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The first car that I ever purchased, not including earlier hand-me-downs, was a 1991 Tercel S. 2-door, 4 speed manual. IIRC in my younger dumber days it got around 38 mpg. I didn't notice when I bought it that it already had a wrecker engine (obvious yellow paint pen numbers written on the valve cover). Turns out that the early SOHC 1.5 motors had a real problem with valve guides seals that led to piston rings gumming up and subsequent lack of mosquitos within a 2 mile radius. Mine eventually started burning oil (it turns out again), so one summer I did an inframe ball hone overhaul - new rings and valve guide seals, which solved the problem.
I always wondered if the later DOHC engine had this issue. I have always thought that a late model Tercel would make fantastic EV conversion.
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