Zen and the Toyota Tercel Wagon

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
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ARCHINSTL
Goldie Forever
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Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 1:52 pm
My tercel:: Goldie is a 1986 SR5 attualmente con Weber/also owned the first T4WD in STL in late '82
Location: Kirkwood, a 'burb of St. Louis

Re: Zen and the Toyota Tercel Wagon

Post by ARCHINSTL »

Wow - The Denbeigh?
Actually, you are mixing mags; the Denbeigh was a stalwart of C and D. The closest R&T came to that was Nigel Shiftright and his BritMobiles and/or the Cyclops Sagas by Bill Motta. I think those days of whimsy are long gone from the mags; too many humorless bean counters.
R&T used to do great April Fools tests, too - like the sedan chair, the M-B garbage truck, the locomotive, the Queen Mary, a San Francisco cablecar (a gripping tale...), and on and on. Does it still? I let my subscription lapse in '05 after 52 years (gasp!).

OK - I WILL dig out the the referenced R&T article!
Tom M.
P.S. The bullet-nosed Studie was a '50, not a '47; I know, as I learned to drive in a flat-nose '49...and a man down the street had a new '50 Commander which was pretty sleek, at least next to our '50 Nash bathtub...
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
kamiphloj
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Location: Ft Collins,Co.

Re: Zen and the Toyota Tercel Wagon

Post by kamiphloj »

I will happily defer to your more correct recollection of the facts!! No problem,Tom,but,you can tell,Hell I was there!!!
As a junior high kid I used to walk about 31/2 miles to a dealership that sold AH3000's and I'd sit in that sucker and dream...
Right now,my twisted sense of aesthetics loves the TR-3.
Those crazy limeys invented the genre out of tractor motors!! I love 'em for it!
And while I must confess a certain redneck aversion to the Asian takeover,by golly,I have to look at what I get for my hard earned dollar,and what I recycle from a wrecking yard I don't owe an appology to anyone for!.
Yeah,the terc isnt real comfortable for my 6'3"285 lb self,but I've had mine pheasant hunting in the clay gumbo backroads of Nebraske and Kansas and it did a lot better than 454 suburbans.They got way stuck.And I've been ice fishing up in Montana where I would just drive down the boat ramp onto the lake and go a long way. Canyon Ferry.Tie a string to the antenna for a wind sock,nose it into the wind,pop up the rear hatch,drill4 holes and two can fish sitting in the rear deck.
If I could only pick one,and I had to choose between a brand new BMW Z-3,or a Hum-V or a brand new Terc,I'd take the Terc.
The burro.
Like my old Volvo 544 with 4wd.I seldom regret neversieze or threadlocker
takza
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Location: Tibetan plateau

Re: Zen and the Toyota Tercel Wagon

Post by takza »

The Triumphs....I can remember lots of wind noise whether the side curtains were on or not...a heater that didn't really work. But a decently powered car that handled well relative to standards back then. The steering wheels were LARGE...so they tended to hit the top of my legs.

Never owned a TR6 or 7 though....but I was looking.

http://ww2.collectorcartrader.com/

SEARCH 1952 on up...might see a few bikes too...
Give a boy a gun-give a biatch a cell phone-and pretty soon you almost got yourself a police state.

Orwell said: War is peace! Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength...

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Mattel
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My tercel:: 1988 Corolla 4wd Wagon (AKA Corolla All-trac) 5speed, AC, Power Sunroof, Windows, Mirrors, Steering, Locking, Diff Lock, 14" Corolla SX Alloys with Silica Hankook Tyres, 4afe, King Springs, Upgraded Headlights, Full Synth oils, 210,000kms
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Zen and the Toyota Tercel Wagon

Post by Mattel »

Growing up in England the second car my family had that I can remember (after the Morris Minor Traveller) was a rather dashing 1969 Triumph 2000 TC (Twin Carbs?) anyway it was an awesome car. It had a 2litre/6cylinder engine and leather/walnut interior. It was the first car I ever went 100mph in. I'm not sure if you ever got them stateside? Dad also had an MGB GT at this time and a neat moustache - quite the playboy I'm sure. But golly those things liked to rust.
Previous: 83 Tercel SR5 4wd, 84 Tercel SR5 4wd
88 Corolla 4wd Wagon 5speed, All power options, Fact Sunroof, Diff Lock, 14" SX Alloys, Hankook Tyres, 4afe, King Springs, Upgraded Headlights, Full Synth oils, Tow Bar, 210,000kms
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ARCHINSTL
Goldie Forever
Posts: 6369
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 1:52 pm
My tercel:: Goldie is a 1986 SR5 attualmente con Weber/also owned the first T4WD in STL in late '82
Location: Kirkwood, a 'burb of St. Louis

