1986 Tercel 4WD Sweden restoration

[Esaus]

Ive posted some about my restoration project that I started last year and I thought maybe some would like to see pictures from that restoration. I have wanted a tercel for a while but they often are sold in the far north of the country and in well used condition. Last year however a car was for sale that was 45 minutes from my home so I went to check it out. The price was 1000€ or 10000swedish krona which i thought was abit pricey for a restoration project. But considering i wouldnt have to go 10h by car to get it it was ok. I got it towed to my house included in the price so i went and bought it.

It had sat for 10 years in a barn according to the seller. It wasnt in the best of shape. Pretty much everything was shot and broken. It barely ran, brakes were stuck. Everything was bad! Cooling system was rusty, i thought the head gasket was broken but turned out it was just rust and crap. The rust was the thing i dreaded the most. Needed new rocker panels, front panel, wheel arches etc. Alot of surface rust in the paint, mostly stone chips and such that had started to rust. Drive shafts in the front were very bad! All breaks, clutch seemed worn etc etc....

I got a workshop manual for it and read up on common issues on these forums and whereever i could get information.
First thing was to replace the cooling system and flush it. Fix and replace the alternator and different electrical issues, including headlight always on even if the car is of and a bunch of other issues. Replace water pump which i accidentally broke so i had to replace it twice in the end.

[Esaus]

Next step were all the brakes, renovated the break master cylinder, renovated the calipers in the front and did all new discs etc. Painted the calipers after soaking in vinegar for 2 weeks to remove rust.

Started with the rust repair before christmas in 2022. Took a short break and finished in february. had alot at work at the time and no energy to do all the renovations after work.

Parts of the torsion boxes or whatever they are called needed replacing. Underneath the car was in good condition. The rocker panels required all new metal in all the 3 layers so it was alot of work to reshape them. Luckily the skins the previous repairman had used were in good condition so it saved me time. Still alot of work!

[Esaus]

Fixed all the stone chips and rust in the bottom of the doors. Repaired whatever needed fixing, window regulators etc that were somewhat stuck and so on. Had to replace some metal in the inner lower parts in a couple of doors.
Got hold of some in great condition front fenders. One was from a old guy in northern sweden who had them for 20 years in his barn. He also had a front fender and a hood so i got them all for 50 €ish.

Bondod everything up and repainted it before i hung the doors and everything back so i could continue with the repairs.

[Esaus]

I fixed the rear door that had rust and tried using new methods of wet on wet painting to save time. At this point it was already april and i wanted to have the car ready for my summer vacation to finland. Needed to speed things up!

I sanded the car and had to remove the windshield due to rust in the window track because of poor windshield installation which allowed water to leak in and rust it out. Wasnt expecting this but the windshield was broken and i needed a new one anyway.
Luckily i was able to get alot of parts from a nice car wrecker in north of sweden who almost gave parts away instead of allowing a african gentleman tear them down to ship to africa. He was happy to see a car get restored instead. I got a new windshield, gas tank, all new lights, extra seat and a whole bunch of items that arent avaiable to purchase.

I epoxied the car and then applied sanding primer that i sanded smooth. Wasnt that concerned with getting all the dings out. Its a beater car that i wanted to last for another 10 years so small dings i left alone.

[Esaus]

Paint time came and i got it painted in an evening. I was very stressed since time was running out. I went to fast and used too little thinner so I got a heavier orange peel. I havent bothered doing any wet sanding its good as it is. Luckily my new fan i installed in the garage gave me considerably less dust in the paint than in previous paintjobs.

Got the car assembled in 2 weeks time where i repainted and restored each piece before i installed it. Was fun to fix all the wipers and small details. Makes a difference!

Unluckily we managed to crach the windshield when glueing it. I will try to get one on my insurance at a later date when I feel like it.

[Esaus]

Got the car finished a couple of days before my vacation. Had issues with fuel delivery on the day of the mot. Luckily i got it fixed and the car passed! The mot guy was thrilled and said he always wanted one of these. he thought it was gorgeous.

I went on my 3000km trip without issues mostly. It leaked oil and such and i noticed some issues after the trip. Ive since then spent the fall fixing issues and had the engine and transmission out to fix all the leaks and also did a clutch job. Repainted the engine and made it look better overall.

Yesterday i put on the original white wheels with the toyota hubcaps. I repainted a set and got new winter tyres on. Looks better now than with those too mall 14" summer tyres i got for 50€. Ill get a photo of them later.

[dlb]

Wowee, you've put a ton of work into it! Very nice to see.

What are the sizes on tires in the pics?

[Mattel]

Your car is looking great! well done!

I saw the car below about 15 years ago in Stockholm. Did they only come in red in Scandinavia?

You should do what I do with my Corolla 4wd and register it with a car wrangler for films and movies. I made about $3000 over a couple of years renting it out for the day ($1,000 a day!) I know Sweden has a lot of TV series made there as we get a lot of the crime show in Australia and often they want an old car for a flashback scene etc.

[Nordical25]

Very nice restoration and excellent color!

[Paul]

Wow! That's a tremendous amount of work, and it looks great! I have also been working on a T4WD that sat for a long time... seems like everything needed attention and repairs.

[NWMO]

Great work!! Enjoy the fruit of your labors!

[Esaus]

Wowee, you've put a ton of work into it! Very nice to see.

What are the sizes on tires in the pics?

Im not sure. They are in storage at the moment. Have 175/70 R13 on as winter tyres on the stock rims that i repainted. Those summer tyres are 1cm or so smaller in diameter. The car showed the wrong speed on the spedometer with them. They are quite low profile aswell so gave a harder ride. They were 14" tyres.

[Esaus]

Your car is looking great! well done!

I saw the car below about 15 years ago in Stockholm. Did they only come in red in Scandinavia?

You should do what I do with my Corolla 4wd and register it with a car wrangler for films and movies. I made about $3000 over a couple of years renting it out for the day ($1,000 a day!) I know Sweden has a lot of TV series made there as we get a lot of the crime show in Australia and often they want an old car for a flashback scene etc.

Im not sure. Might have been the prefered color. Ive seen 5 Tercels upclose and 4 were the same red. One was white that a kid had converted to a A-traktor, that you can drive if you are younger than 18. The downside is it can only go 35-40km/h topspeed. Legally its a tractor.

[Esaus]

Wow! That's a tremendous amount of work, and it looks great! I have also been working on a T4WD that sat for a long time... seems like everything needed attention and repairs.

Yes. Pretty much everything needs attension. Im looking at adjusting the rear end at the moment. Have noise when i decelerate and when im in 2WD. Im thinking the preload or something is off. Needs adjusting.

[Paul]

Have you seen Xirdneh's post with differential details?
viewtopic.php?p=103387#p103387
The noise could be pointing to the pinion bearings. Checking the preload sounds like the best place to start. Note that the bearing spacer appears to be a "crush sleeve", that requires replacement if the preload is exceeded.