PROJECT: YOTA 1

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
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SuperDave769
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My tercel:: 1986 tercel 4WD. new hella driving lights, good mud and snow pizza cutters, driven by a Jedi!

PROJECT: YOTA 1

Post by SuperDave769 »

I love my 1986 4WD Wagon. any advice about the project would be great.
engine upgrades coming first and soon, new tire's to follow then lift for the front and rear.

here's a pick of the paint being finished up by my wife.

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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: PROJECT: YOTA 1

Post by Petros »

lots of engine options, best improvement is with a total swap with a 4age (lots of work), search the archives. Lots of threads on lift as well.

When you up grade the wheels and tires to a 14" wheel with a lower profile tire, it will improve the handling greatly. YOu might consider going to 15" wheel but the super low profile tires are costly, and have poor wet weather performance. And if you still intend to drive off road the chances are high you will damage the side wall on that low profile of a tire.
'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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dlb
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My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
Location: bc, canada

Re: PROJECT: YOTA 1

Post by dlb »

what engine upgrades are you planning? putting a 4AC in is easy as it's a direct bolt-in but the power increase is minimal (3As are 1.5 L, 4As are 1.6). you can also advance the timing from 5* BTDC to around 10* BTDC. you can put a 32/36 weber carb on it, most people seem to use the DGEV electric choke version of that carb.

more pics!
SuperDave769
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Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:05 pm
My tercel:: 1986 tercel 4WD. new hella driving lights, good mud and snow pizza cutters, driven by a Jedi!

Re: PROJECT: YOTA 1

Post by SuperDave769 »

very glad I asked. perhaps because this is my daily driver (and my wife would kill me), i'll hold off on the engine swap. she is very on board for me doing anything else, especially easy stuff like carb swaps and timing adjustments. what sort of modification is needed for that 32/36 weber? I would be interested in anything, i'm just not sure whats available


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finishing up the new lights last weekend
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ARCHINSTL
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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: PROJECT: YOTA 1

Post by ARCHINSTL »

Ditto on the 14" wheels, whether mags or steelies! I went with Miata Daisys and Kumho Solus KR21 185/60R14 (I don't drive offroad and wanted identical speedo readings). The handling IS improved.
Lots of info here on Weber DGEV sourcing and parts - in fact a long thread just last week.

Before you do anything else - if not done already - change the tranny/diff fluid. There is a procedure for this, so do a Search.
Tom M.

P.S. Will the Terc pull the Airstream? WOW on the latter vehicle!
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."
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dlb
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My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
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Re: PROJECT: YOTA 1

Post by dlb »

like tom said, there are lots of good threads detailing weber installs. deejay did a good one with lots of pics that i like.

the biggest issue with the weber is hood clearance. some members find they need to delete the phenolic spacer between the intake manifold and the carb to clear the hood, others have not had the problem. if you delete the spacer, you will need to adapt your EGR valve into a PCV port. all the specific info is in the various guides. i added the fuel pressure regulator and gauge after i had been running the carb for about a year. i never had any problem with flooding the carb but i did it for peace of mind to make sure it wouldn't happen some day, and also because it's useful for diagnostic work--and it looks cool!

ditto on the airstream trailer. my wife loves those.

let me know if you're ever over this way, you should stop in and we can BS about tercs.
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: PROJECT: YOTA 1

Post by Petros »

You might want to check out my thread on the MR2 brake up grade over in the Repair guilds section. When it comes time to replace the brakes, go with the vented front brakes and the MR2 master and power booster, mostly just a bolt on mod that vastly improves the brakes.

You can do the carb swap and the cam swap in an afternoon to improve performance and still have the car as a daily driver. If your engine has many miles on it and is worn, I was surprised how much putting a can of "Restore" into the oil helped the performance as well. One of my purchases of an old beater T4wd that would foul the number 2 plug, burn oil and could only reach about 64 mph on the level freeway (pedal to the floor). After the restore I drove it 2500 miles without a single plug fouling, only one quart of oil consumed, and I could maintain 85 mph on the Texas freeways (where most drive much faster than that!). Amazing stuff.
'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)
SuperDave769
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Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2011 12:05 pm
My tercel:: 1986 tercel 4WD. new hella driving lights, good mud and snow pizza cutters, driven by a Jedi!

Re: PROJECT: YOTA 1

Post by SuperDave769 »

very good info and tips dudes, thanks a lot. now the search begins. anyone have a weber for sale? :D the engine had its head gasket replaced and a bit of re-build not too long ago. i think i will put in a can of that restore stuff, i've used it before on a old Jetta i had and it did seem to make a difference.
the car does give the tiniest pinging sound when going up a huge hill on our way home. its when the engines laboured usually in 3rd or 4th.

probably going to start with the carb, timing change and exhaust. new tires in the works too, already looking for the right deal. other odds and ends too. already planning with my wife for a new stereo as a Christmas gift for the both of us.

here's a few my wife took with her kayak on it.

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dlb
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My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
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Re: PROJECT: YOTA 1

Post by dlb »

looks good!

i just looked through my old emails and found that i bought my weber through jtspeed.com but i don't think it was the best deal. i paid $300 for the carb and adapter plus $40 for shipping and insurance, then i think i had to pay *&#%^@!) customs when it arrived...you can definitely do better.
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Petros
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Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:31 pm
My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: PROJECT: YOTA 1

Post by Petros »

A skin-on-frame kayak, very nice! I have built 12 skin-0n-frame kayaks, including a very tradition west Greenland type for my daughter, just like the one on your Tercel. somewhere I have lots of pictures of my Tercel4wd with home made kayaks on the roof too.
'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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