86' TOYOTA TERCEL 4X4 WINTER WAGON - $1500 (Spokane - South

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North of 64
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My tercel:: "Bones" 87 SR5 4wd wagon
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86' TOYOTA TERCEL 4X4 WINTER WAGON - $1500 (Spokane - South

Post by North of 64 »

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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
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Re: 86' TOYOTA TERCEL 4X4 WINTER WAGON - $1500 (Spokane - So

Post by Petros »

looks like a good buy. Has MR2 5.5x14 alloys. also comes with studded snow tires. Seat style indicate it is an '85
'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)
Cayuse
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My tercel:: 1986 SR5
Location: Spokane, WA

Re: 86' TOYOTA TERCEL 4X4 WINTER WAGON - $1500 (Spokane - So

Post by Cayuse »

Wow! I just sold that car to them a week ago for a little less than that. Originally purchased it from Petros a year and a half ago.
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
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Re: 86' TOYOTA TERCEL 4X4 WINTER WAGON - $1500 (Spokane - So

Post by Petros »

That explains the seat style, I replaced the whole interior with one from an '85, the old one was all moldy and seats were wasted. That is one that a previous owner had installed a 3.73 diff/trans, and I had to install a matching rear diff or the 4wd feature was unusable. I also installed new brakes and front are rear right side wheel bearings too.

Cayuse, why did you sell your Tercel? what are you driving now?
'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)
Cayuse
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My tercel:: 1986 SR5
Location: Spokane, WA

Re: 86' TOYOTA TERCEL 4X4 WINTER WAGON - $1500 (Spokane - So

Post by Cayuse »

Sold it because it just wasn't getting used enough. I bought it to use as a family ski car but the wife and daughter refused to ride in it so it was being driven once, sometimes twice, a week through the winter and occasionally the rest of the year just to keep it running. IT is really too bad as I enjoyed the car and all of it's quirks.

I have a 9-3 that I'm going to be getting rid of soon, mainly because with Saab no longer around I don't have a lot of confidence in long term parts availability. Wife just bought a Forester that I absolutely despise, to small and has no soul. I'll probably replace the 9-3 with a 4x4 Tundra and put a cap on it, the mpg will suck but the room and power will be nice.
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Petros
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Re: 86' TOYOTA TERCEL 4X4 WINTER WAGON - $1500 (Spokane - So

Post by Petros »

My wife and daughter hate riding in my Tercel too, they hate to be even seen in it. At least they never ask to borrow it (usually). My wife will use it to haul dogs, hay or other "messy" things. Since it is my daily driver I tell her she can only use it for that if she cleans it out after, I do not want to smell wet dog every time I drive it.

Of course when we get 12 inches or more snow, the Tercel4wd is the only thing that can get in and out of our property, and we will all ride into it to go to town, shopping, etc. Than my wife will always say something like "this is not such a bad little car, you should fix it up to make it nice".
'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)
toughtercel
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My tercel:: 83 4WD with some SR5 equip
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Re: 86' TOYOTA TERCEL 4X4 WINTER WAGON - $1500 (Spokane - So

Post by toughtercel »

I am sorry to hear about your wife and kids that they have high class feelings . My family have little bit of hippie in them but as for my Mom and Dad of course they are a lot more hippie BUT You know what Tercel4wd can be improve the look by changing the body color( paint) and better looking wheel rims, as my Tercel 4WD is Silver and painted mag rims, they all thought my T4Wd is made in year 2000's because they never seen an old car on the road.
Today the popular color for any car are white ,blk , Silver or gray ,red and possible Dark blue .
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Petros
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Re: 86' TOYOTA TERCEL 4X4 WINTER WAGON - $1500 (Spokane - So

Post by Petros »

I see a lot of lime green cubes running around now too. Yetch.
'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)
gmc97520
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My tercel:: 1985
Location: Ashland, Oregon, US

Re: 86' TOYOTA TERCEL 4X4 WINTER WAGON - $1500 (Spokane - So

Post by gmc97520 »

Confirmed opinion re: Subarus....ever try and get at a water pump on those things? They should have electric water pumps, external and on the fender well. Also, ditto about "soul"...our Tercs have character and are relatively easy to work on..which I am reminded when I go to pick parts off of another 3AC in a junkyard, mounted transverse...wow.
I confess to a love/hate relationship with mine: when I have to flat-foot it to keep up against a head wind, have to drive it like the old 1300cc beetles of yester year..I start thinking about "selling". But then I look at the fuel gauge...sigh. "Love" again...and the 4WD is all the better knowing it's in an econo car....and it's NOT a Subaru.

