new to tercel in the north coast

[terastoria]

hey guys my name is travis, i'm going to be looking at and more than likely getting a 1984 tercel sr5 5 speed tomorrow (12/23/2015). the PO did say that the carb base plate was cracked, i'm not quite sure what she meant by that. i'm pretty mechanically inclined but idk what her level of knowledge is or if she's talking about the right thing... anyway is there somewhere that sells that plate? i'm not even sure exactly what i'll be looking for until tomorrow when i see the car in person. also there's a leak in the cab somewhere. she said it's mainly leaking onto the driver side floor and a little on the passenger side as well. again i'll be looking at all this tomorrow.
anything else i should keep and eye out for? i'm new to tercel's but have had plenty of cars in the past and did all the work on them.

[terastoria]

after finding a restore thread from jackwagon it might appear that the drain holes are plugged up so once i get the wagon cleaning those will be my first chore.

[dlb]

check the faq re: things to inspect when buying one: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7442

the windshield is always my first suspect for leaks. sun roofs are second.

not sure what is meant by carb base plate. maybe the base of the carb is cracked, maybe the manifold is cracked? if you're lucky, maybe the gasket between the base of the carb and the manifold just needs to be replaced and is causing a big vacuum leak. i would inspect those things.

[terastoria]

i did read that thread, it doesn't have a sunroof so i can rule that out. the windshield and cowl drain are my two suspects without having seen the car. and yeah idk what they mean by base plate either, maybe the spacer?

[Petros]

welcome to the forum!

I would also, after checking the the drain, remove the blower assembly to see if it the heater ducts are filled with leaves, mouse nests, etc preventing rain water from draining out. If it is leaking coolant it could be a leaky heater core. Replacing it is not hard but a big job, the whole dash has to taken apart to get to it. if the heater core is leaking I would first try using stop leak in the cooling system, usually works good enough it is not badly corroded out. In a pinch you can by-pass the heater, though this time of year it means no heater, no defroster, it will be a cold ride with the window rolled down to prevent frost on the inside of the windows.

Check for a vacuum leak under the carb using carb cleaner spray. Not likely a cracked intake manifold or carburetor housing (thought it is possible, just very rare). It might be the heating element under the carb, it is plastic and if the carb is over-tightened it could break it.

Verify that is is leaking using the carb spray while the engine is running. Removing the carb to inspect the heater base is not difficult ((4)12mm nuts, the throttle cable, a lot of vac hoses and teh fuel line). You can leave some attached if they are long enough to allow you to lift it off and get it out of the way. Otherwise make sure you mark where all of the lines go with tap and labels (it would also be a good idea to double check all the vac lines are routed properly from a vacuum diagram available in the on-line service manual, and none have leaks or cracks).

someone will have a carb heater plate if you need one (I think I have several in a box somewhere), or you might be able to seal it up with form a gasket. That will allow you to get it back on the road.

Those should be easy fixes, the difficult ones are those problems you have not discovered yet, make sure you read the FAQ about what to look for.

good luck.

[terastoria]

i'm going to look at it in a couple of hours so i'll know the extent of what needs to be done. thank you guys for the responses and i'll be sure to go over it with a fine tooth comb.

[terastoria]

the plate she was reffering to is in fact the carb spacer. not sure where the leak is coming from but it seems to be from underneath the car.

[rer233]

Did you get the car??

[Gottolovem]

I can send you a spacer if you bought the car

[terastoria]

i did get the car, picked it up for $400 which left me enough to get some brakes for the rear.

[terastoria]

I should be able to look at things a bit closer today and maybe actually track down the leak and I'll try and get some pictures.
Does anyone else have issues with the door handles sticking?

[irowiki]

Yeah take the door panels off on the inside, and clean out the door handle stuff and lubricate them good.

[dlb]

sticking door handles can be in the handle itself or in the linkages. take the panel off like irowiki said and shine a flashlight on all the joints that move when you squeeze the handle. lube all of them. i use either penetrating oil, like PB blaster, or white lithium grease, depending on how bad it's sticking.

[Petros]

if you live in an area with lots of dust, like desert or on gravel roads, use silicone lube, graphite or lithium grease spray to lubricate the door parts. It will attract less dust to the door mechanism. The lithium grease is particularly good for the internal metal parts, and the silicone spray on the plastic parts and the window channels.

If you do not have time to pull the door apart just yet often you can get it to work okay by just lubricating the handle pivots that you can lube from the small openings in the door just under the handle from the outside of the door.

I highly recommend you do a detailed inspection and inventory of what needs to be fixed ASAP on the car. Prioritize the list of items that need to get repaired in order of safety first (brakes, steering, suspension related repairs, headlights, brake lights), those that should be done to prevent any further damage that could be very costly if not done (transmission gear oil, rear diff, all other fluids, valve adjustment, spark timing, lubricate latches, locks, window regulator, etc.), and the things that can are nice to get fixed like radio, speakers, marker lights, switches, fan, heater, etc.

That will allow you focus the limited money and time you have to get the most important repairs done first. Lots of these items often do not cost any, or very much to repair, but you only have so much time available as well.

Unless your intent, time and budget allows you to completely pull the car apart and do a ground up rebuild/repairs, most items can be put off or done as you own and drive it as long as the most important things are addressed before you drive it very much.

Good luck.

And have a Great Christmas!

[terastoria]

i have brakes on the way, will need to do tie rod ends after that. i think i found and sealed the leak (fingers crossed) it looks like it was the dummy pedal on the far left, as it seemed to drain out the cowl (drivers side) nicely. passenger side still leaks. I'm going to try and seal the carb spacer with some high grade epoxy my father has at work (USCG aircraft quality stuff) until i can get another one or switch to weber. my dad managed to get the handle lubed up with Kroil so hopefully that's two things down, for $400 though i'm very pleased with what i got.