Re: Zen and the Toyota Tercel Wagon

Post by ARCHINSTL »

Wow - Minors - I knew I liked you!
I was quite the MInor nut from '58 until '82 or so; they taught me about cars (well, at least about quirky BritMobiles...).
My first was a '52 sidevalve. I/then wife had all of the varieties brought here, save for the van/p'up (ute to you?). I had as many as five at one time. I even sold my wunnerful '64 Volvo 122S/Amazon when the Minors were brought back in briefly in '67.
Incidentally, there is quite a flourishing trade from AU and NZ, in sending the Minors here to the USA, and in particular the utes and vans - some bigga bucks are being made by your mates; check out eBayUSA sometime.

The Triumph TC 2000 was pretty neat, but alas, like the Rover P6 series, "did not do well in the USA" for the usual BritMobile problems. Here is an interesting link, with some specific comments pertaining to OZ usage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_2000
The later Stag is making appearances in a cool BBC detective show, "New Tricks," being driven by one of the actors.
Well, time to set the VCR to capture a funny AU comedy tonite - "Super Nova."
Tom M.
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
graphiteblimp99
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My tercel:: 1984, Toyota, Tercel, SR 5, Push Guard, Fog Lights
Location: College in Illinois Near ST. Louis

Re: Zen and the Toyota Tercel Wagon

Post by graphiteblimp99 »

That was brilliant!
takza
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Re: Zen and the Toyota Tercel Wagon

Post by takza »

The Spitfire GT6 had that 6 cylinder...made that small car go pretty good. I saw a few TC2000s around during those years.
Give a boy a gun-give a biatch a cell phone-and pretty soon you almost got yourself a police state.

Orwell said: War is peace! Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength...

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ARCHINSTL
Goldie Forever
Posts: 6369
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 1:52 pm
My tercel:: Goldie is a 1986 SR5 attualmente con Weber/also owned the first T4WD in STL in late '82
Location: Kirkwood, a 'burb of St. Louis

Re: Zen and the Toyota Tercel Wagon

Post by ARCHINSTL »

A good friend has a good runner GT6 - it still performs quite well, although he keeps a BIG sort-of-Tupperware pan under the engine & tranny....and boy - talk about creaks and groans - Goldie is a Silent Runner compared to the Triumph.
Tom M.
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
terceldude
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Location: Wellesley, MA 02481 USA

Re: Zen and the Toyota Tercel Wagon

Post by terceldude »

Is "Zen...." missing some paragraphs? It seems like it is...
neonsport - do you still have a copy?
Tom M.
Is "Zen...." missing some paragraphs? It seems like it is...
neonsport - do you still have a copy?
Tom M.
Quote ARCHINSTL And Yet Another...
by ARCHINSTL » 11 Feb 2008 09:10 pm

The things one discovers when it's cold outside...the T4WD certainly seems to have inspired poetic endeavors!
This one from Ontario (I think...).
http://theascent.spaces.live.com/blog/cns! Sixth entry down:
May 09
Goodbye to the '87 Tercel

I sit in her bucket seat that feels like new
Touring up to Coombs, one last ride,
87’Tercel four by four, five speed, extra low,
rust sprinkling out along the road,
trails of bread crumbs not followed back,
undercarriage weakened
years of highway salt pitting at her base,
the engine now a roar, muffler fragmented holes
lines corroded beyond economical repair,
chassis crumpling on the hoist.

I shift gears as I have for twenty years,
smooth partnership, an extension of my arm,
sun roof imagined opened wide, its frayed
silver ribbons of duct tape holding back the leaks.
I’ve cleaned her out, registration on the seat and
for a moment I smell her new car smell,
see myself pull from the dealer lot, shift into second
on her first trip home;
those many nights she blasted through
winter drifts,
that afternoon returning from the north,
Toronto grid locked in snow,
army called in, the Tercel cutting first tracks
up our street, two feet of snow,
no one moving, surfing the wave,
in extra low, neighbours, mouths agape
leaning on their shovels,
revved and spun her left into our driveway.


