Vintage Love Affair

VINTAGE LOVEAFFAIR

Ron Foss’ passion for a 2002

Words and Photos by Ron Foss and Ian Rae

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As a young boy Ron Foss had a love for cars both old and new. He had a whole collection of toy cars and would spend hours playing, sorting and modifying them all the time wondering what he himself might drive someday. For this youngster, while growing up in the small town of Chambly just south of Montreal, his passion for cars was in his genes and as it turns out, for one particular make and model. Ron fell in love with the BMW marque when the 2002tii model was introduced. The engineering, performance and handling were in his mind well beyond what other manufacturers were selling back then. Foss explained, “During my teen years I lived beside a home with three older boys all of whom had various British spots cars, as did many of their friends.” He claims there were MGBs, Triumphs, Sunbeams, Austin Healeys and one BMW 2002 tii. “I used to get rides with these guys, help them clean and tinker with them. I loved cars in general but took a real liking to sports cars and have owned a few myself since. But the Bimmer always stood out as being different.” He fondly remembers being taken for rides feeling the horsepower response but more memorable was the fact that the car seemed to hug the road effortlessly. He went on, “I promised myself back then that someday I would own one of these fabulous vehicles and I never lost the interest in one day owning a 2002 tii. Foss’ next interaction with a 2002tii was as a nineteen-year-old student at the University of New Brunswick where one of his professors had a BMW 2002 tii. Both were from Montreal and Foss was lucky enough to receive the offer of a free trip home on many weekends. “It was during these trips that I got behind the wheel of a tii for the first time, it felt so completely different from anything else that I had ever driven before. Tight, responsive and true to BMWs brand then and now. I wanted one and even offered to buy his but it was out of reach for many reasons. Mostly, I did have that kind of money. They were about $3,500 brand new back in 1972/73, I can’t even remember what I offered him, but the love of the 2002 was still there, at some point in my life I was going to own one.” When Ron stumbled onto one out in Calgary and discovered it was still alloriginal with no previous modifications or attempted restorations, he scooped

it up based only on pictures and his confidence in the person selling it. Ron suggests that this fellow in Calgary was the second owner and had planned on restoring it but never got around to it. It had only 45,000 original miles so he organized a vintage vehicle carrier to pick it up and transported to Burlington, Ontario where Ron now resides. The vehicle originated from the USA and the original owner was from Colorado. According to Ron this person had painted the vehicle once but had done a terrible job and there was evidence of excess body filer, cracking paint and some visible minor rust. When the car arrived from Calgary it was delivered to the local dealer Budds’ BMW in Oakville and Foss went over it with the help of the Budds’ mechanics, particularly shop foreman Brent Krajnak. Ron jokingly says, “I am not sure who was more excited about the vehicle arriving as Brent had started his career working on the tii. We both just wanted to see it run.” They discovered that it required very little to meet safety and certification requirements. The engine compression was almost factory and very even. The fuel tank was cleaned out; all the fluids flushed, changed the oil, oil filter and spark plugs and completed an intense brake inspection. Everything looked good and Foss hit the road and drove the car for a few weeks, learning as much as he could about it. For the most part it ran just fine but was just very tired and required parts updating that were most affected by age, body work and repainting etc. It was sluggish, had certain vibrations and didn’t handle the bumps all too well. Foss started his restoration with all things mechanical; the entire fuel delivery system needed cleaning, the three fuel filters were replaced. (Fuel pump, fuel injection and in-line filter) The water pump was partially seized so that was next. Rubber items were next for inspection/replacement; all seals, belts, engine mounts and frame bushings got a going over. The rubber Rotoflex guibo bushing/bearing between the transmission and front of the drive shaft was worse for wear and as it was taken apart it completely crumbled in their hands. The rear universal joint was also seized in one direction, which meant replacing the entire drive shaft as it comes as a complete sealed unit. The clutch slave cylinder was leaking so that too headed for the garbage bin. Smaller items like brake cylinders, engine gaskets and hoses were all replaced, some

