[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

RE:<02> (fun) search complications

> He told me that he owned a Tii for 10 yrs, and he
> recommended I steer clear of them...they are difficult
> to work on (injection system) 

They are more difficult than a single carb '02 but no more difficult
than a twin carb one.  All in all they aren't that tough--you just
need to follow the correct steps, and the tii registry maintained
by Bob Murphy can give you documentation on what those are.

> and VERY expensive to fix if one of the
> hard-to-find parts goes.

True, but you need to define hard to find parts that apply to the
tii and not to other '02s.  The most obvious one is the injection
pump, but these are very robust if treated well, so just don't buy
a car that is likely to need one (and have it checked out by a
mechanic that knows tii's).  The other stuff (linkage, front hubs,
etc...) is more expensive but not drastically so, and it gives you
improved performance that justifies its cost (e.g. a lot of people
switch to tii parts for their normal '02s).

> I had assumed that the tii was the superior car
> and the one to look for, but Im not so sure now

They are faster and rarer than standard '02s.  Heavily modified '02s
are faster still, but as you lose originality you tend to narrow
the group of people who you could one day sell to (and heavily
modified '02s are just as expensive and finicky as tii's, IMHO).
If you want absolute simplicity and a car that most mechanics can
work on get a standard '02.  If you are willing to learn how to tune
the injection (which is not that tough), willing to find a mechanic
who knows tii's if you need to and want higher performance from
a stock '02 get a tii.  Both are great cars, you just need to decide
what you want out of it.

Good luck,
Ware
'72 & '74 2002tii