Today I pull her into Arrowsmith Auto Parts
to donate her organs, try not to imagine
her body in the compactor’s jaws.
I think of all the nights I’ve slept with her,
the twister night when the tent blew down,
changed her tires in the cold night Halley’s comet sky
a few beers, sweating off the dancing,
faint music warm inside,
blew her clutch over north Lake Superior on the trek out west,
laid over in Wawa her packed with garden plants
we couldn’t part with and our home-made wine.

A five and twenty in my pocket now
after all the parts, organs, dismemberment
rust gnawing on her bones,
her slow burning up, I ask
what happens to her soul?
Wow, did ARCH just turn not cool??? LOL :lol:
K-Business
shonuffisthemaster
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Location: Minneapolis, MN

Re: Zen and the Toyota Tercel Wagon

Post by shonuffisthemaster »

I call it the tercelarator, because it doesn't "accelerate" it "tercelerates" and it does so in such style and in a perfectly adequate amount of time:)
87 tercel 2d
87 corolla FX
87 Mazda 323
79 Datsun 210
91 ranger
84 F150 300-6
87 T4WD SR5 blue (still have)
81 Tercel SR5 hatch
87 T4WD SR5 red
92 2WD Truck
79 F350 dually flatbed 460 Eddelbrock intake / 750CFM 4bbl (still have)
84 Corolla 4dr (current)
davep1968
Member
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2008 4:50 am
My tercel:: 86 SR5
Location: Adelaide Australia

Re: Zen and the Toyota Tercel Wagon

Post by davep1968 »

Hi all, I have not been around for a while on the forum but do poke my head in every now and then. I bought a SAAB 95 a while back due to the serious kilometres I do commuting to the city for social occasions etc.
I still have my 2 tercs, 1 good runner and a spare parts car.
I would really love the full version of the zen text, I had it but alas seem to have deleted at some point.
Does anyone have the original?

On another note, I went on a defensive driving course a few weeks back, SAAB in for service so took the Tercel.
When braking heavily it was belching smoke from the exhaust. Ithought it smelt like brake fluid, everyone said no, how could it be?
Well, master cylinder was leaking into the booster, level was high enough so that when I braked hard the vacuum sucked a guts full straight into the inlet manifold. Swapped cylinders and boosters all OK! How bizarre!
Ciao!
Balanced on the biggest wave, you race towards an early grave.
dave88
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Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Jun 09, 2010 3:09 am
My tercel:: 85 4x4 Auto Wagon 135k

Re: Zen and the Toyota Tercel Wagon

Post by dave88 »

Hi guys, I'm new here.

Tercelerate, I like it. I'm learning the Zen of being patient and not in much of a hurry to get where I'm going. As I recently acquired a 1985 4wd Auto. It has a top cruising speed of about 59 mph :)
dave88
Member
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Jun 09, 2010 3:09 am
My tercel:: 85 4x4 Auto Wagon 135k

Re: Zen and the Toyota Tercel Wagon

Post by dave88 »

Well I guess I've been driving the Tercel 9 months now. The auto tranny loosened up a bit or something? It works great, and will cruise nicely up to 70 mph now. Not sure what was up with it at first? I think she just needed a good hard driving. The only thing I've had to do was replace the thermostat.
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Zen and the Toyota Tercel Wagon

Post by Petros »

running clean fresh gasoline through the carb may have removed some of the sludge. You might help it some by putting a can of fuel system cleaner in the tank every month or so. So see if you can find a place that sells pure gasoline from the list at: http://pure-gas.org/

This will also help performance and fuel economy.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
dave88
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Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Jun 09, 2010 3:09 am
My tercel:: 85 4x4 Auto Wagon 135k

Re: Zen and the Toyota Tercel Wagon

Post by dave88 »

yeah, the fuel system cleaner helped noticeably. When I got it it would idle real low and sputter at stops sounding like she was gonna stall, but didn't. After a couple bottles of cleaner she purrs nicely at stops now.
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