Well, I have previously thought not to buy more 4wd Tercels, because I am happy with two of them. However, I have been shopping lately. The result of shopping is a new Tercel 4wd 1986 for me.
One reason for that is that both of my 1987 ones have now a really nice paint job and they are not best candidates for offroading, which 4wd is kind of made for. Another reason was that lately I was offered a Tercel 4wd that I have known over 10 years. The price was reasonable to its condition. It needs a bit of attention. Suspension clunks when I drive it on gravel roads and there are some signs of rust present. I haven't inspected it further but I will put some attention to this during incoming seasons since both of my 1987 ones are quite completed now. I still need to verify also that it is worth of repairing by inspecting amount of structural rust.
This is also a nice addition to my Tercel collection since it has a nice Topaz brown color and a brown interior. Therefore it was something new compared to my red ones. So I hope that it will clean up and fix well during coming years.
With this purchase I can also prove that all Finnish Tercels are not red with grey or black interior.
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I did spend lately some days inspecting this Tercel further. This car turned out to be positive surprise considering the fact that it has been outdoors since 2007 at least. The body is pretty much rust free and very well rust protected excluding wheel arches. Therefore, I declare that this car is definitely worth of preserving.
It received new engine oil, transmission oil and differential oil. All fluids were really old and really worth of replacing. Many of the forum members remind new Tercel buyers to swap all the oils to fresh ones. That is a very good advice also to this very car.
It did get also new sway bar bushings and lower front end ball joints. Now the clunking happens only when steering wheel wiggles.
I did notice also not working lights, broken rubber CV axle boots and broken exhaust at least. It means that it will need further work for sure. But nothing impossible. I need to replace also timing belt if I will start to use it more regularly. But I am really happy to have this car.
I am also starting to plan the looks of this car. I won some 1985 Sprinter Carib items from an auction lately. I will use them for sure for this vehicle if Finnish officials will issue me smaller license plates. I will go for 1982-1984 Euro/Australian Tercel look if I can't have the smaller plates. The basic idea is that all of my Tercels will have a different look. Now this Tercel is carrying my US spare grill temporarily at least.
That grill has now a "Toyota 4wd" emblem. Can you guess origin of that emblem?
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I did swap sway bar bushings and now front suspension is much better. I did also swap broken CV shaft rubber boot so now the car is a bit readier for inspection.
Unfortunately I did find a leaky rear brake lines so now I have to fix those before inspection including front rotors and brake pads. This car needs also minor welding before inspection but it is still in a very good condition.
But I feel that I could make this car roadworthy in 2025. We will see that quite soon.
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