I then made a ‘custom’ trunk liner to finish the job off. I sanded the trunk, coated it with bed liner and installed a battery relocation kit. I hauled out the old tank and found a local welder to fashion a new top for it. So the road back to the road meant a master brake cylinder, a relocated battery and repairs to the gas tank. Also the battery tray was obliterated, the gas tank had a distinct Swiss cheese aura about it and the Toyota’s ‘bubbly’ personality extended to the rocker panels and fender lips. The reason the car had been taken off the road was due to a failing brake master cylinder. The 1.9-liter four cylinder 3R-C engine would run with urging, as long as there was gas can connected to the fuel pump. Process of elimination is a key component when it comes to waking the dead… automotively speaking. This will get you going in the right direction.and the car will let you know what it needs from there. The first thing to do is quiz the seller and get all the info as possible about what is right and what is wrong with the car. You need to deduce what ails the car and figure out sometimes ‘creative’ ways to cure it. To get an old car running takes the skill sets of Sherlock Holmes and Smokey Yunick combined. Then my hand inexplicably reached out and a shake later I was the owner of a 1968 Toyota Corona hardtop coupe. I kept on talking and later, to my amazement, made an offer of $800, which he countered at $900. Somewhere during our conversation the seller mentioned he would consider $1,000. Cosmic tumblers fell into alignment and I went to check it out. I sold the wheels off my Evo IX as well as my Pentax 67II medium format camera in preparation for a harsh tax season - but things went my way and the day I did my taxes the Corona flashed back on my screen with a lowered $1,300 price tag. Each time it went dark I thought someone out there came to their senses and bought it. The late ‘60s Toyota Coronas are highly sought after old school imports, but a vast majority are four-door sedans.Īs time went on I watched the ad disappear and reappear like a lighthouse beacon in the night. I had been eyeing the Craigslist ad for this old school import for months, but $2,200 for a car that hadn’t seen the road in nine years was steep and proved the seller knew the rarity that is a Corona Hardtop Coupe. What follows are the highlights and lowlights of my own story. Yep, Resurrection, even in biblical terms, is hard work - bringing a car back from the brink takes one down a different road for every car and its unique circumstance. Finishing one task may require completing one or two other tasks.įor instance, removing a brake line may require dropping the oil filter.A rare car also means rare replacement parts.Perserverence is needed, you may well work a day or two on removing a single bolt.A big chunk of change will be spent on tools.Some quick tips for the beginning resurrection-ist… I would learn by doing, and always do what’s best by the car. Mine is a quote from the great basketball coach John Wooden, “Don’t let what you can’t do keep you from doing what you can do.” I saw this in the hallway of my son’s middle school and took it to mean I was going to do as much of the work by myself as possible. I knew very early that I needed to employ a point of inspiration.a rally cry if you may. I bought the 1968 Toyota Corona to learn and get that all-important hand’s on experience.
Resurrecting an old car is all about contradiction… It’s fun but frustrating, there are rules but no rulebook, the closer you get to a goal the farther away from it you end up, it takes a patient hand but a quick mind…
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