87 4wd for sale

WeirdAl · Post by **WeirdAl** » Thu Aug 25, 2005 10:50 am

Low mileage 87 4wd tercel sr5 6-speed for sale, some assembly required! Currently in Cary (Raleigh area), NC.

Ok, my house is closing on tuesday, so I have no where to work on this car (and I haven't worked on it in a year when I did have a place).

I don't have all the info in front of me right now, but I believe it has an indicated 54k miles on the car. When I got the car (sold for parts), the front differential had lost some teeth, and the speedo cable was broken.

I've done some research (carfax, came up clean), and the car was last registered (as goes with the story of the person I bought it from) in 1997, and it had the same miles as was indicated when I bought it. Most recent inspection sticker on it expired same year, and I was told car sat basically undriven (except for a few short trips on their property) since basially that point. I'm estimating car has about 8k more miles on it than indicated (based on previous mileage per year), but would believe it if it had 20k more (up to about 75k miles). Regardless, it's low mileage...

I pulled the transmission, and reinstalled it twice before getting a new front differential from a junkyard (was considering making it RWD only, as I posted about on here quite awhile back, but realized after putting some effort in that it would not be good for the front wheel bearings the way I had it planned). After I got the new front differential and installed it on the transmission, I was unable to manipulate the thing back in by myself, just couldn't do it. Spent many frustrating hours with the (very heavy) transmission 1/2 inch from going in, lol. That's why I haven't worked on it in a year.

Known issues:

Mileage is not as indicated, but is (I'm guessing) up to 20k miles higher.

I have the title, signed, but not notarized. My thoughts were either to go and try and get the previous owner (not the person I bought from, who bought it for parts and sold it to me for parts) to get it notarized, OR NC has a provision that I could register it if I secure a bond equal to the car's value. I didn't pursue this any further than to look up that person's contact info as of about a year ago, as I never got the car back ready for the road, and I had 5 vehicles (3 running) at the time.

Transmission is removed and is in the trunk. Exhaust is off the car in the trunk, as are everything I took off to get the transmission off. Wheels are put back together, and car is on all 4 tires, but one is flat. It should be towed to wherever, as you wouldn't want it running on the front wheel bearings without the front axles installed, I don't think, it'd be hell on the bearings).

AC didn't work (I'm guessing it just needed a charge) when I got it.

I don't have a battery in it right now, but I may (I believe I do) have it's battery.

One of the front (passenger) lug nut stubs broke off.

Radio is not installed, nor are the rear speakers. All the wiring and harnesses are still in place of course. I have the original radio still if you want it, rear speakers were blown.

I think that's all of the issues. Interior and exterior are in great shape, as is the engine. It hasn't been started in at least a year, but last time it ran great. I changed the oil (mobil 1), brakes, spark plugs, air cleaner, etc when I got the car... it ran awesome other than the transmission, and the suspension felt a little soft (heavy dive under breaking, not sure if that's normal or not). Car does truly seem like a 55k mile car. We even got the interior all clean and nice, and it was basically in perfect shape, not bad considering the guy's trips on his property were moving logs and stuff in the back. It's not perfectly clean now, as it has all the parts inside, and has been closed up for 2 years or so.

Car has been an NC car it's entire life, I believe.

Make me an offer. I may post on ebay, but I'd like to get rid of it quickly. I put this off way too long.

I'm not willing to part it out, as I don't have any place to keep it anymore, and it really is a great, complete car that IMO should be back on the road.

Email me for details: jamie@jamiedennis.com

I'll try and get a page up with pics.

WeirdAl · Post by **WeirdAl** » Thu Aug 25, 2005 11:01 am

<a href='http://www.jamiedennis.com/Tercel/' target='_blank'>http://www.jamiedennis.com/Tercel/</a>

Btw, just realized the indicated mileage is ~52k, not 55k. Sorry, was going from memory. I can post the VIN, etc if anyone is interested.

WeirdAl · Post by **WeirdAl** » Thu Aug 25, 2005 11:04 am

Also, I did replace the speedo cable as soon as I got the car, so speedo and odometer are now working.

GTSSportCoupe · Post by **GTSSportCoupe** » Thu Aug 25, 2005 2:28 pm

Wow! The body on that thing is awesome!! Interior looks great too. I'd buy it in a second if I wasn't in the West.

3ACPower - this one's for you! A few hours of work and you'd have a mint 87.

WeirdAl · Post by **WeirdAl** » Thu Aug 25, 2005 2:49 pm

I was amazed when I saw it, lol. It was advertised as an '87 corolla for parts. The guy was out in the country, had 2 old corollas and bought this for spares. The corollas were all beat up, this looked awesome, lol. The guy had no clue what he had or what was involved in fixing it. I bought it as my project. Was even more amazed when I got it home and cleaned up... finding the new (iunkyard) front differential was fun, fwiw.

3A-C Power · Post by **3A-C Power** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 7:23 am

Rust?

WeirdAl · Post by **WeirdAl** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 7:51 am

absolutely none on the body... There are only even a few chips on the hood front from rocks, and a few minor dents/dings. I don't think there is any rust anywhere. I took some pics of the underside of the car, but I'm not seeing them on my hard drive. I'll try and get them uploaded to that page as well if I can find them (wife already moved with the digital camera).

WeirdAl · Post by **WeirdAl** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 8:08 am

Ok, uploaded some pics of the underside (to the same website) as it currently is, without the transmission in place, so you can see the pressure plate, etc.

Some slight surface oxidation on those. Obviously some things like exhaust bolts were oxidized...

From what I can tell, this car has been a north carolina car it's entire life, starting out in asheville where they do have snow, but then moving to greensboro I believe and then raleigh/clayton. You can see that it has what I'm guessing is the toyoguard underbody coating (although that may be stock, I'm not certain).

WeirdAl · Post by **WeirdAl** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 8:16 am

btw, car comes with a full size spare, but tire is gone. The one flat tire has a decent leak, fix-a-flat may allow it to drive or be towed, fwiw.

3A-C Power · Post by **3A-C Power** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 11:11 am

Damn it I just spent $3250 on a Corolla and I still have 2 dead Tercels to figure out what to do with. Otherwise I'd be all over this.

There's an easier way to put the tranny on. I did it by myself and I'm a 110 pound stick figure. It's written up on this board. You might want to try it at least to get a couple thousand more for that car.

jetswim · Post by **jetswim** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 6:56 pm

Too bad I'm in Canada as I'd also pick this up from you but as a parts car just because it's the same colour dammit!

WeirdAl · Post by **WeirdAl** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 1:53 am

Thanks, vehicle is still for sale with a couple interested parties... I wish I'd seen the easy tranny install instructions before, lol, I'd have been driving the car for the last year. My time is really short right now, but I may install the transmission this coming weekend, and pull the car off the market!

3A-C Power · Post by **3A-C Power** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 11:11 am

Do it!

gus · Post by **gus** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 3:33 am

Hello,

Have you sold it yet?

Thanks -- Gus