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All the other build threads have clever intros, Im not all that clever.
I’ve had this 1994 Tercel for a few years now, and the most recent in a series of Tercels I've owned. For whatever reason, I just keep buying them. They are nearly indestructible, and easy to repair. What ISNT easy, is putting them on the ground.
When I bought this car it was to be a general purpose "motorsports" car. At the time I was participating in a few navigational rallies, as well as auto X. Not surprisingly, the complete lack of suspension immediately revealed itself, as did the lack of anything resembling "power". I had just got rid of the Accord and decided that rugged and reliable was key .... this didn’t last long.
So on went the rally lights and Celica seats, and a set of TEIN S Techs. Didn’t have any scratch for real rims at the time but the 13" had to go. Got a set of new "winter wheels" for $7 each from liquidation world, and used 195/60R14 Traction T/As (<- traction is a somewhat misleading word to describe them)
The scrapyard Thule was worth far more to someone else then what I paid for it, so it made an exit. You can see at this point that S-Techs clearly exist for no purpose, they aren’t low, and the car still leaned like a sailing ship.
Eventually got a set of Miata Daisies for $50, painted to look pseudo cool, and rocked those ... anything was better than the steelies.
Power issues were addressed by the addition of a SAAB T3 on nog boost. The engine at this point, was a mystery junkyard engine retrieved from a friends barn ... estimated mileage was in the 300's, this didn’t matter. I drove 200km daily for nearly 2 years on this setup.
Finally rims I like ... E30 14" BBS's ... and a set of 195/60R14 Falken 615k's. At this point the S Techs had been changed for sleeves front and rear. 6" 250lb fr(eibach) 7" 300lb rr(hyperco), and again, this seemed to be about as low you could go without riding bumpstops. Since I was still more concerned with performance at the time, the height was of little concern.
Current state of affairs.
I’ve got a company car now, and another 1998 Tercel for a DD, so the 94 is off the hook for that detail.
Engine has been replaced with a 5E from a Paseo, fairly low km, took 0.010 off the head and replaced the valve seals, nothing special. Clutch is an ACT stage 2. Header was acquired for next to nothing, I didn’t have a manifold, and that thing looks OK to me. Engine bay is painted Wurth green (I’d say it’s like a pistachio green), and all the 10mm bolts are now stainless hex screws and purple aluminum washers. When I was painting the block and transmission, I realized I had too much green … natural solution ?? Splatter paint of course.
Suspension for these cars is fairly limited. I picked up a set of used coils from a JDM shop here in town .. for the great sum of $200, they seem to be in fair condition, and the dampening adjusters seem to work. These were the 4 shortest ones I could find (from a about 80-100 pieces). Since the bottoms are steel, making the Tercel clevis won’t be an issue. I’m expecting that I still won’t be low enough so extended strut mounts are on the menu. Steering knuckles are at WEIR’s to flip the tie rod to the other side of the knuckle, with a spacer … this should keep angles in check.
Interior .. Havent decided if Im going to use the Sparco / Recaro setup in this car or the 1998, The Nardi and JDM cluster are happening though. Interior at this point is still a clean 1994 Paseo setup, so I may just leave it that way.
I’ve had this 1994 Tercel for a few years now, and the most recent in a series of Tercels I've owned. For whatever reason, I just keep buying them. They are nearly indestructible, and easy to repair. What ISNT easy, is putting them on the ground.
When I bought this car it was to be a general purpose "motorsports" car. At the time I was participating in a few navigational rallies, as well as auto X. Not surprisingly, the complete lack of suspension immediately revealed itself, as did the lack of anything resembling "power". I had just got rid of the Accord and decided that rugged and reliable was key .... this didn’t last long.
So on went the rally lights and Celica seats, and a set of TEIN S Techs. Didn’t have any scratch for real rims at the time but the 13" had to go. Got a set of new "winter wheels" for $7 each from liquidation world, and used 195/60R14 Traction T/As (<- traction is a somewhat misleading word to describe them)
The scrapyard Thule was worth far more to someone else then what I paid for it, so it made an exit. You can see at this point that S-Techs clearly exist for no purpose, they aren’t low, and the car still leaned like a sailing ship.
Eventually got a set of Miata Daisies for $50, painted to look pseudo cool, and rocked those ... anything was better than the steelies.
Power issues were addressed by the addition of a SAAB T3 on nog boost. The engine at this point, was a mystery junkyard engine retrieved from a friends barn ... estimated mileage was in the 300's, this didn’t matter. I drove 200km daily for nearly 2 years on this setup.
Finally rims I like ... E30 14" BBS's ... and a set of 195/60R14 Falken 615k's. At this point the S Techs had been changed for sleeves front and rear. 6" 250lb fr(eibach) 7" 300lb rr(hyperco), and again, this seemed to be about as low you could go without riding bumpstops. Since I was still more concerned with performance at the time, the height was of little concern.
Current state of affairs.
I’ve got a company car now, and another 1998 Tercel for a DD, so the 94 is off the hook for that detail.
Engine has been replaced with a 5E from a Paseo, fairly low km, took 0.010 off the head and replaced the valve seals, nothing special. Clutch is an ACT stage 2. Header was acquired for next to nothing, I didn’t have a manifold, and that thing looks OK to me. Engine bay is painted Wurth green (I’d say it’s like a pistachio green), and all the 10mm bolts are now stainless hex screws and purple aluminum washers. When I was painting the block and transmission, I realized I had too much green … natural solution ?? Splatter paint of course.
Suspension for these cars is fairly limited. I picked up a set of used coils from a JDM shop here in town .. for the great sum of $200, they seem to be in fair condition, and the dampening adjusters seem to work. These were the 4 shortest ones I could find (from a about 80-100 pieces). Since the bottoms are steel, making the Tercel clevis won’t be an issue. I’m expecting that I still won’t be low enough so extended strut mounts are on the menu. Steering knuckles are at WEIR’s to flip the tie rod to the other side of the knuckle, with a spacer … this should keep angles in check.
Interior .. Havent decided if Im going to use the Sparco / Recaro setup in this car or the 1998, The Nardi and JDM cluster are happening though. Interior at this point is still a clean 1994 Paseo setup, so I may just leave it that way.
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