'76 '02...?

[fastricky]

I've read a number of times that the beauty of a '76 2002 is that "all the bugs have been worked out" and it is a desirable car for that reason. What bugs exactly? Is there any merit to this claim?

['76mintgrün'02]

The bugs were not all eliminated in the last year.  It was a gradual progression over the years.

 

For example, they eliminated the puny round tail lights and the dainty chrome bumpers in 1974, but those UpGrades lasted through '76.   

 

That was also when they did away with those fragile aluminum grilles and used the awesome plastic ones.

 

They shed some weight by using thinner vinyl on the seats!

 

The intermittent wiper switch was '76 only.  Not really a bug, but definitely a bonus.

 

Headlight relays were a nice improvement.

 

Um... '76 cars had cool looking air cleaner lids.

 

I am not coming up with much, sorry.

 

 

 

 

[fastricky]

Haha! I do like the '76 interiors, if I ever get a 2nd '02 it'd be a '76 so just like to hear what to potentially look forward to...

[jrhone]

Most parts were interchangeable and after 42 years you probably won’t fond one with 76 only parts.  The later models had more stiffness in the chassis and are less prone to rusting?  The trunk has more reinforcement? Crash protection?  I think those are  Those are some of the things that I have heard I don’t know if they are true or not.  Yes you get the latest of the upgrades but many of those are bolt ons and could be added to an older car easily.  They had smog equipment that most pull off but if you are in California you need to keep it because of the laws.  That’s the downside of a 76.  Others may chime in with more info.  

[jimk]

24 minutes ago, '76mintgrun'02 said:

The bugs were not all eliminated in the last year.  It was a gradual progression over the years.

 

For example, they eliminated the puny round tail lights and the dainty chrome bumpers in 1974, but those UpGrades lasted through '76.   

 

That was also when they did away with those fragile aluminum grilles and used the awesome plastic ones.

 

They shed some weight by using thinner vinyl on the seats!

 

The intermittent wiper switch was '76 only.  Not really a bug, but definitely a bonus.

 

Headlight relays were a nice improvement.

 

Um... '76 cars had cool looking air cleaner lids.

 

I am not coming up with much, sorry.

 

 

 

 

I don't see where any of the above were "bugs".  Some were improvements(? Was thinner vinyl an improvement?) but not bugs.

Real 02s are roundies!

[zinz]

Hahaha!!!

 

Nice one, Tom!

 

Lets have a big “Round” of applause for Mint, folks. He’ll be here all weekend. Don’t forget to tip your waitresses...

 

?

 

”Give me Roundies, or give me death”

Patrick Henry, 1775

 

 

[Conserv]

2 hours ago, '76mintgrun'02 said:

The bugs were not all eliminated in the last year.  It was a gradual progression over the years.

 

For example, they eliminated the puny round tail lights and the dainty chrome bumpers in 1974, but those UpGrades lasted through '76.   

 

That was also when they did away with those fragile aluminum grilles and used the awesome plastic ones.

 

They shed some weight by using thinner vinyl on the seats!

 

The intermittent wiper switch was '76 only.  Not really a bug, but definitely a bonus.

 

Headlight relays were a nice improvement.

 

Um... '76 cars had cool looking air cleaner lids.

 

I am not coming up with much, sorry.

 

 

 

 

 

An excellent list, Tom!

 

And along with the weight-saving vinyl, the horsehair pads in the later cars are fully biodegradable — rapidly, mind you, not like the earlier horsehair pads, which tend to....linger....  ?

 

On a single serious note, the 1975-76 seats — at least as originally designed and executed — were a vast improvement over pre-1975 seats. They were developed for the e21, introduced in spring 1975 in its Euro-spec form. 1975-76 seats actually have some “bucket” to them and bolsters that occasionally...bolster! (Yes, I realize 74% of ‘02 owners have replaced their factory seats with Recaros.)

 

Best regards,

 

Steve

 

Edited July 6, 2018 by Conserv

[joebarthlow]

55 minutes ago, Conserv said:

(Yes, I realize 74% of ‘02 owners have replaced their factory seats with Recaros.)

 

 

Having just replaced my Recaro copies with '73 factory seats, I can report I am quite happy with them! Not sure what percentile that places me.

Edited July 6, 2018 by joebarthlow

[Ian]

Funny thing.  When the '74's came out some owners cut the square tail light assemblies out of the later cars and grafted them into their early cars, replacing the "old fashioned" round tail lights with the "modern euro" square tail lights!  Times and taste change.

[AustrianVespaGuy]

It is pretty much all subjective stuff really, but I'm personally partial to the later 74-76 squaries for several small reasons, although I fully admit that I think early roundies definitely look better aesthetically!  But some of the 'perks' I like on the later models include:

 

 - Big US bumpers.  Yes they look dumb, they just do, absolutely.  But they also work.  I like to drive my car quite a bit, and with the big bumpers, I'm less scared about parking at the grocery store to pick something up.  Because if if some dumb schmuck in an SUV does back up into me when they're pulling out, it all likelihood it won't ruin the bodywork and necessitate replacing sheetmetal.  Same goes for the black rubber mid-line trim; not 100% effective but a lot better than zero at protecting against door dings.

 

 - The electrical system, once all of the smog crap has been removed, is more 'versatile,' in that it's easier to modify/upgrade stuff than  on the early models, especially if we're comparing to the really early 6V systems (yuck!)

 

  - Later style 'short neck' differential is easier to rebuild and come in more fun flavors than the old style 'long necks.'

 

Again, this all comes with aesthetic compromises; the US side markers are really dumb, I like the old silver dollar instrument clusters better, and as mentioned the grills and lights of the early models look nicer, so it just depends one what matters most to you, and then you just work to counter-act any compromises that bother you in the particular vintage of your car!

[Simeon]

Everyone has been studiously putting the bugs back in since 1976 with aftermarket parts and shade tree fixes. 

 

Anything manufactured over a long period will see some ‘continuous improvement’. The actual design didn’t change much of the years so it is likely to have gone into making the manufacturing more efficient (generally this means cheaper). Since the design didn’t change much you won’t see much benefit. 

[bluebmw]

In my opinion, 76 2002's are great because the California buyers don't want them for smog reasons. That means you can find clean examples for cheaper than an identical 74 or 75!

[esty]

as many times as these cars have been around the block and as many garages as they've been parked in, each, regardless of year model is as good or refined as you make it

[jimk]

A bug defined is a feature that doesn't work as designed.  So, I don't see any bugs reported above.  Mostly changes mandated by safety or emission laws.  So there must not have been any bugs to be ironed out over the production period!

['76mintgrün'02]

I am just curious, Jim... do you think any improvements were made over the years?

 

 

Edited July 7, 2018 by '76mintgrun'02