So of course I'm on the hunt, I've contacted Mustang Imports out of Armstrong BC. I have been in contact with them regularly for many parts and concerns and they have been much help to me over the last year and a half of owning a 'Carib' Alltrac. I usually dealt with Ryo for parts, who is a Japanese Canadian, which obviously is a huge asset in that situation. Barry the overall owner of the company called today in regards to me looking for a new car...

He didn't have great news for me. He said its pretty easy to find an automatic, but the sunroof is rare, and the 5 speed is even more rare. He said these Carib's have been coming out of Japan for $10,000 or more when they are fully loaded 5 speeds. I'm obviously not willing to pay that, its just financially not feasible, and value for money in my opinion starts degrading enormously after $9000 depending on how low the kms are. Of course they usually come out of Japan with 50,000-100,000km.

Anyway, I might end up importing a nice automagic, and having my 5 speed transmission (currently in the smashmobile) taken out, rebuilt, and placed into the new Carib. I would have to get the automagic for a very reasonable price to make this possible.

I've also spotted a nice Carib on the internet I might scoop for under $4000. Of course, this forum will be the first to know, because you're the only other people that like this car, my real life friends and family make fun and question my decisions! =P

**EDIT** I have a Nissan Sentra rental right now, bleh =( such a plain car, no personality. Nice and easy to get in and out of though for my sore ribs, thats a bonus. Might upgrade to an Altima if the rental period looks like its gonna be short and treat myself a little. =)

Hopefully you can find a 5 speed with all the options... maybe through another source?  You never know   Are the North American versions harder to come by?  The left-hand drive models I mean.

Quoted from dylangumby

its pretty easy to find an automatic, but the sunroof is rare, and the 5 speed is even more rare.

I would agree. I have one of these 5-speed with the sunroof, and I have only seen two All-Tracs in real life with sunroofs.  As far as 5-speed, I wouldn't drive anything else.  Beside having a stick shift is a crude form of theft insurance; the Internet is filled with stories of car thieves foiled by their inability to drive stick shift.  The downside is that you can get roped into driving a stick-shift car or truck for others because few people know how to do so.

Quoted from dylangumby

Anyway, I might end up importing a nice automagic, and having my 5 speed transmission (currently in the smashmobile) taken out, rebuilt, and placed into the new Carib. I would have to get the automagic for a very reasonable price to make this possible.

  Now that sounds like a plan.

Quoted from dylangumby

Of course, this forum will be the first to know, because you're the only other people that like this car, my real life friends and family make fun and question my decisions! =P

  Probably because like the rest of modern society, they think that the only cars worth owning are contemporary ones.  But "contemporary" is a moving target: a never-ending Sisyphean endeavor of "keeping up" with their neighbors, co-workers, and friends, and rivals by always owning a late-model car.

Someone once described my All-Trac as a midget station wagon because it is so short and stubby at the rear.

Quoted from datsa

Someone once described my All-Trac as a midget station wagon because it is so short and stubby at the rear.

They've never seen a Honda Civic "wagovan," which has much less space behind the rear seats than our beloved wagons!  I was actually on the hunt for a Civic wagon ('88-'91) when I found my All-Trac; besides the Subaru wagons (which I was also looking at), there are some rare models of the Civic wagon with RT4WD (real-time 4WD).  But, from what I've heard, that drivetrain isn't as durable as our All-Trac/4WDs.

The Civic wagons are somewhat rare as well.  But I've seen several more of them "in the wild" than I have All-Tracs.

Quoted from Rogue

the Civic wagon with RT4WD (real-time 4WD).  But, from what I've heard, that drivetrain isn't as durable as our All-Trac/4WDs.

One of my former coworkers owned one of those Civic 4WD wagons, but I've lost track of her, so I don't know if she is still driving it.

On the note of people making fun of our old wagons, when these wagons came out -- as with all the other cars of that era -- people thought they were contemporary.  So what has changed: our societal tastes in what is considered "cool," "modern," etc. People make fun of old cars but are reticent to acknowledge that the "contemporary" cars they buy today will be old after not too much time.  

I really like the look of some Audi wagons, but they're out of my price range for sure. I also like the look of many Subaru's, but mostly post-1992 for Subaru's. Where as, Toyota wagons are kinda uglier to me after 1995. Dunno why! =)

I went and had a look/test drive of this wagon today; http://calgary.kijiji.ca/c-car.....n-W0QQAdIdZ256227762

It shifts nice, the clutch is much, much newer than mine. I had to have my pedal pressed nearly to the floor to shift my old green one. It has the ugly writing on the side, but it will be removed if I get my way! hahah =)

Its remarkably nice outside, no rust in the wheel wells or on the rear gate. It has a little work to be done inside, its dirty and it has some cracked plastic on the driver's door etc. Overall, I'm planning on buying it ASAP, hopefully I'll have the money by the end of the week, and TADA! Its much cheaper than importing another one, and the shape its in is a pretty good balance for that. I was kinda spoiled with my car I think. No DiffLock or Heightadjust on this one. =(

It definitely needs maintenance, because as smooth as it runs, its kinda lagging in the "balls" area even more than my green one was, but I think a good tune up will solve that. The exhaust smells beautiful, like... a tiny hint of water vapour in the smell and absolutely nothing else. You can quote me on this; I was excited by the smell of the exhaust! =D

So, what does that mean for your parts pickers? I'll post in the other thread! hahah

Hey Dylan, I believe that your new carib may have the diff lock on the dash between the steering wheel and the center console near where your left knee would go. At least that is what we have in Australia for post 1989 models that have the round Toyota logo on the grill, it seems to be a push/pull lever. is there a way you could remove the height control suspension off the green? although your right hand front strut looks pretty mashed. I'm hoping you will get a lot of parts off your old car. What do those words on the new carib say? I'm in Japan right now and English is often used as a decoration on cars and can be quite random at times - I just saw a Daihatsu Naked with "special magical gear" written on the back!. Maybe have a car stripping party at your house with a keg and a bbq especially if you can keep the trans/engine and all your replacement parts you will be set for a while. also as many small pieces as possible!
Hope you are healing well..

