saving 2 tercels

[firealj]

my family has owned a 1986 tecel 2wd since the begining. over 380k on it the tranny has died. my father wants to finely put her down but i want to restore her. Second my best friends father has a 4wd version has good trans and motor and parts the only thing is that it has Alot of back fees on it. so i want to know if i can part out the 4wd version and restore my familys tercel from a 2wd to a 4wd?

will parts fit? do years matter? i think there 2 yrs apart. thanks

[TURTCEL]

Yo, welcome to the club.

Unfortunately the bodies are different and the amount of work to make it happen would be undoable. I would consider getting the 4wd and getting what it needs to fix it. Worth way more than a 2wd as far as usability goes.

2wd versions are great for fuel efficient commuters but so can that 4wd. I get 28mpg in town with my 4wd.

Peace

[Petros]

Welcome to the list!

It is potentially possible, but I am not sure it is worth the effort. Everything from the firewall forward will fit, the 4wd struts are longer but will bolt up okay. From the firewall back the floor pan is completely different, you would have to strip both, cut out the floor on both, and than weld the 4wd floor pan into the 2wd wagon. than install the trans, shift linage, drive shaft, rear axle, springs, shocks, fuel tank, brakes, exhaust system, etc.

It would be easier to just pay the back fees and restore the 4wd Tercel, using the 2wd one for parts. In theory, you can cut out the serial number part of the body, and weld it into the 4wd one, it must be done nice and neat, grind the welds smooth and paint it to match. You also swap over all of the data plates. What you have done is "restored" all of the parts of the car around the serial number on the car body, replacing all of the parts.

This might sound questionable, but I know this is what some hot rod guys have done, using completely new "kits" of classic cars, and they would buy the title for an original car off of ebay, for one that was crushed. This allows them to register the car as that classic one that was crushed, they had restored/replaced every part of the car. Thus, "restoring" everything around the title. I do not know if any laws were broken but apparently this is pretty common.

[TURTCEL]

I have heard of buying titles off of Ebay for this...it happens...but sounds sketchy to me.

Peace

[TURTCEL]

When I said undoable, I guess I really meant...not worth the amount of work to make the project happen. Anything is pretty much doable, it just comes down to time, money, and abilities.

Peace

[Petros]

Save the 4wd one, pay the back fees and restore it, these are highly valued and good examples are going up in value. the 2wd version of this car has no particular value becaue it was Toyota's entry level car and was stark with few exceptional features. It is a mistake to grow emotional attachement to such an unremarkable old car, you will spend way too much on it, more than you will ever get out of it. body and trim parts are getting hard to find, and getting more expensive. If you spend that effort on the 4wd version it will pay off in the long run since it will hold its value much better.

You might restore the 4wd version and paint it to match the color and appearance of your family Tercel. You also might be able to dig up a 2wd trans for your family car and install it just to keep it running. But I would not spend any more effort on it than that.

There is an old saying that is for people that grow emotional attachment to machines that wear out: Never fall in love with something that can not love you back.

[firealj]

going to part out the 2wd and save parts for the 4WD. trying to see how to get out of the back fees its been a while perhaps 8yrs on the 4wd. Has anyone hear how to do this in California?

[Petros]

good for you! go look up the requirement to pay the back fees in your state regulations, there is likely several exemptions, see if you can make one apply to you. You also might see about getting it registered in another state with a relative or trusted friend.

[marlinh]

What exactly are back fees? We don't have that terminology up here. Do you have to keep paying for a title every year? Just curious.

[Petros]

That is california, they had too many people driving around without registrations, so they made you put a car into "suspended status" if you were not going to drive it. If you just let it expire and not renew it, the next person that gets it registered has to pay all of the back fees.

It is really stupid, as if that prevents someone from driving it, it is just another way to get money out of the pockets of people with a lot of cars sitting around on their property that were not being driven. You either have to junk the car or sell it out of state, it does not go you any good to just sell the car if you forgot to put it on suspended status, the new owner might have to pay back fees more than the car is worth.

Another benefit to living is glorious California. One of many reasons never to live there. Another great one is you have to pay California income taxes long after you have lived in another state after you retire. They will chase you into your grave for it, they rationalize that you earned your retirement while working in Calif, so you should pay state income tax when you draw on it no matter where you live when you retire.

[keith]

According to the California Tax code, if you visit California while on vacation, and are drawing vacation pay from your employer, you owe income tax on that income while visiting. I wonder what that would do to their tourism industry if everyone knew this.

I found this out when a bank that I had a CD in was bought out by a bank that is headquartered in California (Wells Fargo) and I got a notice from the state that I owed them income tax because I live in a state without an income tax. They sent me all the books and forms. I plead the fifth on what I did next.