Goldie Unveiled ! ! !

[ARCHINSTL]

OK - as if you all are not familiar with a TOPAZ wagon...
The wheels are, of course, Mazda Daisys. I saved the OE Miata center caps for resale in case I ever get lucky and score a set of "Gen II" Miata wheels like sdoan has.
The centers are 2" electrical box knockout caps, painted satin black; they fit perfectly, and have not come off in 7+ years! Plus, they (obviousy) stay on the wheel when the wheel is removed for whatever. Those caps are available at any hardware store.
Their lug nut covers are - ready? - rubber crutch tips! Believe me, they do not look as bad as you might think. They've been on for about 800 miles now and have not fallen off - and I've removed the rears several times and they are still tight. They are fitted on both acorn and flat top nuts.
The drums were abraded with wire wheels and painted with a Duplicolor cast iron color - have not done calipers yet. It's actually kind of a dark gray-green shade. I did not use a primer, as I was hurried - we'll see how long it lasts.
The added backup light (from AutoZone) is a great help - wish I'd thought of adding it to the '83 way back when.
There are no photos of the interior at this point...
Tom M.
P.S. The license means nothing - that's just what I got.
........................> Left-click to enlarge. <

[Mattel]

Great looking car Tom! how is the weber going?

[danzo]

Very clean car Tom, looks great! I think the early Miata wheels look better with the center caps off, and it is a good idea to remove and save. There will always be some Miata restore dork who will pay deaux for them, as they do tend to fall off with age. The center caps from the newer Miata ('94 - '97) wheels that sdoan has will not fit the daisies. They are about 1.5" diameter caps, common to lotsa cars. Cool thing is you could graft a Toyota symbol onto them just to confuse some peeps. So that rear light activates when in reverse? Very clever, most would think it's a trailer/tire change light.

One of these days I will post a bunch of pics of my T4wd whenever I can figure out this interweb thing. I just realized I have 6 sets of wheels laying around (mostly in my living room as Petros can verify) including 16s that fit OK. Also I got some intel from a friend that my Terc's "alter ego" is lurking in the next town. Same color as mine, friend did a doubletake.

[ARCHINSTL]

. So that rear light activates when in reverse?

Yes - I ran a fused wire from the battery back to the light and then a wire to the OE switching wire behind the kick panel in the right side of the luggage compartment. I thought about just getting the juice from the OE hot wire, but since this is 55 watts, thought maybe it would blow a fuse - besides, this way it gets all 12V.
The light is a Blazer Tractor, Model C8005W, Halogen, Trapezoidal Beam http://www.autozone.com/autozone/access ... r=4356_0_0_ . It is 7"x4". I mounted it to a piece of aluminum channel bolted to the steel "under bumper" - did not drill through the plastic bumper cover. I thought it would look cooler with the mesh guard than with just a "bare" lens.
Tom M.

[dlb]

far out, tom! she IS mint, that's rad. i don't see the sr5 logo anywhere on the rub strips, not sure if i've seen that before. also, looks like you blacked out your grill too, hey? your wheels and drums look awesome, quite muscular actually. if my wheels showed more skin i would paint my drums and calipers too, it's a classy move.

the stickers on the back of the car are, of course, very you! did you custom make the "fact" sticker? i've never seen that variation before.

[ohcanada_00]

such a good looking Tercel! Nice job! Love the wheel choice, looks really well done.

[ARCHINSTL]

Thanks!
The "FACT" sticker is my reaction to a similar but different sticker. It's cut from Contac paper (stencil available).
The "Voldemort" strip is an original. When I get the middle-finger salute, I know the message has been received. When I get a thumbs-up salute, I never know if the person agrees with me - or if he has no clue as to "Voldemort's" identity (and it's not necessarily an age thing). Available in .jpg form.
The "9" is for our STL PBS TV station.
The "CBC 1958" is my old HS - and - the graduation year ..._____I've made a few for other 'mates. We have a very loyal alumni group; the school is the second-oldest in STL - dates to 1850 (before my time, yano).

The "SR5" on the side trim is still there - when I painted the windshield trim, drip rails, grille, and bumpers, I covered those side strips as well. My side window trim is still OE shiny black and not "faded out."
The Weber has been on for two years now - still need to advance the ignition. The MPG is 29-32, so not really an economy improvement over the Aisan - but - the flexibility and lack of overall quirkiness is much appreciated. The only odd thing has been the idle when warm this year. At one stop it's 600 rpm - at the next it's 800 - at the next it's 1100 - at the next it may be back to 600. Usually it's at 600+ a bit.
Tom M.

EDIT, July, 2014...a few years after the initial painting, I laboriously masked off the "Toyota 4WD" in the grille and sprayed it a bright red; much better. When I do the repaint this Fall, I will do the same red on the "SR5" in the rub strips.

[dlb]

what is the voldemort thing about? it sounds like harry potter but it looks like american/british politics.

[ARCHINSTL]

It's a comment on who I think certain groups in the USA might prefer...
Tom M.

[dlb]

come on, throw me a bone here. i have no clue what you're talking about because a) i don't keep up with american politics, b) i don't keep up with politics at all. at least point me to a website that will explain this so i can laugh along and pretend like i'm down with the joke. if it's a joke. it sounds like it.

[takza]

It's a comment on who I think certain groups in the USA might prefer...
Tom M.

And here I thought you'd done gone to the dark side with the other DEEP THINKERS.

Got yourself a time machine there?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TARDIS

[hberdan]

That is one grreat looking Tercel. A real time machine!

[ARCHINSTL]

Well, as a certain Memphian used to say - "Thenk yew, thenk yew verra much..."

takza - Thanks for the TARDIS link. I had not realized there was so much info out there about it. Here in STL our PBS station only broadcast the Tom Baker and Peter Davison 'Doctors.' I don't have cable/satellite, so have not followed it in years - although I was quite a fan. My beloved '86 Mazda 626 * also bore the TARDIS logo and people said they'd never heard of that car company - just like now.

When I got Goldie, the 'TOYOTA' sticker on the hatch had missing portions of letters, so I removed them - and then found that the name could still be seen from leaving a shadow in the paint. So, I cut out TARDIS from vinyl advert material. It covers nicely and is an apt name.
Tom M.

* https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php? ... zda#p11543

[terceldude]

yeah nice wheels Tom but they are not rims, lol! ) But Missouri looks interesting!

[ARCHINSTL]

yeah nice wheels Tom but they are not rims, lol! ) But Missouri looks interesting!

HUH ?
_____ _____ _____
Oh - now I get your "rims" reference; I'd forgotten that you are into white-boy ghetto-speak...
Tom M.

P.S. Almost forgot...lol!