Hello From Calahoo!

Post about yourself, your Tercel, or your Tercel projects in here, share pictures of your Tercel, or post trip threads!
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Rednecklawrence
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My tercel:: 5.5 Tercels total... Not enough

Hello From Calahoo!

Post by Rednecklawrence »

Hi, names Lane. I'm from just outside Edmonton, Alberta in a hamlet called Calahoo. I Got my first "Tercel" (you'll see why I used quotations...) sometime in 2014 or 15, can't remember. I don't really have a name for this one, but I call it "The Buggy". This beast caught my friends eye on kijiji for $580, and he mentioned it to me as a joke. But I bought it anyways... This WAS an SR5 wagon at some point in its life, but is no longer. The guy I bought it from has cut the rear end off, made the wheel wells bigger, and cut the bottom of the doors off of it. On top of that, he made a ready-rod lift kit in the front, and jacked up the back, though I haven't looked at how. The tires were also swapped with quad tires on trailer rims, which actually makes for quite a formidable off-roading machine. Oh, and it's straight piped out the hood. I trailered this contraption home after dickering him to $450, and got to work trying to start it. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I discovered I had a ceased camshaft. So I left it in the garage for a while and put an ad on kijiji looking for an engine. I eventually had a guy give me one for free, he was gonna rebuild it, but had kids and no time. He also had an entire wagon and a metric sh!t ton of parts, but I'll talk about that in part 2. So anyways I eventually got the entire engine swapped and the thing ran! The guy had also cut out the stabilizer bar thingies to compensate for the lift, and replaced them with cable, so it goes wherever it wants in reverse... Not road legal to say the least. It needed brakes too, and I ended up replacing the calipers and had to replace the front tires with regular ones, because the trailer rims wouldn't fit over the calipers (They ground the old calipers to fit the rim). And that's pretty much it for my first Tercel. It now sits at my grandpa's farm in working condition, but the back shock has rusted though the body and makes for a noisy and rough ride... sunroof works though.

Here's some pics:
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WP_20170505_17_16_34_Pro.jpg
WP_20170505_17_16_17_Pro.jpg
WP_20170505_17_16_22_Pro.jpg
More to follow in part 2...
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Last edited by Rednecklawrence on Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by Petros »

wow, what a wild ride. looks like it was rusted out so the previous owner made it into a swap buggy. I had thought it would be fun to do something like that with a beater that was not worth restoring (with all that spare time I did not know what do do with...ya, right).

Might be worth improving for runnign in a "sh*t box" type rally, if one ever gets organized for North America (I think one from mexico to alaska, all on back roads, would be a blast!). A car like this is ideal, if it gets wrecked, you just leave it and hitch a ride home.
'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)
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Rednecklawrence
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My tercel:: 5.5 Tercels total... Not enough

Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by Rednecklawrence »

Oh man, that would be a blast! Wouldn't make it very far though, I think it sucks crap from the fuel tank and clogs a filter or fuel line somewhere and it stops running after an hour or so of driving. Gotta let is sit for about 6 hours before it settles and gets going again! And they quite literally made a swamp buggy. When I brought it in the garage in winter time, it thawed out and the undercarriage of the thing reeked like slough, along with all the grass hanging from the rear axle and whatnot.
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Rednecklawrence
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My tercel:: 5.5 Tercels total... Not enough

Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by Rednecklawrence »