That Carib looks great!  Congrats on finding one so soon   Lucky you that it has no rust... does it have an undercoating to prevent rust?  I think most recently-made cars do (my All-Trac does for sure).  I wonder if someone had the undercoating redone so that the rust stayed away.

A car stripping party sounds like a good idea as DownUnder said.  Get some friends over who know a thing or two about turning wrenches...

They might have done another undercoat Rogue, because I'm surprised at the utter LACK of rust even on the struts etc, none in the corners of the door even.

Car stripping party might happen, most of my friends are inclined to buy new vehicles with a warranty, so we'll see.

Theres a small part of my brain tugging at me to NOT buy this car, and wait until I'm healed and have better funding to import the exact car I want with low kms, put a 4AGZE in it with proper suspension, rather than buying this thing and slowly changing it over time. Obviously part of me see's my old Carib in the alley everytime I park and I want to be back in it. So, its a battle right now.

I spotted a big Subaru Forester L wagon for a decent price that would make a good "Inbetween"...

I'm pretty torn at this point, I start physio tomorrow to really assess how injured I am, and how long its going to take to recover. The results of that will weigh on this decision too!

I think it  sounds pretty good for the price Dylan, and if you change your mind down the track and sell onwards you wouldn't loose to much money. it has the 5speed and the sunroof and is possibly $6,000 cheaper than a "new" imported one. I've been looking at Carib sprinters while I am working here in Japan and there is perhaps 6 AE95's for sale in the country that I can see easily with a manual transmission. The height control system that you are missing out on tends to be a little troublesome anyway with age.. I'm not sure what else that car is missing? I'm looking at getting a cruise control fitted to my wagon back in Australia while I am over here to bring it up to a modern standard.

Also, your friends don't have to have much mechanical inclination to turn some bolts and remove some screws. getting the engine/ tranny out might be hard without a hoist.. I'm not sure but it might be easier to drop the whole front subframe? can someone confirm? Good luck and get well soon mate.

Hey Dylan,
I don't see that add anymore. Did you buy it? there was one in Edmonton that I was eyeing too - also a 5 speed, also now gone.  

Yeah its on hold for me. The reasonable financial option is to buy the Carib because I have all the spare engine parts I just dropped into the old one, so I will indeed be buying it! Another week before I get any money from Insurance though. =(

This rental is eating up my savings@ $35/day. Bleh!

Quoted from dylangumby

This rental is eating up my savings@ $35/day. Bleh!

I almost said, the other guy's insurance should pay for that... but then I remembered...   I think I had to pay for a car rental for a while before the other guy's insurance would pay for it because they dragged their feet with processing claims.  Hopefully your rental costs will be considered in the lawsuit.

Anyways... congrats on landing another Carib so soon!  How have you been doing?

Yeah, luckily I had a bunch of money saved up from when I was working 60hrs a week for most of the year. ... but its disappearing fast! Rental, physio is $80 a session twice a week. I'm very confident I'll get it all paid back from the lawsuit, like I said, there a few witnesses that saw him go around a stopped car to run a red light. Its just that our legal system is slow, I might not have a court date for months.

Anyway, not trying to complain, honestly I'm in very good spirits, physio is working well I'm noticing huge improvements even though some of the sessions are basically torture that I'm paying for! hahahah I won't lie, I almost cried the other day... she was digging around in my armpit/ribs and stretching my arm, it tested my pain threshold to say the least, and it hurt like hell all day after that, BUT, the next day, WOW. I'm a big fan of physio and massage, I think for a lot of society's common ailments its a much better solution than any pills or surgery, and its working well for me!

So, over all very well thank you for asking! Still happy to be alive every time I look at that car! I can't wait to get a copy of the picture that was in the paper to show you guys! Its the firemen, with the Hilti sawzall going at the hinges of the old wagon. EXCELLENT picture, should have a high quality copy this week to scan! =D

I'll be ready to turn some small bolts later this week if the weather co-operates I think!

So far its warm but still pretty snowy out back and I'm not adventurous enough yet.

I do however, have a 1991 Sprinter Carib with a 4A-FHE parked in my garage right now! =D It was a good drive home, it got much better gas mileage on the drive home than the old one. It seems to have a little less low end torque and a little more high end power. So starts are smoother and don't throw me back, but, it accelerated better up hills when cruising at 110km/h (55mph) and seemed to be at slightly lower RPMs for the entire 4hr drive home. I don't like the big leather shift knob either, but I can switch that easy! =)

It was dark with barely any moon but I had the sunroof "shade" open the entire time so I could look up every now and then and smile! hahahah I frigg'in love sunroofs for some reason!

