'84 or not?

[dlb]

looks like i'm buying this POS as a parts vehicle and will soldier on with repairing reggie, the blue '86 SR5 i bought for $200 in the spring:

http://www.usedvictoria.com/classified- ... n_16313717

the thing is, the owner of this one says it's an '84 and it is obviously SR5 but it does not have the inclinometer, nor did it every have one apparently. i remember peter mentioning recently that the antenna placement is different for 83/84's but i'm not sure where it's located for those years. my '87 has it in the same place as this car, so between that and the lack of inclinometer i'm guessing it's actually an '85 model. what about the rear window wiper? this one appears to rest horizontally, while the wiper on my '87 rests vertically (more or less). is this an indication of production year as well?

i'm hoping it's an '85 so i can keep the tranny as a spare.

[Highlander]

It looks like its an '85 to me, the antennae on the '83-'84s were on the drivers side, not the passengers. Why's the guy showing the alloy wheel from the other terc in the background? Is he selling both for that price? or just confused as to which one he's really selling?
the rear wiper motor is different in the 86-87 models as you know, they may have replaced it, I've seen a few '83-84s with the vertical wiper. Can you have the owner check the build date on the drivers' door post, that would tell you (maybe not) at least when it was built.

[ARCHINSTL]

The plate on the DS B-pillar will give the month and year of production - ditto the VIN number (for model year only). 1984 is "E" and 1985 is "F."
So - are you the gorgeous young guy in Duncan? WHOOPS - the lime-green car is the gorgeous one.
My bad...
Tom M.

[dlb]

haha tom, with my luck lately you never know! good to know about the VIN #, that sounds like it will be the definitive detail though i would definitely count teeth or whatever before using the trans in another car.

highlander, the guy has the stock alloys on his other T4 but wanted to sell them to me for ron because he said, and i quote, that while my car was gorgeous, my wheels were "ugly!" not sure if he meant the black steelies i had on until a month ago or the new corolla GTS wheels but whatever. the corolla wheels will get cleaned up and painted when i take them off the car at the end of winter so i guess the guy will just have to wait till then!

thanks for the tips, gents.

[Petros]

Everything on this car, except the antenna location, says '84: seat pattern, Grill logo, SR5 emblem, rear wiper, etc. Perhaps a late '84/early 85?

looks like it might be worth saving, I do not see any rust on it. If bad enough it could be made into an fun ice racer. Transmission is worth the price alone.

[dlb]

well, verified through the VIN and production date (feb '84) that it is an SR5 but it never had an inclinometer. weird! here's the thread on the car:

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7147