Proud Owner Of a 1981 Toyota Tercel., Hello To All Options

[Tertcel 1st gen]

Hello to all. I am the proud owner of a 1981 Toyota Tercel. The car has been in the family since it was purchased new in 81 by my father. He drove the car for about 2 years and then sold it to me. I drove it until 88 when I sold it back to him after accepting a sales job and moving out of state, and he kept the car in the barn and only drove it for 2 months every summer. He passed away 4 years ago, and my Mother wanted to me to have it. I had it transported to ILL from NY and now I am in the process of restoring it to show condition. If anyone else owns or is familiar with this model, I would welcome a discussion with you.

[admin]

Welcome aboard:)

[steveptracker]

I just bought one to these first gen 1981 tercels. I'm told it needs a water pump. Do you know if you have to work with the timeing blet to cange the water pump? I here on some models you do???

[Tertcel 1st gen]

You should not have work on the belt itself, just the cover comes off.
Per the Robert Bentley manual:
To Remove:
1. Drain the coolant from the radiator and the engine block.
2. Loosen the belts for the alternator adjusting bracket. Loosen the alternator mounting bolts. Then push the alternator toward the engine and slip the Vbelt off the water pump pulley.
3. By taking out the bolts, remove the camshaft drive belt's upper cover.
4. Remove the 7 bolts that hold the water pump front part to the engine and to the water pump housing. Then remove the water pump front part.

Installation is the reverse of the removal. Use new gaskets during installtion and insert one mounting bolt through the pump front part and the gasket to keep the gasket aligned with the pump. Working diagonally. tourque the bolts to 9 to 10 Nm (7 to 7.5 ft Lb). Refill the cooling system and adjust the V belt.

Hope this helps and good luck.

[antone phillips]

Hey, I am glad to see there is somebody else beside me with an 81 tercel.The car has been in and out of my family since i was 4 years old.We sold it to our neighbor 6 years ago and now i just got it back a month ago.I was driving thirty miles a day in a 1967 chrysler newport custom, which didnt get the best gas mileage. That is why i am happy that i got this car back on the road. Whenmy family got the car in 1993 it had around 200,000 miles on it, and when we sold it six years ago it had around 750,000 miles on it. Our neighbor had the head rebuilt soon after. Whlie they were driving it 2 years ago the odometer rolled over, and is now back on 148,572 miles, which means that my little tercel has over 1 million miles on it and is still going strong. That is my toyota story an i hope that somebody writes back. Antone phillips.

[haltoy]

I have been the proud owner of a Toyota Tercel 1981 for 27 years. It had almost 300,000 miles and it run perfectly, it did not burn an oz of oil. Last week a careless driver that run a red light (an almost killed me) caused so much damage to my old faithful friend that, with sadness, I decided to put it to rest. The car was priceless to me but the reality is that I have to settle with the insurance for an amount of money. I would appreciate if somebody has an idea of values for such a vehicle? Thanks, HAL

[SANKTSPIRIT]

Hi I just joined. If anyone out there has a 1981 Tercel 4 spd for sale please contact me. I owned one from 1981 to 1994 and wish I had it back! Thanks.

[Dorkus]

Does anyone know anything about getting the front brake rotor off one of these cars? I have having some difficulty trying to get an old Tercel roadworthy, and can't get the hub off to replace the rotor.

Thanks.

[Tertcel 1st gen]

Hi Dorkus.
The brake disk and hub are all one assembly and the front brake disc cannot be removed without first removing and dissasembling the wheel housing/axle hub assembly. The Bentley manual refers to the removal in 2 sections and involves the use of Toyota service tools . Per my PM, let me know your address and I will make a PDF file for you.

[Dorkus]

OK, just in case I thought I'd go to my library to see what they had for manuals, and they had a genuine Haynes manual for 1980 - 1982 Toyota Corolla Tercels, which I find astounding. Basically, the design is such that you have to remove the hub, and have the wheel flange (?) pressed off to get the rotor off. I would not consider this one of the most enlightened designs for a regular maintenance part.

In case you're interested, my reviving of this car (which I drove in high school, and my brother and sister did as well after me, late 80s to early 90s) is to participate in the BABE rally next year (http://www.baberally.com/index.esp). It has been sitting for about 14 years and it will start if you can get fuel to it, which is amazing. The not so amazing part is the heinous rust, especially in the rear of the car. The brakes are rusted, the exhaust is gone, the fuel lines are rusted, etc. So far I have redone the fuel tank, am about 1/3 way through cobbling the exhaust and trying to get the brakes replaced.

Cheers!

[83 tercel]

Ehh, Err Ohh ehh I kinda need that PDF file too, If its not too much trouble! My name is John, And I just got an 83 tercel SR5 4X4 And need to do the brakes
on the front. (Didnt realize it was That much trouble) for such a frequent service. My email is carpet10101@yahoo.com Thanks!

[trypolar]

I had an 82 Tercel...one of the best cars ive had.
Its been a few years now but I should be able to answer just about any question you have about it.
Ive been working on Toyotas for over 20yrs.
Just started at a brand new Dealership 2 years ago here in Saskatchewan, so we dont have access to any of the old manuels.

[81tercel]

hello there i got a 1981 tecel with original 97000 miles on it and im selling it if your interested let me know its in great condition.