84 SR5 Bellingham 1.6l $1200

[marlinh]

http://bellingham.craigslist.org/cto/4932591406.html

Apparently needs head gasket. Claims to be rust free but can see several rust spots in photos.

[travelbyota]

Original paint with several small surface rust spots on exterior paint. Car is RUST free, as in no rusty rot anywhere, including underneath: all original paint, no surface rust. This is a great little car that needs one fix: head gasket is not apparently blown, it IS. Previous owners mechanic did a botch job on the head, and now it sits. Drove it for a couple weeks after purchasing in Seattle, and it blew w/out warning. I just moved to town and have no shop space to work on it. Soon as I do tho, I'll fix and keep it.
K

[dlb]

hi, travelbyota. are you the seller, and have you decided to keep it, or are you the new owner?

[Petros]

Welcome to the forum travelbyota!

Keep your Tercel, fixing the head gasket properly is not difficult. You do not need a shop, just a hand full of tools and an afternoon of dry weather to fix the head gasket. I have done it many times for myself and others on my driveway, on the side of the road and even in the rain. See my repair guide here:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6059

You can do it yourself with just about $40 worth of parts (head gasket, o-rings and perhaps a head pipe gasket), and some miscellaneous supplies like sand paper, carb cleaner, paper towels, etc. What ever tools you do not have you can borrow from an Autozone or Oreileys. I can do a head gasket in 3 to 4 hours, as long as none of the bolts or parts are not rusted into place (since yours has been apart before that should not be a problem). You might give yourself twice that much time if it is your fist time, but it is straight forward and no special tools required, except perhaps a torque wrench.

BTW, the head gasket is damage when it overheats, if the original reason for the overheating was not fixed than that would explain why the new gasket failed (if not a botched job). So flush the radiator and check it for leaks (replace it if it is shot, not too costly about $100 at Oreileys, even less on-line), replace the thermostat with a good one (not a cheap one, not worth it), and replace any coolant hoses that are old.

good luck.

[marlinh]

No offense, but rust free means just that. Just making an observation. Not meant to upset anyone.

[travelbyota]

So if I lightly sand and touch up the 3 dime to quarter sized surface rust spots on the exterior paint, it will be rust free? Cool 'cause, that's less than a half our and $5 . Rust free is completely different to me. I've done many years of body, weld and paint on cars that are not rust free... and many that were nearly gone. Its a 4wd, which means it could have been exposed to salt. This car hasn't been in salt much, if at all. I hadn't really thought about it that way, but I guess every one looking to buy a used car is searching for anything that appears wrong with it before they actually see it in person. Its a $1200 car... now an $1100 car. I just replaced the struts on my WRX and it cost $1500 in just parts. I have $2k in the tercel, and am nearly willing to give it away to a good home, or worse case part it out. Maybe I'll fix it, but busy with other things.

Appreciate the positive feedback. I have done many head gaskets. Why I say botch job is either a poor job was done when the head was replaced, or the head is warped and needs machined or its junk. Its a 4a, not a 3a too.

K

[Petros]

not likely the head is cracked, warped perhaps, but even that is rare. You have to keep driving it quite a while with no coolant, temp gauge fully in the red, before the head gets warped. Usually an easy fix either by resurfacing it by hand as I show in that thread, or having a machine shop resurface it. If it is really badly warped you will have to have the cam towers bored to realign them as well, though that is pretty rare.

[marlinh]

Sorry if you are offended by an observation that could have been easily been cleared up by saying in your ad that there is a bit of superficial rust.

[travelbyota]

Ad since states the superficial rust, thanks.

Its a head from another engine swapped a few k ago, so no telling. Might need machined or just done right...$1000! Someone take this off my hands.

K

[travelbyota]

$850!
K

[ARCHINSTL]

Back up. but now on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-Tercel-S ... 1836861875
Tom M.