Looks fantastic! Totally jelly.

I'm selling a few items from the front end I got. Follow this link.

looks just like mine

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Yes indeed they are very similar once I paint it, it will fully look like yours.

Just a progress on what I did with the car mechanically and maybe some advise. I changed the radiator because I was noticing erratic changes in the engine temperature. I had previously changed the timing belt, thermostat, and water pump, but was still experiencing the same proble. Anyway, this change of thermostat two weeks ago improved things considerably as I no longer see the temperature gauge go up and down after driving for about 20 minutes. Nevertheless, after the change, in fact on the day of the change of radiator, at night I noticed that the gauge increased to about 70% after 15 min of street driving at night. Ever since, it has only happened about twice more all at night and never during the hot California weather we've been having. I've no idea what this could be due to but it happens. I know that the fans turn on, but I'm not sure if they do it in due time; in any case, that wouldn't explain why it only happens at night. Any input on this?

Also, when I took the car to the dealership for a minor service, they noticed that there was a lot of oil in the undercarriage and they thought that the problem might be due to a defective valve cover gasket. I told my mechanic if he could replace it, but he recommended instead to lift the head and change that gasket instead of just the valve cover gasket, asking this whole thing much more expensive. Is he trying to just make mo money off me or do you guys think he has a pint in wanting to do this? The car runs great and is very quiet with a nice idle. If it weren't for the mild overheating problem, I would say it's perfect. What do you guys think?

Thanks.

If the head gasket was bad you'd have water in your oil. As far as the temperature issue, have you checked your temperature sensor/sender?

Also, change the valve cover gasket yourself. Very easy to do, and is about $10 for the gasket from a parts house.

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I was going to replace both sensors, but decided against it because I was going to replace the radiator, thinking that that was the problem, but you are right, I will replace them both just in case. As for the cover gasket, could you refer me to a place where I could find instructions, or is it that easy? Will there be oil beneath the cover? Is this info in the repair manual so that I can just follow these instructions? I mean, I've never done anything meanical to a car but I figure if I could replace the front in the car, I can replace a valve cover gasket. I just don't want surprises lol.

Should be able to find a test for the sensors, to determine if they're the problem or it's something else. The valve cover gasket is easy. Not sure about the 5S-FE, but the 7A-FE has 4 bolts, then 2 that hold a wiring harness down. There will be oil beneath the cover. I'm sure there's info on here, or somewhere else online about it. It's a fairly straight forward procedure though. May want to go ahead and replace the spark plug seals while you're at it.

It's super easy to do an only took me about 10 minutes to do
An if you let the celica set overnight then do it oil won't be that big a deal since most will be settled down in the pan
There's 4 big nuts under the spark plug wire boots an 1 small bolt holding the harness down to I do beleave
Grab a new Pcv valve too cuz they normally break when taking off the valve cover

Sound advice here. Your mechanic is definitely trying to take you for a whole lot more money, no doubt. Your oil and coolant would both be contaminated if you had a head gasket issue.

The valve cover gasket is pretty easy. The four nuts that hold the cover on are like 30 or 31 mm, then the one 10 mm nut. The cover might take some prying, but it will come free. You'll just need a new gasket and some RTV, and there are plenty of how-to's online.

Heres a video that may help you. The valve cover gasket is just pressed into the valve cover as soon as you get the cover off.

Time-
30min to an hour

You need a-
10mm socket or wrench
30mm socket from autozone( rent it)
1/2 drive ratchet for 30mm socket


Heres the how to video-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DFhHncL8l8

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Haha, that is exactly the video I watched and decided to use. I was wondering if you were a member since I noticed it was a Celica. Anyway, I just have a question, do I have to tighten those 30mm nuts at a certain torque? You talked about torque, but did not specified it or said if it was required. I looked at the stickies and looked at a torque chart, but nothing is specified for a 2.2 L engine for tose nuts. Maybe I'm over thinking this, but wanted to know if I should tighten it up as much as I want.

Thanks.

Off the top of my head I think it is 12 in/lbs. I just tighten mine down using only my thumb and one finger on the ratchet. Using only one finger limits your torque enough. And tighten the two inner ones first(cyl 2 and 3) and the outer cylinders second(1 and 4).

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Got it. I will do that. I don't have a torque wrench, so it's good it must not be special. Thanks.

Hi you all,

I have updates to post as this is taking shape as times goes on. Last Friday-Saturday I changed the valve cover gasket and the plug seals. As I had the valve cover out, I painted it red with high temperature paint. Also, to complete the GT-Four look and now that I had the new two spoiler hatch, I replaced the hatch and installed the raised two post GT-Four hatch on it. I then proceeded to wash the car again and well, here are the pictures.

This is how the engine looked like before painting.



Here I am wondering if the condition of the bottom gear is normal or if there is anything wrong with it.



Before prepping the cover



Is this coloring normal? I've no idea since this is the first time I look at the inside of a valve cover.



Painted cover and drying.



Finished work. I really liked the way it turned out.



The cover in place.



Before removing the hatch.



After removal of the hatch. It looks wired.



The way it now looks. It really is taking shape.



