My tercel needs some work... Is it worth it?
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fadeone
- Newbie
- Posts: 20
- Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2012 10:24 am
- My tercel:: 83 toyota tercel 4wd wagon
- Location: Menifee, Ca
My tercel needs some work... Is it worth it?
So I'm pretty sure the tercel needs a new motor and I don't have the time or money to do it myself. What do you guys think I should do?; Is it even worth it to put the money into it?
1983 brown tercel 4wd wagon daily "Turk" in the process of lifting
1983 white tercel 4wd wagon "J.D." trying to get it running
1983 white tercel 4wd wagon "J.D." trying to get it running
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Petros
- Highest Ranking Member
- Posts: 11941
- Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:31 pm
- My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
- Location: Arlington WA USA
Re: My tercel needs some work... Is it worth it?
I always think they are worth fixing, they are great little 4x4 wagons that will never be made again. Each year as the number of them dwindle the remaining few become more valuable, they have already gone up in value since their low point about 10 years ago. If the body is straight and not a rust bucket, than it is worth fixing.
options are to pay a shop you trust (if you can find one) to replace the engine with a used good one, or pay the big bucks have it rebuilt. Or to sell it to another forum member that is willing to rebuild or restore it.
But before you do either of those, what makes you think it needs a new motor? Have you checked the oil pressure with a gauge? Have you done a compression check? If it is just running poorly it might just need the carb rebuilt, new spark plug wires, etc. easy external stuff.
Please describe why you think the engine needs to be replaced.
options are to pay a shop you trust (if you can find one) to replace the engine with a used good one, or pay the big bucks have it rebuilt. Or to sell it to another forum member that is willing to rebuild or restore it.
But before you do either of those, what makes you think it needs a new motor? Have you checked the oil pressure with a gauge? Have you done a compression check? If it is just running poorly it might just need the carb rebuilt, new spark plug wires, etc. easy external stuff.
Please describe why you think the engine needs to be replaced.
'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)
'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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dlb
- Highest Ranking Member
- Posts: 7443
- Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 9:03 pm
- My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
- Location: bc, canada
Re: My tercel needs some work... Is it worth it?
agreed with petros on all points. first, what is wrong? second, even if the car is just cosmetically ugly, i think it's worth fixing. such economical, reliable, cheap, easy to work on cars may not be worth a lot on the market but the amount saved by owning something so cheap to buy, run, and maintain makes owning one a wise financial choice IMO. buying a newer car and making car payments is a huge waste of money, and buying another used car that you don't know the history on is likely to be just as big a headache or bigger than simply dealing with the known problems of a car you're already familiar with.
the only time i would say 'scrap it' is if it has serious frame rot or damage, or multipe serious issues, like blown engine+needs new clutch+destroyed trans+has been beat to hell inside and out+etc. in that case, i think it's best to use it as a parts car and fix up other tercels with it. in all other cases, stick with the t4.
the only time i would say 'scrap it' is if it has serious frame rot or damage, or multipe serious issues, like blown engine+needs new clutch+destroyed trans+has been beat to hell inside and out+etc. in that case, i think it's best to use it as a parts car and fix up other tercels with it. in all other cases, stick with the t4.