Canadian '71 2002ti project - uncovered after 35 yrs

[ae86guy]

Just got back from the garage. Here are some photos of the interior. I have the original steering wheel stowed away.  I threw a Momo on there temporarily as the car already had a momo hub installed from before. The upholstery on the drivers seat is coming apart and there are a few cracks in the dash. There are also some aftermarket gauges as well as speakers installed on the door cards but otherwise it's fairly unmolested.

 

 

Complete with period correct (well, 80s) flyers in the back seat 😂. 4L of Castrol for $6.78.  It's a time capsule for sure.

 

Pretty much all the interior/exterior electronics and gauges work, with the exception of the clock.

 

About the nose, I have some photos of where the nose meets the inner fender.   Speaking with my uncle, he definitely did not have any front end repairs done. So unless the previous owner had it swapped between 71 and 76, and did not disclose it when he sold it, it's mostly likely original to the car.  I don't really have a horse in the race here...  but it's interesting either way.

 

View from the inside of the wheel well (below), where it's spot welded together - it doesn't look like anything's been touched from this side (no questionable metalwork or welds). The laps look nice and uniform.  I suspect this is all the original undercoating

 

 

View from the top: it looks either original or the two pieces of metal were very professionally blended. Or was this all one piece from the factory? I know this is where the aftermarket replacement noses end...

 

Below you can see where it's been stitch welded. Not sure if this is factory welding? It does look like it has been welded by hand and not spot welded...  🤷‍♀️

 

 

I don't really care either way, either. To me, it's entirely possible they just used up whatever parts they had lying around on the assembly line, especially during transition periods. It wouldn't be the first time I've heard of that type of thing from a manufacturer. But I certainly don't claim to be any sort of authority on this.

 

Here's some quick Sunday morning cold start action for ya

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 20, 2023 by ae86guy

[Son of Marty]

Looks like a nose replacement, nothing wrong with that, it was common practice at the time as it was cheaper to replace than try to pound out anything more than a small bump. Nice find overall the car looks to be very solid.

[Jam3422]

MPH speedometer, it has all of the Canadian ti features that I can see.  It looks no rear defrost, I'd have to go back and check the info I have on other Canadian ti's, but I don't think the others have it either.

 

I agree with Marty, looks like a nose job, and as he says, nothing wrong with that.  Great car, you are lucky.

 

One question - does your original steering wheel have a smooth center pad?

[ae86guy]

Some good info on here!

 

10 minutes ago, Jam3422 said:

One question - does your original steering wheel have a smooth center pad?

That I would have to get back to you on, as it's not with me at the moment!

 

 

 

[Tommy]

Stitch welding and the top seam (too well blended) tells that there's an accident repair done in the early days.

[Mike Self]

+ 2 on the nose replacement, now that I've seen the latest pictures.  The factory did not blend the sheet metal joint between nose panel and inner fender well.  It's done neatly (no weld blobs or even spot weld dimples) but there's definitely a step where the nose sheet metal overlaps the inner fender well.  And there are no stitch welds inside the fender well either.  

 

And those are factory "regular" front seats too.  The earlier pictures looked like they may be sports seats, but they're not.

 

mike

[ae86guy]

Makes sense, this would perhaps explain why the ti badge has always been missing from the front grille.  Repair must have happened sometime between 71 and 76 and perhaps the original badge was lost in the accident/repair. I'm told it was missing from the time he got it in 76, and we have been wondering why.

[Dudeland]

18 hours ago, ae86guy said:

Thank you for the offer! Unfortunately the car is still here with me in Alberta (Edmonton to be exact), whereas my uncle is in Toronto, where he has lived since the 80s (hence leaving the car in Edmonton since then). Sorry if that was unclear from the post.

 

I suspected as much.  The hexagonal window on the neighbour's house was hard to place.  It is a design feature not often seen in Toronto.  When I was in Vancouver I did see a lot of them.  

 

Regarding clubs:

When I was in Vancouver the only place I would see other 02's is at the cars and coffee in Stanly Park.  Here in Toronto, there is R Club, a general car club.  I think I may have a look at it when the time comes. 

 

Best of luck. 

 

 

[jgerock]

10 hours ago, ae86guy said:

Just got back from the garage. Here are some photos of the interior. I have the original steering wheel stowed away.  I threw a Momo on there temporarily as the car already had a momo hub installed from before. The upholstery on the drivers seat is coming apart and there are a few cracks in the dash. There are also some aftermarket gauges as well as speakers installed on the door cards but otherwise it's fairly unmolested.

 

 

Complete with period correct (well, 80s) flyers in the back seat 😂. 4L of Castrol for $6.78.  It's a time capsule for sure.

 

Pretty much all the interior/exterior electronics and gauges work, with the exception of the clock.

 

About the nose, I have some photos of where the nose meets the inner fender.   Speaking with my uncle, he definitely did not have any front end repairs done. So unless the previous owner had it swapped between 71 and 76, and did not disclose it when he sold it, it's mostly likely original to the car.  I don't really have a horse in the race here...  but it's interesting either way.

 

View from the inside of the wheel well (below), where it's spot welded together - it doesn't look like anything's been touched from this side (no questionable metalwork or welds). The laps look nice and uniform.  I suspect this is all the original undercoating

 

 

View from the top: it looks either original or the two pieces of metal were very professionally blended. Or was this all one piece from the factory? I know this is where the aftermarket replacement noses end...

