'86 DLX - shawnigan lake, bc - $1800

[dlb]

my latest project car is up for sale in case anyone on the island is interested. here's the craigslist ad.

http://victoria.en.craigslist.ca/cto/4272744856.html

[marlinh]

The car looks good David. Are you sure you want to part with it? Head down to Everett and pick up some mint fenders.

[Petros]

You may have to wait for that now, Marlinh cleaned out the local wrecking yards of all good Tercel parts before she headed back north.

this is the 3rd good Tercel4wd that I know about in the last few years that went from the US to Canada, I am not sure that is a good trend since they start suffering the slow death of body decomposition once they make it to Canada. Eventually every good Tercel4wd left in the US will be rusting away in Canada. should we impose and export moratorium?

[marlinh]

Not true Petros. Now that I have this mint car at home, I am seriously considering not driving it in the winter to try to make it last. My only problem is I don't have a garage to put it in. Any offers?

[dlb]

thanks for the kind words, marlene. definitely want to part with it though, my wife and already have our own cars and then a truck for a spare vehicle. if not for the truck, we'd totally keep this but as it is i just can't justify it. it's too bad because i fell in love with it after finishing the repairs. there's just something so quirky and awesome about these cars. if i were keeping it i would swap in an sr5 cluster and inclinometer and then drive it till the day i (or it) died.

[Petros]

Just kidding about the export ban idea. there are many here in the states that do not appreciate these cars and neglect them, or worse, send them to a wrecking yard for a few hundred dollars because they do not want to fix them. I have seen really decent Tercel4wd at the wrecking yard that just had a bad head gasket (a $20 and 3.4 hour fix), or a bad clutch. It is such a shame that allowed the car to be scraped rather than try and find someone that would fix it and take care of it.

At least most of the people on this forum, such as yourself, will care and maintain these cars.

As for garage you might consider getting one of those tent like "portable" garages. You will either have to reinforce the roof or regularly knock the snow off the roof. Or for only about $400 of lumber and roll roofing you can build a small car port just big enough for the Tercel to keep it out of the weather for the winter.

[marlinh]

I have one of those, but the humidity inside the tent in winter is rather extreme. I would be worried about rust starting on the under body from it sitting there. Heaters run intermittently? I also would have to kick out my project car, or actually finish it.

[Petros]

usually just a light bulb in the tent gives off enough heat to lower the humidity and drive out the moisture. A lot of RV and boat owners put a light inside their costly "toys" to keep the interior from molding. Humidity itself should not cause painted surfaces to rust, it is the presence of corrosive compounds like road salt or ceder trees. Parking under a cedar tree will also corrode away a car, I have seen it. Apparently the natural "toxic" compound that makes cedars very rot resistant is also corrosive to metal.

[marlinh]

Good to know. Thanks for the tip Petros.

[c_j]

it's a good thing it is a labour of love, because you're not paying yourself at that price.

[dlb]

you're right, c_j. but as long as i love doing it, can keep a rad and serviceable car on the road, and it pays for itself, i'm happy to do it.

i actually took the car for a bit of a cruise around the backwoods here and it ran awesome. i'm really pleased with the results of my carb rebuild and vacuum sleuthing.

[dlb]

wow, it only took 4 months and a ton of one-off emails from lots of kids asking if i'd take half the price but the car finally sold...and for full price, to the first person who actually came to see it.

interestingly, i just changed the ad several days ago because i felt i was being too honest about its condition. i think i was making it sound like more of a beater than it is. i was still very clear that it was not mint but made a point to clarify that despite the cosmetic rust, the car was very clean and in excellent working order.

very, very pleased.

[Petros]

when you guys going to learn? there is nothing dishonest about playing up the good parts of a car you are selling. when Tercel4wdrules finally had to sell one of his projects he made it sound really bad, not a single inquiry. I rewrote the ad for him, putting in exactly the same information that he had, both good and bad, yet is sold in one day after that. It is just how you present it, ALWAYS but the good stuff first, and tell how important that those things are new or in good condition, and than list what it needs to be "perfect". sounds a lot more positive, and you get a potential seller to get interested in it before he/she even finishes reading the ad. They will never buy it, for any price, if you can not get them to come look at it.

[dlb]

thanks peter but i know your style of ad and it's not for me. besides, i'm not sure if you saw the original ad but it was very positive, with a long and detailed list of all the various parts i had replaced, the work i did on it, and how well it ran. i certainly don't think it was a depressing ad to start with. i think the fact is, cars with a fair amount of rust and small dents--cosmetic or not--are hard to sell for $1800.