Its dirty because of the warm weather and sloppy roads here from all the melting snow, so I'm gonna wait to take pics.

A few of the immediate ups;
-Sunroof!! =D
-Front map light
-Built in fog lights in the headlight assembly
-Working low and high beams (old one only had low, bad ground I think, never found out)
-Working low on the heater
-Larger style dash cluster with voltage, oil pressure etc. I also like the clock style and location better for dark highway driving, its farther out of my view
-Couldn't find any rust
-Factory Toyota road flare on the passenger side! hahah seriously!

Noticeable Downs;
-Broken corner light mount, and the same corner light has moisture inside so I suspect its compromised. hopefully repairable
-Kinda miss the low end torque in my 90% city driving I think
-Rear wiper moves but the arm barely makes contact (old arm is destroyed) hopefully repairable with a new spring or something
-The stereo friggin sucks, barely loud enough on the highway
-Rattle in the dash cluster
-Whistle from right rear door

Overall, very happy, and smiling as I drove on the snow today and didn't spin at all... Ahhhhhh relief, traction!!

Awesome, sounds like you got a good deal!

I had to look up that 4A-FHE engine, interesting.  Maybe you could sell it as a "rarity" and use that money towards a 4A-GE or whatever you want to put in it

Congrat's mate.

Pics Pics Pics!

What's the 4a-fhe like compared to the 1st gen 4a-fe?

As you know I'm working on a 4agze but I think if I bought a later model like yours, I might like to keep it stock

I dunno, seems a little more tuned to the higher revs. I mean, 2nd will take me up to almost 60kmh before it gets up over 4000rpm, or you can shift into 3rd @40kmh and it will still accelerate nice and smooth! I kinda like it. I notice the exhaust manifold is much different and doesn't have the cat converter mounted immediately out of the engine. I haven't had a peek underneath but I'm hoping its a box further back that I can remove! =D If so, this is a prime candidate for a K&N cold air intake. I was always hesitant on the old one because I thought the exhaust was still a choking point.

Other than that, very much the same. I miss my old one, it had a brand new steering rack and felt much tighter to control, but it also had better tires... so we'll see! =)

Definitely very, very happy! Its got some stupid Japanese sticker on the side that says "Smelling the rain hit ashphalt, you can hear CARIB screaming ... I wanna return to nature!"  <--- This sticker is coming off Wednesday when I have it detailed by a friend of mine... I can't stand it, and the previous owner left the inside fairly dirty so I'm gonna let him have at it. Hes short on work, and my arm would make the cleaning job take days! Plus.... THAT DAMN STICKER MUST GO. A lady pulled up beside me today and was reading it and started laughing, how embarrassing! hahahahha =D

Quoted from dylangumby

Its got some stupid Japanese sticker on the side that says "Smelling the rain hit ashphalt, you can hear CARIB screaming ... I wanna return to nature!"  <--- This sticker is coming off Wednesday when I have it detailed by a friend of mine... I can't stand it, and the previous owner left the inside fairly dirty so I'm gonna let him have at it. Hes short on work, and my arm would make the cleaning job take days! Plus.... THAT DAMN STICKER MUST GO. A lady pulled up beside me today and was reading it and started laughing, how embarrassing! hahahahha =D

ROFL   You've got to get a picture of that sticker before you remove it!

Actually, its a nice sunny day I'm gonna go take some before pics, it gets detailed tomorrow, so before and after pics will be good!

Its an awful, awful sticker. hahahah

Passed the mechanic's inspection with no bad tick marks in the wrong categories! I had them put some synthetic 75w90 in the diff front and rear, and he said some pretty nasty sludge came out of both drains on the front, but the back wasn't so bad. Sludge.... =(

When I was buying it I asked the guy if he had ever changed the diff fluid, and he gave me a funny look like he didn't know what diff fluid was....YIKES, so it was a priority for me to get that done. =)

Was the previous owner the original owner?  Yeah I hate when I would ask a question about a car I was interested in, and get that kind of reply.  "You know, the wiper blades... they dry out, you replace them, it's easy..." o_O <-- their expression

They were the original importer; From what I understand they have a friend who imports JDM cars and he got them this one. So I should be the 3rd owner, I believe.

http://s943.photobucket.com/albums/ad276/dylanbrig/Carib/02_15_2011%20Pics%20with%20Sticker/

Thats the girl! I parked too close to the garage to get a rear view, but Saturday after the detail I'll get a bunch more! I got bumped from Tomorrow to Friday, so the sticker stays for a few days. =P

That sticker is too much... ROFL...   Carib looks great!

Grats, excellent car, I envy =))

Oooh maaaan those japs are funny - Love that sticker - so gald you took a photo.

Dude I'm so happy for you 'NICE RIDE' ..& a bit envious ...still searching for an SR5 with sunroof over here..

Turned one down interstate for $2200 ...shoulda just gone for it  

Quoted from dylangumby

2nd will take me up to almost 60kmh before it gets up over 4000rpm, or you can shift into 3rd @40kmh and it will still accelerate nice and smooth! I kinda like it.

That's how my 89 model behaves since running fuel & oil treatments cleaning all oil, fuel air filters, & fitting the extractors, new leads & plugs.

but I think it's mostly the high octane fuel doing the work. I betchya my engine sounds like it's screaming compared to yours (not as smooth)

I'd be interested to see what difference it would make in your wagon if even just once you filled the tank up with a higher grade of fuel...

