Zach's 1985 4WD Tercel Wagon

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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
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Re: Zach's 1985 4WD Tercel Wagon

Post by Petros »

likely some oil resistant form-a-gasket will work fine (I have done that before, no problems with it). there is not much pressure on it, it only sucks the oil up from the pan. You do not want a leak here because it will suck air, but the sealant should take care of that. You also make one from thin gasket paper. it should not cost much to buy one if an autoparts store has them in stock.
'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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lannvouivre
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My tercel:: 2006 Pontiac Vibe
Location: Odessa, TX

Re: Zach's 1985 4WD Tercel Wagon

Post by lannvouivre »

I needed to get another front main seal because I don't think I can get it out of the oil pump, which is going to get washed with petroleum solvent (which will destroy the rubber probably). I ordered one from Fel-Pro that comes with the seal, oil pump gasket, and what looks like the pickup tube gasket.

Image
Piston rings came in today.

Pistons and rings are DNJ. They come in VERY American boxes.

Bald eagles.
USA flag.

PISTONS MADE IN INDONESIA. RINGS MADE IN TAIWAN! Reeepresent! Oh well, as long as they work and are good quality. Wish I could like...find out where things are made before ordering, so I could pay our fantastic workers.
But...did you try hitting it with a hammer?
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Petros
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Re: Zach's 1985 4WD Tercel Wagon

Post by Petros »

hoped you checked the dimensions very carefully before you installed them. I have had issues with DnJ before, they completely ignored my very specific and accurate complaints about their quality control. I do not think I would use them again. Actually the part quality was okay, the bolts that came with the timing belt kit I bought from them (also with parts that came from all over), was too long by one mm, and bottomed in the hole. It nearly caused me to trash a Honda civci engine when the belt skipped because not enough tension. They are sh*t for brains to include too long a bolt, not pleased at all. I had to do the whole job over again (access in the civic is a real PIA!), and put the factory bolt in the tensioner. lost a whole day, and could have lost the whole engine.

As long as the ring has the right clearances in the piston grove, and the correct end gap when in the bore, it should be okay. Piston wall clearance to piston skirt is critical as well, but the machine shop should be checking for that.
'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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lannvouivre
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My tercel:: 2006 Pontiac Vibe
Location: Odessa, TX

Re: Zach's 1985 4WD Tercel Wagon

Post by lannvouivre »

Ken is really good and didn't bore the engine until he had the pistons. All the crank bearing clearances were dead on at 0.05 mm, all except one that was like 0.04 or 0.03 mm or so. I picked up 4 strips of plastigage like a boss, too.

The piston ring clearances felt right. I admit I didn't see this before I finished assembling the long block. I may pop the pistons back out and check tomorrow.

Image
Short block.

Image
'Murica. (rings were made in Taiwan, pistons were made in Indonesia. Don't remember if I mentioned that. Told Zach and his reply was, "nothing more merican than having minorities make our stuff," sarcastically).
But...did you try hitting it with a hammer?
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lannvouivre
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My tercel:: 2006 Pontiac Vibe
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Re: Zach's 1985 4WD Tercel Wagon

Post by lannvouivre »

God the valve cover and oil pan sandblasted and painted. Did the oil pan in grey because I thought it was silver and didn't care too much when it turned out to be silver without the metallic part. Installed the new oil fill cap as well, but the garage is too dark to take pictures.
But...did you try hitting it with a hammer?
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
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Re: Zach's 1985 4WD Tercel Wagon

Post by Petros »

lannvouivre wrote: The piston ring clearances felt right. I admit I didn't see this before I finished assembling the long block. I may pop the pistons back out and check tomorrow.
I hate to make you do extra work, but it would be a lot easier to do that now than to learn after you get it together and running to learn that the rings were not matched to the pistons very well. Something that DnJ is capable of doing. You often have to trim the rings to get the correct gap, if it is too small when the engine heats up the ring ends will come in contact and could do a lot of damage to the pistons, and cylinder walls.

One time I ordered replacement rings for a Tercel engine that was overbored 0.040" oversized. I check the ring end gap and it was very large, like 1/4". so I took all of the rings out and put them side by side and discovered there were three different size rings wrapped up together in the same box. lost a day getting them replaced (fortunately I got them at a local parts store that had replacement rings in for me the next day.)

good luck.
'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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lannvouivre
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My tercel:: 2006 Pontiac Vibe
Location: Odessa, TX

Re: Zach's 1985 4WD Tercel Wagon

Post by lannvouivre »

It's not too big of a deal besides getting the rings back off. I will have someone to hold the engine stand still while I break the nuts loose, thank goodness they're not TTY. Mine were $45 and $35 for TTY head and con rod and main cap bolts for the 1ZZ I did. If I ever open the 1ZZ again, I'm getting ARP bolts "just in case."
But...did you try hitting it with a hammer?
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
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Re: Zach's 1985 4WD Tercel Wagon

