T4 #5: ester

[tercel4wdrules]

DLB: What you're pointing at with your finger isn't the HAC, but instead the EBCV (electronic bleed control valve). You have an electronic feedback carburetor system - if you noticed, this car has both vacuum switch A & B and inspection would uncover that you have an O2 sensor on the exhaust manifold. It's probably a Canadian version of the feedback fuel system because it has an AS (air suction) hose running to the air cleaner from the exhaust manfold, but no vacuum valve to control it as found on the California cars, such as the ones I own.

[ARCHINSTL]

I blush - I was totally WRONG and tercel4wdrules is totally CORRECT!
It is either a CA car or a Canadian with an AT - which trans it certainly has.
See page EC-4 for a diagram.

Thanks for being gentle, Carlos!
Tom M.

[dlb]

ahhhh, i didn't even think to check what the emission packages for the automatics were like! makes perfect sense now. thanks, guys.

[toughtercel]

I forgot to mention , what about the speed o gauge , is KMS or MPH , will it tell the difference .

[dlb]

i started working on this project a few weeks back. like the last one, there is lots to do but it's getting there. the car reeked of gas when i put $15 in right after i bought it so i dropped the old gas tank and put in one from the parts car. i had to replace the fuel sending unit on the tank i was using though, and that was a pain. the screws were so badly corroded that they simply turned to dust when i put a screwdriver to them, despite all the ATF and pb blaster i could throw at them. finally, i got creative and drilled out the old screws (being careful not to drill right into the tank), tapped new threads in the holes, and used new screws with lock washers. worked great. got the tank in, threw the gas from the old tank in, no gas smell and the car fired up right away and ran great. took it for its first drive in 5 months and remembered just how bad the back end sounded.

the next order of business was to address the horrible marbles sound in the rear axle and see if the rear axle could be saved. i noticed gear oil leaking from the driver side so i attacked that one first. the axle came out pretty easy but the bearing was in pieces.



here's what was left of the whole thing when i got it on the bench.



you can also see the scoring on the inner race of the bearing.



luckily, there were no chunks or surprises in the rear diff oil. replaced the oil seal, checked the other side and decided that that bearing was on the way out too so i swapped axles w/ bearings from the parts car in. new gear oil and it was on to the rear brakes. had to replace both wheel cylinders but both steel lines were frozen to the cylinders so i had to remove and replace them too. the shoes and drums were in good shape but the passenger e-brake cable was shredded so i replaced that. i wound up removing the short forward portion of the e-brake cable from the e-brake handle so i could work on the damn thing on the bench. it was much easier than trying to work around the driveshaft underneath the car. got it back in, bled the hell out of the brakes, adjusted everything, and the back end was ready for a test. took it for a spin, and i breathed a sigh of relief that all was well back there.

moved on to the front end. removed the sway bar and found the bushings in excellent shape but the collars in baaaaad shape. this collar was 60% gone but amazingly, the sway bar is not bottle-necked.



what's left of the collar.



this collar was 85% gone and the bar end was bottle-necked.



it took a grinder and chisel to chip the remains of the old collar off and when it was done, the bottle neck wasn't the end of the bar but i decided to try building it up a bit with JB weld. i don't think this makes the bar any stronger but it will help keep the collar from deforming against the misshapen bar, and also help prevent play which would worsen the bottle-neck. i gooped the end up, let it sit for a few days, and then hand-filed it until the new collar could just slide over it.





installed the bar and moved on. the passenger side CV boot was split, the brake hoses were cracked, the rotors were ugly, and a ball joint was toast. i'm currently waiting for those parts and killed some time today draining the front diff, ATF, and rad. i also removed all the AC components, which were a real pain to work around in the engine bay. TBC...

[MR2Di4]

Looks like a nice score there! The rust doesn't look dangerous, just cosmetic but man I thought my axle bearings looked bad!!! Keep us posted!

