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>>Part A - A How-To>>

I've finally finished my gt-four front conversion.. to be honest, seeing it in person is a lot more surprising than in the pictures.. this is probably my best mod so far and was far beyond my first expectations..
perhaps i'm overexaggerating a bit but in short, this is definitely hotter than what i had in mind .

it was not an easy task for me since my car was previously in an accident and the fenders, hood, and gt-four bumper didn't line up like it should. so washers were added onto bolts to fill gaps to align the fenders properly. but otherwise, you shouldn't have a problem since everything attaches the same way.

i first thought that this was simply ALL BOLT ON but really wasn't. i mean, it was but it wouldn't fit and line up correctly... so a couple of things (for you future gt-four convertors) that needed modifications were:

1. cutting the st205 reinforcement bumper
2. the gap to fill between the bumper and hood

the reinforcement bumper was not a direct bolt-on job... the front frame rails where the re-bar bolts on to is different on the gt4's.

this is how it appears when you have it against the frame rails...


as you can see, the bottom is far too forward for the upper threading to fit through...

this is how it looks after being cut (using an impact metal sheet cutter):



and here it is when bolted on




another thing which i totally missed is when you have the bumper installed, the bar sits slightly higher than it should be. right now, it doesn't fit in the groove on the bumper absorber. that may be because my car was in a previous front end accident and things aren't lining up 100% perfect.


to fill the gap between the bumper and hood, i used about 2.25" screws with a nut. the head of the screw and the nut clamps the bumper seal to the bumper plastic, and the bottom tip of the screw screws into the threading on the metal retainer. thank god i have tons of all sorts of screws in my garage. finding the right screw is gonna be hard. i've heard other members use the same thing but instead used washers to lift the bumper up high. either way is fine i guess, but i like my idea better. this is how mine looks like btw...




some custom 4" lamps were put in. i bought them from a local hardware store for $8 each (which beats the ~$250 that they normally cost). though they don't mount onto the rebar but are just the lamps themselves.. i've read that another member used Mercury Topaz (or something) 4" fogs instead but i couldn't find those anywhere. besides, i like the crystaly (not sure if that's even a word ) look better. they're basically glued to the fog light housings though i'm not sure if the glue will hold because these lamps tend to get pretty hot when on. i don't think i'll be wiring them up anyway...





that's all there is to know for the conversion.. it's relatively simple just takes some time.
in my case, i also had the fenders that came off the clip where my bumper and hood came off of. so i ordered some jdm sidemarkers and wired them up to the turn signals.. this is also an easy mod and very appealing at night.





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>>Part B - Becoming>>

















>>--------------------------------------------->>


>>Part C - Completetion>>


















[size=1] is this too many pics for one post?

This pictures are what I waited for... amazing work!

Nice job.

>

The rails aren't different and you shouldn't have to cut anything. You just need the right brackets:
Frame Bracket RH 57201-20060
Frame Bracket LH 57202-20070

Also, judging by this picture:

I'd say you need these parts as well:
Seal, hood to front end panel 53395-20020 $19.92 This is the rubber seal where the hood and bumper meet
Retainer, front bumper upper center 52521-20200 $25.44 this is the metal thing that holds the rubber in place

Otherwise I think it looks pretty good.

>
x2 on the frame brackets..props for creative thinking getting it to work tho, once you get the hood seal and retainer in, it'll look super!
also..anything that says "gt-four" on a car thats not is kinda a pet peeve of mine..but again creative thinking..
nice work.

damm that is a mean looking car

nice job man. the before and after pics are awesome. again, great job. wish i had the money and time to do this myself.

>

IMHO... I have also SS-III sticker on my car and it's not SS-III at all (or Beams, TRD, superstrut suspension, etc.) . Professional will recognise that and amateur don't even care (if it's or it's not GT-four/SS-III)... but everyone see damn good looking car! That's my opinion about this...

holy smokes! that is hot!!!!

awesome! pics are great!! makes me want to switch and do a GT4 conversion

looks good...i saw it yesterday when you were leaving your work!!!

i was in the green celica...i actually just bought raiser blocks of babycakes on heights!

anyway looks badass

>

wow.. i didn't even know you can get those frame brackets... always thought they were fixed on the car.
and about the seal and retainer, i just took the one off the old bumper and bent it to fit the new bumper so i can start using it asap.... it's almost a direct swap with different angle bends. but i think i'll buy the gt4 one anyway

>
most dont care because 90% of the american population doesnt even know what a gt-4 or SS-III celica is. Looks awesome.

