4AC acquisition!

[fancypantsmcgee]

Hey guys, it took almost a year; but I finally pulled a good running 4AC from a 1984 AE86. $100!
So I've got all the mounts/pan swapped over and now i'm looking at the water pump and the intake/exhaust manifold.
The water pump looks like it will run on the same belt in the same position, do I have to replace with 3A?
Same question for the manifold; do I have to use the 3A?
can anyone verify if a 3a head would create a real compression increase on the 4a block? (just wondering)
thanks a bunch..

[dlb]

$100 is a great price. did you do a compression test on it? it won't tell you everything but some info is better than none, and better to know if it needs a rebuild before it goes in the new car.

i'm afraid i can't remember positively about the water pump but i believe it needed to be swapped. the general rule was everything that hangs off the 3a needed to be put on the 4a: manifolds (the 4a's sit higher and won't clear a tercel hood), starter, alternator, oil pan, etc. hopefully someone else can give you a definitive answer on the water pump though. do a search on the forum and you should be able to find it.

the 3a head will not give any higher compression than the 4a. they are the same except for the head/valve cover mounting surface so if you use the 4a head, you need a 4a valve cover. same for the 3a. a guy from 4ac-powered.com mentioned this a while back. here is his post.

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php? ... 225#p53914

oh, just found a good thread for you. check it out. looks like you do have to swap water pumps.

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=487

[fancypantsmcgee]

thank-you dlb,
I notice he mentions he swapped in a 4ALC, which is transverse mounted right?
I have a 3a head ready to go and was debating swapping entire heads or just the manifolds.. or just leaving it.
It makes sense if the intake/exhaust manifold has to be swapped, that the water pump swap as well.

[Petros]

keep the head for the 4ac. The 4ac head has larger exhaust valves I think, and that means larger ports too. You will have to swap over the manifold and carb I believe, they look similar but there are a few changes that might give you trouble to sort it out.

[dlb]

i believe the L in 4A-LC only indicated the emission package, not the engine position. it was a 4A-LC i put in my terc several years ago.

[tercel4wdrules]

'L' denotes transverse setup.

[dlb]

eep! embarrassed.

[fancypantsmcgee]

I thought I'd update this thread. I have the engine installed and driving around town! I had been tracking a vacuum leak for a few days from a surging idle, until I de-smogged it.
also some cats had made a home in the back of the wagon at some point and I couldn't take the smell anymore so I pulled everything, hand scrubbed it, used some odor-sealing primer paint, then used dyna-mat to really seal the deal as well as reduce some road noise.


i'm going to redo the foam, and clean the seats.
I'll have to do some custom cutting for the carpet as I threw it in the trash where it belonged.. blechh. I'm tempted to just chuck the seats altogether and get something from a pick-n-pull.

[dlb]

fancypants, is your terc and SR5? if it is and the seats are not torn up, you can remove the covers and wash them in a regular clothes washing machine. i've done it a few times with incredible results. here is my guide on how to

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6526

and here are some pics of the last uglies that came out looking great

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7776&p=57807

i've never heard of dyna mat but it looks slick. actually, your whole terc looks incredibly clean. even the dash and doors look mint in that pic.

[Petros]

before you just rip out all of the vac systems on your car to "desmog" it, you should go through each system in the FSM. Many of the systems improve economy and drivability. Just ripping it out may make it run like crap.

The high altitude compensator for example improves drivablity and economy bove 3900 ft. if you rarely get above that elevation, than it is of little consequences. the fuel cut-off solenoids improve fuel eoncomy as well as reduces emissions. I would leave most the systems in place, only remove and cap off the EGR.

[dlb]

ditto on petros' comments about the vacuum systems. i would even leave the EGR connected if it worked properly. all the systems are easy to test, and they are all in place for their own reasons. check the FSM for the tests for each system.

[tercel4wdrules]

Looks like the 4A-C you put in has the "wavy" valve cover...

[fancypantsmcgee]

Looks like the 4A-C you put in has the "wavy" valve cover...

I'm not familiar with the story behind wavy vs straight valve covers. enlighten me?
I'm also not concerned at all with the emissions stuff, no offense. I agree it would probably run a titch better with properly functioning diaphragms and such but I really just don't care. It definitely seems to run better at full throttle than anywhere below. kind of annoying.
I've also got all the seat cushions drying currently, and the covers look and smell nice now that I've washed them a few times. I also pulled the headliner and used some upholstery cleaner on it. huge difference, the batting above the headliner wreaked of cigarette smoke so I'm glad I pulled it out.

I also thought you'd get a kick out of seeing outside the garage where I work when i'm not at work:

[fancypantsmcgee]

I made an egr block off plate today:

I'm going to weld the exhaust manifold since I can't find an m20-thread anything.

[dlb]

I'm going to weld the exhaust manifold since I can't find an m20-thread anything.

it's a standard transmission fill plug, part #704-1046 for 20x1.50.

*edit* holy crap, i just realized that pic of your headliner shows it half cleaned. that's incredible! i can't believe 1) it was that dirty and 2) that you got it that clean.