My 1983 SR5 Project, The Banana Wagon.

Post about yourself, your Tercel, or your Tercel projects in here, share pictures of your Tercel, or post trip threads!
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Cadendoo22
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Posts: 29
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2021 11:57 pm
My tercel:: 1983 Toyota tercel sr5 4wd

My 1983 SR5 Project, The Banana Wagon.

Post by Cadendoo22 »

September 2021 I decided my 1989 Firebird wasnt going to cut it in the snowy Utah winter, so I hopped onto the local classified to search for a winter car. I saw this bright yellow station wagon with 4wd and fell in love with it. After some negotiating and a much too high price of 3000 dollars it was mine. When I bought the car I saw Andy's build and knew I wanted something similar so I looked through these forums and got the parts for an abra lift. I bought some wheels and tires and a roof rack and then after about a month of searching finally found front strut housings needed for the lift. I love this little car and after going offroading with some buddies in 2nd gen tacomas realized that my little Banana wagon can be pretty capable off road. I love this community and wanted to finally make a post about my Banana wagon. As for the future of the car I currently need to do a head gasket job (I think) and replace the brake master cylinder. After that im going to put some lights on and custom fender flares. In the far future Im hoping to supercharge this little 3AC. Looking forward to being a part of this community. Oh and here are some pictures, follow me on instagram @sgtpepper_and_the_bananawagon

https://imgur.com/a/P8Lo1M0
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NWMO
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Joined: Wed May 20, 2015 1:08 pm

Re: My 1983 SR5 Project, The Banana Wagon.

Post by NWMO »

Welcome to the group, they are fun little cars.

Chris
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"

In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:

T4WD augury?
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Petros
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Posts: 11930
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:31 pm
My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: My 1983 SR5 Project, The Banana Wagon.

Post by Petros »

welcome to the forum.

Nice rig, if you are replacing the master cyclinder you should hunt down the MR2 (first gen) master and booster to up grade your brakes. go see my thread on the Tercel4wd brake up grade, looks like you can use better brakes.

make sure to review my thread on this forum for doing the head gasket replacement, with some mods and tweaks that will make the head gasket more durable.

A few people have added turbos on their 3ac, but it seems to me up grading to lightly modded 4ac engine would give you more power, without any additional weight, and it would be more reliable and likely less troublesome since it is a direct bolt in swap. I have been running a 4ac in my Tercel for many years and it is the most reliable engine I have had in my Tercel4wd, and most others that I have owned and worked on

good luck.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
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Cadendoo22
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Posts: 29
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2021 11:57 pm
My tercel:: 1983 Toyota tercel sr5 4wd

Re: My 1983 SR5 Project, The Banana Wagon.

Post by Cadendoo22 »

Petros wrote: Sun Dec 05, 2021 6:56 pm welcome to the forum.

Nice rig, if you are replacing the master cyclinder you should hunt down the MR2 (first gen) master and booster to up grade your brakes. go see my thread on the Tercel4wd brake up grade, looks like you can use better brakes.

make sure to review my thread on this forum for doing the head gasket replacement, with some mods and tweaks that will make the head gasket more durable.

A few people have added turbos on their 3ac, but it seems to me up grading to lightly modded 4ac engine would give you more power, without any additional weight, and it would be more reliable and likely less troublesome since it is a direct bolt in swap. I have been running a 4ac in my Tercel for many years and it is the most reliable engine I have had in my Tercel4wd, and most others that I have owned and worked on

good luck.

I agree that the 4ac would be the logistically better choice, but I've never been one to make the "good choice"
Tercelcruiser
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Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2021 5:46 pm
My tercel:: 1985 tercel, 4wd, 6spd, 4ac, 3.5"lift, 2"drivetrain drop

Re: My 1983 SR5 Project, The Banana Wagon.

Post by Tercelcruiser »

Nice rig!.... I'm also for the 4a swap, mine went smooth and I found a great engine for only 300 bucks, I also needed a head gasket but wanted a better motor anyway.
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