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.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
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?
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
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.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Thank you! I will continue this project also this year. I have fixed worn out seat fabrics during winter with my intact ones and I will continue fixing this car with a new rear exhaust and with new rear brake lines. I did find a couple of spots that need welding but nothing major. This car could be roadworthy 2025 or 2026, let's see. I am also planning to repaint this car but first the rest of car has to work well.
Look nice! Nice to see a different color combo for the interior. Where in finland do you live? I make trips to the salla area sometimes. =) I have a 86 tercel that i restored.
1986 Tercel 4WD, Red, 170000km, restored.
1987 Toyota Corolla Dlx hatchback, 250000km Sold =(
1988 Toyota Corolla touring 4wd, estate restored!
1973 VW T2 Partybus!
1964 Heinkel Trojan, planned restoration
1963 Triumph Herald, currently under restoration.
Esaus wrote: Sun Mar 09, 2025 1:30 pm
Look nice! Nice to see a different color combo for the interior. Where in finland do you live? I make trips to the salla area sometimes. =) I have a 86 tercel that i restored.
Thanks! Brown T4wd interior is not that common anymore in Finland. That was part of my interest to get this car going. Nice! I live in Vaasa area, which is halfway between Turku and Oulu. So you could pass Vaasa on your way to Salla depending to your route. Haparanda is quite far away but we have ferry connections from Stockholm to Turku and from Umeå to Vaasa.
Great, then we should have quite similar cars if both ones are 1986. But I own also two 1987 ones, which have small differences compared to my 1986 one. And this one is still not roadworthy and I will build it elsewhere in a garage occasionally after hunting missing parts.
I got this project a bit onwards during last week. I did improve exhaust mounts and I did remake rear brake lines. They were completely rusted out but I remade them with some copper brake pipe. In the end my brake lines, pads and front rotors had still enough material. I still need to buy rear stabilizer links, fix front signal wiring and install new tires and install a new interior during summer. But I might actually get this car roadworthy during this year. Getting parts like rear stabilizer links takes always some extra time.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
