in the rain. I've always wanted to step up to 17s, but could never find the right deal. While shopping on TireRack.com I found this set of Sport Edition (TireRack's house brand) for $75 a piece. Add in a set of General Exclaim summer tires (the highest rated in the class), mounting, balancing, and shipping and I was able to go from 15s to 17s for $675. For a daily driver, you can't beat the price. So far the tires are better than I ever expected. Quiet and sticky. I think the car looks great.
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So upon closer inspection of my front subframe, I discovered that it's bent. The front suspension arms are a little tweaked too. There must be a Hazzard County in Arizona I guess, because this car has some frequent flier miles. Luckily a call to local 2002 guy kcdonahue yielded a whole new subframe and arms. They weren't pretty though.
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Now I have a beautiful but bent Arizona sub and a rusty but straight New England piece. At this point my boss told me about All Strip LLC in Edgewood, MD. They did a great job on the parts.
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The black POR-15 is drying as I write this.
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