Im just curious...Whats the difference between a base model Civic or Integra putting on a Type R sticker or somethin along that line and a Celica with a GT-4 / SSIII badge on it? Yet the Civic and Integra owners are called ricers but the badging on Celicas, they're considered cool. Everytime i come on this site, i hear stories about a riced out Civic but when the Celica has the same modifications, its considered cool. Im just confused by this. Im NOT ragging on ur car cuz i think it looks nice, but i dont get some of ur peoples train of thought. Wouldnt that be considered hypocricy?

looks sweet. plus another great how-to article. good job. nice pics.

looks great. its something id love to do..but I dont have that kinda money to be tossing around. I'd even finish it with real 3 spokers.

>
Sh0gunkid8721, ....... eat your heart out.

hahah.. nice..
anyway, i've been toying out about putting that gt-four emblem on the upper grill there. i knew i'd get some feedback regarding that. imo, i really like the way it looks with the emblem on, but i also dislike the fact that my car just isn't a gt4. so far, the locals here have only given compliments and most of them don't even know what the heck i'm driving and give me pointed fingers and confused looks. heck, i get a good laugh everytime it happens.

but exactly what malpaso said, most people won't recognize it since all they'll be looking at is a rare nice looking car (not to be bragging but just to get the point out). only the real enthusiasts (mainly on this site) know exactly what it is.

i couldn't really care less if everybody here thinks it's rice.. because it's my car and i can have it look however i want it to look. though comments are always welcome..

>>Looks great man, I wish i could get my little red celi to look like that.

~FlamingCelica>>

Thats pretty clean looking and great install. Good work, I still remember when you didn't really have much on. Now it totally looks different. You know what would be nice, since you have the sides and rear, is the splitters that I have. Good job!!!

sexy car bro

bboy

Looks awesmoe, great pics, and great job!!!

Awesome work man! Does that make you the first in Canada with such conversion? You beat me to it .

You're just fueling up my never ending infinite waiting for my parts as well, I see you with your car finished up, and I'm sitting home tracking the shipment day to day ! Awesome work man, the red looks killer!



>

Think of it as esthetic conversion, a clone or whatever..nobody gives a **** about GT-FOUR they don't know what they are...and frankly most of the time people are just going to point at your car to say how beautiful it is(6th gens seems universally accepted as sexy cars) instead of saying its a fake one...cause they just don't know! And if your not a uber supa str33t r@c3r, you shoudln't be bottered about a badge! Thought all that being said, I'm against fake badging, but if anyone come to me(which I would be extremely suprised) I'd just say I made a visual GT-FOUR replica..its that simple.

This post has been edited by Rayme: Sep 4, 2006 - 10:47 PM

nicely done

guy you make incredible how-to's I'm impressed as usual

about the emblem, do whatever you want with it, it's yours.
and did you spray the emblem and the grills a flat black ? or a gunmetal ? what's the deal ?

Well, whats wrong with badging it a gt-four when it is a gt-four exterior conversion?

>


the hood vent was normally painted black but some of the paint was peeling off due to the heat of the engine.. the front upper grill was dusty and old looking and the lower grill had all sorts of rock chips, scuffs, and hard dirt. so they all got a good cleaning and repainted them dark charcoal.
i was hoping for a slightly lighter gray but i'm happy the way it turned out. it shines a lot better than the old flat look

the emblem is off the spoiler block for the 98+ gtfours.. it was not painted, that's how it came as.


ST205's car


paul1's car

This post has been edited by azian_advanced: Sep 5, 2006 - 1:33 AM

also added the rear ss suspension sticker.. i know i know, not sportin the ss suspension but looks hot nonetheless.


a real ss-III hatch




my hatch


all thanks to malpaso

This post has been edited by azian_advanced: Sep 5, 2006 - 1:12 AM

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Let me say, that emblem on grille looks damn good! You have perfect sense for design! I would like just share one experience of mine. I was at local toyota meet few months ago. NO ONE ever heard about some SS-III there.. .and no one ever heard about something like JDM parts... And just someone who try make exterior replica of any car knows how hard it is... for everyone else its ''just'' good looking car. So... Gerald, you did excelent job... unbeleveable excelent one!!! To the letter...

Very nice conversion A_A
Good write up too.
I thought that gt-four badge looks familar,
I've got the same spoiler waiting to be fitted.

Although I wont have the letters on it

This post has been edited by CelicaZR: Sep 5, 2006 - 8:26 AM