Where have I been?

[Juando]

Hey hey!! I forgot about these forums. Been a long time. I am sad to say, The woody wagon I bought in high school is no more. about two years ago I got a "grown-up" job and a few months into it, I got a company vehicle (Toyota Matrix) and the terc sat. It needed a lot of work and was pretty much un-driveable. I ended up selling it to a junkyard for a bit of $$ because it still had good/new parts in it. The good news is that I am making decent money now, and the dreams of making a sof top jeep like tercel wagon have been floating through my mind again. It looks like money is not going to be a problem this time like before (how much money could I make selling womens shoes?) So, the plan is that I will try to buy a 4WD sr5 wagon by the end of the year, and start the project. I have no timeline for completion, but if this starts to take shape, I am sure there are some local Oregon tercel goons that would probably enjoy taking a day off to come help me and have a few cold ones on me. I will try to keep you guys updated on it when it starts to happen.

Glad to see that the forums have not died off in my absence!

[Neu]

I'm down to help whenever you want. I live in Monroe. When it's done I could show you one of oregon's top wheeling spots..if you think it could make it. (Toyota's with 42 inch tires have problems there...)

Otherwise, yeh, we could just work on the tercel. lol

[Petros]

welcome back. Intersting project, what about the engine and running gear? Do you have ideas on improveing that underpowered engine?

Please do not cut up a good Tercel 4wd, they are getting rare enough as it is. Find a a rolled or wreck one cheap to cut-up and alter, you will save money and put an otherwise unusable Tercel back on the road, and save the good ones for those that like hard tops.

[Juando]

I have some ideas about the engine and tranny. Still working those out in my head though, suffice it to say, I would like to swap out entirely to a beefier setup. Even if it becomes only rear wheel drive (that would be an interesting setup with one of these) And yes, I do want to start with a somewhat used terc, I agree that it would be a shame to chop up a pristine one...hopefully I can find one that looks good in the body, but has messed up pillars and roof. Here is the dream I have that may, or may not ever come to fruition...

Complete redesign of the engine bay, would like to pop in a 4A-GE or if I really wanted to get crazy and ruin a differential, a 4A-GZE. Completely remove and redesign the front with a challenger style grill, recessed headlights (separate bright and dim lamps and built in fog lamps) Corvette styled marker/turn signals up front, possibly LED. I have a bit of fiberglass experience, and I was wanting to make a mold of the front and rear bumpers so they would fit seamlessly with the rest of the body and can be painted the same color. Again, Fiberglass hood with functional scoop (if turbo'd or supercharged) Some form of updated wheels, but nothing too crazy, and I am not going to lower the car at all.

I want Yellow and black, with matching interior. I have a friend who does auto interior for a living, and he said whenever I actually start this monstrosity, he will do the sewing and such as long as I keep the beers coming and buy the fabric. Soft top with semi functional roll cage, and a lid stretching over luggage compartment (truck style with gas cylinder lifts like any hatchback or truck lid) and I would like to turn what is left of the rear hatch into a truck styled tailgate. Complete redesign of the tail lights...something less 80's, like molded round LED. Some dash re-designing, but pretty much untouched except for color conversion and adjustable dash light colors (already did this for a friend, so I know I can do this)

If this ever happens, I can promise that it will only be a summer car. I don't want to test the soft top too much and get mildew growing. Oh, and I am going to recreate most of the stereo setup I had in my old tercel with a couple additions (Old tercel had upgraded speakers in the stock underside dash spots, plus door speakers, and 4 inch speakers built into the back seats, plus two 8 inch subs with 300 watts going to those, and 150 running the seat speakers and 180 running the 4 up front....before I got a good capacitor in the system my headlights would dim after about 10 minutes of driving with the volume up) The main change I want to do is build the subs into the rear seats as well, recessed back a few inches with ported plexiglass or a grill of some sort so someone can still sit there with relative comfort. Again, something I started with the old tercel but never finished.

There are other small things that i want to do or have to be done to make this stuff work, but that is a general run down. I have done the math over and over over the years, and I am thinking that it is going to cost between $5,000 to $8,000 to do it, but I would have the most unique Tercel Wagon ever ever ever...though admittedly it would not be a wagon any more....and barely a tercel any more as well. Be patient with my insanity.

[Petros]

sounds like a fun project, keep us updated. And do not neglect to solitcit ideas here, there are many than have a ton of them (including me). Will post more later when i have time.