I've ran premium fuel at all times, old and new wagon.

The last wagon had a lot more torque and push than this one does, 1st and 2nd were geared very close in the last one, 2nd didn't like anything more than 40km/h before the engine was screaming. Also, the old one still had some punch in the 100-120km/h range, where as this one has absolutely none. The old wagon would float down the highway at 140km/h no problem, and would get from 100 to 140 in a pretty short time. This one starts to dislike it after 120, and is sluggish on the acceleration from 100-140.

Lets keep in mind I spent a LOT of money on the old one, sensors, wires, fluids, etc. so it was probably performing as well as a stock 4AFE could perform. This one is still running dino oil, and has not had much replaced since it left Japan.... YET. I've been using the Toyota EPC to cross check parts, and although quite a few of the things will transfer over... some won't. The MAP (Vacuum) Sensor I bought a few months ago for $200+CDN or is not transferable. =(

I'll probably drop some Seafoam in there before I do the oil change, and swap it over to synthetic before the end of the month and I also think that will help.

This car has an AMAZINGLY small ground wire going from the battery to the chassis and from the chassis to the engine, its 4ga MAX, maybe only 6. I was very surprised to see that, thats a big priority for me!

Did you find a diff lock? Couldn't see one in your photos.

Found some of those rear side window sunshades for sale on an auction site here. but they were quite a lot of money. I will be backpacking for a month before I go back home to Australia and don't really want to take to much heavy car stuff around with me.

Yep, English is used as a decorative flourish on a lot of the cars in Japan. I'm taking photos of them will post soon. Cheers! I also had some luck with running some injector cleaner through my engine.. not sure if you want to try that?

Unfortunately no, no diff lock. I'm not sure if I could take the system from my old one? Probably more trouble than its worth if its even possible. It would depend on whether the transmission has the parts to be able to lock it manually, and its just a matter of hooking up the solenoid and vacuum lines?

Yeah injector cleaner is a good idea too, I'll run full cleaning treatments through the fuel and oil before I change to synthetic, hopefully get a bunch of the crap and dirt out of the system!

Its the first cold day today since I bought it, -19C and the car is VERY slow to warm up, and when idling it loses the heat very fast. I think I'm going to make the water pump/timing belt a priority on this one due to the fact its needs a coolant/thermostat flush anyway, and now I'm super paranoid about the pump/belt combo since the last incident which I got lucky on!

I'll sell you these side window shades in a couple months when I can afford to get the back 5 windows tinted properly! =)

Quoted from dylangumby

I've ran premium fuel at all times, old and new wagon.

The last wagon had a lot more torque and push than this one does, 1st and 2nd were geared very close in the last one, 2nd didn't like anything more than 40km/h before the engine was screaming. Also, the old one still had some punch in the 100-120km/h range, where as this one has absolutely none. The old wagon would float down the highway at 140km/h no problem, and would get from 100 to 140 in a pretty short time. This one starts to dislike it after 120, and is sluggish on the acceleration from 100-140.

Yeah right?! (suprised) I scream mine up in 2nd, to 60 - 65km everyday     - I've just gotten used to the screaming. In fact I think the japs are quite into high revs performance.

Ditto! Re: floating down highway at 140km/h

Mine has a sweet spot in 5th gear that begins around 115 to 120 depending on outside air & is good up to 140 -150km/h

(Look up articles on 'harmonic resonance / intake' ...very interesting in terms of torque curves.

I was doing my timing belt the other week & noticed the plastic shrouding on my radiator fan was melted so much there was a big hole in it & the fan had been rubbing against it..

Cause???

Sustained high revs blasting through the headers      

Very suprised that the later model doesn't perform as well - that 4agze's starting to look good again (lot of people get after market engine management for gze's anyway ..but it does cost)

Your new ride still looks very swish & comfy tho!

Yeah I'm surprised too honestly! I took it go get detailed and have those stickers removed, and the guy is also a used car salesman... when he gave it back he said 'Wow, that thing is torque-y' hahah so its too bad he didn't get a chance to drive the last wagon.

I also feel that this one will get better with some work. An upgraded ground cable, better spark etc. I've been going through the maintenance folder the guy gave me, and I see that he did indeed have the diff oil flushed around 80,000km so thats not so bad at all. BUT Its obvious to see through the records that the shop was doing minimal work and getting paid huge for it. On one invoice it lists the timing belt and water pump (also around 80,000kms so its coming due soon), but it also charges him an hour labor for a coolant flush and then another hour for thermostat install. The poor guy got screwed pretty bad by the shop in terms of money, but at least most of the major flushes and repairs seem to have been done.

It might still have the original spark plugs, wires, distributor etc though, so I think *THAT* will make a huge difference as well. The weather isn't cooperating up here its not going to warm up until Monday and I'll have a busy week ahead of me, so no progress on the old one yet.

Looks good, minus that crazy sticker. Silly Japan. Also, looks like the old steering wheel will be up for grabs? It might be a little while before I can buy it, gotta get the exhaust replaced this week and pay bills, that's gonna eat all of my paycheck. But I'm still very interested!

The sticker is officially gone, once it warms up enough I'll take some pics... Its impossible to wash it right now its warm in the day time so the roads are sloppy then its -20C at night so the doors will freeze closed. hahah =)

That steering wheel is yours when the time comes I can get it off the car. No hurry on my end, its still snowy and icy all around the car, and too cold for me to get the motivation to play around for long outdoors!

