Photography by Jubal Leierer & Christopher Kern
It’s no secret that some people have really lost touch with the joy of driving. I mean, look at all these people who are stoked for autonomous cars! With technology advancing at the rate it is, the manual gearbox is the least of every gearhead’s worries when it comes to our beloved driving machines. However, when a company that is entrenched in automotive technology starts saying that it is going to build a car that uses good old fashioned driving for a base, and then builds the rest around that, you’re going to crane your neck for a look.
For about the past year, Clarion’s offshoot restoration initiative, Clarion Builds, and its dedicated fanbase of over 200,000 social followers has picked and chosen all of the options for a project car to appeal to all. The chosen car would be a roughed up BMW 2002.
“The ’02 really hasn’t lost its luster,” explains Allen Gharapetian, VP of Marketing and Product Planning at Clarion and head of the Builds program. “They’re still reachable, where we haven’t gone past the stratosphere of classic car prices.”
And, of course, this hunt for the perfect 2002 started where all automotive dreams come true, on – uh – Craigslist. The approach actually worked out pretty well. The team had to root through a few bad apples, but Jubal Leierer, Clarion’s Merchandising Manager, ended up finding a rough diamond in the rougher rough.
“We ended up finding one that was perfect for our needs: it was running, it was a fairly straight car, it had a long history of being owned by real enthusiasts,” he says. “There was a BMW mechanic that had owned it for 10 years. He even has one of the BMW Car Club stickers on one of the windows.”
As it was a Craiglist deal, the transaction went down in a restaurant parking lot, but thankfully no one lost any fingers. Right after acquiring the Bimmer, Leierer and the Clarion Builds photo/video team started photo-documenting the whole thing, which then was posted to Clarion’s social media feeds to start deliberations.
“Our fans really rose to the occasion, like each post would get 600 or 700 comments,” smiles Gharapetian. “We asked if we should keep the U.S.-spec bumpers or go with the European-spec bumpers and 90 percent of the comments were in favor of the European ones. We also asked about fog lights and, again, 90 percent of fans said, ‘Don’t ruin it!’”
Once the parts list had been finalized, it was time to find a shop that could handle the job. Some shops were super eager to take on the job, but seemed to forget that they were under equipped. No matter where the team took the 2002, one thing remained constant: whispers about a place called “Coupe King.”
Leierer ended up finding them online, however, they didn’t have a phone number or address listed. Still under the allure of the mystery shop, an email of intentions was shot off and met by a return message of pretty much, “Are you serious about this? If not, don’t waste our time.” After reiterating how serious they indeed were, the Clarion crew was given the address to the hidden kingdom. From what I’m told, it’s heaven.
“They have a whole warehouse dedicated to projects that are ready to start – shelves of cars just waiting to be restored,” Leierer exclaims. “They have another warehouse that’s just parts and scrap with anything you could ever want for a BMW 2002 or a 3.0 CS – those are the cars they mainly focus on. Then they have a whole separate area that’s just a candy shop filled with beautiful, restored cars, stacked on top of each other. It’s insane.”
While the car was being torn down and rebuilt by the capable force of Coupe King, another star player in the classic BMW game came on board for the performance aspect. Ireland Engineering cut its teeth in racing E30s and 2002s, and in the years since, have amassed an impressive parts catalog.
“We were a little wary initially, but when we saw the build outline and end goal we jumped right on board,” says Andrew Adams, Ireland Engineering Project Manager. “This wasn’t a car built to solely act as a marketing billboard, this was a hot-rod restoration done right.”
Ireland Engineering supplied 292-degree cams, rocker arms, connecting rods, carbs, manifolds, header, exhaust and velocity stacks for the engine, as well as sway bars, urethane bushings, strut braces and custom spec coilovers. Suspension-wise, this little guy has some serious track DNA.
When I initially saw the car at CES in January of 2015, I thought the car looked amazing, even though Leierer assured me it was only 90 percent done. Chris Forsberg also gave me a walk-around, as he was to give the 2002 its first shakedown. Forsberg has been sponsored by Clarion for years and the team says there is no one they’d rather have thrash around their pride and joy than The Force.
“We wanted someone to take the car out and really put it through its paces, and we wanted someone who is an authority on performance to really drive it, have fun with it and say, ‘Yes, this is done right,’” Leierer says.
Every single bolt on this car has been removed, sent to be cleaned, re-plated and then put back on the car. I’ve been assured that I can eat off of any component (challenge accepted!), and absolutely no expense has been spared – a comforting thought for whoever the next owner is. That’s right, after the 2002 has done its tour of shows, it will be auctioned off , with the proceeds going to charity.
