This car sat on a ranch in Johnson City, TX for 20 years, before the previous owner rescued it and began to revive it, salvaging parts from the other Tercels on the ranch (what a cool ranch, right?). He ran out of time and motivation to finish the project, and sold it to me. I focused on getting it in running and driving condition. Here's what I have had done to it:
-All new fuel system, including new gas tank, new fuel lines, filter, fuel pump and a new Weber carburetor.
-All new front brakes, including new calipers, rotors, pads, lines, and master cylinder.
-New front axles, wheel bearings, tie rod ends
-New cooling fan
-New Tires
-New JVC stereo system with Bluetooth, 4 new Pioneer speakers, and a Rockford-Fosgate subwoofer.
-New clutch, and replaced the transmission with a good transmission from a donor car I bought in Boulder and towed back here (thanks again to the forum, where I was tipped off to the donor car in Boulder!).
I have spent over $5000 on bringing this car into such great driving condition! I have receipts for most of the work.
This has been my daily driver for the last year and it has been 100% reliable. It really drives like a new car: smooth, responsive, quiet, and with surprising power for a tiny 4-cylinder engine. I average between 30 and 35 MPG in mixed driving. It leaks no oil or other fluids and uses no oil. The body and engine have 248000 miles on it, and the transmission has about 180,000. It's clear that the car has been properly maintained by the previous owner.
The interior is in very good condition. The only tear in the seat is on the edge of the drivers seat back, from getting in and out of the car. The headliner looks like new! The dash and interior panels show some fading from years of Texas sunshine, but are in good condition.
The original paint has a small number of surface rust spots, and some fading here and there. There are some small dents: one below the door (kind of hard to see) and a slight dent in the hatchback. These are pretty minor. A lot of the exterior plastic parts, like the logos, hubcaps, etc. are faded. If someone were to put a little effort into re-doing the emblems and logos, repaint the white wheels and hubcaps, and touch up the surface rust spots and faded paint it would look like a new car!
The A/C. All components of the A/C system are on the car, but when you hit the A/C button on the dash the compressor does not engage. Being an older car I am assuming it uses the old, obsolete, atmosphere-destroying c12 refrigerant, so I believe it will need to be converted to 134a refrigerant. I'm guessing there is low pressure in the system, which is why the A/C clutch doesn't engage, but I haven't looked into it.
The only other thing that doesn't work well is the fuel gauge. It works, but is pretty erratic, and the low-fuel warning light is always on. The fuel gauge sender just needs a good cleaning, but I just make sure to fill it up every 200 miles (costs all of $13 these days!).
The title is in my name and is clear. The registration and inspection are current through March 2021. Message me if you want additional photos or to come and check it out. The car is in rural Hays County, TX, about an hour southwest of Austin.