I grabbed some PIAA headlight and fog light bulbs to put in the Carib! The GE Nighthawk Platinum that they sell at the store for $70 wasn't that noticeable of an improvement on my old wagon, so I wanted to try some PIAA bulbs. I found them shipped in Canada for less than the store sells the GE's for.

I know judging by a 1yr old receipt that my Carib has "Toyota Factory Brand" headlight and foglights in it right now, so I'll install the PIAA's on one side only to begin with, so I can compare the lights!

Its warm enough tomorrow that I'm hoping to get a little bit done. I need to swap the plugs, wires, and cap from the old car onto this one because these are the originals. I also need to get an oil change done, run some Seafoam through it, and then do another change to synthetic. Hopefully I can get all of this done this week while the weather is slightly above freezing. =)

I'll try and grab some parts soon after!

Pics of the difference in headlights would be good

Bleh, sorry, I ended up changing them both in the daytime, I had to take the grill off and get the entire left headlight out before I could even access the bulbs, and at that point I said "F it, I might as well do the right headlight now while the grill is off" and I can just take the whole headlight assembly off.

As I said it was the middle of a sunny day, but I did it in my garage so it was a little dark. After changing one of them I turned them on to have a look, and I will stake my reputation on this: The PIAA bulb produces a much whiter, brighter light. Even in the daytime when you turned them on and looked at the top of the headlight glass from underneath the hood, the glass for the PIAA bulb was lit up way, way brighter, and has a very clean white light to it, while the Toyota factory bulbs looked more yellow/orange and didn't produce as much light.

The fog light however I'm not 100% convinced by what I saw in the garage, but perhaps with a big cloud of mist in front of me they will prove me wrong.

I managed to get my Optima battery out of my old car and into the new one. When I popped the hood on my old one (See: Beat it with a hammer for 5minutes) I realize right away why I didn't have an electrical fire... the positive battery connector popped off in the accident (thankfully), and the battery actually slid over and smashed my brand new distributor cap, and broke the ends of the brand new wires with it too. =( Pretty disappointed about that, considering they were less than a month old.

I'm not sure I'll be able to re-use my alternator either, everything on the pulley-side of the motor looks pretty tight, the metal is smashed into the engine compartment more than I thought it would be... but as long as I can get it off I can at least get a deposit for the core I think, even if its not functional.

I did an oil change wednesday this week, and I bought a couple cans of Seafoam. I put about 1/3rd of the 1st can into the gas tank, 1/3rd into the oil pan, and fed 1/3 into the manifold via the PCV valve until it stalled, let it sit for 15min, then drove it hard at high revs for 20min or so. I burned about 3/4 of that tank of gas, and then I filled back up with premium, opened the 2nd can and poured about 1/2 into the gas tank, and about 1/4 into the crankcase, and then fed the last 1/4 into the PCV valve again until it stalled. This time I let it sit for about 2hrs while I changed the headlights and attempted to organize my garage a little, and again fired it up and drove it hard at high revs for a little while. The second can produced much, much more smoke. The 1st can took about 5km to completely remove the smoke from the exhaust, the 2nd can took more like 15km. I'm not sure what this means, but I can only assume by the fact that I used less of it this time but let it soak for longer, that it removed more carbon etc from the engine. HERES HOPING! =D

It does seem to idle slightly higher, and it seems to run smoother when going uphill at low RPMs, but the change is not that noticeable that I can be sure. I'm gonna drive another 300km or so (1000km total) with the Seafoam in the oil, then do a full synthetic change. The oil will have only 1000km on it so if its dark I'll know that seafoam found some stuff! =)

I've never tried Seafoam, heard about it before, but no experience with it.  Is it mainly to de-sludge an engine?

Yeah http://www.seafoamsales.com/ its an all purpose cleaner/solvent thats been around a long time. My mechanic collects classic cars and he uses it on his old Hemi 'Cuda and others, so I figured why not give it a go! haha Kinda looking forward to see the oil!

Good work mate.

Here's a mod you might find interesting.

http://www.alltracwagon.net/forum/v-post/b-mods/m-/post-1/

Changed the oil today @ 141,000 so it had 2,000km of Seafoam running through it. The oil was pretty brown and the filter was heavy, but I didn't cut it open.

It is now running Redline 5w30, immediately I notice the oil pressure seems better, slower to climb and slower to fall, and it seems higher at idle. Next to come is the Plugs, Wires & Cap, Rotor, as well as an upgraded ground cable this week. After that the catalytic is coming off, and I think at that point I'll start to notice some real change in this beast. =)

Is it legal to remove your cat converter???

or are you fitting a sports cat?

In this province its not "illegal" believe it or not! I live in the land of big oil companies, so emissions regulations are a little slow to come in... Although I'm kind of a nature loving hippy and a little piece of me says don't do it, I will probably still do it. If it were a bigger car or truck I would replace it with a new one, but its just a little 4cyl so for now I'm ok with removing it.

Later if I put in a 4AGE (Which is likely pending finances), I may consider a sports cat.

I did a tuneup the other day, new plugs, wires, cap, and rotor... Much smoother idle, sounds a little deeper if I'm not mistaken, so maybe there was some incomplete combustion going on... Might be in my head though, I'll admit it. Dunno about gas mileage improvement yet, I just filled up. Regular gas is going from $1.08/L -> 1.17/L tomorrow so premium will likely go from $1.19 -> 1.36 area.

