1967 BMW 1600ti

In the foreground is my 1971 Alfa Romeo GTV. This is just as Ibought the car in 2001. The 1600ti is strategically placed in view, and in the background, is the 1976 BMW 2002 which i gave up as partial payment for the Alfa.

The ti just before the work begins

As you can see, the wheel wells were not shaped properly when the repairs were done

The interior is being removed to expose the floor pans

the wheel arch is being removed and all rust cut out to allow for the new panels to be installed

I don’t have any pictures of the accident, but in 1998, I was in a accident with the car. As I was sitting at a red light, I watched in horror as I saw a rapidly approaching Red Neon in my rear view mirror. I did not have my foot on the brake, on which meant he did not see my brake lights. I was hit at about 40mph. The guy tried to flee, so I confiscated his keys. I was only a few feet from a police station, so I ran to get the police. When we returned, he had fled with another set of keys. The car was written off.

Otherwise the car was in good shape

The trunk does need a bit of work. The pan around the gas tank is being replaced with a new flat steel panel will be fixed in place for rigidity.

VARAC rules require a fuel cell to be installed.

I do use the trunk to store tools as i push it back into the garage. The car is so light i can push it in and out of the garage with one hand.

I am fitting the new pieces in place as i cut away the old metal to allow for the shape to be retained.

The cut here was made with a Plasma cutter.

the interior of the car is very solid. only minor patching required.

I have a new pedal box which will be installed. The small area in the drivers foot well will be replaced with new metal.

The entire rear pasenger compartment is in very good shape

much of the floor around the gas tank was rusted. I am using cardboard to make a template.

this is the Plasma/Tig/Mig welder. I am going to make a new floor pan.

This is the floor plan after an hour of cutting and a bit of bending.

As you can see i have begun to make serious cuts with the Plasma cutter.

The red straps are used to keep the new quarters tucked in close to the required location.

I am using a large wire wheel in my angle grinder to remove all old Bondo and rust

I am removing all body filler and exposing the metal. the new pieces and being fitted and the old metal will be reshaped and replaced to meet the new panels

My intention is to tack weld all the new pieces into position, and then the joints will be made with lead solder. This type of construction makes for stronger and more durable joints. Lead covered and bonded pieces will not rust.

All pieces of metal that are exposed with the wire brush will be primed shortly after. This will keep rust from forming on the pieces when left for a few days.

My collection years ago

A bit about my 02 history. After my initial car craze found me driving Muscle cars at the age of 16, i some how found myself being drawn to Euro sports cars. I started with a 1971 MGB, and then moved on to my first BMW in 1980. I bought a 1974 2002tii. This car led to my new passion for the. I drove this car for 4 years until i found i needed a bigger car for business. I bought a 530i and missed the tii immediately. After several years and a few more 5 series, i started buying 02's and had a bit of collection. My brother Brad who had always shared my passion for cars, started his own collection of 2002's half a world away. My younger brother David, also became hooked and bought his own 1974 tii.

The 1600ti, that is being featured here, was bought simply because it had a solid body and frame. The 1973 2002 i was driving seemed to fall away from underneath me as i loaded it for a road trip. The body was a disaster. I was told about a nice car that i could use as a donor and went to see it. The ti was perfect.....until it was involved in a Rear Ender that wrote the car off. I had the body repaired and as money was limited, i was not able to do a proper repair but simply had it straightened as best as possible. When i bought the car, it had a tii engine in it. The car also has a electric sun roof. After owning the car for a while i started doing a bit of research. I discovered the the car was bought new in Germany by a Canadian Service man and he imported the car when he was shipped back to Ontario. He owned the car for a few years until he sold the car in 1971 to Northwest BMW, Canada's first BMW Dealership. The car was retrofitted with seat belts and marker lights and was used as the Demo Car to showcase the 2002. At some point, the 1.6lt twin side draft Solex carbs engine was removed and replaced with the 2lt tii engine. The car bounced around for a number of years until it was left at a used car dealership in Scarborough.

