JerryC

I regret selling my first '02. It was a '71 1600 in Ohio in the early '90s, a very rusty one as it turned out. I moved (back) to CA, and sold the '02 to keep from having to transport it. It was well stocked with Miller-Norburn goodies; suspension, steering wheel, Flo-fit seats, a nice 2-liter, well-built engine, and more. I should have parted it out, and brought the good stuff out west with me.

It looks like you could eliminate the dragging by "tweaking" (a technical term) the black-painted needle tip upward as seen from the side in the last photo. I think I see a little "kink" in the needle starting at the edge of the black. I would try to straighten it myself, and I've succeeded in doing this type of DIY repair before. It takes patience and a rested mind, don't rush it. You can perhaps slip a round toothpick under the very tip (arrow in my sketch), and another at about the desired bend location (cross-dot in sketch) and press the needle body down (gently) against the inner toothpick, it may be enough to adjust the tip away from the dial face. The idea is to limit the bending with a hard stop so you "can't" overdo it. If it doesn't straighten on the first try, shave down the inner toothpick a little and try again.

I believe Jason is correct, the bulbs are the same for blinkers and flashers. I'd check the basics first. Is power reaching the turn signal switch? I don't recall which fuse(s) are involved, but you might want to start there. Are blinkers and flashers powered from the same fuse? A wiring diagram would be a big help, you can see in what order the pieces are supposed to be connected. Then, just follow schematic lines. Hopefully, you're the first person to ever futz with the circuits... just sayin'.

Here's something to try... On my '88 Ford Ranger, you drive the pin inward to release the tumbler assembly, just like DanOKC described above so many years ago. To reassemble the Ford tumbler, you: 1. Leave the pin in where you left it. 2. Insert the tumbler (either the one just removed or a new one) into the steering column, aligning the pin to the hole that engages the pin. 3. Insert the key, and rotate it. The lockset drives the pin outward (at least it does on Fords), locking the tumblers in place in the steering column. That's it. The Ford parts guy told me how to do that. Maybe it will work on '02s? Hopefully, someone can give it a try. I can't because I was one of those creative types and I drilled the pin out, then tapped the hole and inserted a screw back in where the pin came from. Pin is gone on my '02.

Is there such a thing as a tii inner fender? If it was replaced at some time in the past, would it have come with the tii airbox brackets welded in place? Maybe those straps were fabricated to hold the air box onto a non-original inner fender.

There are fifty years worth of ways for gas fumes to enter the passenger compartment. Searching the archives will help, and here are some typical places to look: Check fuel lines. If they're the old style cloth covered type, that's likely to be an issue. The cloth hides leaky cracks in the rubber fuel line. Replace the cloth covered lines with new rubber lines. There are 3 rubber seals that attach to the top of the air plenum just in front of the windshield. If they're missing, cracked, and/or falling off, engine compartment air will enter the car's interior. Fix those seals, if that's the case. Also, is there a strong gas smell in the trunk? There are numerous ways for that to occur. Search trunk gas smell. This has been discussed many times. Good luck squelching the gas stench. Once you've done that, your '02 may seem to run better. 😉

I was using a cold start switch. The car always started easily if I turn the key to the start position and hold the switch at the same time. I held the switch for about one second, warm or cold. If the engine is warm and running within the last few to 10-ish minutes, the cold start injection is not necessary. Once the fuel vapors condense inside the intake, cold start is helpful. The engine will start, even when cold, without the cold start injector working. It may take a couple minutes of cranking to get it going however, so a good battery and starter are needed for that. A squirt of starting fluid accomplishes the same thing as the cold start injector, it gets the engine running fast enough to pump up the injectors.

Actually, anti-lame. What's the best thing to do with an '02? Drive it.

Replaced center drive shaft bearing on all 3 '02s I've had within a month of purchase. Also, fixed blinkers on all 3. Says something about the type of cars I purchase, maybe...

I once found a sizable acorn stash inside a front frame rail. Rusted it out from the inside real well.

I believe the gauge pod in my '72tii was made for turbo '02s, it came with the car. It is made of skinned foam rubber, pretty stiff actually. I just keep it wedged under the overhang and behind the front lip, it's a very good fit for that location. Wires pass through the clock hole in the dash. The gauge openings are sized for larger-than-typical gauges (VDO's fall through), but I found that a piece of flanged ABS drain pipe makes a decent adapter. Sorry about the fuzzy photo.

One more engine with bracket picture, this one's been floating around here a while:

Looks like MH has the wrong bracket. btw, I believe that bracket is used on '74 tiis only. My '72 had a mount cast into the timing chain cover that failed, and I was able to switch it to the bracket shown upon the advice of Mr. Fahuna.

MH, You may want to start a new topic for the alternator, it's hiding now as an oil pump topic. There definitely is something missing there or the alternator is not correct. There should be no free play for the altenator to move like that. I don't recall whether a spacer goes in there, or if the alternator mount is normally wide enough to fill the gap. There are urethane alternator bushing kits that have been mentioned before, and I believe your friends at IE are one source for them. Looks like someone did some weight removal on that bracket, wonder what that's all about?