Yikes! My province exports about 1.5 million barrels of oil a day, but for some reason they use the middle east turmoil as an excuse to raise our prices too. Love that government tax on tax on tax crap!

Anyway, I'm going to get the exhaust checked/done tomorrow, theres a bit of a rattle coming off the back which I hope is the catalytic, because its going anyway.... kill 2 birds with 1 stone would be great. I'm looking forward to the cleaner sound when its all done!

I don't know if this is possible but since the tuneup, it starts very quickly when I turn the key and now the starter grinds a bit on the disengage. I think the engine starts almost too fast haha or am I crazy? Obviously I'll get to the starter very soon, but, it didn't grind before the tuneup except when it was very cold, now it grinds almost every time. =(

Catalytic is gone, she sounds slightly deeper, and definitely has some improved response in the higher revs. It only cost me $70 to have that removed and some shielding repaired that was rattling around. I did a fresh fill up, hoping for some better fuel mileage as the costs sky rocket!

NEXT: K&N Cold Air Intake. http://www.knfilters.com/search/product.aspx?Prod=57-0115

Had the Car Alarm/Starter installed a couple weeks ago, the guy is basically a jerk-off and quoted me $200 to bring him the parts from my old car and he'd install in the new one. I walked out of there $430 poorer, and he got about 5 minutes of berating, and I'll never refer anyone to him again. Besides that, he put the panel under the steering wheel back wrong, and I think he hit a curb when he took it for a test drive because when I had my suspension done last week they had to re-align it, it was wobbling @ 100km/h I noticed. As well as the brakes have been squeaking ever since. I filed a Better Business Bureau complaint but I'm sure that won't go that far.

ANYWAY the thing works fine and I'm confident its installed just as good as it was in the old car which had no problems until the accident.

I had the suspension done last week with KYB's, its not really noticeable going over bumps forward, this is just a rough car I guess... it is *VERY* noticeable when taking corners at speed, the body barely rolls and feels much tighter when steering in general. Doesn't ride like a cadillac but it corners MINUTELY more like a racecar so I'll take it. =)

I did end up paying quite a bit but thats because I wanted to mechanic to order the parts so if they didn't fit he could return them with no hassle. In the future I would buy these parts off ebay and have the mechanic install them, because the bill broke down like this:
Front x 2 @ $120 = $240
Rear x 2 @ $55 = $110
4hrs Labor @ $ 80 = $320
Alignment (wouldn't have been necessary just replacing suspension, but I suspect a curb hit) @ $100

Definitely some money to be saved on parts, but an hour per wheel is probably standard cost around my city, and I get a $20/hr discount because his posted shop rate is $100/hr, which is also about average in this city.

I have a strut spring compression tool... or something along those lines.  I got it in a lot of car stuff I bought from someone whose del Sol got wrecked.  I haven't used the tool yet, but is that pretty much what I would need to remove the struts & springs to replace them myself?

I think thats all you need, I remember doing my rear struts on my nissan sentra with my grandpa years ago in the garage with a strut compression tool.

Obviously those things are pretty serious business, and improperly used can result in injury but I'm sure you're capable, when I did it it was just a matter of being sure the lip was over top of the spring. If yours has a lock to make sure it can't slip off the spring, that would be that much safer!

Just had my brakes done in the front, caliper service, new pads and rotors. Now she corners like a dream and brakes much much nicer! I've got my soldering done to upgrade the ground wire, just have to put it in. My K&N Air intake is in the garage, I got it for $70... hopefully install it this weekend with the bushbar and maybe the lights too! This car is unfolding well. =P

Yeah, I haven't tried to use that tool yet, but I saw some pics on another message board of what happens to a finger if it gets caught in there when working on the suspension

Ooh!  Make sure to snap some pics of how that bush bar attaches to the wagon!    I'm hoping to talk to some guys who work at my job, to see if it's possible to have an aluminum brush guard fabbed up for me.  Might be kind of pricey, but damn, I'd love it... something like this:



Or I could buy a brush guard like that (for a Toyota Tacoma, if you see the image name) and modify it for my wagon.  I'd probably do this instead of having a new one... but... hmm...

Bush bars are legal in US? In Russia don't   So bad, stock BB is very nice...

Bushbars are legal here in Canada for sure! That one is really nice, it wraps all the way around the bottom of the bumper to protect it, I like that! =D

Hey everyone! I've been disgustingly busy for the last few months, not much computer time, or home time for that matter. Lots of personal stuff, some of it to do with the car accident. Lots of it had to do with work and opportunities I couldn't pass up! Overall I'm getting a LOT better now, just had a little bump in the road with some extremely intense headaches.

For those of you looking for parts: The car is still in my alley, untouched. I've removed some of the stereo stuff to sell on kijiji because it was easy and quick money, but other than that anyone asking for parts will still get them. Sorry for the delay! I hope to begin some of the disassembly on the car within the next month or two, as winter sets in the ants that have taken over the land beneath the car will hopefully calm down and let me near it without much fuss. I'm going to be pretty busy in the next month putting a stereo in my car, and completely customizing the back end. I'm excited to show you all some pics!