Basically.... I love my Tercel because it's NOT a Subaru.
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dlb
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Re: 86' TOYOTA TERCEL 4X4 WINTER WAGON - $1500 (Spokane - So

Post by dlb »

it's interesting how this car is making the rounds, from petros to cayuse to someone else and soon to someone else. i wonder why they're selling it after a week. if they're only selling it for slightly more than they bought it, they're not really flipping it so that probably isn't the reason. curious.

my wife and the gf's of my pals who have T4s all feel the same about them. i think they respect T4s, but they don't love them. most drivers just want speed, power, looks, AND THEN reliability—practicality is at the low end of the list. if they ever had to work on their own cars though, then they might see the beauty.

that being said, my current project terc is going to a very excited female, as did the last one. they're both pretty into the culture of salvaging and reusing perfectly good stuff though so i think that's part of why they're into the idea of having a well-kept older car.
Cayuse
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My tercel:: 1986 SR5
Location: Spokane, WA

Re: 86' TOYOTA TERCEL 4X4 WINTER WAGON - $1500 (Spokane - So

Post by Cayuse »

Well, the story that was given to me when purchased was that it was to be a first car for a 16 YO who had just gotten his license. Maybe he decided that he wants something different. Interestingly a former owner of the car (he even attached a pic showing the plate) also contacted me when I had it listed (the listing was up for less than 24 hours) but after I had committed to this person. I've forwarded the ad to him so maybe he will end up with it again after all.
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dlb
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Re: 86' TOYOTA TERCEL 4X4 WINTER WAGON - $1500 (Spokane - So

Post by dlb »

haha, probably not fast, powerful, or cool enough for the 16 year old! when he's older he'll probably kick himself though.
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Petros
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Re: 86' TOYOTA TERCEL 4X4 WINTER WAGON - $1500 (Spokane - So

Post by Petros »

To complete the history: I bought it from a collage age kid that worked at stevens pass ski area, and had little money to keep it running. It was adversisted on Seattle CL as "needing work" for I think $350. It had not run for over a year, he and a buddy "replaced" the brakes and now they "just" needed to be bled, and the rear diff was trashed and needed to be replaced. He said they put a new clutch and transmission in it, and than the diff failed. the ad gushed at what a great car it is and all it needed was the diff repaired, a rebuilt carb and the brakes bled. I contacted the seller through CL to get more information, he said he liked the car but he did not have the time or money to fix it. I just happen to have a spare diff (or two) in my garage, and I offered to sell it to him, or fix it for him. We emailed back and fourth for about 3 weeks, and than nothing. a month later he emailed me and offered the car to me for $160 and he would have it towed to my house from Steven's pass. I said sure, the trans was worth that much. I never even saw the car, there were no pictures in the ad.

When it arrived I drove it up my driveway into the garage, the rear diff going "bang, bang, bang" even when not in 4wd. I pulled the plug, and found lots of metal. When I pulled the axles I found one axle bearing wasted, and the rear brakes leaking all over the place. So I pulled the diff and washed out all the metal shavings, new rear brakes and bearings. I than tried to bleed the brakes but could not get any pressure, so I put in a new master cylinder, and finally got the brakes to firm up. But the right caliper kept locking up, so I replaced both from calipers and put in new brake pads (so much for the PO doing the brakes), in the process I found when I jacked up the front wheels the right one flopped around, the right front wheel bearing was just dust, the wheel could wiggle about 3 inches back and forth. So I also replaced the front wheel bearing. Now on to the engine: it would start but ran like crap, the PO thought the carburetor needed a rebuild but my quick checks show the carb was working okay. I than started tracing all the vac lines and found nine vac leaks, or misrouted vac lines (most were just hanging disconnected). So now it ran better but was still down on power, I did a drop down test, pulling each spark plug in turn, and found number 3 and 4 cylinders were not contributing. I was resolved it needed a head gasket and started preparing to pull the head, but thought I should do a compression test just to make sure. Surprise! all the cylinders had excellent compression (it had an imported crate engine in it), so the problem was somewhere else. I could not think of what would cause two cylinders not to have power, manifold plugged? two bad spark plugs? I check it out and could find nothing. Just staring at the engine thinking what is different about the rear two cylinders from the front two? One is the big vac line that goes to the brake booster, I followed it and sure enough, it was leaking badly at the booster end. Now it ran great.

So finally I was able to drive it around some and see what else might be wrong with it. I put it in 4wd, and it really struggled, and I could not get it out. I managed to get it up my driveway, really struggling. I had a hunch about the trans replacement: I put a jack under the rear wheel and when it cleared the ground it spun and took the pressure off of it. I was able to take it out of 4wd than. the front and rear diff had different ratios. I was really pissed I had just replaced the rear diff, gear oil etc. and now I had to do it again! Anyway, I just to also have a 3.73 extra diff around as well, so I swapped it out again, and finally it was a good drivable car.

Than the interior needed attention: there was moldy dog food spilled under the front and rear seats, it appears a window was left open over the winter since all of the carpet was soaked and very yucky, moldy, smelly. It just so happened that a '85 showed up at the local picknpull with a nice set of seats: I bought all the interior, carpet, seats, even much of the trim so it would all match. I ripped the wasted seats, the moldy wet carpet out, cleaned it with bleach and water (really hosed it out with all the rubber plugs removed). Sprayed what little was left with Lysol, and than installed the new interior after it also got a good cleaning while was outside the car.

It was than finally it was ready to sell (had owned about 8 or 9 months by than), and I made a deal with list member Cayuse, he also bought those MR2 wheels for it, and brought a new radio that we installed while he was here. He flew over from Spokane area, and took the shuttle bus to where i picked him up. After all the repairs it is actually became a really nice car, it would likely sell for more than $1500 in Puget Sound area. since it would have all those new parts.
'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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