What have you done to your wagon lately?

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
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4wdEconoBox
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My tercel:: 1985 Toyota Tercel SR5 4WD
Location: Talladega, Alabama

Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by 4wdEconoBox »

Hmmm......Bull Bar?!?!?!
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BaileySims
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My tercel:: 1983 Tercel SR5 4WD
Location: Texas
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Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by BaileySims »

I hope it turns out to be one in the end!
WAGON MAFIA.
Blood, sweat and beers.
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4wdEconoBox
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My tercel:: 1985 Toyota Tercel SR5 4WD
Location: Talladega, Alabama

Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by 4wdEconoBox »

Heck yeah!!! I've debated on making one for a while, once I get moved into my new house I plan on making a lot of changes to my wagon as well as my Miatas haha. I finally have a huge garage to work on my stuff now!!!
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Ace
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My tercel:: '83 DLX 4WD Tercel wagon 3AC

Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by Ace »

I have done very little to my '83 Tercel over the last couple years, just basic maintenance. It's reliable and economical, only 137,000 miles so it might outlast me at the rate I drive. One of the best investments I ever made; I bought it in 1984 when it was only a year old. It has been a two-seater for most of that time - I took the back seat out for a larger flatter cargo area.

I don't really enjoy wrenching on cars anymore and would rather spend my time on other things.
jimcrazy
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My tercel:: 1985 4wd 1986fwd 1983 4wd

Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by jimcrazy »

got my wagon ready for the summer,,some new rack boots,front wheel bearings,,inner tie rods,installed my strut spacers,new muffler,,alignment and upped the tires to 195-70-14
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oldfaithful
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My tercel:: 1984 Tercel 4WD

Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by oldfaithful »

Looking GOOD!! Jim
jimcrazy
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My tercel:: 1985 4wd 1986fwd 1983 4wd

Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by jimcrazy »

working good to,,went last nite for a run 60-70 miles shes tight on the road
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Buzzard67
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My tercel:: 1984 Toyota Tercel Delux
Location: Minnesota

Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by Buzzard67 »

New Racing Strip for the Summer.
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donnyre
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My tercel:: 95 Tercel

Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by donnyre »

Replaced the spark plugs and plug wires. I also fixed the horn.
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4wdEconoBox
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My tercel:: 1985 Toyota Tercel SR5 4WD
Location: Talladega, Alabama

Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by 4wdEconoBox »

Long time, no post, but I actually did some things to the ole wagon today! I put in led turn signal bulbs in the rear and they look amazingggg! Also my rear wheel cylinder blew and I lost my brakes the other day and today I got around to installing new drums, wheel cylinders and shoes. I ran into a small problem where I couldn't get the drums on at all even though the adjusters and cylinders were all the way in... Soooo, in order to make everything to fit, I had to shorten the adjusting strut thing by grinding about a quarter inch(or more) of metal off the pieces that slide together. Has anyone else ran into this problem before? I'm 99% positive that everything was installed right, so it should have just went together perfectly, but shortening the adjuster strut was the absolute only solution I could come up with.... Let me know yalls thoughts and opinions on this!
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splatterdog
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Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by splatterdog »

There's been 2-3 times that I've had shoes that had linings too thick, but mostly it will be parking brake stuck on or over adjusted. Could be the new drums too. It's nearly impossible to get a quality drum anymore. I had one a couple years ago that was slightly square! Made a perfect tch-tch-tch-tch noise on the brake lathe at first scratch. Maybe they aren't 4wd wagon drums? I thought they were a hair bigger? Double check part #'s.

I only had to take care of a couple minor things on my car before going in to winter as it had been sitting 2-3 years. After that it's been nothing but kicking ass, at least when the snow is flying. Most investment was elective. Snow tires were the biggest event for repairs/maintenance, followed by upgrading to Hella headlight housings and led 1157's and 194's for the license plate. Just the headlights cost more than the car did!

Oh, and a block heater on a timer. I have a less than 2 mile drive during the week and didn't want 100 hours of idling this winter.
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seantp
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My tercel:: 1983 SR5 4WD Wagon
Location: White River Junction, VT

Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by seantp »

Did you ever find that tan window crank? I'm swapping out my interior and I've got 3.
The Professor
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My tercel:: 1987 Tercel SR5 4WD wagon
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Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by The Professor »

Swapped out the upholstery and seat foam on my driver's side seat. Looks MUCH better now!
1975 Subaru SuperStar wagon
1984 Subaru Turbo-Traction wagon & hardtop
1987 Subaru RX 3-door
1987 Subaru RX Type-RA 3-door
1987 Toyota Tercel SR5 wagon
1999 Subaru Forester S
2002 Subaru WRX sedan
2019 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited
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4wdEconoBox
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My tercel:: 1985 Toyota Tercel SR5 4WD
Location: Talladega, Alabama

Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by 4wdEconoBox »

@splatterdog- I'm thinking maybe the shoe lining were too thick, because I couldn't even get the old wore down drums over the new shoes. I never seen anything that was stuck or mis adjusted. I'm honestly not sure, just one of those terc oddities I guess haha. They work better than they ever have in my past 8 years of ownership now, so no complaints!
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
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Re: What have you done to your wagon lately?

Post by Petros »

many decades ago (40 plus years?) when I took auto shop classes they used to have a brake shoe grinding machine. you would measure the dia of the drum and than clamp a shoe in the machine and set the drum dia. to match the drum. it would grind excess brake material off the shoes so it would fit in the drum.

that was back in the day when everything you bought had to be adjusted to fit, I guess automated production pretty much did an end to this kind of machine. Perhaps your brake shoes are indeed too thick, and needed to be ground down a bit so it all fit correctly. The idea was you would match the arch of the shoe lining to the size of the drum dia. I remember you used to be able to buy brake lining kits, where you drilled out the rivets and installed new linings on the old shoes, which of course would have to get ground down to match the drum dia. long gone are those days, the lining kits was only like $4.
'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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