I’d say that this is a happy ending for a tiresome build of a roughed-up, old classic, but this is just the beginning of this little Bimmer’s new life.
Words by Micky Slinger. Photography by Jubal Leierer & Christopher Kern
It would be a little embarrassing if the Clarion Builds project car came out with a less-than-stellar audio installation, wouldn’t it? If it wasn’t obvious enough already, this project 2002 was a labor of blood, sweat, tears and astounding passion, so you won’t find some gaudy fiberglass monstrosity inside. This audio system is designed to sound great, modernize the car and bolster its class.
When you’re building an audio system, the first thing you want to do is make sure the cabin is as quiet as possible. For this task, Clarion reached out to HushMat, which graciously lined the inside of the 2002, including under the floorboards. The deadening also dissipates heat, which is great for cruising around under the California sun.
Wiring and distribution is the other essential to have a system sounding its best. Wirez stepped up with some high-quality wiring and Xstatic provided its awesome BatCap Power Pack, which is like a battery and capacitor all rolled up into one compact package. That helps with running the electronics, as well as the car itself.
Sitting at the helm is Clarion’s extraordinary NX605 source unit.Being made in Japan with quality to match was one key deciding factor, but the interface which provides little to no driving distraction hit the nail on the head.
“This year, we added a ton of functionality to it,” explains Leierer.“Now it interfaces with Gmail, with Google Calendar and it’s all voice controlled, which is super important so you’re not distracted while driving.”
“If you tell the unit, ‘I’m hungry’ it will find whatever is closest,” Gharapetian adds. “It will look into your calendar, see you have a meeting coming up and ask to guide you to it.”
The unit also sounds pretty great, with four-volt RCA outputs relaying a nice, clean signal through an add-on amp. Speaking of which, the one for the job in the Bimmer is the XC6610, which is a digital six-channel model. It’s capable enough to run the whole system, which saves on weight and makes the whole install a lot less complex. Plus, it was able to be tucked right down into the spare tire well. Score!
Providing output is a set of five-way components with some 6x9 back-up in the rear deck. Obviously, the 2002 was never meant to have this much tuneage built into it, but Clarion Builds didn’t want to cut any holes into the little guy; and enlisted the help of BP Autosound to make custom panels for the new gear to sit in.
“We had [BP Autosound] build custom kick panels up front out of fiberglass,” Leierer says. “If there aren’t holes in the doors from the factory on classic cars, we avoid that. Each of the panels looks like it came with the car, but each one took hours and hours to get the lines and curves right.”
BP Autosound also did a custom subwoofer box for the trunk. The enclosure is covered with a beauty board and wrapped in leather, just like the rest of the trunk. Inside the box lives a pair of 10-inch WG2520D dual voice coil subs, which are beefed-up enough to handle the amp’s power, but also compact enough to fit real nice. The 10- inch duo provides some great low-end fill and are topped off with some sweet LED illumination.
A really interesting addition to this build saga is the fact that BP Autosound had to get its hands on its own 2002 in order to have all the installation ready for tight time constraints.
“We actually borrowed another 2002 from Coupe King and shipped it over to BP Autosound so they could start on all the fiberglass and prep work,” recalls Gharapetian.
“Once the car actually got to them, they literally had 48 hours to get all the work done.” Must be nice to just have some spare classic BMWs just hanging around...
Words by Micky Slinger. Photography by Jubal Leierer & Christopher Kern
When looking for a snazzy set of rollers, the team at Clarion Builds considered many options. They considered going with a larger, flashier set of wheels, but scrapped that thought after realizing just how silly the little 2002 would look. Well, then how about Alpina? Alpina has been making some of the best BMW wheel options out there for about 50 years. Unfortunately, the high price tag and sheer rarity of a complete set threw some serious weight into the cons column. The comedic 13-inch diameter was the last straw.
Finally, one wheel model came along that everyone could agree on: the timeless BBS RS. You’ll no doubt recognize this wheel, as everyone and their mother has set out to try and duplicate the mesh design since the wheel went out of production about 15 years ago. Clarion Builds, however, wasn’t after a copy – they wanted the real thing. Before scouring half the earth, they thought it was a good idea to call up their wheel connection, VR Wheels.
“The owner of VR Wheels contacted us back and he actually found a set in a crate in the back of his warehouse,” Leierer recalls. “They had Japanese writing on them and looked like they had been imported and had just been sitting in a container for the last 10 years. These things are authentic.”