Post by Petros »

I do not care for the TTY (torque to yield) bolts at all, all of the manufacturers are going to them. I keep rebuilding my engines and that is just a completely unnecessary expense. When I worked for a professional factory backed racing team (Nissan) some years ago, the TTY bolts were fairly new. Every engine we turned into a racing engine got hardened steel bolts that we reused after every tear down and rebuilt. On a race engine that happens after every longer race (6+ hours), or after two or three short races, depending on compression and oil pressure. TTY bolts are not as strong. I do not understand the wide spread use of them, I do not see how they cost less in production.
'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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lannvouivre
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Posts: 387
Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2015 7:18 pm
My tercel:: 2006 Pontiac Vibe
Location: Odessa, TX

Re: Zach's 1985 4WD Tercel Wagon

Post by lannvouivre »

Something about them stretching helping them have more clamping force, without having to be a higher quality metal. My mentor said that they don't always stretch, and you can measure them to check, but then you still have to wait on whether to order however many. To be fair, the ARP head bolt set is $219. vs. $80 or less for the Toyota OEMs.

I also noticed that the exhaust/intake manifold bolts are partially unaccounted for. Sharing a garage is horrible. I hope no one knocks the valves, springs, and retainers off their shelf. We put them up top to keep family members from toughing them, but they're just sitting in there next to numbers and not secured in any way. I don't even know if keepers are universal in any way. That'd be awful.
But...did you try hitting it with a hammer?
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irowiki
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Re: Zach's 1985 4WD Tercel Wagon

Post by irowiki »

I bet I have bolts somewhere.
Former Tercel Enthusiast (not a practical family car anymore but they still have a place in my heart)

Site administrator, if something is broken, PM me!

87 Corolla FX16, 105k
94 Jamboree RV (Ford E-350), 90k
95 Camry Wagon, 170k
97 4runner, 275k
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Zach's 1985 4WD Tercel Wagon

Post by Petros »

keepers can be interchanged, as can the valve springs (I always test the valve springs for clamping force, simple process you can do with a drill press and a bath room scale). I use a shoe box (or similar size box) and make a card board sheet with holes punched in them, numbered 1 thru 8. the valve stems get pushed though the cardboard and pretty much stay in place. Even in a garage not shared, I always have several projects going on at once, so if I can not complete the job having a loose stack of valves in never a good idea in my garage/shop. when I go back in there to do something else, I am just as likely to knock them over as anyone else.
'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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Mad_Marx
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My tercel:: 1986DLX (K.I.A. by a Texting Driver, currently being uses as a parts car) 1986 SR5 AC, Cruise, Sunroof a.k.a. TERC II Electric Boogaloo (restoration in progress). 1984 SR5
Location: Boise, ID

Re: Zach's 1985 4WD Tercel Wagon

Post by Mad_Marx »

Looking good, doing any "while you're in there" mods to the head? Port work?
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lannvouivre
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My tercel:: 2006 Pontiac Vibe
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Re: Zach's 1985 4WD Tercel Wagon

Post by lannvouivre »

I will do the Petros combustion groove mods on the head, but that's it.

I only have the bathroom scale part available to me right now, Petros, unless I can recover enough from whatever stupid illness I have, so I can drive to my dad's shop.

The machine shop had to remove the freeze plugs from the block, so I installed the new Dorman brass ones. I got two in perfect, but messed up on depth with the other two, popped those out, slathered them with Indian Head Shellac ("stinky brown shellac" is a more accurate description), and gently tapped them back in. I was unsure that they'd seal until I went to wash my hands...the shellac won't come off with soap and water. I read that people use it to seal freeze plug seats and figured I'd try it out.

The ones on the red Tercel that I put in dry just weep a little bit, but that engine block isn't painted. If these weep, I'll probably get another set of plugs and shellac them all.
But...did you try hitting it with a hammer?
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irowiki
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Re: Zach's 1985 4WD Tercel Wagon

Post by irowiki »

How is the red Tercel?
Former Tercel Enthusiast (not a practical family car anymore but they still have a place in my heart)

Site administrator, if something is broken, PM me!

87 Corolla FX16, 105k
94 Jamboree RV (Ford E-350), 90k
95 Camry Wagon, 170k
97 4runner, 275k
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lannvouivre
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My tercel:: 2006 Pontiac Vibe
Location: Odessa, TX

Re: Zach's 1985 4WD Tercel Wagon

Post by lannvouivre »

It needs the new brake hoses installed, new fluid, the wheels installed, an alignment, and the steering rack installed (still need a new column so the manual rack fits). Should probably just get a new power rack for it.
But...did you try hitting it with a hammer?
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