Part 2
So I mentioned in part 1 about the guy I got the engine from? Yeah, he had an entire green 1985 SR5 in wonderful condition. I asked him if he'd sell it, and was on the fence, but seemed like he could use the money. So the next day I actually picked it up for $2000, with a back full of parts (had to bring a separate vehicle for the 2 transmissions, nearly full set of spare glass, and 2 sets of rims) and brought it home. It had about 145,000km on it at the time of purchase, and it ran and drove good. I had to bring it in for inspection, and the mechanic said he had never seen a car that old in such good shape. But, all was not well. One day on my way into town, I had just had an orthodontic appointment and needed gas, so while I was waiting to turn left at a red, she died, and would not start up. I figured she was out of gas, bought a jerry can, filled it up, put some in the wagon, and drove it to the pump where I completely filled it. But it would not start after that. My grandpa was called in for assistance, and we determined she had no spark, but since I carried spare parts, I screwed with some stuff and it was running again! But a few kilometers down the road it died again... so I towed it to school (with a minivan) and parked it. The next day it got home fine. It stopped on me another 2 times in traffic before the faulty ignition module thing in the distributor was bad, and it wad good to go (it ran kinda bad before I also discovered it had a bad spark plug wire, resulting in it only running on 3 cylinders...). After all that, things were good. It had low compression and burnt some oil, but it wasn't so bad that it was undrivable. Add a little every month, and it was good. The previous owner had put an Alpine head unit and speakers in it, but I didn't like the head unit so I replaced it with a Kenwood one, and put in 2 12" subwoofers with 900w amp in the back. And some underglow because it was $35 on eBay. Why not?

I don't have a lot of pics, my phone crapped out and lost a bunch:
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blue.jpg
red.jpg
purple.jpg
green.jpg
Now comes the sad part...
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BaileySims
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My tercel:: 1983 Tercel SR5 4WD
Location: Texas
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Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by BaileySims »

Under glows! Hahaha. Thing is looking pretty righteous! How is your sound system dealing with the car? I have a kenwood double, a pioneer 750 amp and a ten. What I have pulls a ton of juice. I've even got a capacitor and an retrofitted 75amp alternator.
WAGON MAFIA.
Blood, sweat and beers.
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Rednecklawrence
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My tercel:: 5.5 Tercels total... Not enough

Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by Rednecklawrence »

She handles it pretty well actually. The deck is a Kenwood KDC X-300, and I have an aftermarket, but factory spec alternator, no capacitor. This system pulled enough power to dim every light in the car and I could watch my rpm's drop on hard bass hits, but it never blew nothing.
Last edited by Rednecklawrence on Mon Oct 23, 2017 9:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Rednecklawrence
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My tercel:: 5.5 Tercels total... Not enough

Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by Rednecklawrence »

Part 3
Now this part is pretty sad... On the 8th of may this year, we were in an accident. I was on my way to school heading east at approximately 8:05am. The sun was in my eyes super bad, and paired with the tiny visors and pitted original windshield, I could not see hardly anything. This resulted in me rear-ending a completely stopped school bus, waiting to turn left, while I was doing 100km/h. I saw the bus at the last moment, braked and swerved, but not enough. The A-pillar of my poor wagon hit the rear passenger side of the bus and shoved me out from under it, and the engine compartment slid under the bus and hit the rear dualies, after which I spun into the ditch. I blacked out upon hitting the bus, where I woke up in my car, and was technically pinned, because they didn't want me to move and the door was stuck shit, although I could've crawled out the driver side. Looked so bad they even called STARS air ambulance. I was taken to the hospital via ambulance, with only a broken nose, and a few cuts to the face and left hand. I was out the next day. My poor, poor wagon was not so lucky. It was towed to a wreckers yard, where my dad got all my important stuff out of her, and she was gonna be sent to be crushed. But I wouldn't stand for that, paid the $300 and brought her home. Did save my life after all.

Here's what she looks like now:
IMG-20170508-00060[419].jpg
IMG-20170508-00061[418].jpg
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WP_20170509_19_46_11_Pro.jpg
As you can imagine, the A-pillar saved my life. She still currently sits at my place, waiting to have her rear seat made into a couch and drivers mounted to a rolly chair base...
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BaileySims
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My tercel:: 1983 Tercel SR5 4WD
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Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by BaileySims »

Shit man. :( glad you're okay. Definitely could have been a lot worse had you not made any quick maneuvers.
WAGON MAFIA.
Blood, sweat and beers.
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Rednecklawrence
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Joined: Sat Dec 26, 2015 1:52 pm
My tercel:: 5.5 Tercels total... Not enough

Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by Rednecklawrence »