MR2Di4

[dlb]

been working steadily on this. finished the front end, filters, and fluids, and took it for a test drive. all seems well. installed the new vacuum advance unit i got from larry and reset the timing. the thing is godawful ugly but runs really well.

i've moved on to various cosmetic projects: removing rusted fenders and the damaged hatch, painting new ones from the parts car, replacing a worn door hinge while the fender was off (much easier than when the fender is still on), replacing some seriously cancerous lights...the front driver side indicator didn't work and i couldn't get the bulb out so i looked at the back of the light socket and it was literally exploded with swollen rust. weirdest, grossest thing. looked like something from a david cronenberg film. not a big deal though, just replaced the whole thing with the indicator assembly from the parts car.

the radio antenna was destroyed but i found one on a tercel hatchback at the wrecker. on the hatchback, the antenna wire was on the driver side fender and was much easier to get at. on the T4s with passenger fender mounted antennas, the wire enters the vehicle way in front of the heater blower motor so it's impossible to reach without pulling a bunch of other stuff. to install the new wire, i cut the antenna base off of the old one, taped the end of the new one to the old wire, and pulled both of them through to the interior. worked like a charm.

the rust in the lower areas of the front fenders has been a real challenge and i've had to drill out a handful of the rusted bolts and tap new threads. it's coming along though, and one new flat black fender is on. looks pretty tough, can't wait to get the other one on. that's next on the list, followed by getting the new hatch on, and then it will be on to the interior.

[dlb]

have done some more work on esther lately. i pulled the seats to replace the front carpet and found that the 90's toyota truck seats do require some minor mods to fit the T4. the front mounts need spacers (looks like someone used copper tube for these) and longer bolts, and while some PO made the mounts fit, they didn't line up with the bolt holes at all. this made the seats difficult to slide back and forth since the tracks were twisted slightly. i filed the seat mounts a bit so that they lined up with the bolt holes a bit better. i found the passenger seat needed the most filing while the driver seat needed almost none. weird.

here is the front inside mount.



here is the front outside mount.



the outside spacers are about 25 cm and the inside ones are about 18 cm.



you can see here how the rear mounts are quite far off the bolt holes.



passenger seat, front right mount after filing.



passenger seat, rear right mount after filing.



passenger seat, rear left mount after filing.



i also trimmed the lower door trim piece because part of its interior portion didn't fit against the wider seats. i used a hack saw to carefully cut along the corner of the piece. you can barely see it here. you can also see the carpet that north of 64 gave me! thanks elizabeth! it's in really good shape and fits perfectly. i worried that the manuals and automatics might have a different shape or size of hole to accommodate the shifter but it appears to be the same.



here it is with its new fenders and hatch. they are from a red '84 so they got the royal flat black treatment. i might also flat black the lower portions of the doors and rear fenders to unify the look a little. i don't mind it as is but it might look better that way. we'll see how much patience i have later on. the biggest difficulty with swapping fenders was battling all the rusted little bolts which had to be drilled out and tapped, and then securing the plastic inner fenders to the metal ones. for the hatch, i took all the different plugs from the donor car and spliced them on to this car. i didn't have too much problem pulling the wiring down through the hatch. i took a long piece of thin wire (about half the gauge of a coat hanger), fed it up and through the hole at the top of the hatch, twisted it around the plugs, and carefully pulled the lot through. i used the same technique and a piece of string to pull the hose for the rear wiper washer through so i could attach it to the nozzle. swapping the hatch lock was super easy but i'm glad i did it. it's nice to just have one key for the whole car.









still got some more to do on it, mostly fun stuff, so i'm guessing it should be done in january sometime. december is always a busy time with family and whatnot.

[terceldude]

The item you point to is the EBCV valve and tercel4wdrules and Petros explained it really nicely! A good scrubbing will get that shift knob looking nice and decent!

[terceldude]

Oh and it looks like the restoration is coming along nicely! The rear wheelwells on both sides will need cosmetic attention and it looked like the lower right part side of the driver's door also needs repair as well as the metal behind the rear left and right wheelwells and maybe the rear bumper mounting area on the frame needs to be straightened and primed, but other than those, it's looking really nicely! If you want, you can get a can of POR-15 black paint and paint the front wiper arms...I'm not sure how your rocker panels are looking as it is hard to see from the pics but if they have rust holes, you might consider replacing those as well! GOOD LUCK to you and I hope the wagon looks soon like a jewel in the rough!

