New T4WD Owner in The Southern Californian Desert

[DesertDweller]

Hello All,

I have succeeded in finding what I have come to realize is my ultimate low compromise car, the 1985 Toyota Tercel Wagon 4WD SR5. I call it a low compromise car because it takes some of the fun, adventure enabling abilities of my previous off road capable vehicles like the 1995 Ford F-150 4X4 and the 1986 Isuzu Trooper 4x4 albeit with less off road capability and combines that with the efficiency and practicality comparable to that of my 1993 Honda Civic Sedan EX albeit with a slight loss in comfort and power. So after being dis pleased with 10- 18mpg from my previous off road vehicles and unhappy with the limited-to-hard-pack-dirt-roads with my Civic I decided that if I ever had the opportunity to find a well preserved and maintained T4WD for sale I would get it and consolidate my two vehicles into the awkwardly ugly and awesome vehicle that is the T4WD. Well, after many years of perusing Craigslist I finally came across my definition of a "hybrid," a 104k mi all original, 1985 manual transmission Toyota Tercel Wagon 4WD SR5 worthy of taking the spot as my one and only do-it-all car. So without further boring you all to sleep I give you "Tyrone" the T4WD from Compton, CA taking a nice stroll through some trails in my backyard... Enjoy

Go Pro On-board Video; http://vimeo.com/71621728

[TominMO]

Nice! And welcome.

[dlb]

wow, another one with the graphics on the side. there is another one with similar graphics for sale in OR right now. they're actually really rare. looks like you got a good score.

[Petros]

welcome to the forum!

Nice Tercel4wd. when the time comes to replace parts, you can even make it less of a compromise by doing an engine swap, brake up grade and some suspention mods as out lined in the various threads on this forum.

[c_j]

Sweet ride, and sweet video man. We must pick our line well in the Terc with her low ground clearance. It's pretty cool to have a nice view as you are wheeling like you did with that low scrub brush rather then being embedded in trees the whole way and missing all the views.

[Petros]

where was the video clip filmed at? I used to live in the los Angels area and spent a lot of time in the various desert areas in so. cal. some of that terrain looks familar, wonder where it was taken.

[DesertDweller]

Thank you for the compliments. its a nice ride and a great starting point for what I want to be the most reliable and original appearing Tercel around. I would greatly appreciate if anyone knowing of the items and brands found in my parts list and can offer some advice or experiences they've had
My mod/restore plans include:
- rebuilding the engine with this kit as well as cylinder honing as needed http://www.ebay.com/itm/150986006503?ss ... 1438.l2649 (for preventative purposes but also due to a harsh vibration from 3k rpm onwards that I believe to be from bottom end bearing wear)

- A carb rebuild as well. I believe the kit here should work http://www.ebay.com/itm/330921518780?ss ... 1438.l2649

- I have researched/ diagnosed the car to be in need of cv axels so I am planning on replacing both sides. http://www.ebay.com/itm/270698467383?ss ... 1438.l2649

- Install as low profile of a roof rack as possible. Fuel efficiency is a big concern of mine.

- Build custom steel skid-plates to start directly below the front bumper and extend to the beginning of the rear drive shaft.

- Install ignition killswitch

- Tint windows

- Restore paint, remove the few dents present and restore the plastics I am undecided on what to do with the stock graphics however?

That's about it. Only plans after that are to take it up and down the west coast and venture a little farther off the dirt roads than I would in a normal car!

Petros- The video is shot around whats most known as Joshua Tree, California, the national park is a popular LA somewhat nearby attraction.

[dlb]

desertdweller, it obviously depends on what you want to be able to carry but for low profile, versatile roof racks i like the shorter racks that came either factory- or dealer-installed (not sure which it is). we talked about them in some detail in this thread.

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7697&p=56359

they are pretty lightweight but that's fine for me as i don't carry hide-a-beds on my car or anything like that. plus they are adjustable and can be positioned in various ways, and for optimum aerodynamics, all but the two bases can be removed by simply unscrewing the knobs when the rack is not in use.

[Petros]

That engine rebuild kit looks like a good buy for what you get, but it does not list a brand, many aftermarket head gaskets are junk, only the factory one is best. I would plan on going oversized piston and rings because the bores get worn and you have piston slap at certain rpms (shows up as a rattle in the engine when at the correct harmonic of the rpm).

I have not bought a kit in many decades, I would rather take the engine apart and just replace what it needs, typically only the head gasket, seals, and rings and bearings. if the bearings are within specs, they can be reused (though they do not cost much, and I have never found it necessary to regrind the crankshaft). Also if you can get the metal intake/exhaust gasket off without damage, it can be reused as well. The used factory parts are often better than the made in China parts that often comes in the kits. If you need all that stuff, than that is a good buy if it uses quality parts from a japanese supplier, but I rarely have found the oil pumps bad, and many of the parts you actually need will not be in the kit, and you get a lot more parts than necssary. Also check prices at Rockauto.com, sometimes it could be less than ebay. do not expect a lot of more power after a rebuild, these engines only have 62 hp to start.

NEVER buy remanufactured or rebuilt parts, they are all junk, some right out of the box, no savings is worth the hassel. I have found that most of the aftermarket parts that are either made in the USA or made in Japan of good quality. If you can find the same brand that Toyota uses, there is no reason to buy it from Toyota. Rockauto often has carb rebuild kits for much less than that one on ebay, I have not found a difference in quality on the carb kits, I just get the cheapest ones I can find. If the carb works well I would not bother with a complete rebuild, they are very reliable. I have pulled the top off and cleaned them out, replaced just the float needle valve and the accelerator pumps, and drove them another 100k miles, you may also have to replace the diaphragms on them, so make sure the kits come with new diaphragms (not all of them do). The carb is easy to remove and rebuild any time, not need to do with the engine overhaul unless it needs it. Most of the time drivablity issues are not caused by the carb but from vac leaks in that mass of vacuum lines, so rebuilding it will not solve that issue. Make sure you sort out your vac lines, and all the vac operated components first, work your way though the FSM procedures for checking all of the emissions controls and fuel system and sub systems before you pull the engine to verify what it will need. It is not so bad, just take it one system at a time and you will likely find the carb is fine.

This is what I would do in your place: find a 4ac engine core (they came in the same year corollas as your tercel) and rebuild that and swap it into your car, it looks the same on the outside so it should pass the inspection and emissions test. and you can keep driving the car while you do the rebuild . Go .040 over piston and ring set, replace all of the exhaust valves with new ones, and only replace the valve guides if necessary, regrind the intake valves (a machine shop will have to do this for you). put in new bearings and seals, new water pump and oil pump only if needed (check wear tolerance per FSM). Install a Delta Cams performance regrind, have all the pistons and rods balanced. Lighten the flywheel (requires a machine shop to do this) and have it balanced. Put in a new clutch, pilot and T/o bearing. This should give you about 25+ more hp, and still look like a stock engine and should pass CA emissions no problem. If you are so equipped when the head is apart I would also clean up the intake and exhaust ports, might give you a little more hp and improve economy.

when you install the head use the procedure and do the mods I outline over in the repair guilds section here: https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6059

I have used Fel pro head gaskets, but they need to be altered per my repair guilds sections. I have also found putting even more and larger coolant holes in the head gasket than I show in the my head installation instructions is beneficial to keep the head temps down.

All of these alternations btw will not harm fuel economy, and many will improve it. And it will still pass the inspection and emissions testing required even on older cars in California.

Good luck.