Project Blue restoration

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Starmarst
Newbie
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2020 8:52 pm
My tercel:: 82 coup, 85 wagon both fwd

Project Blue restoration

Post by Starmarst »

TL;DR on bottom

Hello everyone, I recently bought this piece of craigslist gold for 200 flat from a lady thinking the car was toast (thinking rear main seal). Odometer read 167k on it and had a few rust spots on the fenders (unusual since cars dont really rust in my state) and seemed to be in fantastic shape. The paint was eh and the seats barely torn. I know i bought less for more.
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So the first goal was to get her started. And it seemed to want to start with some goose juice but wouldn't stay on. So i was swapping in my spare weber; then came an unusual sight, the carb gasket was on backwards (sorry no photo). But to give you an idea half of the intake hole was covered by the gasket. So no wonder the lady thought it was 'gutless' :lol: after fixed the gasket mistake, i slapped on some fresh rubber fuel lines and she started right up. :D

The next big issue was the bad oil leak. It was leaking about a quart of oil every 10ish mins of runtime. But only when it ran, so i knew the rear main seal was likely not the culprit. Although that bad of a leak is a bad sign especially when you don't know if you can trust the previous owner. So thinking my engine might be trashed compression wise i decided to run a test. And it had 155psi around the board! (Compared to my 82 at 80k with 158). So after some relief i decided to top off the oil and see where the leak was; And it didn't take me long.

I was mainly looking at the back of the valve cover gasket since that's the direction it was leaking. But couldnt find anything. And i looked a little down and saw the gas diaphragm thing attached to the back of the block was pouring out fast. (Dont know what it does or is called, sorry) and i saw what looked like a gasket sticking out like someone didn't know how to put one on (im seeing a trend). I simply reinstalled it and the leak went away. Drove around and measured it and it doesn't even burn oil.
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My major takeaway is that i had two improperly installed gaskets. So ill really have to double check things. But this seems like it'll be well running machine after I give it some love and tuning.

So this is my first chapter and ill just slowly add onto this post as restore this car. If there is any questions to ask then feel free, and if you have any suggestions then please let me know. Im a newbie with toyotas in general and most of my experience comes from hondas and fords. Also any input on my format to give yall a better reading experience is also welcome (Too much info? To little? Etc).

TL;DR
-bought for 200 and turned out to be a steal
-Installed weber and found a backwards gasket
-fixed oil leak by properly installing gasket.

Thanks for reading folks, my next post will probably be about the timing belt or hubs and brakes.
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NWMO
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Joined: Wed May 20, 2015 1:08 pm

Re: Project Blue restoration

Post by NWMO »

Star,

Congrats on a great purchase!

Chris
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In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
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Petros
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Posts: 11930
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:31 pm
My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Project Blue restoration

Post by Petros »

Welcome to the forum,

I wonder if the Previous Owner paid to have the car worked on, or if someone did her a favor to try to fix it. I do not even know what dolt can install a gasket backwards, did they not even look to see it does not line up? that person has NO business working on any car.

too bad it is only a 2wd wagon. still it will make a nice decent reliable little econo box, good price for that. it is lighter too, so it should get better fuel economy and no be quite so sluggish or under powered. you might consider putting the stock carb back on it. if it is working properly the stock carb and fuel system is good performing and remarkably reliable despite its complexity.
'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)
Erikwi
Top Notch Member
Posts: 114
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2020 3:31 pm
My tercel:: 1988 stock auto
Location: lacrosse WI

Re: Project Blue restoration

Post by Erikwi »

how well does it shift?
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dlb
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Posts: 7305
Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 9:03 pm
My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
Location: bc, canada

Re: Project Blue restoration

Post by dlb »

You should be able to get excellent fuel economy in that car. If you track it, I'd like to know what you get.
Starmarst
Newbie
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2020 8:52 pm
My tercel:: 82 coup, 85 wagon both fwd

Re: Project Blue restoration

Post by Starmarst »

Erik,

Pretty well, it has a small clunk it sounds like when I shift from 1st to 2nd. but only sometimes.

dlb,

So, I went on a 300mi trip with it and got about 28 mpg on the way up while mostly flooring it (we have steep mountains to climb here). but on the way down I got about 46.
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MrWrench
Top Notch Member
Posts: 252
Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2019 9:10 pm
My tercel:: 1985 Tercel SR5. aka Spud
Location: Michigan
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Re: Project Blue restoration

Post by MrWrench »

Congratulations on your purchase! You definitely won't lose money on your purchase.
1984 SR5. Lifted offroader with a snorkel. Aka "Thunderbucket"
1985 SR5. Daily driver. Aka "Spud"
1986 SR5. Dakar Rally clone build.
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