New Camry owner, questions, pics, & ideas inside

[Vegasjetta]

Hello everyone. I am new to these cars, but not to cars in general. This will be my 80th car since I got my permit in 1992. I have had many different cars in the past (including a Toyota 4x4 pickup), but this will be my first venture into an early 90's economy car.

I just picked up this 91 Camry for a low 3 digit number. It has 120k on it, 2.0 16v, 4 brand new tires, and auto trans. There are no options on it at all, not even a clock. This is how I wanted it, so when the opportunity came to get it, I grabbed it.

I deliver for a national pizza chain and need a car that gets 30+ MPG. My 95 Cherokee gets 10, my 98 Volvo gets 20, my Ranger gets 20, my Jetta gets 30 (but I can't use that for deliveries, too fast/not a daily driver).

The plan here is to fix the damage (see LOL pics below) and lighten the car as much as possible, to squeeze out as many MPG as I can. What is an average MPG that people on this forum are getting with these?

The car was hit by a plow truck in the last snowstorm and then sat for a month. I found an identical (although has ALL the options) car in the junkyard here and got 90% of what I need to fix the rear. (if anyone needs parts from that one in the yard, let me know, the car is complete!)

Right now, my main question is probably a simple one to figure out, but I don't have the car at home to dig into yet. I want to put the stock dash clock from the optioned car in the yard into this one. What is needed, and how is it done?

I am sure there will be more questions later on. Thanks for looking, and on to the pics of this awful car!

[Tom 2000]

I had a gen2 for many years. It served me well.

Most of the optional equipment should plug right in.

If the donor car has an instrument panel with a tachometer, the instrument panel will plug right in. It was a common upgrade back in the day.

If the donor car has variable intermittent wipers, you may be able to just swap the wiper stalk to get the function, but it's hard to say. Looks like you have the standard/base model.

On DX models with cruise (the cruise control is on the wiper stalk), those models came with intermittent wipers. A quick upgrade was to get the wiper stalk from the LE models to get variable intermittent wipers.



I actually averaged 30 MPG when I had mine. I used the car in my daily commute - mixed city and hwy. However, if you're delivering pizzas (lots of stop and go) you'll probably get a little less.

On road trips (all interstate), I usually got up to 36 MPG from time to time.

[Sturdavj]

Most, if not all parts will be a direct crossover. My factory shop manual shows all Camry models as same, and breaks out the different model options in sub paragraphs.

Looks like the floor pan is intact in your photo shots. Most of the metal appears as if it can pulled out using a come-along and a jack/ porta-power. Replace the deck lid and you’ll be ready to transport the pepperoni.

My 90 Camry LE /4 cly = 30MPG, My 86 Corolla DX /4 cly =35-37MPG. Your may want to shop around for a Corolla ( old wagons are cool for delivery..)for the best MPG.

[Vegasjetta]

Originally Posted by Tom 2000

Most of the optional equipment should plug right in. This is what I like to hear!

If the donor car has an instrument panel with a tachometer, the instrument panel will plug right in. It was a common upgrade back in the day. It doesn't have a tach, I wish it did.

If the donor car has variable intermittent wipers, you may be able to just swap the wiper stalk to get the function, but it's hard to say. Looks like you have the standard/base model. The donor car is a DX with many options!

On DX models with cruise (the cruise control is on the wiper stalk), those models came with intermittent wipers. A quick upgrade was to get the wiper stalk from the LE models to get variable intermittent wipers. I will grab that next trip and see if that works, I hope it does. No intermittent wipers is awful. Is that a pretty easy part to remove? Probably can't be any more difficult than the one in my Cherokee



I actually averaged 30 MPG when I had mine. I used the car in my daily commute - mixed city and hwy. However, if you're delivering pizzas (lots of stop and go) you'll probably get a little less. I am anticipating too many then! Hopefully I can do better than 30, time will tell.

Originally Posted by Sturdavj

Looks like the floor pan is intact in your photo shots. Most of the metal appears as if it can pulled out using a come-along and a jack/ porta-power. Replace the deck lid and you’ll be ready to transport the pepperoni. That is our plan, we are going to put a block of wood behind the damage, and drill a huge eye hook through the wood, and pull it out with a come along. I wish I had a porta power to use! It may not be pretty when we are done, but I don't care what it looks like, really. I got the new trunk lid and tails from the yard, so at least it won't look too horrible.

My 90 Camry LE /4 cly = 30MPG, My 86 Corolla DX /4 cly =35-37MPG. Your may want to shop around for a Corolla ( old wagons are cool for delivery..)for the best MPG. I tried finding anything that was 4 cyl/4 speed/small. Up here in Maine, it's hard to find older stuff in the price range I was looking because of rust. I looked at a 91 Sentra that was $300. There were TWO layers of rust, it was awful. This Camry kinda fell in my lap...

Thanks for your advice, guys. I should have the car home on Monday or Tuesday to start the body fix. I will take pics of the progress...

[Sturdavj]

In "Portland" Oregon we don't have to deal with the rust...... everything is covered with moss. It works great as a Preservative.

Not really

[Vegasjetta]

haha that's funny. Out here in Maine, EVERYTHING is rusty. Even new cars on the dealership sales floors are rusty from the start!

[Vegasjetta]

Got the Camry of Death home today. It drives well for a 90's econobox. Accelerates smooth, and quickly. $20 put the gas tank at halfway, that is awesome. The right front axle is clicking, so that will need to be replaced. Other than that, let the (de)construction of project MMPG (maximum MPG) begin!

[itainthem]

I have a 89 Le wagon.... 4cyl auto...tuned to the max.. I get 22-23 in town... I recently went to on 2 x-country trips to middle Tn. I can squeeze 36mpg if I leave it in cruise at 65 mph.... 75 mph dropped me to 30-32 ... I just ordered a k & n air filter. And changed the oil to 5w-30 from 10w-40.... I'm hopin that el squeeze me a few more mpg... That k&n filter is gonna be the only non-oem item on the car except for the tires. Which I had at 42/40 psi just a few pounds below max for least amount of rolling resistance....