1988 Toyota Tercel (Not a rice rocket project)

[bjohn]

So, i not have this vehicle i got in trade for my old truck (transmission went BOOM!!) just diving it. I dont know what i want to do to it. I will be driving it everyday. I want to paint it (rattle can). And add small details. Ideas?.... I am thinking Toyota 442. 4 cylinders, 4 speed, 2 door. Flat black paint with gold stripes on the sides. black rims. Anyways, the previous owners are lazy as hell:
- Beer/Seafoam cans making up much of the exhaust
- Expanding foam in the hatch to fill holes
- Weird cotton like substance around the heater core area of the firewall (Said he didn't know why the air wouldn't get hot) :
- Missing motor mount bolts in the front mount
- I believe the rear brake lines pinched off on drivers side
- Didnt hide most of the speaker wire
- Overall needs a lot of TLC

[Shawn Anderson]

Re: 1988 Toyota Tercel.

Like the Caddy hood ornament.

[bjohn]

Re: 1988 Toyota Tercel.

This is exactly how i got the car. For the record lol.

[NAS Backyard]

Re: 1988 Toyota Tercel.

I like your NO JUNK personalized licence plate. Bet it's easy on gas. You could go in any direction with that car. Rattle cans sound good.

[jerrys96lt4]

Re: 1988 Toyota Tercel.

Flat black red steelies ya know ole sckool

[Scott Liggett]

Re: 1988 Toyota Tercel.

recover the seats, or buy some seat covers at the parts store and some new carpet will do wonders for the interior. The dash and door panels look really good for a car that age. Here in SoCal, that dash would be cooked and cracked by now.

If you do a rattle can paint job. Have fun with it. Maybe put some old school scallops on it. If you don't like them after you are done. You can always paint over them. Painting the stock wheels and maybe some wider tires would do wonders for it's looks.

[bjohn]

Re: 1988 Toyota Tercel.

I like this...



I would also really like to make it a rally car... haha. huge mudflaps, subaru blue, round side mirrors, bigger steelies/tires.

[yogreasygramma]

Re: 1988 Toyota Tercel.

My parents bought one exactly like this new in 1987. It would go to 115 mph top speed, and when I wasn't driving it, it got over 40 mpg.

[antmnte]

Re: 1988 Toyota Tercel.

Just step up and buy a Caddy to match the ornament,might I suggest a 77-79 Coupe De Ville.

[bjohn]

Re: 1988 Toyota Tercel.

So, had tons of time to work yesterday. Cadillac emblem GONE. Along with the two dents by it. It also has a new thermostat, valve cover gasket, and fuel filter. Repainted the wiper arms. First time using bondo. Without guidance. Filled the Hole where the emblem was with a washer. I also painted the valve cover after much sanding and the air filter housing. [img][/img]

[DanStokes]

Re: 1988 Toyota Tercel.

Good Job! None of us were born knowing this stuff and this is exactly how we learned. It's WAY cool that you young guys coming up have the Internet now so us old farts can tell you what cliffs we fell off as we were learning. I'll miss the classy hood ornament, though.

Dan

[bjohn]

Re: 1988 Toyota Tercel.

Today's project was the rear hatch. There is mud on it now, no picture of it. drying as you read this! Also, expanding foam really expands into everything in case you were wondering that. I hate it.... After removing a lot of it on this side of the hatch i painted the inside just because i can, and welded it up with metal from a fender from a Honda something or other. I painted the air cleaner too. Did a terrible job prepping it. still a lot of grease on it, but i was impatient.
[

[bjohn]

Re: 1988 Toyota Tercel.

Progress as of a couple hours ago... Also, sorry about the poor picture quality. I just have a phone to use. I just painted where i had bare metal or had mud. there is still more surface rust on the hatch, and a nice patch of rot on the left bottom area of the glass. Many angles there though... it will be a challenge for me ha. Tomorrow i guess i am doing rear quarter panel rust repair. Could use an exhaust manifold gasket too. I keep telling myself why do this much work to a boring car in a 33 degree garage? (No Chevy v8 = Boring!) What better way to learn how to do body work though?

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: 1988 Toyota Tercel (Not a rice rocket project)

Not a fan of the car, but damn that is some good work. The valve cover cleaned up real nice too.

[DanStokes]

Re: 1988 Toyota Tercel (Not a rice rocket project)

This is EXACTLY how I learned. An old POS that you don't love makes it possible to just wade in. If it's your "dream car" you'll be too afraid to have at it and so you'll never learn.

Looks good, BTW. I suggest you do an overall paint in enamel with a two tone or stripe or some such. Enamel is the toughest to paint, is fairly cheap, and can finish up really nicely - just be sure to use hardener. If you can shoot a decent enamel job you can shoot anything. I'd look at Nason (DuPont's cheap brand) or similar. You can rent a compressor and gun if you don't have them. The reason I recommend that you do an overall - you'll know how to do it then. The reason I said to add a stripe or two-tone - you'll know how to do it then. If you decide to do this I can provide more explicit details.

Keep up the good work
Dan