This has the 4a-fe carb, here's some more pics...
One of the front springs broke a few years ago somewhere around 150,000, so I replaced both sides struts and all, they were pretty much worn out. That sorted the front nicely, then the back started to slowly get more and more boat like and the ride height was low - we sometimes tow a caravan or twin axle trailer so the car gets hammered on the back end. The low back actually looked quite cool, but the stance was nose high and it kept bottoming out on speed bumps, rutted tracks etc. So I got my local garage to put new springs and struts on a couple of years or so ago - total transformation!
A slight annoyance with the big mileage is that the speedo reads 237,00 currently when the actual mileage is nearly 20,000 more that that -the speedo ceased working many years ago and it took me 18 months to get round to fixing it, it was the cable, a known Toyota weak spot (there aren't many!) and took me 1/2hr to fit a new one, went in very easily. I'd been dreading the job, imagining having to dismantle half the dash, and putting off doing it! My wife's Corolla R reg did the same more recently, and was just as easy to fix!
I do all the small stuff myself, oil changes, brake pads, preventative maintenance. The bodywork is kept going with regular cleaning and spraying whatever oily stuff I've got to hand around the edges and underneath. It's getting quite rough around the bottom rear of the back arches, the windscreen pillars are letting go a bit and the front wings are like a doily on their lips. Not worried about them as they bolt on. Somehow though, this car wants to survive and still manages to look fairly sharp after a clean-up
Yeah the boot is big, but not Volvo big! It has a nice roller blind to hide everything. Is it the same length as saloon, or more overhang? I've never compared the two.
You'll see the wheel trims are sometimes on, othertimes off - I can never quite decide which look I prefer! When I got the car in '05 I had spare blue smootherite and painted the roofbars (rusty original black) and the rim bit of the wheels this quite nice mid blue. It seemed a good idea at the time! The wheel trims (original, a bit tatty) are on more in summer, but never for that long - I keep wanting the dark steel wheels look which IMO sets the lines off better.
One of the front springs broke a few years ago somewhere around 150,000, so I replaced both sides struts and all, they were pretty much worn out. That sorted the front nicely, then the back started to slowly get more and more boat like and the ride height was low - we sometimes tow a caravan or twin axle trailer so the car gets hammered on the back end. The low back actually looked quite cool, but the stance was nose high and it kept bottoming out on speed bumps, rutted tracks etc. So I got my local garage to put new springs and struts on a couple of years or so ago - total transformation!
A slight annoyance with the big mileage is that the speedo reads 237,00 currently when the actual mileage is nearly 20,000 more that that -the speedo ceased working many years ago and it took me 18 months to get round to fixing it, it was the cable, a known Toyota weak spot (there aren't many!) and took me 1/2hr to fit a new one, went in very easily. I'd been dreading the job, imagining having to dismantle half the dash, and putting off doing it! My wife's Corolla R reg did the same more recently, and was just as easy to fix!
I do all the small stuff myself, oil changes, brake pads, preventative maintenance. The bodywork is kept going with regular cleaning and spraying whatever oily stuff I've got to hand around the edges and underneath. It's getting quite rough around the bottom rear of the back arches, the windscreen pillars are letting go a bit and the front wings are like a doily on their lips. Not worried about them as they bolt on. Somehow though, this car wants to survive and still manages to look fairly sharp after a clean-up
Yeah the boot is big, but not Volvo big! It has a nice roller blind to hide everything. Is it the same length as saloon, or more overhang? I've never compared the two.
You'll see the wheel trims are sometimes on, othertimes off - I can never quite decide which look I prefer! When I got the car in '05 I had spare blue smootherite and painted the roofbars (rusty original black) and the rim bit of the wheels this quite nice mid blue. It seemed a good idea at the time! The wheel trims (original, a bit tatty) are on more in summer, but never for that long - I keep wanting the dark steel wheels look which IMO sets the lines off better.