Peculiar engine knock due to lack of proper maintenance

[Aubrey Falconer]

Car is now meticulously waxed, and I am in the process of painting the rims, bumpers, grill, roof rack, etc satin black.

I also have nearly all the components assembled for a fairly decent audio system - including an iSimple iPhone charging / line level audio out interface, Sound Storm preamp / four band equalizer, and Rockford Fosgate Punch 200.4 amp to drive my four RF P 3 way 5X7s (yes, they will fit - wait 'till you see it)... It's pretty fun to watch Craigslist for a couple weeks and get all the great deals.

On the subject of sway bar end bushings, here's what the rubber looks like on my parts car - the running tercel's were even worse:
(Strangely enough, there was no interior sleeve - just a rubber donut on each side of the control arm)


Here's my cart from ToyotaOEMParts.com:
CUSHION, STRUT BAR, 13.21 0.00 2 26.42
CUSHION, STRUT BAR, 10.99 0.00 2 21.98
COLLAR 7.01 0.00 2 14.02
WASHER, WAVE 0.74 0.00 2 1.48
NUT, LOCK 2.00 0.00 2 4.00
Sub Total: $67.90
Shipping: $12.00
Order Total: $79.90

Alternatively, there is this thread offering custom bushings - but it's 5 years old:
https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1965

There is also this site offering custom bushings, but they look nothing like the factory ones and I am not sure how they would fit:
http://toyheadauto.com/PerformancePages ... Tercel_4x4_
http://toyheadauto.com/PerformancePages ... /1064K.jpg (?)

There's also generic parts all over the net, but I am not sure that any of them would work:
http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/searc ... o=0&Npp=10

So - is it worth $80 for OEM parts, or might I better off with custom ones?

[ARCHINSTL]

Go with the OEM. When you talk to Butler, tell Dan Egan I said "Hello from Tom in St. Louis."
The prices look good, esp. after 4 years from my original purchase.
Tom M.

[Aubrey Falconer]

All right! Parts are on their way...


(Project state as of five minutes ago)

[dlb]

not surprised that the metal sleeves/collars were disintegrated. water gets trapped between the collar and the bar and collar ends up rusting away to dust. i just did the equivalent job on my VW westfalia and found the exact same problem but in talking with a 20 yr VW mechanic, he suggested foregoing the metal collar because it not only rusts away but also causes the sway bar links to fuse to the strut bar and make the joint no long a joint at all. i put it back together without the collar and it's been fine so i wonder if this might apply to our cars as well. i'll give it a try on a tercel the next time i do this job and carefully road test it.

[Aubrey Falconer]

Interesting idea - I might try it as well. The parts tercel I disassembled seemed to have someone in it's past with a similar line of thinking, as there was no sign of a collar on either side.

Would it help to coat the collar with grease inside to repel water, or would the grease slowly disappear over time and not serve in this function by the time it was really needed? It would have to be some special kind of non rubber dissolving grease...

Also, what is the best way to restore bumpers? I am afraid that the amount of flex it allows for would crack any kind of paint I might apply.

[ARCHINSTL]

Strut bar bushing sleeve - I used Permatex Anti-Seize (grey goopy stuff), with a light coating i/s and o/s. Also lightly coated the bar itself in that area and of course its threads. If I had to do it over, I'd use plumbers silicone grease (not that I've had a prob with the Anti-Seize, though).
OT, but I saved the OE fixing nuts and double-nutted the bar with the new ones - should also protect another inch or so of bar threads. You're probably gonna do this anyway, but - paint the bar, its clamps, and the four flat washers as well.

Painting trim - I just recoated my bumpers, side trim, roof drip rails, OE black rocker panels, and windshield trim with Rust-Oleum Satin Black. I sprayed the ATM with same stuff after removal. I originally did this back in 2006 and I must say - all still looked great after 5 years. The ATM had faded a bit from the sun - maybe because it was sprayed as opposed to being painted with a roller like the other stuff - or maybe because it is "plastic" instead of a "rubbery" material. Note that no one has ever banged into the bumpers or side trim, so I dunno how the paint holds up to impacts.
I preferred a satin black to a gloss black.
The roller I used was one of those 4" foam jobbies. Worked great, and MUCH easier than spraying.
See https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php? ... mper+paint
Another and differing comment from member dcn in Canada: https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php? ... eum#p17489 But - note the faded condition of his side trim in the photos.
Tom M.

P.S. I like your garage floor - just like mine, but with more trees and a bus instead of a Dodge/Mitsu POS p'up! A tip - get a couple of bike boxes and use them as a floor - much easier on the old back and butt and invaluable for locating dropped parts when under the car. I know...
Whoops! Looks like you already knew about that trick!

[takza]

MAIN THING is that the bar end is still solid and not half rusted away.

I'd almost reuse those bushings. You could take some rubber sheet material...not too thick at all...and put it on the outside ends of those bushings...but make them no wider in diameter than the current bushings...this helps to snug them up some....but not too much. Just make sure the bushings are not so tight that suspension travel is hung up.

Then find some steel tubing to make the collars for over the bar ends. I used a liberal layer of axle grease on the bar ends and inside the tubes. The tubes help keep any noise reduced.

Save your $80 for beer.....

On the subject of sway bar end bushings, here's what the rubber looks like on my parts car - the running tercel's were even worse:
(Strangely enough, there was no interior sleeve - just a rubber donut on each side of the control arm)


Here's my cart from ToyotaOEMParts.com:
CUSHION, STRUT BAR, 13.21 0.00 2 26.42
CUSHION, STRUT BAR, 10.99 0.00 2 21.98
COLLAR 7.01 0.00 2 14.02
WASHER, WAVE 0.74 0.00 2 1.48
NUT, LOCK 2.00 0.00 2 4.00
Sub Total: $67.90
Shipping: $12.00
Order Total: $79.90

Alternatively, there is this thread offering custom bushings - but it's 5 years old:
https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1965

There is also this site offering custom bushings, but they look nothing like the factory ones and I am not sure how they would fit:
http://toyheadauto.com/PerformancePages ... Tercel_4x4_
http://toyheadauto.com/PerformancePages ... /1064K.jpg (?)

There's also generic parts all over the net, but I am not sure that any of them would work:
http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/searc ... o=0&Npp=10

So - is it worth $80 for OEM parts, or might I better off with custom ones?

[Petros]

It think the tube is necessary to get the proper compression on the rubber bushings, the large washer stops against them and allows you to torque the nut down so it is tight. Over compressing them will almost certainly wear them out very fast, and it will put a lot of extra strain on the end of the sway bar too. The only way I would think to do without the sleeve is to double nut the end so the nut and washer are good and tight, presuming you can get the correct amount of compression on the bushings.

[Aubrey Falconer]

...And this car now has a home in the gallery!

Has driven around 1500 miles so far on the swapped engine, and everything is working perfectly.