[dlb]

it's been a looooooooong, long road working on this project but it is finally just about done. tomorrow i take the car to my friend for welding the panhard arm back on and then it leaves. i didn't keep track of the total time i logged on it but i honestly wouldn't be surprised if it was between 150-200 hours. on the drive home when i bought the car, the only problems i noticed were a gas smell after fueling up, a grinding in the rear axle, and a weird loss of control when cornering at highway speeds (which i incorrectly diagnosed as the front anti-sway bar but later found to be from the disconnected panhard arm). besides those, the car drove pretty well so i didn't expect as much work as i found. virtually everything i inspected required repair or replacement—dash vents, brake hoses, vacuum diaphragms, throttle linkages, spark plugs, distributor, whatever. but this is a real testimony to how amazing these cars are: even though so much was broken or worn out on it, it drove fine and probably would have continued doing so for quite a while. so while i despise this car for having required so much of my time, i respect the hell out of it for being such a trooper and driving so strong despite all its troubles.

the plan for this terc was to fix it up for a friend who was just going to pay me back the initial cost of the car and all the parts i put into it. i kept a list of everything i needed to do and checked it off as i went, and kept a separate list of the costs as i threw things at the car. i used as many parts as i could from my parts car so i didn't charge for any of those.


TO DO

driver door handle
gas tank
fuel gauge sending unit
rear axles and bearings
rear axle oil seals
change front and rear diff oil
rear brakes
front brakes
emergency brake
driver side rotor dust shield
passenger CV
sway bar bushings and collars
pull A/C
battery hold down bracket
spark plugs
remove and lube heater controls
repair/replace air vents
air filter
fuel filter
oil & filter
ATF & filter
coolant flush
replace dizzy, vacuum advance unit, and o-ring
dash lights
radio antenna
driver door hinge
fenders & hatch
windshield wipers
paint wipers arms
front driver side indicator light assembly
front carpet
driver side headlight
passenger door lock
remove rear window tint
roof racks
floor mats
thermostat
lower dash trim panel
cigarette lighter
front speakers
rear speaker wiring
rear speakers
TVSV
AAP diaphragm
choke breaker
fill rusted rear corners with foam
rear bumper
cargo wings
tune carb
radiator
rad cap
tranny hoses
paint wheels
rug doctor seats
scrub/wash exterior and door frames

panhard arm bracket


COSTS

driver door handle: 0
gas tank and sending unit: 0
brake lines: $5
wheel cylinders: 0
brake fluid: $5
bearings and axles: 0
gear oil for front and rear diff: $5
e-brake cable: $45
battery hold-down: 0
CV: $120
sway bar collars: $35
rotors: $50
brake hoses: $30
ball joint: $30
ATF: $20
ATF filter & pan gasket: $50
fuel filter: $5
oil filter: $5
air filter: $5
spark plugs: $15
dizzy and o-ring: 0
vacuum advance unit: $65
air vent: 0
coolant: $5
SR5 dash and lights: 0
spray paint: $20
door hinge: $10
radio antenna: $5
front driver side indicator: 0
windshield wipers: $25
lower dash trim panel: 0
cigarette lighter: $10
stereo: $50
front speakers: $45
rear speakers: $20
headlight: $85
passenger door lock: $0
roof racks: $0
floor mats: $20
thermostat: $10
radiator: $120
rad cap: $15
defroster repair kit: $10
TVSV: $10
AAP: 0
choke breaker: 0
foam insulation: 0
rear bumper: 0
tranny hoses: 15
cargo wings & shelf: 0


parts: $965
car: $350
-------------
total: $1315


of course the car is ugly as all hell, but it's dang solid now, and clean too, so i'm really happy with it. barring any accidents, it should continue to serve someone well for many years.

as with any project like this, i learned a lot throughout it. i finally honed my technique for installing new seals, which i've always sucked at. i got pretty good using a steel brake line bender. i learned how important some components are to the stock carb. i learned what a PITA it is to replace front fenders.

i think the coolest thing about this project, though, is that so much of it came from various peeps in the t4 community: the front carpet came from north of 64, the rear bumper came from toughtercel, the TVSV came from 4doorVIP, the roof racks are actually from a friend's parents long gone tercel (he found them in his basement and gave them to me), the cargo wings and shelf came from a local dude with a 2wd wagon who was giving them away because he didn't use them, the vac advance unit came from larry mcgrath, and petros sent me some trans cooler ports for the bottom of my spare radiator—they didn't fit but the gesture was great. so i really feel that this project has been a bit of a community effort, and that's rad. i've said before how this forum is one of the things that makes our cars so great and this is an example of it. thanks to all who helped out and contributed in any way.

