#7: 84 dlx dream terc

[irowiki]

Me gusta! I wonder how well it'd work with a cutout for the fat tires we use down here.

[dlb]

i actually left the plywood out. it would be great for carrying dirty loads or whatever but i don't do that very often, and my tool kit kept sliding around on it back there. so it's now living in the basement, along with the cargo cover.

filled up again, this tank was 14.7 km/L (34.5 mpg), mostly city driving. so far it seems like the wider tires don't make make much difference. which sort of makes sense -- if the rolling resistance was substantially increased, i think i would notice poorer coasting downhill and whatnot. i didn't notice any difference in that when i changed wheels and tires though. i plan on continuing the experiment though, 10 tanks with each set of tires, and making note of the ambient temps and hwy vs city driving percentages just to make sure the variables are relatively consistent.

[marlinh]

Thanks David, I will probably make one in the spring. The back of my car always looks like a pickup truck bed. I would probably add some tie downs too. There was someone on the site who made one with a hinged flap for the spare. Can't remember who.

[dlb]

found the post you mentioned, marlinh. it was sirnik83.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9036#p65524

[dlb]

i got the new empire CV axles in today, clicking on turning + acceleration on both sides is gone. it's really nice to systematically worth through issues like these, very satisfying. and this was also a lesson for me in several ways.

1) i'm never buying a reman axle again. i gave them one last shot and the one i put in a few weeks ago was worse than the one i took out. the old one had lots of rotational play so it made a big shift clunk but the reman had the clicking/clunking thing going on. i watched a youtube vid on it and someone explained how the joint slides inward and outward in the joint housing so while it may feel good when you are testing it by hand, the real test is to push and pull the joint in and out while rotating it to see if there are any inconsistencies throughout its entire range of travel. that's obviously pretty hard to do by hand but i believe that is why a reman can feel solid in your hands and then sound like crap in the car.

2) i know some others here have had issues but these were my 2nd and 3rd, maybe even 3rd and 4th brand new empire axles (can't remember if i put one or two in my first tercel), and i have yet to encounter a problem installing them. i did however follow xirdneh's advice and positioned the c-clip with the opening at the bottom during installation, just in case. i just whacked the outboard ends with the rubber mallet a few times and they both popped in.

3) does anyone have any tips on installing CV axle oil seals? i have a terrible success rate with them. finally used a technique today that seemed to work well, although it was time consuming. i wish i had a piece of PVC pipe that was the perfect ID and OD to drive the seal in, but i still imagine that technique leading to a cockeyed seal. i wound up using the smallest hammer and punch i have and tap tap tapping very gently for a long long time, constantly stopping and checking to see which side was higher. please god, i hope this one takes.

4) i used the technique from xirdneh's video of only undoing the two 14 mm ball joint bolts, tie rod nut, and axle nut to get the axles out. worked great, much easier and less work than taking the whole hub off.

[dlb]

well, that's that.

http://victoria.craigslist.ca/cto/4902114816.html

there are some things i absolutely love about tercs, but there are more things i love about corollas. so the tercel is up for grabs. this won't be the end of my terc obsession, of course. i'll still look for good candidates to fix up and save from the wrecker, i just probably won't consider making one my personal DD.

[irowiki]

That seemed sudden!

We got 35 MPG on Buck a few times... fully loaded down.

[Gottolovem]

Keep it for a backup

I have backup's for my backup's

[dlb]

i've been daily driving the terc for two months now and have been able to pinpoint the things i prefer about both it and the corolla. it's been really illuminating, remarkably close, and as difficult as i imagined it was going to be. i've ultimately realized that while the tercel has a few things that i really, really like, the corolla wins on more points, and particularly on more things i notice on virtually every drive. for instance, i HATE where the stereo is mounted on the tercel -- the gear shifter is perpetually in the way, and music is a huge part of driving for me, so that's really annoying. conversely, it's mounted in a super easy to access spot on the corolla. even though that seems like a minor point, it makes a big difference to how much i enjoy the drive, and that's more important to me than how easy or difficult it is to access the starter, since i almost never have to do that. so that's how i came to this conclusion.

i'm sure i would average at least 35 mpg in the summer. that's obviously one of the things i love about the terc, even though it's only slightly better than the ae95.

if no one buys this terc at the price, it will be hanging around as a back up, for sure!

[irowiki]

I just use a radio with a remote in mine, solved the accessibility issue, but I do agree on that point!

[dlb]

i still listen to lots of CDs, which is really annoying with the shifter in the way. and like i said, that's just a single example.

[Petros]

I am considering cutting off that long Tercel shift lever, which would help the radio access issue. Seems about 2.5" inches removed from the shift lever would about do it, and not really affect the ability to shift it (slightly longer reach when in 1st, 3rd and 5th, but shorter reach in 2nd, and 4th).

[marlinh]

Any bites on your car yet?

[Gottolovem]

David
Today I had to pull my shifter out of gear to change cd's it reminded me of this post.
My stereo rides even lower than most because I have cup holders from a 2wd auto in the console. PIA but I still love my t4 they have the magic for me

[dlb]

haha, glad someone else knows my CD access annoyance! i still agree about the magic of al25's. if we had the space here, i would totally keep it. i just drove it to victoria and back, and loved it. filled up on the way back, got 15.6 km/L (36.7 mpg). that's incredible.

had several emails so far but no one has come to see it.