Diamond in the Rough - my 1985 Toyota Tercel build

Thanks! As far as I know yes, this is the original paint. It's not perfect, the body and paint definitely have plenty of blemishes but for now, I'm just driving and enjoying the car as it is. Perhaps down the road I would consider some masterful care from a good body & paint shop, but I'm just gonna keep on driving it as is for a while.

Unfortunately I think I'm too young for the Stomper toys. I was born in '94.

 

OP, what's new with the Tercel? Track down a vinyl sticker kit?

 

No vinyl stickers just yet, I'd like to get to that soon but I've just had too much else to tend to! I'll get a post on here soon with some details, but I've been up to a fair bit. New gauge cluster (with tachometer), fixed my radio so I can jam out to my cassettes now, and spend all of yesterday chasing a fuel delivery issue - which is now solved.

 

Here is my sweeeeet new dash cluster out of an SR5. It's got a tachometer which is nice. The digital clock does function, but it is a bit finnicky and I'm having some trouble adjusting the hour on it. Either way, super happy with this dash cluster improvement. I replaced all of the lightbulbs while I had everything apart. This was admittedly a big pain for me to install. Took me about an hour to finally wrestle the speedo cable back in place on the back of my new cluster and connect all the electrical connectors back there.


Check out my new "slow" decal. Super fitting for this old car I was tired of all the tail-gating and honking when I'm cruising 60-65 on the highway, and I can say that after adding this sticker it's cut down on the road rage I receive.


My radio & cassette deck work now, too! I love being able to listen to my old cassettes when I'm driving.


Brand new kicker speakers in the front & rear now as well!


Had fuel delivery problems, I was getting real lean at cruising speeds, it was bad enough that I had to get towed home earlier this past week.
I started my diagnosis by tearing into the Weber 32/36 carb, expecting to find some debris in the jets. Nope, clean as a whistle in there.


I thought maybe I just had a non-vented gas cap, so I checked in case this was a problem. Nope, proper gas cap installed.


Then, I thought perhaps the fuel filter was clogged, but it was clear as can be also. Hmmm... the head scratching really started here.


On an unrelated note to this maintenance, my fuel sending unit hasn't read properly for a while. Still not sure why. It looks brand spanking new. Will have to take a closer look at the electronics in the top of that sending unit box at a later date.
Another guess of mine was that the fuel tank was super crusty, so much so that my fuel screen sock in the tank was plugged. Nope, another hunch defeated - that sock is CLEAN. The whole tank looks super clean in there.


And there the problem was, staring in my face after hours of troubleshooting. My cheap Amazon fuel pressure regulator had managed to walk itself down to 1.5 PSI from where I set it at 3 PSI. This explains the lean condition at higher acceleration, and the bouncing throttle feeling. I set it back to 3 PSI, and I will continue to monitor this until I get a quality FPR installed.


To aid in future troubleshooting, I got myself a good 0-15 PSI fuel pressure gauge, which I will install onto the Holley fuel pressure regulator I ordered as soon as that arrives.

 

Hah! Lovin' the new cluster and how clean it looks in that old tank!

Of course it's the new cheap modern Amazon parts that throw the stick in the spokes.

Nice work!

 

Oh man, talk about flashbacks! I had a few of those bad boys as a child!

 

That's cool that you're born in 94 and still using cassettes. Two of my cars have cassette player/MP3 CD double DINs. I still make tape recordings too. I should make you one, complete with j-card cover and case.

Rough Riders was the competing toy line, you probably had those too.

 

I've been really enjoying the cassettes! I'm newer to cassettes but I love all forms of music, most importantly the "outdated ones". I've got quite the vinyl collection as well. There's just something about the warmth of analog recording that can't be replicated in newer forms. That's awesome that you still make tape recordings! I've (briefly) looked into this as well but I don't have the equipment. Seems really fun. I would not be opposed to receiving one of yours! Are you referring to mixtapes with already-recorded music, or do you make your own music too?

It's funny, I've gotten that a lot - this car doesn't get a ton of attention, but when someone approaches me about it they are always so surprised that someone so young is driving and taking care of it. It's hard to describe but there is just something about these simple yet over-engineered vehicles of older times that I love. It's been a steep learning curve teaching myself about all of the systems of this vehicle (I have already rebuilt the entire brake system, replaced the carburetor, rebuilt the A/C system & filled with R12, etc.) but as I continue to get up to speed I am ecstatic to continue to drive and maintain this Tercel for years to come.

 

I realized that I've been doing a lot of work in the engine bay, but I really haven't been keeping track of my maintenance and modifications under the hood on this thread for a while. Perhaps I should document a bit more of that at a later date, but for now I thought it would be good to post an updated shot of my engine bay!
Still working on deep cleaning in here, but as I'm sure you've noticed from the first engine bay picture it is quite a bit cleaner in here (even though this picture is not up-to-date, I've detailed a lot since this, and replaced some parts not shown here).

There's fresh oil & an OEM oil filter, fresh ATF & a cleaned OEM filter, a new battery, new terminal lugs, new fusible link for the primary power circuit, new heavy-duty primary wire to the starter, new starter, new ground wire from battery to frame, new starter, new fuel filter, new mastery cylinder, new brake booster, fuel pressure regulator (soon to be replaced with a Holley FPR, this one is junk), new AC receiver/drier, new AC compressor, and my favorite, the Weber 32/36 carburetor.

The Weber 32/36 is a progressive carb with an electric choke. Took a bit of fiddling but I've mostly got the jets set where I like them. Averaging 26 MPG but it is climbing as I adjust my driving habits, and AC use. I have a lot of 30+ MPG fill-ups, and so far my record is 45 MPG.

 

I just make mixtapes. What kind of music do you like?

 

I listen to a bit of most everything - rock, jazz, blues, (real) country, but my go-to is classic rock. Zeppelin, Sabbath, The Doors, Pink Floyd, etc.

 

I'll see what I can conjure up.

 

Right on! That would be most excellent.

 

Sweet build, I love these things.

 

Very cool!! Nice work on it

 

Found this at a retro videogame store yesterday. Picked it up for your ride.

https://www.discogs.com/release/3807187-Various-Cruisin-Classics-Vol-III-50s-60s

 

Oh wow, that was awesome of you - you didn't have to do that!

 

No biggie. And I amassed enough rock songs to put on 5 90 minute tapes. It'll be fun to design covers and print them out.

 

Subbing

 

I've been very busy with school so I haven't managed to do a terrible amount of work on the Tercel lately, as it's my daily driver. But, here is a bit of an update nonetheless:


I used this Liqui Moly ATF additive in my automatic transmission, which occasionally has a bit of jerkiness to it, and this additive has definitely helped to ease that behavior. There is still a bit of a stutter or jerk every now and then, but I believe this may be due to worn mounts & bushings. I will have to investigate that theory further.
I have recently performed a drain & fill of the ATF, and doing this also helped a great deal with transmission performance.


I picked up a set of these 14" NA Miata 7 spoke alloy wheels for $80. I am not in a terrible rush, but would like to get the old tires off these wheels, and do a bit of curb rash repair and a repaint of these wheels, before adding new rubber.


These wheels are light, around 13 lbs. each. I expect to feel a night and day difference in handling and even acceleration, once I replace the 13" factory steel wheels with these Miata wheels and some nice street tires.


I finally cleaned some of the grime off of my Tercel this last week, and decided to take a couple close-ups. This car is not exactly in showroom condition, but it is definitely a survivor. It has little bits of dings, dents and scratches all over it, but just enough to give it some character.