1991 Ford Tempo L review from North America

I got the car with a dead trans-axle. So I replaced that, replaced the valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket, and all belts. I went further to fix the headlights, tighten the handbrake, flush the radiator system, replace the exhaust, change the radio. Everything, but the transmission and headlights was fine when I got it, but I did decide to bring everything back if I could. The floorboards also had a nasty hole in them from where the previous owner had spilled a lot of coffee. I fixed that as well. I bought the car for $250, and overall, including parts, basically paid 600 for it. I put new brakes, calipers, and the like on it. I've replaced most of the seals and bearings.

This car is great! It ran from the first day I had it. It's got great pickup, and great mileage. I've tweaked with it and used to pull 36 miles per gallon regularly. Now I'm pulling forty after changing gear ratios in the trans-axle. The car will flat out spin the tires, and smokes Sun fires with ease, in takeoff and handling. For being a four cylinder with very high miles and a low power rating, I'm more than impressed. It doesn't burn any oil at all. Nothing leaks in it. I've taken great pains to bring this car back from the junk pile, simply because I like it. I've modified the exhaust with a glass pack for high performance, and put slightly different tires on it. It's great. I'm not fond of the automatics, though. They're not very quick. This thing is slick. With the clutch engaged in first gear I can put the gas halfway down and break traction going straight on dry road. I've only floored this thing twice, and it's responded accordingly. It handles well, very responsive.