other I bought another one. Baaaah!

[dang]

I came across a pretty clean '76 2002 at a tow yard and couldn't pass it up.  I'm in CA so the '76 part sucks, but the car is very original and has all the smog equipment.  Runs and drives and needs some cosmetic help here and there but has good bones.  More to come..

 

Here's a couple shots I had on my phone.  I don't have the key yet (thanks tow driver) so when I went to take the ignition switch off to start the engine I found original under dash panels.  Nice!

[adawil2002]

That looks like it needs a good detail. Too bad it's a '76 in CA, hear that's a pain.

[jerry]

glad you saved it.  those 76's really are solid cars.  i had one and it just felt more solid and quieter than all the other 02's i've driven.  hope you find a way to keep it in CA.

[Mike Self]

Bet you can find a non-CA resident who'd buy it from you...California 76s are a prime source of unrusted cars for those of us in the rust belt...

 

mike

[hnichols]

I wish my front seats looked that good.  I wonder if they've been reconditioned at some point? 

[dang]

1 hour ago, hnichols said:

I wish my front seats looked that good.  I wonder if they've been reconditioned at some point? 

The driver seat cover has been replaced and the center section is a little lighter than the passenger seat, plus, the passenger seat feels more "crusty" when you push on it.  I'm pretty happy that the seats look good, including the rear, so I don't have to deal with that.  I'll probably be contacting Esty soon for a carpet kit.

[Dave_PA]

Nice Find!!!

[dang]

Here's something I've never seen before.  How does one go about resetting a "reactor" light?  I'm assuming its a time thing versus a sensor?  I guess it would be easy to just pull the wire off.

 

 

[2002Targa]

There is a little box mid speedo cable that counts rpm's and trips the light.  I don't remember if there is a reset button on it, but yes, it's easiest just to pull the bulb...

[69NEWCLASSNH]

Follow the speedo cable from the firewall. The cable goes to a box with a button you can push in with a screwdriver. Push in and the light resets.

Cris

 

 

[bublinki]

Hey Dang, 

first off, congratulations on your "find", it looks like it has a lot of potential.

You just have to know that you have the best year EVER in the 2002 history! 

Uh, oh yeah, that just happens to be my year...

I live here in California and it has been a tiny bit of a hassle to smog, but I always have been able to do it.

I recently removed and oiled the speedo cable(actually 2 of them, 1 from the speedo to the box and another from the box to the transmission) and have photos of the mileage counter box, that you can easily reset.

The box is directly below the washer bottle(like mine, it may be covered in black grease and dirt and a little harder to distinguish), the buttons are facing down and are soft rubber. Something as simple as a ball point pen can be used to push them in.

When you get a chance, would you mind taking photos of the engine bay? I am always interested in what came original on my car, especially now that I am doing more work on it myself. It seems my mechanic left somethings off(e.g. the heat shield over the thermal reactor) that he felt were not important.

Good luck with everything!

Philip

Edited May 12, 2016 by bublinki
checked this AM for location of EGR counter

[bublinki]

Hey Dang, 

here are some photos of the EGR mileage counter box. One of the big suggestions on the "1st things you should do" when you acquire an '02 is lubricating the speedo cable... so that is where these photos came from. One of the photos is from inside the driver side fender showing the 10mm bolts holding the unit on the engine bay. The 2 buttons for reset are pictured in the photo of the bottom of the unit.

[mmichalik]

I also own a 76 and smog isn't too bad.   So long as you pass the visual, any good shop that is both a smog and repair facility will be able tune it get it to pass.  It's kind of a PIA but,thankfully it only happens once every two years.

 

As others have pointed out, you can push the buttons to deactivate the reactor light.  personally, I always like it when it's on. Kind of a cool thing.  I believe it cycles on a 30k mile schedule so it will eventually turn itself off again as the miles add up. 

 

Good luck!

[dang]

Thanks guys, I'll check out the reset.  I've actually owned a '76 in the past that I bought from a tow yard (just a coincidence) and they got it because the owner couldn't get it to pass smog.  The engine ran really rough but very quiet so I put a vacuum gauge on it and it went crazy.  All the valves had been cranked down to get rid of the noisy top end!  That made the car run a LOT better but still not great.  Next was the typical vacuum leak from the warped carb base, so I sanded the bottom of the carb flat and it ran awesome.  Passed smog fairly easily.  The engine on this latest '76 runs rough and is pretty quiet so I'm going to start with valve adjustment and carb base flattening!  lol

[dang]

I had a little time so I adjusted the valves tonight.  Just as I had thought, every valve has been cranked down to no clearance.  I set them all at OEM spec and the engine runs ten times better!  It freed up the engine and revs quicker and has the M10 upper end clatter that it needs.  Yeah baby!