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The
Process
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Making a racecar from
a street car starts the same way everywhere in the world. It starts
by taking the car apart, cleaning everything, removing all the civilian
parts, strengthening body mounts, repairing old damage, replacing
old worn parts, and generally evaluating the raw material. This
car was certainly no exception to that rule, in fact, at almost
45 years of age, it needed at least its share of maintenance catch
up.
The 502 was meant to be a stately luxury cruiser, not a race car.
There are rumors
that there were some used as hill climb cars in Germany during the
'50s, but none were ever used for any serious racing effort---until
now. The car came with sound deadener and insulation everywhere,
extra bracing, heavy solid trim parts, a heater and vent system
that took two grown men to lift, seats with solid steel frames,
a beautiful inch-thick solid wood dash, more beautiful solid
wood door trim pieces, steel side bumpers along both sides of the
car, extensive bracing for bumpers on all four sides, thick spray-on
sealer inside and out, and much more. All this was removed and stored
against some future use by someone sometime. This, then, was the
basis for racecar construction.
 Further
weight savings came through the removal of all the window mechanisms
and door glass replacement with plastic windows and pins. The heavy
steel steering column was replaced with the lighter parts from an
E21 320i. The handbrake and all its bracketry were removed and a
simple handbrake lever installed beside the seat. The complex column
mounted shift linkage was all removed and replaced with levers mounted
directly on the transmission.
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