2002 series was probably the most important model in BMW's history. In the early 60s, although small cars like Isetta, 600 and 700 kept the Munich company alive, its image was mushy and financial outlook was still poor. It was the 2002 series that changed its fate. This little 2-door sedan redefined the image of BMW. It combined powerful engine and agile handling with solid German build quality and practical 4-people accommodation into a reasonably priced package. No one else had ever done that before - yes, Alfa Romeo Giulia GTV might be even more exciting to drive, but it was over expensive and lacked the BMW's reliability and space. From 1966 to 1977, BMW produced 850,000 units of the 2002 series. That's more than 4 times the number of Isetta series and each car enjoyed a much higher profit margin. The car not only brought BMW a big fortune but also established the winning formula for the subsequent 3-Series to follow. Obviously, it was the turning point in BMW's history.

The 2002 series started life in 1966 in the form of 1600-2 (the -2 in its name meant 2 doors). It was derived from the contemporary 1600 sedan, with rear doors deleted and wheelbase shortened by 50 mm to make it lighter and more agile to handle. Its 1.6-litre sohc engine produced 85 horsepower and enabled the 940 kg little car to outperform many contemporary sports cars, say, MGB. Its all independent suspensions (with MacPherson struts up front and semi-trailing arm at the rear) and front disc brakes were also unfound in any cars at the same price level, providing superb handling. On the other hand, 1600-2 provided all the practicalities of a sedan - a properly-sized rear seats, superb visibility (thanks to large windows and slim pillars) and big boot. Lastly but not least, it looked cult.

1600-2 received many appreciations from the press and the market. Sales exceeded BMW's expectation and production volume ramped up quickly to meet demand. But this was only the beginning. Next year, BMW introduced 1600ti, a hotter version of 1600-2. It used higher compression ratio and twin-choke Solex carburetors to raised the output to 105 hp. Now BMW was in place to challenge the sports sedan leader, Alfa Romeo Giulia GTV..

Because the 1600ti engine could not pass Federal emission regulations, it was not offered in the USA. With the huge potential of that market in mind, BMW developed a 2.0-litre engine for the car. Big engine in a small car, it became the mighty 2002. Various state of tune were available: the regular 2002 had a single carburetor to produce 100 hp, the 2002ti got 120 hp through twin-carburetors and lastly, a mechanical fuel injection and higher compression ratio helped 2002tii to squeeze out 130 hp. In the latter form, it could top 118 mph and did 0-60 mph in 8.2 seconds. It pushed Alfa Romeo Giulia GTV to the boxing corner…

Commercial-wise, the BMW was a clear winner. In 11 years, BMW produced 430,000 units of 2002, plus 270,000 units of 1600-2, 80,000 units of 1802 and 70,000 units of 1502 (which was the product of oil crisis). In contrast, Alfa Romeo produced 223,000 units of Giulia GTV and derivatives in 13 years

Model	1600ti	2002	2002tii	2002 turbo
Year of production	All 1600-2: 1966-75	1968-75	1971-75	1973-74
No. produced	All 1600-2: 270,000	All 2002: 430,000	All 2002: 430,000	1672
Layout, Gearbox	Front-engined, Rwd, 4M	Front-engined, Rwd, 4M	Front-engined, Rwd, 5M	Front-engined, Rwd, 5M
Engine	Inline-4, sohc, 2v/cyl	Inline-4, sohc, 2v/cyl	Inline-4, sohc, 2v/cyl	Inline-4, sohc, 2v/cyl, turbo.
Capacity	1573 cc	1990 cc	1990 cc	1990 cc
Power	105 hp	100 hp	130 hp	170 hp
Torque	97 lbft	116 lbft	131 lbft	177 lbft
Weight	960 kg	1035 kg	1026 kg	1103 kg
Top speed	109 mph	106 mph	118 mph	130 mph*
0-60 mph	est 10.0 sec	10.4 sec	8.2 sec	7.3 sec*