Car has been good, I've put nearly 35,000km on it this year since I bought it. No issues besides normal maintenance. I did blow a rad hose on an extremely steep incline on a very hot day. The rad hose was an original 20+yrs old so I can't really blame it on the car, overall the situation ended easily and didn't cost me too much money.

Its got some very nice rims and tires on it, Rota Grid Bronze rims and Toyo Proxes 4 which perform awesome dry and in the rain. Not great in gravel. I'll get some pics soon of the rims and tires, I'll have the back end customization and stereo done within a month and they will be some awesome pics too! Custom door panels in the front for components, an amp in the rear storage, and an amp where the spare tire sits. The whole rear end from the seats back will be done in checker plating, and the spare tire will be replaced by a swing arm (idea copied from the Russian club!) full size spare tire holder on the back bumper. Also will be getting some nice back up lights put in.

Welcome back!  I was thinking that you might have sold the newer Carib and moved on.  I think you mentioned being interested in buying a Celica or some other car at one point.    Well in any case, look forward to seeing some updated pics and these new projects!

No the only girl that has my attention is still this one! I definitely like to look at Celica's, and it would be one of the first vehicles I bought if I had too much money to blow... but thats not the case. I have just enough to blow on this car! Plus, I'd get myself in trouble with a Celica! hahah The officers in this town, the darlings that they are, love to write tickets!

I do however have my eyes on a 1996+ Hilux Surf (4-Runner), however I've heard too many times about these heads being recalled for cracking, and even if it was repaired/fixed ... I dunno! I've been saving 2 funds, 1 projects for the Carib. 2 for a new SUV, because I slept in this car a couple times this summer and it wasn't the comfort level I would have hoped even with padding and lots of blankets, just not much room. I'm probably going to save my money for a long, long time maybe a year, maybe less if I keep working my a** off. While I save I'm going to look for a Land Cruiser to import with a 4.2L diesel engine in it... which will eventually run off vegetable oil/biodiesel. But this is still a pipe dream, for now I'll get some pics of my car, its supposed to be sunny tomorrow I'm gonna shine it up a little and take some pics before the winter rims go back on. I made the mistake of putting some "Rain-X" surface repellant everywhere on my car, doors, roof, panels, hood, etc. and it left a nasty film after a few washes it won't come off. Its gonna take some elbow grease before I get the pics!

http://s943.photobucket.com/albums/ad276/dylanbrig/Carib/

The first album you guys have seen, the second album 05_07_11 is from May but I just uploaded them, its just the rims I picked up from a toyota yaris, they're my winter's. Third album 09_28_2011 is from today, new rims, some stickers gone, bushbar and lights on the front!

http://www.piaalights.com/details.php?productName=40%20BACK%20UP These will be my backup light integrated into the new rear bumper, got them in the mail today! Excited to be able to see behind me when its dark! I've got an appointment to have it tinted for $300 in 2 weeks, My dog can finally have some privacy for whatever he does back there.

just visited the latest album, but it comes up empty - FYI...

Should be fixed now! Ooopsie thanks for the heads up!

Long time no see!  I took a look at those pics -- I like the fact that they did the sunroof the right way in the Caribs -- a transparent roof with a slider.
My is just the roof, solid, not glass.  I was tempted to  take parts off of an older Corolla coupe with a sliding sunroof cover, but the parts do not match; so I will have to look for a Carib somewhere-- probably have to go to Canada or Russia to find one.

Also, those parts . . .

She's looking great!  I don't blame you for losing those "I wanna return to nature" decals    I might have tried to keep them, though.  Just for posterity's sake

The window tinting will look great.  My wagon came with it already done, and I love it.  I'm tempted to repaint my wagon all-black, like a friend of mine keeps suggesting.  For that blacked-out look.

How does that bush bar attach to the front of the wagon?

Crap!! I forgot to take pics for you.

It will be coming off the wagon next year, and possibly up for sale at that time as well when I get a new front bumper.

UNTIL THEN: Its really quite easy on both of my All tracs there was a plate with a hook bolted to the frame, roughly in the same spot the bumper bolts in to. You have to remove a few bolts and bend some shrouds to get a ratchet on there, but you don't have to REMOVE any shrouds. The small shroud-support-beam in the wheel well does have to come off the one side though, and loosen on the other side so you can completely rotate it out of your way. This beam can also be used to tuck shrounds behind to help move your ratchet easier, you'll see what I mean!

If you have the plate with the hooks on it, it is bolted in with 2, or 3 bolts. You can remove those bolts without removing the bumper. Once they're out the plate will come out, and the bush bar bolts into 2 of those bolts.

So, 4 bolts total, 2 on each side. If you don't have the plates there with the hooks on them, simply feel along the side of the frame where the bumper mounts slide in. The bolt holes are at a 90degree angle to the bumper mounts.

HOPE that helps, if not, I can try and snag a pic next time I do an oil change and its up in the air!

I forgot to get pics with the bronze rims since the windows have been tinted.

Those rims are now off, back to the Toyota Silver Aluminum's with Gislaved Nordfrost 5 studded tires on them.


I wanted Nokian tires, but apparently they signed an exclusive contract with KalTire and that rubs me the wrong way, because I absolutely hate Kal Tire (except maybe for semi trucks when you're in a pinch). So, I got some Gislaved's. They were only available through Volvo dealerships until recently, which rubbed me the RIGHT way. hahah Hopefully they rub the road with a good firm grip!

Update on this Carib, which is not so new anymore I guess. I've had it for a year and 3 months now.

