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Introduction
The Roundie
A few of you might have seen my E30 build thread, which went exactly one post deep before being abandoned. Shortly after posting that up, the real world caught up with me and I found myself with zero time to work on the car. While I wanted to finish the swap, and restore the car to what I had always pictured, it just wasn’t in the cards for now. Unfortunately I decided to part ways with the car, and find something a little more complete that I could enjoy while I made small changes.
In comes my 1973 2002. I’ve had an itch for a 2002 for quite a long time now. A friend of mine has had a number of them and I’ve always loved the little cars. I started the hunt a while back, but had little to no luck finding something that was both in budget, and not a complete basket case. I didn’t think I’d be able to find a Roundie in my budget, but this diamond in the rough popped up.
Taken in Stockton, when I flew out to inspect the car
I actually found this car by accident, just browsing Instagram one night. I shot the owner a DM, and next thing I knew I was flying to Stockton, CA to buy this car and arrange shipping home. The previous owner was incredibly nice, and helped me out quite a bit in getting the car ready to send home. He had had the car for a long time, and had seen a lot of the details of the build through properly.
On it's way home! That E38 pissed oil all over my poor '02.
Here’s a basic run down on the car. It’s already M20b25/G260 swapped (with a refreshed M20), sitting on CAtuned coilovers, with a Kooglewerks front air dam, and a number of other little changes. The previous owner 5 lug swapped the car by modifying the hubs, and it now has a 5x120 bolt pattern. The car isn’t without it’s problems, there’s some rust here and there (most notably in the pedal box), but is largely structurally sound. There isn’t any deep cancer in the areas these cars get hit the most.
This was an important part for me. I knew whatever 2002 I bought, I'd end up dropping an M20 in eventually. This saves me some time long term.
These are actually Firebird wheels. I dig them, but they aren't staying.
The plans are pretty simple. There are a lot of loose ends to tie up with the swap, so I’ll be tackling those first. The interior is a mix of so many colors that I want to redo it entirely. Exterior wise, I’m in the process of building another set of wheels for this car (as my RSs will not fit it), but otherwise can remain as is for the most part. So the changes will be subtle, but worth while. Long term, I'd love to get it body worked and repainted a fresh coat of Sahara Beige, but that's only if time permits.
First Changes
After test driving the car in California, I knew there was a few things that I would have to take care of right away when the car arrived home. Primarily with the throttle pedal. The car has an E30 G260 5 speed, which required the transmission tunnel to be widened. The result was a stock throttle pedal that absolutely did not fit anymore. I struggled to press it, and broke it clean off not 30 seconds after the car had arrived home.
I ordered an Ireland Engineering aluminum throttle pedal, a kit they sell to address these issues. I simply cut out the stock pedal bracket, and bolted this pedal in. The pedal pushes against a roller bearing on the throttle rod, and engages incredibly smoothly. 10/10, best modification I’ll ever do to this car. Mainly because I can actually drive it properly now.
I opted for the black pedal to blend in
This is the worst of the rust. A lot of it is surface, but you can see where it ate through in the corner where they widened the transmission tunnel. The rest of the car is clean, but unfortunately this is a moisture hot spot on these cars. It'll definitely get patched up soon.
For those familiar with 2002s, these are the dreaded nubs.
Skipped a few steps, but here's the finished product. It clears the transmission tunnel, and engages smoothly.
I also ordered a steering hub adaptor from IE, as I had a Renown 100 sitting around from my E30. The stock wheel was in decent shape, but a little too big for my taste. Unfortunately the 100 sticks out way too far on this hub, so I’ll likely need to swap to a Monaco. Otherwise it looks fantastic.
Before. Very clean but a little too big for me.
After. It looks great, but I need to switch to a wheel with no dish.
Before the car was shipped to me, the previous owner spun up the coilovers so nothing was damaged getting on and off the truck. So I took some time to spin everything back down. I discovered the car is sitting on true-rear coilovers, but has no reinforcement on the rear shock towers. So I’ll be tackling that pretty quickly as well.
Hover '02 engaged. Those oil spots came from the beater Accord I keep around, not the Roundie.
I’ve only had the car for about a week now, so there wasn't a lot to report right off the bat. Fortunately I can say there will be future updates on this car, I have parts coming in and some goals to hit this year.
look forward to seeing it progress.
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