 

Below you can see where it's been stitch welded. Not sure if this is factory welding? It does look like it has been welded by hand and not spot welded...  🤷‍♀️

 

 

I don't really care either way, either. To me, it's entirely possible they just used up whatever parts they had lying around on the assembly line, especially during transition periods. It wouldn't be the first time I've heard of that type of thing from a manufacturer. But I certainly don't claim to be any sort of authority on this.

 

Here's some quick Sunday morning cold start action for ya

 

 

 

 

 

Great info here. Is that a Acura Integra Type R beyond the hood in your video?

[DonP]

22 hours ago, ae86guy said:

Thank you for the offer! Unfortunately the car is still here with me in Alberta (Edmonton to be exact), whereas my uncle is in Toronto, where he has lived since the 80s (hence leaving the car in Edmonton since then). Sorry if that was unclear from the post.

 

I'd be very curious to know if there are any clubs or '02 owners groups here in Alberta. I only see about 1 or 2 of these on the road per year these days.

There are at least 3 or 4 cars here in Edmonton, and quite a few more in Calgary that I know.

 

There is an '02 group here in Alberta, as you can see by my avatar.  It is a mailing list and unfortunately the admin of the list (slash02) here on the faq, moved to Ontario a number of years ago, so I am not 100% sure how to get you added to the list.  There was also a website setup many years ago, but it hasn't been maintained for a long, long time, but you can have a look, assuming all the links still work: 

 

Alberta '02 Owners Group - A group for BMW 2002 and Coupe owners based in and around Alberta

WWW.ALBERTA02.COM

 

Also, if you want to DM me, I can give you my contact info and we can meet up, and I can make some inquires about trying to get you added to the list.

 

Thanks,

Don

 

 

 

[ae86guy]

5 hours ago, jgerock said:

Great info here. Is that a Acura Integra Type R beyond the hood in your video?

Indeed, however it is a JDM right-hand drive model, meaning it's the Honda model (as opposed to Acura) with the rectangular headlight front-end. Here in Canada we can import them after 15 years (as opposed to 25(?) in the US), meaning we were able to get in one before they skyrocketed in price. I have the car on dollies allowing me to fit 4 cars in a 2 standard car garage 😁

 

2 hours ago, DonP said:

 

Alberta '02 Owners Group - A group for BMW 2002 and Coupe owners based in and around Alberta

WWW.ALBERTA02.COM

 

Also, if you want to DM me, I can give you my contact info and we can meet up, and I can make some inquires about trying to get you added to the list.

 

Thanks,

Don

 

Thanks Don! I'm sure I'll be in touch. Nice to know there are others in the area. I'm in the city but in the southeast, so not too far a trek from Sherwood Pk. 

[AceAndrew]

Very cool.  You'll find a lot of design similarities between the 02 and 510.  Rumor was that Nissan/Datsun had a 1600/2002 on hand when designing the 510.

 

You'll also find plenty of us are also cross overs from the import world.  My first project in high school 2002-2005ish was SR-swapping an 89 240sx.

 

Best of luck, you have got quite the car on your hands.  Glad to hear you're up for some tasteful hotrod bits.  These cars love to be tinkered with.  I know Eurasia Automotive know their way around older bimmers if you need a little shop help.  The owner and his son have had E30's/02's and are enthusiasts.

[ae86guy]

17 minutes ago, AceAndrew said:

Very cool.  You'll find a lot of design similarities between the 02 and 510.  Rumor was that Nissan/Datsun had a 1600/2002 on hand when designing the 510.

 

You'll also find plenty of us are also cross overs from the import world.  My first project in high school 2002-2005ish was SR-swapping an 89 240sx.

 

Best of luck, you have got quite the car on your hands.  Glad to hear you're up for some tasteful hotrod bits.  These cars love to be tinkered with.  I know Eurasia Automotive know their way around older bimmers if you need a little shop help.  The owner and his son have had E30's/02's and are enthusiasts.

 

Yeah, it's very interesting to think about all crossovers. I think it's basically an accepted fact that the 510 was a '02 copy. Then there's the fact that Toyota built the E7 Corolla, essentially a 510 clone, which shared the same chassis as the later E8 Corolla (aka AE86, and my go-to car).

 

510:

E7 Corolla (virtually the exact same chassis as an AE86)

 

Kind of neat how the three cars from 3 very different manufacturers share a common lineage and philosophy. 

 

All 3 are simple, nimble, RWD, 4cylinder NA cars with similar power-to-weight ratios, each with their own unique impact/legacy on motorsport.

 

Also, good to hear about Eurasia. I had already been planning on taking the car there for anything I don't trust myself to do on my own, but reassuring to know they are bona fide E10/E30 guys.

[ae86guy]

Also, several of you have mentioned the registry on this forum, which I like the idea of.

 

However I've always been of the opinion it's not a good idea to share you vin and/or license plate on social media.... the thought being that a bad actor with access to a govt database could look up your address with your vin and/or plate, and potentially steal your vehicle... Or that someone with a stolen car could "clone" your vin.  Definitely a bit of a stretch I know, but also a bit of caution doesn't hurt either.

 

...perhaps some of you could convince me otherwise?

 

Thanks in advance!

[ae86guy]

Also, several of you have mentioned the registry on this forum, which I like the idea of.

 

However I've always been of the opinion it's not a good idea to share you vin and/or license plate on social media.... the thought being that a bad actor with access to a govt database could look up your address with your vin and/or plate, and potentially steal your vehicle... Or that someone with a stolen car could "clone" your vin.  Definitely a bit of a stretch I know, but also a bit of caution doesn't hurt either.

 

...perhaps some of you could convince me otherwise?

 

Thanks in advance!