That exhaust does look good indeed. Some different wheels? Man, makes me wish I had a manual.

nice work on that polish! geez

I've seen your videos before and i loved them. I was happy to see a st185 in them also.

Seems like you'll make this celica into a just as good looking car as your other two.

I managed to get the seats updated. The driver side of the original seats were sooo badly torn. You would think people know how to get in and out of the car without constantly rubbing on the seat to the point of tearing! The new ones need a good cleaning, but just got excited to take a pic.

nice update!! all you need now is a 98-99 celica gt 3 spoke steering wheel, trd shift knob and the interior is pretty much done!! keep at it. nice paint btw.

Man, that car is getting better and better! Black celicas are so sexy!

like the muffler =)

Thanks all. Oddly enough I like the 4post wheel on this daily driver. But if I come across an affordable 3post I may consider it. Went to the yard today and I'm glad I did. Found a Celica Limited so took what I could. I almost bought the seats as well since it has the nicely printed "Celica" on the seats...but I couldn't do it. Not after the seats I JUST bought. Any way, small update on what I snagged:

oo nice. I personally like the floor mats and rear view mirror. Also see that raised center arm rest

im liking what you're doing man.

I didn't like the raised center "pillow" that much. Idk about you, but it makes my elbow sit too high on the shifter. I don't like it brushing as I shift gears. LMK how it feels for you though.

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Hmm you're right. At first, I liked it on my 96 but recently i feel that my elbow sits too high!

OP - what did you use to restore the paint??

nvm - found it!

This post has been edited by nics: Sep 10, 2011 - 4:58 AM

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Daily driving I like being lazy and resting my elbow on the pillow lol. My elbow becomes sort of a pivot. My STI has something similar and I just got used to it. The Evo doesn't have that option, and I can see how it's nice not having something 'in the way' when you're tracking.

Thanks guys. I ordered a set of lowering springs. Will look into getting a set of decent wheels next. Hood and bumper will be last and I'll consider the project 'done'....for now lol.

Well worked on the hood a bit. For some reason the previous owner sprayed some solvant on all the cracks and dents of the body. Check out how the hood used to look like:



So started to do what I did for the rear





This took about 3 coats to penetrate by hand.








Got a really good deal on some decent rims and tires. 18x7.5 and 245 45 18ZR rims with 60% tred with lugnuts for $140. Fairly excited now to get the springs next week. Took a pic of height reference so we can see the lowering difference (M2 2" lowering springs).

Putting 18's on in the rear REALLY makes one's drums stick out :vomit: So I made a run to the yard, picked up some necessities, and started cleaning stuff up. It's no 2pot, but better than drums for now.

You shoulda snagged the front brakes to, i noticed a big difference when i did both sets.. I have pics of the front brake differences between the ST and GT if your interested.

Nice, that's a cheap pick-up for sure. Half of what I paid for mine, and I got 17" wheels. Anyway, how are those Riken tires? I can't really find much info on them on quick search, any good? They certainly seem cheap, not necessarily a bad thing.

This post has been edited by SwissFerdi: Sep 19, 2011 - 12:34 PM

nice pickup on the wheels and brakes!! 245 wide on 7.5 inch rim, a little big for that rim. Definitely looks better than the first set of wheels, that's for sure!

no rubbing the bottom of the strut/spring seat???

This post has been edited by BonzaiCelica: Sep 19, 2011 - 1:07 PM

The original plan was to get those 4pot fronts from Ron, but he decided to jack up the price recently after I was interested in picking them up for his quoted price. Must have noticed he was underselling himself lol Oh well. I'll definetly need to get GT fronts now. The rears look to be the same size as ST fronts haha.

No rubbing on the wheels or struts(that I've noticed so far). You can sort of see where the spring seats are in relation to the top of the tire if your contrast/brightness is high enough. I've only driven it 30 miles or so so far. I will say that they are budget for a reason lol. LOUD! The first time I test drove it for 10 miles for saftey, I said to myself "Hmm, kinda noticeable in sound". The second time I drove it for 20 miles, it drowned out my exhaust after 15 miles! Sure it's got decent grip for the money, but no R&D went into sound here. I'm sure it'll only get worse when the car is lowered. Will have to look into something else, and probably something a little thinner.

Thanks guys.

could have sworn you can get other interchangeable pots from lexus that is the same as the st205 pots...anyone remember the thread?

Well you cant just bolt on the st205 brakes...Culpable04 did writeup on it and its a pretty extensive process IIRC. Yea Ron seems to enjoy raising the prices on things as soon as i can actually buy them.

i agree...he's a trickster...tax and all that...make sure you say out the door

how's the car looking these days?

You are one motivated man! Loving the restoration, great work!

I love what you're doing with your Celi! I have a question, what year celica did you pull the seat pan's off of (pre/post facelift), i'm looking for a set to put my 7gc seats on and information is not easy to find.