I'd have cleared the top of my wagon off, along with my head. I owe my life to the ol' girl. Miss her.
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
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Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by Petros »

that is a remarkable story. the car sacrificed its self to save your life. even than, cars were not really designed to keep you alive in a high speed accident like that. Next time use better judgement when driving into the sun.

a lot of the parts look like they can be salvaged, just right for your next project. too bad such a nice Tercel4wd had to be lost, but it sounds like it had a long live, longer than most cars these days.
'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)
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Rednecklawrence
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My tercel:: 5.5 Tercels total... Not enough

Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by Rednecklawrence »

Yeah, I'll never forgive myself for that, but what's done is done. The engine would appear to be salvageable in those pics, but upon further inspection I found that obviously the alternator was smashed, but its attached directly to the head and snapped a chunk of the head out. Block would still be good though. Fuse box was obliterated, battery sliced in half, and bits of distributor are everywhere. But I didn't lose any oil, coolant, or wiper fluid. What makes me mad the most is she had hardly any rust. There was some surface rust here and there, and some starting on the back of the rocker panels, but she was in fine shape. If I had been in any different or lower of a car, I don't think I would've made it if I hit the bus the same way.
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Rednecklawrence
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My tercel:: 5.5 Tercels total... Not enough

Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by Rednecklawrence »

Part 4
Okay, so this part is my current dilemma. About 2-3 weeks ago I was on the hunt for another wagon to replace my fallen comrade. I found a gold one on kijiji, asking $1500, and dickered him down to $1050. I knew the thing would need a valve cover gasket, cv boots, brakes, tires, struts and was fairly rusted on the back of the rocker panels, but though it wasn't too bad, although I didn't look overly well, and I'm no mechanic. It drove home from Red Deer to Calahoo (~250km), and I could tell it would need brakes ASAP. I took it into my local mechanic shop, and got some VERY bad news... Basically the car is rotten. The mechanic that inspected it says basically everywhere in front of the back tires is rusted out, with a small chunk of intact frame holding her all together. Basically, she will never be road worthy again. That was determined along with a myriad of other issues I was not informed of.

Here's some pics:
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So I kinda lost a bunch of cash, and since I'm 18 and living at home, my dad wants me to scrap both my wagons to recover what I can and look for something else. I REALLY don't want to do that, and don't think I will. My mechanic says the engine is in real good shape, minus the leaks, but other than that it should run forever. So that's where I am right now. I've got no clue what do with my cars or parts, but ideally id like to hold onto them until I can get another wagon. I can't spend anymore money on another one, my parents will kill me, and they're pressuring me to get rid of them. I'll keep posted on the situation, and hopefully all goes well.

On another note, if anyone had a frame and body wagon in real good shape for a good price, id be willing to buy for the right price. I don't care if its missing an engine, tranny, rear axle, anything really. I've got the parts to fix it, and its killing me not having a wagon, knowing they'll only get harder to find.
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by Petros »

Too bad, live and learn. Be more careful to inspect for rust before you buy. You just seem to be having a lot of bad luck. At this point it has to get better. Only one way to go but up!

you should be able to locate a Tercel4wd with a decent body, but blow engine or trans, for $150-300, they show up around here regularly. all you need is a good chassis, and you got all the parts to swap over. you can than junk the bad bodies after you get all the useful parts off of them. I have bought perhaps 12 Tercel4wd, many in the $100 to $200 range, but I drove all of them home (after repairs), several I got just as parts cars, so they are out there, you have to be ready to travel a bit to get them.

Good luck.
'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)
waynehoc
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Location: Maple Ridge, BC.

Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by waynehoc »

Here's a 1987 4wd in BC - Southern Interior, near Salmon Arm - maybe too far for you? Looks like it would be dicey driving it from where it is to Edmonton. http://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/kaml ... nFlag=true
'87 Deluxe 2WD wagon, 5-spd, 330,000km, owned since '93.
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Rednecklawrence
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My tercel:: 5.5 Tercels total... Not enough

Re: Hello From Calahoo!

Post by Rednecklawrence »

Yeah, I saw that one, but im kinda banned from them for a while... Contacted him anyways and he hasn't gotten back to me
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