approximate one year update on rebuild

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
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NWMO
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approximate one year update on rebuild

Post by NWMO »

Hey all,

Approximately 1 year on the 4a rebuild, doing well. Other than a broken valve spring causing a dropped valve, no real issues. I’ve put 28,000 + miles on it the first year (after the rebuild) and have had some fun along the way. Power is good, still have a small leak up front and I’m getting roughly 28 mpg. At this point, I would feel comfortable driving it any distance. Now the body work and rust bug are another story, but I do enough to keep it together.

Chris
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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Yaut
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My tercel:: 1985 Toyota Tercel 4WD automatic, lifted 1.5", 15 inch wheels

Re: approximate one year update on rebuild

Post by Yaut »

Holy cow. 28,000 miles in one year
'88 Toyota Tercel SR5 4WD (red)
'87 Toyota Tercel DLX 4WD (white)
'86 Toyota Tercel DLX 4WD (white)
'85 Toyota Tercel DLX 4WD (tan)
'85 Toyota Tercel DLX 4WD (white)
'85 Toyota Tercel SR5 4WD (white)
'84 Toyota Tercel SR5 4WD (dark orange)
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NWMO
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Re: approximate one year update on rebuild

Post by NWMO »

She’s my DD and I’m 40+ miles from the office.

Chris
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: approximate one year update on rebuild

Post by Petros »

putting that many miles on it, you should consider getting a spare engine, take your time to rebuild it, and have it ready to swap out should the need arise. that way you can get your car back on the road in a weekend. you will be rebuilding your engine about every 4 years or so anyway, having one ready to go would be a good idea.

on my own car I should have considered this, seems every 2-4 years something happens to the engine that requires me to park it (the reason varies). Than I have to drive something else until I have the time to pull it apart, find out what I need, and get it all back together and on the road. sometimes a six month long process.
'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)
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NWMO
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Re: approximate one year update on rebuild

Post by NWMO »

Peter,

It took me over six months to take the time to rebuild and get it back in. This car has enough rust damage that I have/am cobbling together, that I don't think it will get another engine. As it nears the end, I hope to have my project 83' up to speed and ready to start driving (big dreams on this one, will have to see if I can pull it off). When the time comes, I hope to get a group of the Tercel folks together and enter the Rusty Frog into one of the Gambler runs, let her go out in a blaze of glory, then salvage the diffs/tranny/engine/etc. and go from there.

Chris
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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Yaut
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Posts: 120
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2019 5:34 pm
My tercel:: 1985 Toyota Tercel 4WD automatic, lifted 1.5", 15 inch wheels

Re: approximate one year update on rebuild

Post by Yaut »

Would you swap your 4.11 gears to your 83 from Rusty Frog?
'88 Toyota Tercel SR5 4WD (red)
'87 Toyota Tercel DLX 4WD (white)
'86 Toyota Tercel DLX 4WD (white)
'85 Toyota Tercel DLX 4WD (tan)
'85 Toyota Tercel DLX 4WD (white)
'85 Toyota Tercel SR5 4WD (white)
'84 Toyota Tercel SR5 4WD (dark orange)
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NWMO
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Re: approximate one year update on rebuild

Post by NWMO »

Diarmait,

Can't say, I know I wouldn't part with them until I was convinced the re-power drug around well with the 3.73 gearing. I want to run a taller tire for additional lift/clearance, but still have the grunt to play at slow speeds, all depends on where I land with the re-power.

Chris
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
User avatar
Yaut
Top Notch Member
Posts: 120
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2019 5:34 pm
My tercel:: 1985 Toyota Tercel 4WD automatic, lifted 1.5", 15 inch wheels

Re: approximate one year update on rebuild

Post by Yaut »

Chris,

I took my 84' on some of the steep trails. It seemed like the 3.73 was a little too high for me even with the stock tires. Just my input. It might actually be similar to your Rusty Frog with the 4.11 gears but taller tires. Of course you have that 4A engine though. Of course my main off-road car is an automatic with 3.909 gears with 25+" tires lol.
'88 Toyota Tercel SR5 4WD (red)
'87 Toyota Tercel DLX 4WD (white)
'86 Toyota Tercel DLX 4WD (white)
'85 Toyota Tercel DLX 4WD (tan)
'85 Toyota Tercel DLX 4WD (white)
'85 Toyota Tercel SR5 4WD (white)
'84 Toyota Tercel SR5 4WD (dark orange)
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NWMO
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Joined: Wed May 20, 2015 1:08 pm

Re: approximate one year update on rebuild

Post by NWMO »

Diarmait,

I don't think the 4A is much different than the 3a, but if I can manage a re-power with say . . . a Volkswagen AAZ (1.9L) TD, I would like to see how the low end did. It may be pie-in-the-sky, but I'm trying to find a way.

Chris
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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splatterdog
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Location: Minnesota, USA

Re: approximate one year update on rebuild

Post by splatterdog »

Petros wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 11:57 pm putting that many miles on it, you should consider getting a spare engine, take your time to rebuild it, and have it ready to swap out should the need arise. that way you can get your car back on the road in a weekend. you will be rebuilding your engine about every 4 years or so anyway, having one ready to go would be a good idea.

on my own car I should have considered this, seems every 2-4 years something happens to the engine that requires me to park it (the reason varies). Than I have to drive something else until I have the time to pull it apart, find out what I need, and get it all back together and on the road. sometimes a six month long process.
I might have given up on T4's with your A series engine luck! My results have been entirely different. All my broken engines came that way. Rust has always been the main retirement plan during my 25 year history with these cars. Even the 400k engine from #1 still runs, pretty tired though.
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splatterdog
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Re: approximate one year update on rebuild

Post by splatterdog »

NWMO wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2020 3:49 pm Diarmait,

I don't think the 4A is much different than the 3a, but if I can manage a re-power with say . . . a Volkswagen AAZ (1.9L) TD, I would like to see how the low end did. It may be pie-in-the-sky, but I'm trying to find a way.

Chris
I thought member cathoderaytube started a project like this. Don't recall it ever getting finished. Without an off the shelf adapter kit I can't imagine the work required for something so radical.

My only frankenstien ideas have been a RWD tire shredder. This would require a complete lack of 4wd transmissions to get that idea off the ground.
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NWMO
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Re: approximate one year update on rebuild

Post by NWMO »

splatterdog,

There have been a couple here start down the path, but there are certainly challenges and their projects presumably didn’t come to fruition. My path may not differ, but I hope to document the challenges, etc.

Chris
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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