What i'm going to try to do is save up enough money to get myself a newer toyota with AC (we need it here in FL in the summer, it hits 100+). Probably a corolla or camry. This way me and my dad can use it as our daily. And then i can save up enough money to take the tercel to the shop, and fix it up mechanically. Need to fix the transmission, oil leak, engine idle (stalls when cold but after a mile or two it runs fine), smoky start which migh be caused by the oil leak (lol, everytime i run it cold the ppl behind me get a big puff of smoke, talk about bad emissions!), and anything else that could possibly be wrong with it. And acceleration is like, really really slow lol. When in 3rd gear and you tap it, it tachs out, but when you start up from a stop, it slowly creeps up to 40. I don't want it to be fast, but need better acceleration. The fan died a month or so ago also, so it only vents air through the front passenger vents, which is a bad thing when the front window fogs up and it doesn't wanna defrost.
And after all the mechanical repairs are done....i'm going to take it to an auto body shop. It's starting to get rust spots here and there, which is usual for a car that's lasted this long! My family originally bought the car in Maine, about a year after i was born. And up there in the winter, there's a ton of salt on the road, so the windshield is scratched up with a bunch of tiny dots. Hard to see in the sunlight. The body is also scratched all around, usual wear and tear, paint is starting to come off too. So yea, take it to the body shop, replace the windshield (or fix it up if they can). The windows are also very hard to roll up and down, the auto repair shop can probably fix it. If not then i'll just leave the windows rolled up permanently lol. I'll probably tint the windows too...i hate when people stop what they're doing and stare at me....which would be fine because everyday that car drives is a testament to toyota's excellence....but....don't stare at me stare at the car lol....
The interior is starting to lose ground also. Carpeting is used and worn, starting to come off. Plastic on the dash (mainly where the front speaker mounts are and the fan vents on the sides) are starting to fall apart. Scratches on the dash are showing too. Mainly because my dad is too busy to take care of my 4wd!! Ah well. I'm hoping that i can either repair and clean the carpeting or replace it with new carpeting. And the dash and plastic parts of the car could use some repainting with interior dash spray paint, and some repairing of the scratches. Oh yeah, the cup holder is broken too!! It won't go back in that lil thing!! I'm thinking of just taking it out lol, since i never really use it much. Or maybe i can fix it! Anyway, i'll probably paint the inside interior black, with new seat covers and such. :rolleyes:
Whew!! Lots of work lots of work. Probably up to thousands of dollars worth of repair and addons so far. I better start saving!! And that isn't the end of it either...
We can't forget the audio!! The car was made to facilitate 2 small insufficient speakers in the front. Infact, i replaced one of them with a walmart speaker. We still had the original car speaker in there!! It has a whole 18W of power!!!
Hey, even the speakers last forever. Currently i have a power convertor hooked up to the Cig lighter, which is hooked up to a power strip, which is hooked up to my boston computer speaker system (1 sub, 2 satellites), and my cd ac adapter is also hooked up to the power strip. The sub is located right behind my front seat, and the satelites are in the front and center openings where you can put things. It's only an 8 inch sub, and it distorts easily, but it sure beats the 36 watts or so coming from the original toyota radio am/fm cass receiver that still lies there. So i'm going to need to figure out a way to custom install some amps, some sub boxes in the back (alrdy made subs in boxes with neons would look nice). Gotta hook the amps to the battery and such. Hmm, i might need a performance alternator, well maybe not. I'm not going to blast the music loud enough to make me deaf. We'll see.Hey, you know on the 93-97 corollas they have blue bumper lights...i wonder if they'll fit on a tercel! We could probably get em to fit somehow....and those Xenon headlamps look really sweet, i wanna add those too!! So many possibilities, so little time. My list will just keep going and going....
I hope this might inspire some of you to do the same thing to your 4WD's. There are few and far between that are in decent working condition so take care of yours!! And if you have any suggestions let me know! I love to hear from you guys!
