What to do ?

[lance]

What would you do if a good friend gave you a car for a price off a tow bar for his new ute , then the deel on the ute falls through ? I payed him for the remaining 6mths reg then set about and spent alot of time and a little money cleaning and repairing his old car.Then I find hes without a car. I have offered the car back to him but he says its my car now and refused to take it back . He has a lend car at the moment and l have been realy trying to help him find another car. Its been hard trying to find something because he doent wont to spend the money .Ive offered his car back att least 3 times but he feels that the clutch is slipping and he carnt tow a trailer. Ive even offered to help change the clutch for him but you can see he dosnt want to spend the money and time. He said if he realy needs the car he will come and get it. If he does pick it up he will just drive it into the ground . then all my good work gone.
So my project is up in the air.

[gatemaster]

If he was going to buy a new ute then he can buy another vehicle. If he doesn't want to spend any money then how was he going to buy a ute? I would stop offering the car back.

[Petros]

sounds like you have an honorable friend. You can not force him to take your car back, but you might do what you can to find another car for him, even if it is a temp.

[lance]

Well good news for me my mate hase found a ute . Yes he is a good friend and is good to see him move on into a car that he really wants.
So l now declair the Tercel is now mine.
Took it to get a machanic to get a roadworthy so it could be put into my name. The car has got high Ks and the list
of item that had to be done l was exspecting . The only thing l disagree with is - He feels that an engine mount is brocken
and that the engine is jumping around
I feel that its not an engine mount . The gear stick hardly moves while driving . With the bonnet up and hand break on doing starts in forward and reverse the engine dosnt move an inch. When driving there is lots of backlash. I think its gearbox - diff or maybe cushion springs in the clutch plate.The gearbox - Diff was rebuilt 180000 ks ago all gears change fine , a little slow on the sinkrow and the clutch sometimes sudders on take off. To me the clutch does not slip.
Any ideas ?
Mark

[Petros]

That is called clutch chatter, mine has done that for over 100,000 kms. Many others I have driven have the clutch chatter, it seems common and not affect clutch life much. Soft engine mounts make the ride more quiet, Toyota always has soft mounts compared to other cars. A new mount would be more soft. IF you can not see a broken mount, they do not need replacing. You might see if you can replace the little shock absorber looking damper next to the right front engine mount. there is a thread about making a replacement.

[dlb]

i have the same backlash problem. i have replaced the clutch and engine mounts, still the same. the backlash is nowhere near as bad in 4WD which leads me to believe the problem lies in the front axle and i replaced the only questionable CV with zero effect. so i think the problem is in my diff. would love to swap it out but i don't have a spare diff and is a bigger job than i am willing to tackle in my modest garage--aka, the freezing cold mudpit. besides, i can just drive carefully and avoid most of the backlash. it's not a big deal...yet.

[ARCHINSTL]

When you write "backlash," do you mean some jerking or stumbling when backing off the gas suddenly and then touching it again? Note that I don't mean jerking or stumbling from the engine, but from the drivetrain.
I had renewed the engine and trans mounts, all new front end bits and both axles and still got some of this. As Petros mentions, check my thread in Repair Guides for information on replacing the little engine shock damper.
Honestly, it has made all the difference in the world on clutch performance, even with 191K miles on the original clutch; I continue to be surprised by the difference. It was not an expensive mod.

Incidentally, lance, in my quest to find a genuine, original, OE shock damper - I had gone to your corner of the world and received "No Longer Available" from both Toy AU and Toy NZ (and Toy USA and Toy CA as well). I suppose a dealer in the Antipodes might still have one on a dusty back shelf, but that would be quite a search. Note that all Gen I and II Tercels used this damper - not just the Wagons.
Tom M.

[itsthewater]

Here's a link to that damper replacement guide: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=5953

[lance]

Thanks for the replies. From all your replies l feel my little car is not a lost cause . For a car that really very sick it dosnt show it so it will be interesting to see what he drives like after the work is done. It will take time and money but we can put Gizmo back together again . Its all part of the fun .
I did take the car for a second opinon to Pedders suspension . Thay were more or less on the same lines as the road worthy guy . Most of the work is front end with most parts easy to obtain . The only problem could be the steering rack . Can be rebuilt if the rack is not too worn. The other is engine mounts may have to get them made up or import from the states , still looking .
Went down to the local salf serve wrecking yard and found mysalf what l think is a not too bad 4a 3a/t . I hope it goes as well as it did when it went through the back window of my Commodore wagon . Thats what you get for taking off too quick att the lights. Was going to try and keep the 3a going a little longer but the roadworthy guy has forced my hand . He hasnt said anything about oil leaks but l know he will, so out it comes
Thanks all your help will try to get pics up , not as easy as Ebay
Mark

[Mattel]

not sure if you get down to Geelong much. 3 Tercels in a wreckers there. good cheap parts. forgot the name but PM me if you want and I could send you a Google maps reference or something. They will send to you if you can't travel down there.