Learn Tercel maintenance with other same period cars

[Nordical25]

I wanted to open this off topic because I have learned through my first 1970's restoration project basics for 70's & 80's car maintenance including Tercel 4wd of course. Another point was that SirFoxx wanted to see pictures of my third hobby car.

Cars from same era can share a lot of similar constructions. As an example I attached a couple of pictures of my Kadett. It is known as Chevrolet Chevette in the U.S.

It has a point ignition similarly to European Tercel 4wd's. Therefore adjusting ignition is quite similar with a small exception. Kadett points are adjusted as a clearance between points meanwhile Tercel gap clearance is measured between shaft and "bakelite" part of point. Basics can be highly similar but it is still important to check vehicle specific manuals to get everything going perfectly.

I wanted also to show how similar rear axle construction a Kadett has compared to Tercel. It is nearly identical construction with drum brakes.

There are lot of other similarities like removing windows, manual gearbox etc.

Therefore learning another car from same period may be an advantage to your Tercel hobby if you have still time to maintain also Tercel 4wd or course.

[SirFoxx]

such a cute little car.

if your tercel is points ignition, you should convert to the solid state ignition imo

[Mogordo]

Do you have any pictures that show the car from the side?
In relation to cars made around the same time tending to be similar: I have an '83 Tercel and '83 Nissan Sentra and looking on RockAuto for parts for one right after the other I have to be careful I remember which car I am buying for. I came extremely close to buying rear brake shoes and hardware for the Tercel when I needed them for the Sentra. I had just looked at the set-up for the Sentra and the parts for the Tercel absolutely looked correct so in my hurry I almost didn't even notice I was still on the lists for the Tercel.

[Nordical25]

such a cute little car.

if your tercel is points ignition, you should convert to the solid state ignition imo

Thank you SirFoxx. My Tercels have already solid state ignition. I found some years ago cheap 3A distributors and bought them. You are absolutely right, they are worth it. Totally! And I left my 4A engine with original 4A solid state distributor. So I don't have breaker points anymore. But I had them in the beginning.

[Nordical25]

Do you have any pictures that show the car from the side?
In relation to cars made around the same time tending to be similar: I have an '83 Tercel and '83 Nissan Sentra and looking on RockAuto for parts for one right after the other I have to be careful I remember which car I am buying for. I came extremely close to buying rear brake shoes and hardware for the Tercel when I needed them for the Sentra. I had just looked at the set-up for the Sentra and the parts for the Tercel absolutely looked correct so in my hurry I almost didn't even notice I was still on the lists for the Tercel.

Yes I do have some more pictures. They are found as an attachment. I also pasted a picture of my Kadett tacho. I equipped this car also with Kadett GT/E tacho. The side profile is more different between Kadett C and Tercel than Sentra 1983 and Tercel 4wd. The main reason for this is the year of design. Kadett was released already in 1974 meanwhile Tercel came out 1982. The later Kadett D would be much more similar to a Tercel 4wd.

You are right, some of the hardware can be really similar. However, most parts are different in Kadett and Tercel because these two cars came from two different countries. Therefore, a Sentra and Tercel have way more similar parts. Kadett has some highly similar parts with VW beetle, since Bosch supplied electrical systems to them.

In addition I got my first Tercels old point ignition running by OEM 1970's KE20 corolla ignition coil. It is basically same part. So some Japanese parts can be swapped into Tercel. You can take also a distributor vacuum unit from Suzuki Samurai and modify it to work on Tercel. So maybe you could use also some Sentra parts in Tercel with a small modification. But this is never a sure thing before trying it out.

[Mogordo]

I will second SirFoxx's comment. That is quite a cute car.
Did you pick red for both cars on purpose or was that coincidence?
I think your technical knowledge exceeds mine (:
Makes sense that two same year Japanese economy cars even of different makes might have some overlap in design. They are definitely laid out differently under the hood with one engine front to back and one side to side. But inside those rear drums a lot less specific...

[Nordical25]

I will second SirFoxx's comment. That is quite a cute car.
Did you pick red for both cars on purpose or was that coincidence?
I think your technical knowledge exceeds mine (:
Makes sense that two same year Japanese economy cars even of different makes might have some overlap in design. They are definitely laid out differently under the hood with one engine front to back and one side to side. But inside those rear drums a lot less specific...

Thank you very much!

I bought my first red Tercel 4wd and first red Kadett purely by coincidence. However I bought my second red and third red Tercel 4wd to match color of my first, already dismantled one. My first one gave its best parts to my second and third Tercel. So I have always owned only red coloured Tercel 4wd's. The reason for that was that I could swap best body parts from three cars into one car and have rest as a spares. But then I managed to find so many missing parts that I could complete two out of three.

The red color was really typical color here in Finland during 1970's and 1980's. People preferred really bright colors during that time. Nowadays new cars are mostly black, white and grey but trends come and go as you may know already.

It is actually hard to say if your knowledge exceeds mine. I am pretty good assembling interiors, body parts etc. But I have actually never opened a complete engine, transmission or a rear axle. So I feel that I still have a lot to learn. But we all have our special skills. You may still have a lot better brake fix, engine repair or suspension adjustment skills than I do for example. And basically you learn best by doing, by listening and of course by reading correct manuals.

Yes, brakes can come from same supplier to both manufacturers. Oh, the Sentra has a typical FWD engine layout? Then a 1984 Corolla would have more common with your Sentra since it was first year with FWD layout on a basic AE82 Corolla. Many car manufacturers had both FWD and RWD layouts during 1980's because it was kind of transition period from RWD layout to FWD layout on smaller vehicles.

That is why there are lot of different 1980's car constructions. Some are compatible with each other, some not. So it will be always a small test with non-Tercel parts. Like the Tercel 4wd brake and suspension upgrades. Our clever forum members have found out that you can build better brakes and lifted suspension from custom parts.

[Mogordo]

So the incidental color of your first Tercel set the intentional color choice for any that came after (:
Yes, I have noticed that many newer cars here are in "earth tones". And while many are quite nice colors I do wonder if such colors aren't ideal as they blend in perhaps too well at times.

You have some very good points about the difficulty of determining if one person's knowledge exceeds that of another. I appreciate that perspective (:
Most of my knowledge is guided by whatever maintenance I did or issues my cars have had. Some of those issues are unresolved though. I too could learn much more and still have much to learn.

I had a '90 Corolla with a 4AFE prior to the Tercel and Sentra but I've spent so much time looking at those two now that I have a hard time recalling what the Corolla's engine compartment set-up was. Other than the engine was facing the same way as the Sentra's.

[Nordical25]

Exactly! I agree that I would prefer a bit more bright old 1970's & 1980's style colors or 1950's and 1960's light color schemes.

Thank you. That is why we are in this forum, to share details we know and to ask for details that we don't know. We all have still a lot to learn because cars evolve all the time and part availibility is different from time to time.

A basic 1990 Corolla set up could already be a bit more evolved one since then cars started to have catalytic converters and fuel injection. So it can be a bit different from a Sentra. But e.g. brake systems could be still similar to a Sentra.

[Mogordo]

Yes, I think my Corolla was pretty different from the Sentra. I don't think I had to do much with the rear brakes to even remember what the set-up looked like. Lucky me:) Nice when components function well and need little attention.