on with the pics. first, the exterior. i painted the steel wheels with the same tremclad 'aluminum' i've used on alloys and it looks way too flashy for this POS but whatever. they'll get scuffed and dirty soon enough, and then it won't look so ridiculous.





there was so much mix and matching going on for this car. it's an '87 but the hatch is from an '84 so i had to cut and swap a bunch of plugs, but i had to use the ATM from the '87's hatch because of rusted and breaking studs on the '84 ATM. urrrghh, so much time and frustration.





here are the cargo wings and shelf from a 2wd wagon. they required two slight modifications. first, the wings have a small additional plastic piece where the rear seats rest against the wings. this plastic piece is held on with four screws and can be removed to accommodate the 4wd rear seats. second, the cargo shelf must also be trimmed to accommodate the 4wd seats so to do that, i pulled the covering material back and used a saw to trim 6 cm off the shelf. then i used regular household glue to refasten the covering material. only took a few minutes.



for mounting 6.5" speakers, i cut out the bottoms of the cargo wing trays and trimmed the top edges a bit. it's not a perfect fit but it's alright.





for the rear speaker wiring (which i had to add since it's a lowly dlx—https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8675&p=62411), i took a page out of 4doorVIP's book and tried to keep the wire out of the way. i just drilled some holes in the cargo wings and ran the wire through them from the rear light access door.



i did the same thing i did on reggie and filled the rusted out rear fenders with insulating foam. i did both sides this time after realizing how easy it was to remove the trim to get to the passenger side.



i rug doctor'd the hell out of all the seats but this was the best i could get the bench. i knew the car was going to be another ugly duckling so it wasn't worth the effort to remove the seat covers and launder them. it actually looks better in person, and the car smells incredibly clean now.



so mix n' match—stock brown rear bench seats, blue cargo area, grey front seats...these seats are way more comfortable though, wowee.





i mentioned earlier in the thread that i had to trim the lower door trim pieces to accommodate the wider seats. here's a pic of that. you can see the saw marks toward the right.



sr5 gauges, though i'm going to find and swap in the left light tree from another automatic so it has the temp warning light.



i always think flashy looking stereos look silly in old cars like this, but in a good way. i could only find a maroon-coloured stereo trim piece so i gloss blacked it, since black goes with everything.



i'm keeping my fingers crossed that all goes smoothly with welding the panhard arm tomorrow so that the car can leave in the next week or so. i won't be taking on anymore projects until i know i've got lots of spare time to devote to it. i feel very liberated right now to be done with this terc and free to focus on more pressing things...like watching all the sick david cronenberg flicks i've got waiting for me on my compter.

[ARCHINSTL]

What an Odyssey! Props to you!
Sure wish my ain't-what-it-was-like-when-I-was-growing-up town would let me have one of those garage-tents.
Tom M.

[dlb]

thanks, tom. odyssey is a perfect word for what this car entailed.

i just insured it and drove it to my friend to have the panhard arm axle bracket welded back on. only took an hour, here's what my friend came up with.





i went for a big test drive as soon as the welding was done and suddenly, all the efforts for this car were worth it. the mushy feeling is gone, probably because the rear axle isn't sliding all over the place. it drives so nice, i can hardly believe it. the auto trans really winds up at highway speeds (3300 rpm @ 90 km/h, or 55 mph) and it's gutless on steep hills but it shifts and drives really smoothly. no mystery clunks either. it's so ugly and yet runs so well! i'm really pleased.

[TURTCEL]

Congrats DLB...always nice when a project turns out well in the end. And with your busy summer schedule when would you find time for another project?

BTW...I was just in Ashland, OR visiting a friend and he got his Burning Man ticket while I was there. Were you and the wife able to secure yours yet?

Peace

[dlb]

no, we somehow missed out on the 40,000 individual sale tickets! i don't know how. i'm not worried though, there are more sales coming up and there are always people who change their mind or can't go so i'm sure we'll come across some.