It seems that all it needs now is paint, the decals, and a rear hatch visor I plan to buy. For the paint I plan to leave the mirrors, the things used to open the doors, the raiser blocks, and the license plate plate on the back in matte black and the rest of the car in the original O40 white. Then get the car ready for the decals. What do you guys think? Do you have any suggestions for the Castrol GT-Four model?

Input is appreciated.


Next stop: Paint!!!!!

yes the discoloring is normal. and the other gear is supposed to be split like that. that helps reduce noise.

I told mine the same thing when I had my valve cover gasket replaced. Every 5s in the world has either replaced one or needs one replaced because it leaks. I told him "the valve cover gasket needs replaced while you are in there fixing that soft-plug" him "well could be the head gasket too, i haven't been under there to look" Me-"no no, head is fine, just replace the valve cover gasket and we'll be good" him "you sure? 190k miles can do a lot fo things to a car" Me - "every 5s in any camry or celica has leaked a valve cover gasket. My coolant looks fine, that's definitely all I want you to do."

Like pulling teeth. If I were you, I'd even question taking it back to that mechanic for anything whatsoever.... any mechanic who can't be straight up with you doesn't deserve your business...... in my guys defense they changed the valve cover gasket and the soft-plug parts and labor were 185$.... he's cheap, real cheap, and I think he just wanted to make sure the problem was fixed.... that being said, NICE WORK there.... keep it up!

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Hey thanks!!! I mean, he wanted me to do that because he knows that the car overheats at times. When I am on the freeway going 70 to 80 mph for like 10 min straight, the car almost always heats up to like 75%. If i get off the freeway, then it drops to normal after a little while. If I go on the freeway at around 60 mph for 30 min, at few times it heats up again to about 75%. Now, if I do normal street driving, it almost never goes up, but it has in the past. I've noticed that when it goes up on street driving it mostly does it when the car is waiting for a green light, then when the car moves, it goes down to normal. He has already changed the radiator, the timing belt, the thermostat, the water pump, and I have replaced the valve cover gasket and the two wire temperature sensor. I think that he wanted to change the head gasket to check if he finds a problem there because he does not know what the source of the problem is. I think so because when I told him that I was thinking in removing the engine so that the engine bay be painted as well during the paint job, he said that it would be great because that way he could also disassemble the whole engine and change the pistons and have the engine machined and do other things to the car, it seemed to me that he wanted to do an engine overhaul. Now I don't think he just wanted to do that to get my money, but to really fix the problem, and since he does not know, well, he just wants to do that and fix the problem in the process. Nevertheless, I really don't know what the problem is with the car because it does heat up at times and it worries me.

^^ Weird... You said you've replaced the radiator? Fans functioning properly? New water pump and thermostat... That could very well be the issue. Where did the thermostat come from? I bought a brand new thermostat last summer that never opened up. New parts aren't always perfect, so it might be worth pulling your thermostat and doing the boil test to see if it opens all the way.

There's no sense at all in giving $1,000 to have the head gasket replaced when it's not leaking, only to have your car overheat next week and ruin the new gasket.

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Was the gt-4 fogs plug and play from the stock foglight connector?

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Yes, just plug and play. As if they were the originsl fog lights. All lights were so. I haven't connected the side markers yet, and although I heard that a modification would be necessary, I doubt it because I tried the connector to the light housing and they matched. All I need to do is extend the cable.

By the way, I took the car to the body shop just last Wednesday. I will be going today to see its progress and take pictures.

Hi you all,

Here are some of the pictures of how the car looks like at the moment. There are a few things left to do, but I will stop for now as I want to enjoy the car as it is now.

The things that I have left to do include:

1. O.Z. Racing rims in white (I am currently looking for a set)

2. Mud flaps in red

3. Castrol Celica vinyls from skewer.co.uk

4. Personalizing the plate to a Celica theme concept (accepting private messaged suggestions with a maximum of seven characters. I have one in mind though).

5. New leather upholstering.

6. Minor cosmetic details.

I think, unless you can add to the list, I will be done once these things are done. What do you guys think?

Oh, as a side note, some of you might remember that I was having occasional problems with mild overheating, well I replaced the radiator cap and that solved the problem. It is amazing how such small things make a difference.

Here are the pictures:



























Oh, and thanks to Nial who suggested to paint the area surrounding the license plate black just like the rally car. I like it very much.

ooo nice lets organize a meet!

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Man, if I were not so busy, I would really love to. Looking at other cars and meeting people with the same passion. I currently have two jobs and got almost no time for other things

Hi everyone, I am reviving this old thread because I have an update. The car has changed since the last pictures above. It now has the OZ rims I wanted (since Feb. 2013) and I just received the decals from Mook the day before yesterday. As you might imagine, I am very excited because the project is close to completion. I will soon post pictures of the car with the rims, then post pictures of the car as I apply the decals to the post the final product. It is going to look amazing

This post has been edited by JohanFer: Mar 21, 2015 - 2:54 AM

post some pictures of the new setup please!

Looking forward to seeing it completed

Personally if you are going for the full on rally look, I would remove the side skirts as the rally cars didn't have them, and I think the GT4s look better without them.......I investigated this on the GT I purchased resently, and it's an easy task if they havnt been bonded on. Just depends on how much rust has built up behind the skirts.........I then pluged the mounting holes with rubber blanking grommets so at any time I could refit the skirts......just a suggestion