1988 Alltrac - Fiona - Running and doing just fine

UtahSleeper

Active member
So, a couple months ago I sold my alltrac (pretty much a shell) to the PO. Not a big deal cause I did not want an alltrac project that big.

Well, shortly after there was an alltrac for sale locally that was quickly dropping in price and it was more in the realm of the alltrac I wanted. Checked it out twice over the years (it has passed through a few hands) and at the price tag of 800, I couldn't pass it up.

The known issues:
Harness has been hacked to shit.
Lots of iffy wiring for remote start.
Dinged up front fender.
Possibly bad ECU.
HORRIBLE RIMS!! (Hope to replace with alloy stockers off a 6th gen)
Passenger front bearing is toast (Found out 4-1-2012)

Possibly upsides:
Significantly more complete then my last trac.
Supposed rebuilt motor.
Extra ebay turbo (maybe for my rolla)
Stock turbo with no shaft play.
Recently cleaned and tested injectors.
Aftermarket radiator.

The immediate plans:
Get it running in the next few months. May take out the harness and try and fix it, depending on what I find, or hopefully locate an unmolested harness. I want to have the car running and legal by next winter. No upgrades unless I have to replace something anyway.

The long term:
Mount my 3sge manifold and get front mount.
Reupholster interior (has seat covers right now).
Paint.
AEM, MS3 or another standalone.

And here is where I am going to keep a running tally of cost:
850 Car and towing
150 Harness and ECU

1000 Total

Well, here is what I got for my money.
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UtahSleeper

Active member
Small update even before I start working on it.

I should have an unmolested harness and spare ECU in the near future for 150.

So, if all goes well I will have a running alltrac for 1k (850 for car and tow).

I know more will come up, but that will make me happy. :)
 

Dracov

Member
Glad to see that one went to a good owner! :) Definitely going to be following your work while I try to get mine resurrected ;)
 

UtahSleeper

Active member
Yea, you need to get yours back on the road! Especially with the sexy 205 in it.

I should have my spare harness and ECU on Thursday. So, once I can get new locks on my Corolla, so it can be parked outside, I will start putting the trac back together and see how she runs. With the possibility of a new clutch and rebuilt motor, it should run good.
 

Dracov

Member
Nice. I'm waiting on the water pump to come in (just started shipping from Oz!) and arranging with a friend in the UK to get some parts off of Fensport so right now I'm stuck doing a whole lot of waiting and not much else.

I keep getting more ideas on stuff to do to the engine but I have to keep it realistic if I'm going to get her running before the year is out :(
 

UtahSleeper

Active member
Yea, it is easy to get caught up in just doing more while working on it. I considered swapping my 3sge manifold since I have to do the harness right now. That would mean I would need a FMIC. Then a skinny fan. Then I know more would come up. So, yea I decided just to stop thinking and focus on getting her to run and worry about upgrades later.

So, after you get these parts you going to get the motor finished and installed?
 

Dracov

Member
Yeah. Mostly I just need the water pump, timing belt kit and a new clutch and I can begin getting it ready to do the swap. I'll do some other minor things along the way...like every single stupid little hose on it. My Supra taught me well not to let those things go unchecked, because they WILL burst on you in the middle of -20F weather. :x Mostly I'm gonna put her together stock, learn new forms of swearing while adapting the wiring and get her running like that for a while.

A smaller side project will be to upgrade these wimpy 24 year old paper speakers that I've utterly destroyed. I have a pair of 4s and 6.5s I can squeeze in
 

UtahSleeper

Active member
Nice. Glad she is getting the needed attention. And with any luck, you may not have to work on her in a major way for atleast a couple years after. Unless you torch the trans with hard driving and "testing" the new motor lol.
 

Dracov

Member
Don't jinx it! You already know how this car loves to play games, what with refusing to start right after I bought her from you and then just firing right up as soon as you brought the booster pack over!
 

UtahSleeper

Active member
Small update.

I pushed her fat ass into the garage on Saturday and removed the hood. My goal now is to start removing the hacked harness she has and try to remove all of the interior wiring work that has been done to her. Seems like there has been a few switches added for who knows what, as well as the remote start. Hope to have the interior wiring cleaned up in the next week or 2 and back to "stock".
 

UtahSleeper

Active member
Not much really. Came with the car and the research I have done leads me to believe it's a ebay turbo. Not sure if I am going to use it yet. If I do it will be on my Corolla since I want to learn to tune turbo on my old and worn engine. Plus I got a manifold for my rolla that will hold it.

Judging by it's lack of grime and everything, pretty sure someone bought it to upgrade on the trac, and never got the rest of the parts.
 

Redrkt01

New member
UtahSleeper":2mzl8f9f said:
Not much really. Came with the car and the research I have done leads me to believe it's a ebay turbo. Not sure if I am going to use it yet. If I do it will be on my Corolla since I want to learn to tune turbo on my old and worn engine. Plus I got a manifold for my rolla that will hold it.

Judging by it's lack of grime and everything, pretty sure someone bought it to upgrade on the trac, and never got the rest of the parts.

K. Well if you ever get any specs on it lemeno. I have the same one on my junk part out 165. Like yours, I can't tell anything about it except that it appears for be .50 trim.
 

UtahSleeper

Active member
K. If I remember I will look at mine tonight and see what other numbers and details I can find. Been meaning to find out more.
 

UtahSleeper

Active member
Found a few little issues to address from brief poking. I know I will find more and just trying to document as I go.

EGR appears to be removed....but not block off plate
Vacuum lines look shot
Couple missing valve cover screws
Clutch slave does not have line securely screwed in
Starter is not securely mounted
Oil return line is not secured
Crappy hose clamps used on fuel lines

I think I am going to have to spend some time browsing pics here and the BGB to get this put back together the right way.
 

Redrkt01

New member
My personal opinion is that the first tool any ST165 owner should have is the BGB. It's more important than any wrench you have in the garage.
 

Redrkt01

New member
UtahSleeper":1gq2lc3p said:
Which I have :) So I will be spending some time reading in the coming weeks.

That's good. I read a thread recently, unsure if it was here or not, about a guy that was trying to trouble shoot without one. GLWT!
 

UtahSleeper

Active member
So, I have started poking around the car and removing items that will be cleaned/replaced/repaired. This car has had alot of attempted upgrades and such and it has just become a cluster of an interior and engine bay. So, my goal is to strip it down to stock and also remove anything I think can be. So, here are some pics of what I have seen and done.

How the engine bay looked at the start of my pulling.
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Part of the hacked harness and other mess.
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Found this and learned it was someones half ass attempt to have a working heater, I assume.
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Wiring and random switches.....
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Random pics of what various previous owners have done.
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I believe these were "crossovers" for the system that use to be in.
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After the engine harness and fuel evap has been removed.
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The PS line that I cant seem to get bolted down. Think a previous owner rerouted it a bit when they got the radiator and decided against trying to secure it.
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Attempts at cleaning up the PS area. The return hose seems to press against the timing belt right now. Not sure if it was just pushed into a bad spot.
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Driver side, under dash wiring havoc. Remote start was the biggest mess there.
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And all the crap removed. Most items had the splice type plugs.
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Here is the remote start/alarm in a pile :)
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And how she sits, waiting for me to get her going.
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