RWD Battle Wagon

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SirFoxx
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Posts: 335
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2017 5:42 pm
My tercel:: 1981 Toyota Tercel w/ 7age

Re: RWD Battle Wagon

Post by SirFoxx »

I have another question. How did the exhaust manifold fit previously on the 4age? I am still in the process of gathering parts, and saw this manifold for sale, and wondered if it'd clear the steering shaft.

(https://www.protuninglab.com/hds-tc85-a ... 0848870138)
1988 DLX 4wd Tercel Wagon w/ weber (RIP)
1985 4wd Tercel SR5 (RIP)
1986 Base 2dr Hatch (RIP / PARTS)
1986 DLX 4wd Tercel Wagon with ???
1985 DLX 2dr Tercel Hatch w/manual swap
1981 2dr Toyota Tercel w/7age (RIP)
1981 3dr hatch Toyota Tercel w/Turbo 4AGE
1981 3dr hatch Toyota Tercel SR-5
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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: RWD Battle Wagon

Post by Petros »

that is a great price. no it will not fit, the AE86 body is shapped different and the engine sits much lower. but it would be a good place to start and might be worth buying.

you have to the weave the lower pipes around the steering shaft, the starter motor and the outlet has to be lower than on the AE86 (the Tercel engine sits higher because of the front diff on the 4wd/FWD trans). But you would have to build something up from scratch to do the same thing, buying this might save you about half the cost of making a completely new header. You would cut it off about half way down, and than use the parts from the lower end to build in place a new lower end. A complete custom header done in a regular retail shop would cost in the $700-1000. You can make one up yourself, but that is a lot of work and custom parts to make from scratch, so starging with one like that might be worth it because it likely costs less than the material costs alone.

I bought a similar one, but different brand, with the plans to alter it to make it fit. This one looks like a better design than the one I bought for about the same price several years ago.

I would also count on making a heat shield for both the steering shaft, and the starter, and perhaps the steering rack. Also, wrapping the header with a heat blanket should also protect these parts.
'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)
SynthDesign
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Posts: 826
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2008 5:42 pm
My tercel:: The General, 85 SR5 w/ Sunroof,Olive Drab paint, Black Interior, custom steel bumpers, Barto BC lift, 1.67L BUILT 3AC w/ Weber Carb. 346,000 miles and counting since restoration
Location: Seattle WA
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Re: RWD Battle Wagon

Post by SynthDesign »

4AC Bottom end? As in wrong connecting rods?
Vintage and Classic Toyota; Have you loved your Toyota today?
2016 Toyota Tacoma Quad Cab LB TRD OffRoad
2005 Toyota Sienna, work van
85 Toyota Tercel SR5 4wd (The General)
85 Toyota Tercel GTS 4wd (4AGE Swap)
85 Toyota MR2 (Blu)
83 Mazda RX-7 Mariah Widebody
terceldude
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Posts: 917
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2005 4:04 pm
Location: Wellesley, MA 02481 USA

Re: RWD Battle Wagon

Post by terceldude »

Sidedraft EFI or Sidedraft Carbies?
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white_raven
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Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Jun 05, 2017 10:44 am
My tercel:: 1987 toyota tercel 4wd

Re: RWD Battle Wagon

Post by white_raven »

Hey guys it has been a while, still in progress of building the motor.
Petros was right, the geometry on the mr2 spindles in stock form are horrible for the tercel, nothing lines up correctly. I suspected it could be modified but it looks like much more than I wanted to do, so my next plan is to swap the mr2 hubs into the tercel spindles.
Manual rack is installed but I will need a new intermediate shaft as the stock tercel one is not long enough to reach new rack.

To answer SirFoxx's question: The exhaust manifold that was in the tercel was pretty hacked up and also had an inch or so spacer on it. I think you'd have to have a custom manifold made or mod an off the shelf one quite a bit.
Image

The 4ac bottom end had some issues, wrong pistons, wrong water pump, tons of hacked crap on it, and worst of all some pretty bad piston slop. I didnt want to deal with it.

The 7age I am building will be fuel injected.

only progress pictures i have take so far.
4age head off and getting ready to be taken in for head work.
Its so dirty =(
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tons of carbon build up on the valves. GROSS!
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7a block cylinders look pretty good.
Image

pistons are dirty but those will be replaced anyways.
Image
white_raven
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Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Jun 05, 2017 10:44 am
My tercel:: 1987 toyota tercel 4wd

Re: RWD Battle Wagon

Post by white_raven »

Like normal having made tons of progress lately. Family, Church, and Work keep me pretty busy, but was get to get the head and block off to machine shops to get some work done.

