I like pretty much all cars. When the wife takes an interest in a particularly cool car, I naturally support and nurture her interest, especially when we may be able to score said car for a low price. Now the cost of 2002's seems to be climbing. I have been watching the scrolls for a while now to find a good deal on a clean and usable 2002. There are no good deals, especially on "roundies." The wife has been noticing these cars for a while, and since I'm jonesing for a new project that I can waste a ton of money on, I got serious about finding one "for her". I don't want a rust bucket, and I also don't want to pay 5 figures. We found this little "square light" fixer upper in the San Francisco Bay area for sale. It has an automatic transmission (a must for my wife) that is failing. The engine doesn't run so good, the interior is deflated, it needs paint, and the sunroof mechanism is in pieces. Never-the-less, I made a deal with the seller for $3,000. Yikes.
The upshot is that it came with a spare engine, two spare transmissions and a truck-load of extra, probably useless parts. I'm in the 2002 business now. The body is absolutely 100% rust free and accident free. I am going to be restoring a worthy vehicle. There are service records back to 1975. The only body damage is on the drivers door, from where the limit strap broke and the door folded into the front fender. Oh yeah, it has a broken engine mount too.
Hauling home the next project in December '14 behind my trusty and capable 390-powered 1974 Ford f-100 Explorer
Eyeballing the possibilities of the 2002 in the sellers driveway
Loading the spare engine into the truck on the sellers ridiculously steep street. One false move and the engine and picker go racing to the bottom!
Trunk is spic and span. I found what looks like the original tool roll. Score!!
Dash is un cracked, door panels are pristine, but the carpet has to go and I have to restuff the seats. Gonna find a new steering wheel too.
Engine bay is tidy and very original. I am planning to rebuild and install the spare engine. The spare engine came with a Weber carb, which I plan on rebuilding and installing on this engine in the mean time.
2002 in good company
Clean original door panels, she escaped the aftermarket speaker treatment!
Truckload of parts
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