I know i posted a joint thread a while ago with my datsun and celica but this is solely for the celica and as the cogs are now starting to turn i thought it was time to do a proper build thread.
I bought the celica on the 19th of september 2007 for a measly sum of $450. My main goal was to get it roadworthy and looking respectable. It looked like this.
The problems i had were very simple. The manifold had been took off at some stage and unfortunately they wrecked the gasket instead of doing the clever thing the total muppets just used silicon and the old gasket which required me spending a good deal longer than it should take cleaning crappy silicon off.
Unfortunately have no pictures of this as was more focused on getting it done.
That was really the only mechanical fault. next problem was the exhaust was useless more holes than a sieve. So it was out with the grinder and off she came. Upgraded that to a 2 inch system.
All good from there on till i noticed a large patch of oil appearing in the workshop a quick look underneath and realised these wonderful people had used the sump as a jacking point. Now finding parts here in tassie is pretty hard and i was working to a pretty tight budget. off came the sump and out came a block of wood and large hammer. Tapped it back out square and found the crack coming from the sump plug hole. Out with the welder and bodged that.
Next off with the rims and a new set of tyres on two of them luckily other two were ok. Well rims were off checked the brake pads and discs all good there. Then onto the inside of the car stripped that out and gave a good clean.
When i got it, it looked like this.
Now i didnt have the money to do the interior at the time so standard it stayed.
Aftere clean it was time to whip out the sanders and get stuck in to the rust and taking the car back to the old primer. The paintjob was what i like to call blue metallic flake. It was blue you could see the metal in spots and was flaking off.
When sanded back was time for the spray guns and a couple of coats of primer to be put on sanding back between coats for a smooth finish.
At this stage she looked like this The one picture does have a black guard but this was done just to give me an idea of what to expect:
Left that to dry for a few days as it was getting into winter.
Then back out with the spray guns and the tin of jet black. On she went leaving each coat to dry well before hitting it again with the wet and dry. Had some late nights getting this done often not finishing in the workshop till gone midnight.
I was finally happy with how she looked. So was down the garage for an over the pits inspection with that done i finally had her on the road and ive been happy just driving around having a good time. But all good things come to an end as one door closes another opens.
Today everything fell into place. I wont give too much away just yet but i will mention a few features.
Brand new custom interior,
Gloss white respray.
New air dam and rear wing,
Gold deepdish hotwires,
And some custom airbrushing,
Oh nearly forgot a new engine which has 8 cylinders producing 200bhp:D.
Will add more detail as the build progresses i hope i have not bored you all too much.
As she is now:
I bought the celica on the 19th of september 2007 for a measly sum of $450. My main goal was to get it roadworthy and looking respectable. It looked like this.
The problems i had were very simple. The manifold had been took off at some stage and unfortunately they wrecked the gasket instead of doing the clever thing the total muppets just used silicon and the old gasket which required me spending a good deal longer than it should take cleaning crappy silicon off.
Unfortunately have no pictures of this as was more focused on getting it done.
That was really the only mechanical fault. next problem was the exhaust was useless more holes than a sieve. So it was out with the grinder and off she came. Upgraded that to a 2 inch system.
All good from there on till i noticed a large patch of oil appearing in the workshop a quick look underneath and realised these wonderful people had used the sump as a jacking point. Now finding parts here in tassie is pretty hard and i was working to a pretty tight budget. off came the sump and out came a block of wood and large hammer. Tapped it back out square and found the crack coming from the sump plug hole. Out with the welder and bodged that.
Next off with the rims and a new set of tyres on two of them luckily other two were ok. Well rims were off checked the brake pads and discs all good there. Then onto the inside of the car stripped that out and gave a good clean.
When i got it, it looked like this.
Now i didnt have the money to do the interior at the time so standard it stayed.
Aftere clean it was time to whip out the sanders and get stuck in to the rust and taking the car back to the old primer. The paintjob was what i like to call blue metallic flake. It was blue you could see the metal in spots and was flaking off.
When sanded back was time for the spray guns and a couple of coats of primer to be put on sanding back between coats for a smooth finish.
At this stage she looked like this The one picture does have a black guard but this was done just to give me an idea of what to expect:
Left that to dry for a few days as it was getting into winter.
Then back out with the spray guns and the tin of jet black. On she went leaving each coat to dry well before hitting it again with the wet and dry. Had some late nights getting this done often not finishing in the workshop till gone midnight.
I was finally happy with how she looked. So was down the garage for an over the pits inspection with that done i finally had her on the road and ive been happy just driving around having a good time. But all good things come to an end as one door closes another opens.
Today everything fell into place. I wont give too much away just yet but i will mention a few features.
Brand new custom interior,
Gloss white respray.
New air dam and rear wing,
Gold deepdish hotwires,
And some custom airbrushing,
Oh nearly forgot a new engine which has 8 cylinders producing 200bhp:D.
Will add more detail as the build progresses i hope i have not bored you all too much.
As she is now:
