My not so new 87 Terc (pics inside)

[Acuna989]

I have been looking for a good snow car for a while now. About six months ago I spotted a tercel 4x4 about two blocks away from my house. ( This is super rare where I live) Stopped at the guy's house and asked if he wanted to sell, three months later he was finally in a position to let it go. The guy I bought it from basically was planning to beat it to the ground. The owner before him had kept up on the maintenance and even dropped in a new engine, changed out the shocks and replaced all the hoses in the engine bay. It's not in the best shape, but hey I got it for 500 bucks and it runs. Here's some pics of the day I brought her home. I'm panting it, changing all the fluids and getting some new wheels and tires this week, so more pics to come in a couple days.

[dlb]

it actually doesn't look that bad. it just needs a thorough cleaning. i love the stock roof racks and electric sunroof. get some protective headlight film, it will be the cheapest insurance you can get for those things. they're getting hard to find at wreckers and are usually $75, whereas the film stuff is $20 for enough to do several cars headlights and only takes a few minutes to put on.

can't remember if i mentioned but check the faq in the general section. it mentions crucial stuff to hit on new-to-you tercs, like replacing the trans and diff fluids, getting carb issues sorted out, and checking the front sway bar bushings. the last one is probably the most important. they tend to trap moisture and rust out/wear down the end of the anti-sway bar. one member had his snap while driving—real bad. don't let it happen to you.

enough harping. it really does look pretty good! say, what's the wire running from the stereo area to the back for?

[Acuna989]

Thanks I was as planning on using that thread when I make my to do check list. The wires coming out the back of the stereo is for a aftermarket outlet plug unit. It's kinda funky but might be useful.

What's going on with the pics? anyway to get them full-size ?

[TURTCEL]

$500...Score!

Peace

[4doorVIP]

imo you scored big time for $500, its in great shape with zero rust from what I can tell

what is the deal with the glove box in these cars, my handle is sagging to one side just like yours

[ARCHINSTL]

what is the deal with the glove box in these cars, my handle is sagging to one side just like yours

They all do that; I tried straightening mine (pot metal) and that lasted for several openings - afraid of breaking it, I just live with it.

Acuna989 - you did well! I'll have to send you a pix of how I "fixed" my broken and worn seatbelt holder.
Tom M.

[Acuna989]

what is the deal with the glove box in these cars, my handle is sagging to one side just like yours

They all do that; I tried straightening mine (pot metal) and that lasted for several openings - afraid of breaking it, I just live with it.

Acuna989 - you did well! I'll have to send you a pix of how I "fixed" my broken and worn seatbelt holder.
Tom M.

In almost every interior I have seen, the glovebox handle has been slanted.

[Petros]

great buy! good save. protect those headlights, they get damaged from rocks thrown up by cars on the road and they are not easy to find since that was the only year they came on this car (and nothing else fits).

Get 14" alloy wheels with 195/60 tires, rolling dia is the same and it will greatly improve handling. BTW, those are factory alloys wheels on it already, and that is the only year and model that style came on these cars, so they are rather rare. Even at 13" the alloy wheel is much stiffer than the narrow steel wheels, very noticeable difference in steering response, but the 14" wheel would be even better. You can also go 15" but that means a much lower profile tire and if you drive on gravel or rough roads, you have a much higher risk of damaging the side walls.

Good luck.

[Acuna989]

Was working on her all day today. It's paint time tomorrow hopefully ill have enough time to get some maintenance done on her too. Thanks for the heads up with the headlight, didn't know they were specifically for that year.

Been going back and forth with the wheel setup. I want to go with a bigger tire to raise the car up but am afraid it might not handle very well. I think I'm going to make the stocks my winter wheels and get some decent snow tires on them. I would love to get some of these for my 14"s. maybe this summer I can buy the knock offs. Saw somebody in a cabriolet the other day, I was temped to chase them down and ask if they wanted to sell there wheels lol

[dlb]

acuna, the biggest i went with were 185/80r13 and the handling was mushy with them. i like the stock 175/70r13s and also 185/70r14s because both feel firm and are accurate with the speedo. i would actually like to try 155/80r13s because even though they would look lame and skinny, they would have less rolling resistance and might yield a slight improvement in fuel economy.

i was at the wrecker yesterday and saw that the nissan axxess (or however it's spelled) has 15" 4-bolt alloys. not sure if the hub is the same size but might be worth checking out.

[Acuna989]

I think 14's with a bigger all terrain tire would look better but this car is going be my daily/ski car so I think I'm better off with the 13's. The terc got smogged and registered today, didn't spend as much time painting cause I was at the DMV most of the day . Made some progress though.

[dlb]

nice paint job! that looks really sharp. did you spray bomb it?

[Acuna989]

Thanks, I was running out of daylight so I'm going finish next week. All done with spay-cans. The bottom and window trim is dupli truck bed liner and the top is plastidip gunmetal grey. The dupli truck liner is awesome, the only liner that comes out even, is washable, and doesn't feel like sandpaper. I wish they had different colors, I would have done the whole car with it.

[dlb]

gun metal grey! that's funny, another member did his in gun metal grey way back when, and it looked amazing. check it out.

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8& ... 874#p33874

god, what a coat of paint can do. i just painted the wheels on the project car i'm finishing up and i'm always impressed at how far a clean or painted set of wheels goes in making a car look nicer. i'll have pics of it up soon.

[Acuna989]

That's funny seeing that cause my buddy has a grenade stenciled that I was going borrow and spray on the side of the car. That car came out pretty good!

For my tercel it was a toss up between grey or camo green for the body but thought it would look funny with the interior. Drop me a link when you paint those wheel up DLB! Thinking about doing mine cream or white. Give a little throw back to the old 13" steelies.