New Owner in Vancouver WA

[Hoodwagon]

Hello!

This is pre-emptive. In that I have not yet picked my Tercel up! I'm supposed to go down to Oregon and get it on Saturday.











So - I've got to take possession and take stock...and check the bank account. But I have some big goals for this little car! 1985 SR5 w/123k miles. One small dent on the back driver's side. I intend to spend 500-1000 getting it mechanically back into shape, 400 bucks on custom decals (it'll look like the white one with the blue/black stripe from Perth that was turned into digital art), ~2" lift, taller tires, roof rack, fog lights, stereo

Anyway. I'm in my early 30's and have had some 23 cars since turning 16. I love em, quirky ones, old ones, fun ones. My last 'fun' car was a 1963 Chrysler 300 - this Tercel will be my daily driver. I'm excited for the opportunity to work on it but I'm not the most knowledgeable. Anyone driving distance from Vancouver WA with some expertise care to take a look at the car and let me know what you think? I intend to do as much of the work as I can myself, but I'll likely need to find a place to do the work. I'm not opposed to paying someone for their time, tools, and expertise to help me. Even if you are just showing me a how to swap a CV axle.

More photos to follow! Again, anyone in PDX, Vancouver, like working on these cars and interested in getting paid to help me work on it? (I'll work too, you can just tell me what I'm doing wrong and point/laugh).

Cheers,

-M

[splatterdog]

Looks nice! A warning though, these can be addictive.

[YakSr5]

That thing is clean, great find. welcome

[Petros]

Welcome to the forum!

Nice find! excellent condition on the outside. good to have you on board. make sure you take stock of everything it needs, often there will be a worn ball joint or wheel bearing, perhaps a tie rod end, leaky seal, etc. address all of those before you start doing mods, you do not want to run out of money when you still need important parts.

Also, when I doing mods (and I have done a lot), I like to wait until what ever I am replacing or upgrading is actually worn out. this way you are not replacing good parts just to get your mods done. Eventuraly everything will wear out anyway. I spent over a year gathering the parts I needed to do my brake upgrade, allowed me to wait until the picknpull had half off sales and the cars I needed the parts from were in stock. It allowed me to save a lot of money not to rush it. of course by the time I replaced the brakes, both front rotors were blue, cracked and warped, pads gone, calipers leaky, master cyl. shot. so I finally did it, replaced all it all together, and got a great performance up grade. there are pictures of it in my Brake upgrade thread.

[Hoodwagon]

All I have done so far is get some mr2 triangle wheels. Vehicle is running rough on idle and sputtering in low gears. Very low fuel economy (12 not maybe). strong gas odor. Possible blocked cat. was using carb cleaner to isolate vaccuum leaks (found base of carb leaking all the way around, tightened bolts and it seems to be holding pressure). Likely ruptured AAP diaphragm and other vaccuum issues.



I do have a question though! in the above photo of my car, drivers hand side note the black rubber plug on the fender in front of the rear view mirror. It is not the same position as the antenna on the passenger side. It has a heavy duty factory looking rubber plug. I haven't pulled it but I did peel it back to reveal a rounded opening with painted edges. Long as tory short if anyone knows why that hole is there let me know!

[BaileySims]

Both fenders have cutouts for an antenna? I know mine is like the one pictured.mayne someone swapped a fender to run dual antennas?

[rer233]

Looks like the left front door has been swapped-out (window surround trim is not painted black like the rest of the doors.) my guess is the L.F. fender is off an '83 or '84- they had the antenna mounted on the left side.

[Petros]

if you have a right side '83-84 fender, and a left side '85 or newer fender, you would have duel antenna mounts. Otherwise they are identical, but where the antenna mount is located.

looks like someone replaced the right side fender. check it for other damage you can not see.

[Hoodwagon]

You are correct. The fender is not from the car an obviously repainted with some dust embedded.

I pulled the rear plastic to replace the stock speakers and decided to see what the hard plastic TOYOTA would look like painted. It's just nail polish that has been tested to be easily removable from the plastic. What do ya'll think?

[jimcrazy]

when I did mine I used the small bottles of model paint

[splatterdog]

if you have a right side '83-84 fender, and a left side '85 or newer fender, you would have duel antenna mounts. Otherwise they are identical, but where the antenna mount is located.

looks like someone replaced the right side fender. check it for other damage you can not see.

Not always. My identical twin 85's have a right and a left antenna. Going by the serial #, the newer one has the older placement. No sign of previous body work. Weird..

Love the triangles! Both of mine have them, except when running the winter tires. Triangles are nearly impossible to clean out caked in snow.

[white_raven]

What do you need done? Im over in orchards near the Pick n Pull, i may be able to help out with some stuff.

[Hoodwagon]

Good to meet you White-Raven!

I've got lots of projects for the car..but at least right now it's kind of up in the air. I've got it running better with new air, fuel filters, replaced seeping fuel rubber lines to tank, blocked off a very blown AAP diaphram.

Next few projects include exterior LED lights (might need to wire resistors to trick the car), installing an inclinometer I bought from an '84 parts car, vinegar soaking the rad and heater core, removing and unblocking a likely carbon filled EGR valve.

Any pictures of your 1987?

[SynthDesign]

And a brake upgrade huh!
Nice lookin rig.
Sent you a pm.

[white_raven]

Nice! that car is looking great! Once I get mine up and running we should go for a cruise! I've got a build thread on viewtopic.php?f=6&t=12716.

Keep me posted if you need a hand on something.