Took it in for a routine water pump/timing belt replacement, it was coming due on the clock. They do it, but they can't seem to get the rad to burp properly, it wasn't taking more than 3L of fluid and constantly spitting bubbles out. So they get it the best they can, I pull out of there and make it 90% of the way home, it over heats and steams on the side of the road. I take it back, they burp it, it takes another 2L of fluid and its running good on test drives. I take it again, 90% of the way home, over heating.

My head gasket was finally blown. It was running poorly since last August when it overheated in the mountains. Coquihalla Highway is a real b**** on vehicles when its a 36 degree C day. I ended up getting a new hose and driving it home that day, but ever since then I was noticing oil in the coolant, and moisture in my exhaust.... SO I knew it was a count down. The new water pump finally dislodged the tiny fraction of gasket that was left (probably more like crusted oil at that point). SOOOOO rebuild head, plane and pressure test, repair spark plug holes... BAM go time. She runs pretty good but same thing, doesn't want to burp. The radiator is full of crap! So, new radiator. NOW, shes really running good.... but the first cold morning its putting a massive amount of condensation in the cabin with the heat on. OF COURSE, THE HEATER CORE TOO. hahah So, I got a heater core, and honestly I didn't think it was going to be that bad... but it was worse than any of the other jobs. It took the guy 10+ hours of labor, and at one point I came in and looked... I almost shat myself. My poor car was completely taken apart inside, steering wheel off, column hanging, wires and conduits everywhere. =(

Anyway, its out of the shop, RUNNING EFFIN AMMMMMAZING. I can climb up steep hills in low revs now, the fuel consumption is back to normal, the idle is solid. It doesn't stutter on acceleration, everything is smooth and its got a lot more get up and go. I noticed a particular jump when I switched the oil to AMS 5w40 2 days ago. This car is a fun dream to drive right now, I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

TL;DR
Car got all new engine cooling parts, head gasket, radiator, hoses, heater core. RUNS SUPER TIGHT, and TIGHT IS RIGHT. =)

Stereo is still a work in progress, getting some custom door panels made by a friend for $200 each but .... hes had my door panels for 3 months now, so you can't rush cheap. =(

Sounds good!  Glad to hear you got the engine sorted out.  I was thinking when reading your coolant problems, make sure to have a thermostat with a jiggle valve.  I believe the jiggle valve has to be oriented a certain way (usually at the top).

Putting 6½" speakers in the doors?  Regardless of size, I'm jealous... those 4" dash speakers are just too small!

6.5's in the doors, components! Tweets will be located on the door where the rear view mirror plastic cover is. =)

The back will also have 6.5's but not components just 2-way's. AAAAAAAAnnnnnnd this beautiful JL 10 w 7 but the guy is slooooooow moving. I'm hoping he gets his a** in gear soon before summer is over... again.

Yeah the 4's are too small. Even really good 4's (which are a drastic improvement like I said) are just not good enough for an old loud car like this one. If you cruise with the windows down, doesn't come close to drowning out the road noise!

Well done man. sounds great.

PICS PICS PICS PLEASE!!

It's a lot of money but you've gotta spend a bit of money on the things you love...  

I will when its done! Right now I'm just driving around with the 2 front door panels off. Metal handles, lots of vibrations. =\

i used to drive an old nissan pintara wagon around like that - Can't say it was for an upgraded stereo system though!  

Bahahhah Yeah now that you mention it my old Nissan Sentra was missing some interior panels, and it didn't get much in terms of upgrades. I ran that thing for LONG distances with the oil fill cap off.... I was super smart back then. It however, still runs to this day... my friend owns it outside of town, its pushing 350,000km now and I was abusing it in the 170,000km range.

Quoted from dylangumby

Bahahhah Yeah now that you mention it my old Nissan Sentra was missing some interior panels, and it didn't get much in terms of upgrades. I ran that thing for LONG distances with the oil fill cap off.... I was super smart back then. It however, still runs to this day... my friend owns it outside of town, its pushing 350,000km now and I was abusing it in the 170,000km range.

I had a Mazda B22 like that. 3 brakes worked (still that way), the rear driver brake line, the OO, instead of replacing the leaking brake cylinder, he broke the brake line, crimped it (bent it in half, and hammered it flat), and taped it to the axle. I towed a 2700lb sailboat with it from Chilliwack to Maple ridge in 2005

My cousins best friend drives it daily from Parksville to Campbell River (120 km (75m) each way) 5 days a week. He's owned the truck since 2008. its now got 880,000km (550K miles) on her

Quoted from Rogue

Yeah, I haven't tried to use that tool yet, but I saw some pics on another message board of what happens to a finger if it gets caught in there when working on the suspension

Ooh!  Make sure to snap some pics of how that bush bar attaches to the wagon!    I'm hoping to talk to some guys who work at my job, to see if it's possible to have an aluminum brush guard fabbed up for me.  Might be kind of pricey, but damn, I'd love it... something like this:



Or I could buy a brush guard like that (for a Toyota Tacoma, if you see the image name) and modify it for my wagon.  I'd probably do this instead of having a new one... but... hmm...

There's some second hand one's over here in Australia that pop up from time to time. From memory I think they waeight around 25 - 35kg... I'm just wondering what the cost difference would be between getting a new one fabbed up and shipping over a ready made one..

Surely there must be somewhere in Canada that made them???