I took the head to a local toyota guy Dan OST, pro at 4ag heads.
Turns out the head needed a ton of work, it was warped and needed resurface, it had 2 bent valves, on the flip side we found it someone had did some port work on the intake side, it got new valve seals and it had bigport cams! Should be interesting to see the torque curve from the big port cams on a small port head.

Anyways on to pics of the refreshed head!
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Now we wait for the 7a block to get cleaned up at the machine shop, then the fun part comes with reassembly.
white_raven
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Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Jun 05, 2017 10:44 am
My tercel:: 1987 toyota tercel 4wd

Re: RWD Battle Wagon

Post by white_raven »

more engine progress finally!

Got the 7a block back from the machine shop all nice and cleaned up! Cylinders hone, block decked crank polished and everything spec'ed out.
Ended up going with stock 7a rods and bigport 4a pistons using press fit wrist pins, shooting for a 10.5-10.7:1 compression. Block was decked so the pistons had zero deck height. Got bearings on order from toyota and once they are in I can then start the reassembly process. so for now on to a few pics!

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On the block I found what looked like weird casting flaws, I tried to remove the excess material but it does not want to come off.
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and of course I found it where I would least want it.
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7a rods + 4a BP pistons assembled with press fit wrist pins.
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And this is what happens when you let your kids pic paint colors at the store. Haha
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jimcrazy
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Posts: 515
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2011 6:33 pm
My tercel:: 1985 4wd 1986fwd 1983 4wd

Re: RWD Battle Wagon

Post by jimcrazy »

if you are using the 3a oil pan should have had the shop address the cut out on the left side of the block so the pan will seal
jimcrazy
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Posts: 515
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2011 6:33 pm
My tercel:: 1985 4wd 1986fwd 1983 4wd

Re: RWD Battle Wagon

Post by jimcrazy »

my bad didnt see the rear drive part
white_raven
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Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Jun 05, 2017 10:44 am
My tercel:: 1987 toyota tercel 4wd

Re: RWD Battle Wagon

Post by white_raven »

yea the oil pan part is going to be tricky anyways because of the crossmember and the transmission doesnt line up correctly either. so Im not totally sure what Im going to do on it yet.
nissan-tercel
Newbie
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2018 8:56 pm
My tercel:: 83 4wd sr5

Re: RWD Battle Wagon

Post by nissan-tercel »

Sweet! Any more progress here bud?
RussiAL25
Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2019 5:50 am
My tercel:: Sprinter Carib AL25 1987

Re: RWD Battle Wagon

Post by RussiAL25 »

Hello! I am new to this forum, I’m interested in the question, has this project been completed, has everything worked out?
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AugustusFerdinand
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Posts: 120
Joined: Sat Mar 24, 2018 10:06 pm
My tercel:: 1983 Toyota Tercel SR5

Re: RWD Battle Wagon

Post by AugustusFerdinand »

Any progress?

Also I assume you meant you're using 4AG smallport pistons on the 7A rods as everything I've seen says the bigport pistons are 18mm wrist pins while the 7A and smallport use 20mm wrist pins.
1983 Toyota Tercel SR5 - 7AGE swap in progress
The Professor
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Posts: 650
Joined: Wed May 12, 2010 6:38 pm
My tercel:: 1987 Tercel SR5 4WD wagon
Location: Western Washington
Contact:

Re: RWD Battle Wagon

Post by The Professor »

AugustusFerdinand wrote: Tue Aug 20, 2019 3:15 pmAny progress?
The OP hasn't logged in since the end of January 2019. We may never see this project finished...
1975 Subaru SuperStar wagon
1984 Subaru Turbo-Traction wagon & hardtop
1987 Subaru RX 3-door
1987 Subaru RX Type-RA 3-door
1987 Toyota Tercel SR5 wagon
1999 Subaru Forester S
2002 Subaru WRX sedan
2019 Subaru Outback 2.5i Limited
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AugustusFerdinand
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Joined: Sat Mar 24, 2018 10:06 pm
My tercel:: 1983 Toyota Tercel SR5

Re: RWD Battle Wagon

Post by AugustusFerdinand »

The Professor wrote: Wed Aug 21, 2019 7:50 am
AugustusFerdinand wrote: Tue Aug 20, 2019 3:15 pmAny progress?
The OP hasn't logged in since the end of January 2019. We may never see this project finished...
Oh well, guess I'll have to be the one with a 7AG build. About to toss up my build thread as the 7A arrived yesterday along with many other parts.
1983 Toyota Tercel SR5 - 7AGE swap in progress
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