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because they absolutely needed it and some as a good measure and to bring the car to a higher original standard. Later all four shocks, the rear muffler, tail pipe and entire clutch assembly were replaced. In all cases original OEM parts were used with the exception of the drive-shaft, as we wanted one with grease nipples, as we knew that vehicle would continue to have low mileage. Another thing to receive attention was the gearshift, when the car arrived one of the first things noticed was that the shifter was very loose and wobbled in every gear. The shift throw on the 2002 is fairly long anyway but this one made constant gear-changing an unpleasant chore. It was discovered that all of the bushings, sleeves and the O-ring were pretty much worn or gone completely. Once replaced it shifted smoothly through all four gears and as tightly as the rest of the vehicle performed. “Now the car drove as I remembered it back in the 70’s!” All that was left was attending to cosmetic looks. There were the obvious rust areas that Foss had seen in the original photographs when checking the car out. The outer rocker panels and inner panels looked suspicious along with the two rear fenders and the right front fender. The fellow in Calgary had bought two new front fenders and they had come as part of the deal. Foss completely stripped the vehicle of all things chrome, lights, grills, bumpers etc. As the front fenders were removed, reality set in a Foss discovered what everyone attempting a project like this fears; that being more rust than anticipated. The entire right pillar between fender and door hinge was pretty much nothing but rust, it had to be completely rebuilt. Luckily it was the only real surprise as the inner rocker sills were fine as were the rear shock towers, which is generally a weak spot on these vehicles. The wheel wells and all flooring were impeccable. The vehicle was complete stripped of old paint, rear outer fenders were tin filled and the new front fenders installed. Some very minor bodywork to rectify a dent or two and it was ready for skim coat, sanding, then into the paint booth for six coats of original paint, three coats of clear coat and the vehicle looked like it belonged back in the show room. Once painted the vehicle was fully rust proofed using two methods. In all inner areas, rocker panels, doors etc, received a lighter type material that would have crept into every nook and cranny while for the wheel wells, shock towers and undercarriage, places that could be attacked by stone chips received a thicker undercoat. All things chrome, lights, grills, bumpers were re-attached and Foss was ready to show his baby off. Although his labor of love had taken a toll, both in money and time Foss was happy with the result. “The car is everything I dreamed it would be, I have to admit it sort of got out of hand cost wise but the result is well worth it. There was one thing I did not stay true to original and that was the radio. The original Becker was not in the car and the replacement played through indoor home speakers located under the front seats.” Original rebuilt Becker radios were found but Foss decided to compromise and put in an acceptable Alpine option. He did however only install rear speakers in the pre cut body areas below the rear window. This would have been typical for 1972 vehicles. Although

The dreaded rot - this was the worst that Ron had to deal with.

A basic but functional interior. the auto radio store wanted to sell him a six-speaker system he stayed true to the vintage look with the modern performance. One area not attended to during the restoration was the entire fuel injection system. Foss explained, “It is a Kugelfischer mechanical pump that is generally pretty reliable but it has intake and output valves that may have had resin build-up on them and/or the O-rings that they sit in would have been dried out and perhaps altering vacuum settings. The same holds true for the injectors themselves and although I pushed fuel injector cleaner through them more than once and there were performance

The badge says it all!

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improvements, they too sit with rubber O-rings. Had I kept the vehicle it would have been the next project but to be honest the cost was creeping up beyond what I thought might be the value and this would have been an expensive step.” So now Foss’ passion had been satisfied, he had the vintage love affair of his life, what could he do now? Considering the 2002 was the BMW model that established the brand in North America and Budds’ BMW is one of the largest BMW dealerships in Canada. Foss thought his 2002 might be something that had more right to be in Budds’ showroom as a legacy to the brand, rather than have sporadic outings as and when his busy schedule allowed. Foss explained, “I wanted the car to be appreciated more than I or a few friends could do on our own, people walking into the showroom can get a sense of history. BMW has a proud history and the 2002 is just a small but very important part of that history. I am proud to see it sitting back in a show room where it would have been 38 plus years ago.” During the writing of this article Ron Foss provided me with great input and feedback. As an aside he made a comment about his grandfather, which made so much sense when you look at the lengths he went to in restoring his 2002 tii. Foss’ grandfather, George Foote Foss built the first gasoline car in Canada, the Fossmobile back in 1898. He turned down Henry Ford as an investor in a new automobile company Ford was starting up. So maybe that is why automobiles are in Ron Foss’ genes; you can see how a teenage Foss could fall in love with a car, especially one like the 2002 tii.

The Kugelfischer fuel injection was the only item not refurbished.

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