Ernie The 2002 - A slow restoration

[ErnieThe02]

Well I finally pulled the trigger and bought a 1974 2002.   I grew up in Marin County and these were everywhere.  Having just finished my restoration on a 1988 FJ62 Land Cruiser (Burt), I needed a good stable mate…hence buying Ernie the 02.

This will be a weekly driver vs daily for cruising around.
Found this one up in the Bay Area and shipped it to Massachusetts.   It was in descent shape.

I’ll work on it in winter, driven Spring/Summer/Fall.

 

Work done thus far:

- New seat covers (World Upholstery), horsehair seat pads (BMW) and professional installation (Benefit Auto Services Corp Pawtucket RI)

- Brake booster refurbish and brake master (Ireland Engineering), bled brakes and clutch (yes, I fought through the b$@ch clip and brake booster bolts in only 4.5 hours)

- Bosch starter (FCP Euro)

- Headrest bezels and seat bracket bumper/cushions (2002ad)

- Kumho Solus 175/70 R13  all season tires (not a ton of choice in this size for all season daily driver use!)

 

Short term work on deck

- LED tail, brake, turn signal, side marker lights (SuberbrightLEDs.com)

- Replacement bumper bellows (front left is cracked)

- Replace right rear rail lamp lens (left and right both functional but don’t match color due to age)

- Add windshield sprayer tank/motor/tubing (not installed but found via ebay)

 

Long term work on deck

- Add A/C which I’m sourcing from ICE Air in CA

- Kooglewerks shifter and dash panels to accept A/C (already sourced)

 

 

 

[billy g]

Congrats!  Ernie looks familiar.  Did you score this one on BaT recently?

[ErnieThe02]

That would be correct sir!

[billy g]

I thought so...I followed that auction closely.  You got a good one! Glad to see it's in good hands and here on the FAQ!

[ErnieThe02]

Thanks and excited to get it all sorted (of course the first thing I did was put a hole in the upholstery, sharp elbow, 27 degrees and 49 year old vinyl don’t mix).   Also - Apparently you need very small hands or very specialized tools to do some of these repairs.

You’ll probably see dozens of posts from me in the tech threads trying to figure out how this thing ticks.  

[Mike Self]

Welcome to the 02 fraternity/sorority, and to the FAQ.

 

Suggestion on the faded tail light:  my roundie's lenses were kinda faded after only 50 years, and rather than buying new ones, I visited my local auto parts store and bought a sheet of adhesive, transparent red film--used for patching broken tail lights to pass state inspection.  Cut to fit and stuck on the inside, it reddened the lenses considerably.  I believe you can get the same stuff in amber, for the turn signal portion, but it usually doesn't bleach out like the red sections.

 

Cheers

Mike

[ErnieThe02]

Good advice

I’m going to pull both lenses whenI install the LED bulbs and see what I’m up against.  
 

I swore I was going to just do some minor maintenance and drive it.   Not really my nature so over the next few years I’m sure it’ll be almost completely redone.   Good garage therapy.

[NYNick]

1988 FJ 62?

Welcome to 02 ownership!

 

[saaron]

Welcome to the gang!  Love that color.  

 

I grew up in the east bay - sure miss the cars we used to see on a daily basis.  

 

Scott

[ErnieThe02]

5 hours ago, NYNick said:

1988 FJ 62?

Welcome to 02 ownership!

 

Right back at ya!  If you are an ih8mud forum guy, I’m over there under EscapeWagon

 

[Dug Nichols]

Nice looking '74!!! Welcome to 02 ownership!

 

Keep those bumpers and wheels. I went euro bumper and alloys (and got rid of rusty original rims) 20 years ago, and kind of (sometimes) regret it, for the original look. 

 

Cool that you have the original air cleaner. It's a pretty easy mod to get it back on and pull in fresh air through the snorkel:

Stock Air Cleaner Adapter for Weber Carbs – 2002 – Ireland Engineering | Racing & Performance Parts for BMW & MINI

WWW.IEMOTORSPORT.COM

---

Each

 

 

[ErnieThe02]

Snow finally cleared so Ernie is on the road.  
Seats installed.

Brakes much better.

I noticed a weep/leak in the brake slave cylinder so I have one of them inbound from FCP Euro.  
I’ll get the pedal height for brake and clutch adjusted once I know everything in the system is perfect.

Installed the windshield cleaner bottle/motor I bought ff of Ebay and it works.  Nice to be able to clean the windshield.

 

 

[Teelinger]

Congrats! I commend your choice in names 😀.

[72MetallicMalaga]

Thing looks brand new! I'm a sucker for shiny wheels, congrats!

FJ 40/60/80 and 2002 is my dream stable. I'm halfway there...

[ErnieThe02]

28 minutes ago, 72MetallicMalaga said:

Thing looks brand new! I'm a sucker for shiny wheels, congrats!

FJ 40/60/80 and 2002 is my dream stable. I'm halfway there...

Thanks!  Took 7 years to get the Land Cruiser looking like that.   Highly recommended as a stablemate!