the beginning of the end

[dlb]

well, i bought another corolla all-trac. i bought one a year ago because it was a great deal and i wanted to try one out but it didn't last long with me. it was an automatic and felt boring and sterile to drive so i sold it. i've still been interested in them though and have been casually looking for a manual one, and last week i found one. it was much cheaper than they tend to go for around here and in good shape so i jumped on it. i picked it up a few days ago and i'm really enjoying it. nothing exciting to look at but here are some pics.





very clean interior!



it has rust on the wheel wells but i'm happy about that because of my experience with ron and caring too much about aesthetics. this time around, i wanted something a little rougher so i wouldn't care when the rust proceeded or if someone dings it with their door--not a beater, but something obviously not mint. i want to care less about trivial, inevitable things.

so i'm giving the all-trac a few weeks to see how i like it. if i prefer it, i will be selling ron. i am already leaning hard towards keeping the all-trac. i love 4wd tercels to death but i've been frustrated recently with my weber--brand new two years ago--and the several problems it has had in that time. no serious big deal probs but enough goofy PITA probs that i question the reliability and consistency of them. i guess i've found that as fascinating as carbs are, i'm not really satisfied with their temperamental "i act up when it's hot" and "i act up when it's cold" BS or their need for regular repair/maintenance. my wife's '91 toyota pickup has been virtually maintenance free for her, vs. a ton of carb work and replacement that has occurred in ron's life (as chronicled in his PO's receipts). so, while i still dislike computer cars, i am ready to give the relatively simple EFI system a shot with the all-trac. i also like the power of the 4AFE. it's nothing to get excited about but it is decent and gets very good mileage, and those things are important to me. i find the visibility in the all-trac better, mainly due to the C pillar being much narrower than on the tercel. the seats are also more comfortable. the edges i give to the tercel are more ground clearance, which isn't very important to me since i never off-road, the ugly yet endearing interior, and the inclinometer. those things are sweet, of course, but they are ultimately secondary to driveability.

when i make my decision in a week or two, if i decide to sell ron i will offer him at a reduced price to the the members of this community first.

[Mattel]

New beginnings my friend!.

Sounds like the car is working well on your return trip. I'd still do the old transmission oil replacement sometime just to be safe. Drive it carefully and you will get great economy.

We should definatly think about starting a Corolla 4wd/Corolla All-trac/Carib Sprinter/AE-95/Corolla Escape and Corolla Kombi.. as it was called in other countries section on Tercel 4wd.. but will this dilute the forum a little?

Did it come with the rear glovebox as well? You should be able to pick one up sometime if you are lucky at a wreckers.

Cheers

[ARCHINSTL]

David -
Ever heard of Shoeless Joe Jackson of the infamous 1919 Chicago Black Sox scandal?
I would echo what the little kid said to him as he was leaving the trial: "Say it ain't so, Joe (David), say it ain't so!)"
Tom M.

[dlb]

tom, i've heard of that quote but didn't know the back story until i just looked it up. what a story!

mattel, i'm torn on the forum thing. i feel like alltracwagon.net has both potential and is already established but i think the forum is poorly laid out. i think the best options are to either talk to the moderators there about considering a different structure for the forum, or else you and i and/or whoever else could start alltrac4wd.com--a sister forum to this one. it seems redundant for the internet to have two dedicated corolla all-trac wagon forums but whatever.

no, mine does not have the rear glovebox. i actually prefer this because it gives more headroom for cargo in the back. it does have the speakers mounted on the ceiling the same way though, which i love: the sound travels much better than in the upward-facing tercel rear speakers.

the car does need some fun work (repair driver door handle, paint the hood flat black, gear oil, check all brakes, new stereo w/ 1/8" and USB inputs, install a sub, replace rear wiper motor, swap to 14" alloys, replace burnt out dash lights, do the same bedliner treatment on the lower portion like i did on ron) that i will get to shortly. speaking of which, i've replaced the stereo in these cars before but not pulled the gauge cluster. have you? anything i should know about doing so?

[danzo]

"the beginning of the end" .... isn't that an old Zeppelin tune?

Maybe I should take a nap now.

[ARCHINSTL]

"the beginning of the end" .... isn't that an old Zeppelin tune?
Maybe I should take a nap now.

Middle part of Winston Churchill's famous 1942 quote after El Alamein in North Africa - see http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/24921.html
Tom M.

[dlb]

you're full of them, tom!

almost finished this tank of gas. looking good so far. just did a compression test: 190, 190, 190, 200. i'm guessing the overly high compression is due to carbon buildup as i don't think either of the PO's ever shaved the head or anything else to increase compression. it doesn't ping at all though, and pulls really strong. i've been very light-footed with it so far but it's much more responsive than the tercel, even with the 4AC and weber--no surprise there though, obv. anyway, i'll probably do a seafoam treatment and see if that helps. i know a forum member recently had excessively high compression on his stock 3A and removed the head to manually clean everything but i'm too lazy to do that since it appears to have no negative affect on performance.

[Mattel]

Wouldn't be suprised if the rear wiper motor was the same as standard corolla wagons and perhaps even geo prizims which are the same car underneath.

[Petros]

If there is no ill effects of the high compression, I would leave it. The Seafoam treatment is an okay alternative if you are worried. I would not remove the head unless there is no way to avoid it. I can tell you from personal experience that removing the head on the All-trac is a lot more work than on the Tercel. Mostly because of the transverse engine installation. Everything is harder to reach, many more injured finders and elbows, and a sore back. It seems all of the components are placed in very difficult places to get sockets on them with out u-joints and may extensions, or doing them "blind" by feel. You have to remove both cam shafts to get to the head bolts.

Fortunately, the head and head gasket is a lot more durable on this head because of the far superior design. Eventually the exhaust valves will need to be serviced, but on one I owned, that was not until it reached 375k miles.