These wheels had quite the adventure, being made in Germany, sent to Japan and then imported to the States to sit in a crate before being rescued by the 2002. The craziest thing is that they were exactly to spec. They were 15x7 inches, with a +25 offset. The only thing that needed to be done was a 4x100 re-drill to fit on the BMW’s studs.
“The BBS wheels were in fair condition when we received them,” says VR Wheels’ Manager, Andrew Banh. “All the wheels had minor corrosion and light curb rash, but were all true.”
Here’s what they had to go through to get back to their former glory:
1. The wheels are split apart and each piece of the wheel (face, lip, barrel) inspected to make sure all parts are true.
2. Once given the OK by the repair technician, the faces are then stripped with aircraft remover and media-blasted to bare metal. The faces are inspected again to make sure there are no imperfections.
3. The faces are then heat-treated in an oven prior to powder-coating. Clarion Builds decided to go with a classic silver powder-coat to complement the 2002.
4. While the wheels are being powder-coated, another repair technician polishes the lips and barrels to a mirror finish after they are media-blasted to take off dust and grime.
5. Once the wheels are powder-coated, they are then assembled and sealed.
You’ll be hard-pressed to find an application that a BBS RS doesn’t look good on. Your search would be even more difficult if you were only to look through BMWs. They look right at home on the 2002. What other wheel could have reflected the timeless and character of this classic anyway?
ESSENTIALS
Owner: Clarion Builds
Location: Cypress, California, USA
Vehicle: 1974 BMW 2002
Engine: BMW M10 2.0L I-4
Horsepower: 140 hp
Torque: 150 lb-ft
Built By: BP Autosound, Coupe King, Diamond Hills Collision, Ireland Engineering, VR Wheels
ENGINE MODIFICATIONS // Bosch (spark plugs, ignition wires, coils, battery), Coupe King (custom E30 in-tank fuel pump, grounding system), CP Racing custom 89 mm 10:1 CR pistons, Filter King fuel pressure regulator, Ireland Engineering (intake manifold, 292 camshaft, distributor, forged H-beam connecting rods, S14-spec, piston rings, ported & polished head), k&N custom intake system
EXHAUST // Coupe King custom stainless steel exhaust system, Ireland Engineering Stage 2 4-1 header, MagnaFlow (resonator, muffler)
DRIVETRAIN // Getrag 245 5-speed overdrive transmission, BMW 320is LSD conversion
WHEELS / TIRES / BRAKES // BBS RS wheels – 15x7 +25 (f/r), Toyo Extensa HP tires – 195/50 R15 (f/r), Wilwood (Dynapro radial mount 4-piston brake calipers (f), CPB 1-piston brake calipers (r), 300 mm 2-pc. slotted rotors (f), 270 mm 1-pc. slotted rotors (r), braided brake lines)
CHASSIS / SUSPENSION // Eibach 2.5-in. ID springs (f), Ireland Engineering (5-in. race springs (r), 22 mm sway bars, urethane bushings, boxed control arms (r)), Koni adjustable shocks (f/r)
INTERIOR // BMW (2012 Oyster color leather, perforated inserts, first generation 2002 retrofit seats), Coupe King (re-manufactured dash, custom shift boot, custom e-brake boot, rebuilt gauge cluster, gauge pods integrated into center
MOBILE ELECTRONICS // BP Autosound (custom sealed subwoofer enclosure, custom fiberglass kick panels, custom fiberglass rear deck, custom fiberglass trunk, custom fiberglass center console), Clarion (NX605 head unit, XC6610 6-channel amplifier, WG2520D 10-in. subwoofers (2), SRG1622S component speakers, SRG6954R rear fill speakers), HushMat sound deadening Wirez (4-gauge power wire, distribution blocks), Xstatic BatCap Power Pack battery
SPONSORS // Coupe King, Pandora, TOYO Tires, KONI, K&N, Chris Forsberg Racing, SiriusXM, Ireland Engineering Motorsports, Mothers, Pelican Parts, HushMat, New Century BMW, Lucas Oil Products, Hitachi, Diamond Hills Collision, WIREZ, BP Autosound
For more information on the Clarion Builds iconic restoration program, go to http://www.clarionbuilds.com.
Clarion Builds' 1974 BMW 2002 is published in PASMAG #132 (August/September 2015), on newsstands between July 3 - August 31, 2015. Order this issue online at http://pasmag.com/backissues.
