Here's my DD: 234.000 (miles) on the clock. ECT Auto, stock 3sge w/ K&N air filter. Had a couple valve jobs over the years, but the bottom end and auto trans are stone original. It's got all the standard 4 gen issues but it runs strong and it's a lot more fun than the new cookie-cutter shit that's out there.... Vic
Thanks for all your kind words haha. My next move is the "heater fix" ... I recently replaced the blower resistor so I've got three speeds but the temp slider doesn't work and my AC button on the auto climate control is sketchy. Vic
Here's a few more shots of my 87 GTS coupe ... After procrastinating for five years I finally did the real Heater Fix as described by ST162.net .., special thanx to joe in SoCal With the California white lightening coupe w/ Redtop and of course to JamesZ in Covina Mine is a daily driver going on 240,000 with ECT auto haha. I'm an old guy who got his first new car (1970 Datsun pick up) as a senior at lynwood high (you do the math) so I don't mind not shifting
Here's a little history on this car. I inherited it in 2011 from an old army buddy who passed away in the veterans hospital in west LA. It has bed parked in the lot for sometime. Fortunately I knew the cars idiosyncrasies and Jim had done the starter fix on his own cause he was a top notch backyard mechanic. ... but I digress .. I got it fired up drive it all the way to the valley (30 miles). Since then it's been a work in progress to keep it safe, reliable and fun. Heres a couple shots of a few things (of many ) I had to do early: I replaced the baldly cracked exhaust mani, & did a valve job.
Here's the Heater Fix for the '87 auto AC. I just re soldered the larger joints... most of them had tiny round cracks so they were at best making intermittent contact. A rare rainy day in drought land
The exhaust manifolds on these are pretty crappy,seen plenty with cracking issues.You can use the more tubular design ST182 manifold as a bolt on mod,though you have to modify the downpipe for the exhaust.
ST182 Mani Thanx Sherv, I didn't know that....I wonder if it has an O2 sensor buttplug? They're probably real hard to find out here. I lucked out and scored a pristine stock mani and all the brackets for both intake and exh sides. Mine were sketchy and missing; that may be why it cracked so badly. I redid everything real sano when I did the valve job two years ago and it still runs great. I check stuff regularly ha-ha I still have the original effed up mani that has already had one attempt at welding repair at one point in its past.
Blue interior Here's a couple shots of the blue interior... 90% perfect...the 30 year old drivers side is a bit shabby as you'd expect. The lumbar adjustable drivers seat gives real comfy support. I always keep the ECT in Power mode cause it shifts too soon in Norml mode for my taste.
Thanx Steve It's always a work in progress... two steps forward one step back...$85 bones later I got a new green top interstate battery .. haha
My car at local In & Out.., It started running crappy a couple times and I could wiggle the connector at the MAF and all seemed well for a bit. ... It would only idle almost like a limp mode. Luckily I had a back up MAF to try (thanks to James!) anyway before I got the old one off I discovered that the clamp at the TB was kinda loose so I just retightened it and boom good as ever. Probably wiggling the box a bit was temporary giving better fit hence it would run ok for a short and scary bit haha.. I love happy endings!
Fron end Treatment Found a white facelift version at the local LKQ recently so I snagged the grille, eyelids and front lenses. It wasn't exactly plug n play but with some very slight mods the fit pretty well. My lower lip has always been missing so I applied a small black tubular door weather strip to the bottom to break-up the monotony...
New tires & valve job A while back when I did the head I noticed that the TVIS diaphragm was leaking... since I couldn't find a satisfactory replacement I decided to delete the butterflies. I also plugged the hose so I wouldn't have a vac leak under the intake. It runs good and still has plenty of low end grunt .., even in Normal ECT mode. i also got tires 205-60-14 which is now a hard to find size.
5th Gen in my hood Met a local kid (at the In & out) and his gf who just got a "white" GTS ... They were pretty cool.,. the car was kinda ratty tho. My G motor runs much stronger than his 2.2, but Hey .... You gotta start somewhere.
always good to hook up with like minded car people.I had a bit of a 'play' with a guy in a Mitsubishi FTO a while ago,once we both eased off a bit (he wasn't getting away from my car :ewink ),we actually pulled over and had a chat and a look at each others cars.Nice guy,he appreciated the 162 shape and rarity,and was also keen to see why a near 30 year old N/A Toyota Celica was glued to his MIVEC 'Mitsi.:scratch