1973 TA22 Toyota Celica - Patchwork quilt

On to plan A for the wheel well, amongst other jobs I had a play yesterday and dug out my very own rusty spare for a clean up



Came out alright and although a little 'holey' I reckon it may be salvageable with a small amount of effort.



I then moved on to a sorting a few of the jobs on the priority list ahead of the rear axle going on... Firstly the bull nose


Came out alright with a bit of playing about


All will come off for a good clean and paint, also so I can finish welding up the inner sills and bracketry. Nearly there.

As its birthday weekend I got taken for a tour around the museum at CCK Historics, lots of interesting stuff in there at present prior to the Goodwood Members meeting, then back to the workshop where few treats were available too 😂



As birthday is tomorrow, finally managed to escape away for some R&R and in keeping with all things retro I spotted this in the car park.



Check out its size compared to that fiat 😳. As an 80's child too I thought it rather apt - can't remember the last time I saw one.

So as per the minor mention on the last page which @grumpynorthener spotted, the car is now off to the Restoration show at the NEC (what have I agreed to! ), it'll be a definite 'work in progress' (i.e. very rough and certainly not pretty!), but if you're exhibiting or just going, feel free to come say hello offer advice or just tell me I've done things the wrong way . I/the car will be on The Toyota Enthusiasts Club stand, not sure of the hall details just yet, nor what I'm going to be doing to make things 'interactive' as yet, watch this space!

Now for the above to be even a remote possibility I need to get the car in a moveable state which means getting my skates on - ironically that's how the car might need to move as well but that's another story!

Either way I need it to be on its wheels at the very least and reasonably structurally sound, meaning there's rather a lot I need to do. Not easy when time is at a bit of a premium due to a whole host of other things happening. However if workshop time presents itself then I now need to grab it with both (very cold) hands! and so it was off to a very cold cow shed on sunday for some warming via a welder... those with tidiness OCD look away now


As a brief reminder (and as some motivation for me), roughly 6 months ago things looked like this


Rather pleasingly we appear to be making progress and everything is now somewhat more solid, albeit still needs tidying in places


or at least it was once I'd welded it all in place


I also tidied the sill and re-welded where it was previously sliced when the 'pop on' oversill was removed (a minor slip with the disc cutter going through both panels)


Those with a keen eye might also spot something missing that I was working on last time


It was a little too cold to keep exposing my hands to the cold to take pics so no evidence , but before attacking the inner sill panel I tacked the outer sill to the remnants of the front bullnose and then removed the lot so I could finish welding it off the car before fitting it back on. The plan being that I can do with a single join at a later date as opposed o the myriad of folds you can see in a previous post - hopefully this will be next weekend or if I'm really lucky maybe even one eve this week...

The countdown is on...

Given the aforementioned time pressures, I forced myself outside to head to the workshop again last night, I even made some reasonable in-roads on sorting the bullnose on the outer sill in the 2hrs I spent there. Starting with my very roughly tacked together mock up


Which after some hot metal glue and a bit of a tidy now fits in here


Lastly once I was happy with the positioning I drilled the holes in the bottom and welded the captive nuts on.


As a result the wing now attaches properly, first time in about 25 years

Looking good Sam.

You are a much braver man than me.

Instead of white spirit which is smelly, try 'Panel Wipe (other makes are available) from your local paint factors, it dissolves stuff much better and does not harm paint or plastic. Smells less/better as well.

samta22 , forgive me for what might seem like an odd thing to be writing in your thread - it'll make sense eventually. Maybe...

Our first ever Toyota was a 3 year old '79 Corolla (KE30). Wow! What a brilliant car compared to the poverty spec Escorts dad used to buy. Well equipped, quiet, comfortable. Mum drove like she was on a stage rally most of the time and the little Toyota just put up with it. It always came home under it's own steam. Dad's Escort, on the other hand, was lucky to get where it was going let alone get back again. In fact the Corolla had just one problem... Rust. Rampant terminal rust.
I had the old Corolla for the last two years of its life around 1990 and ragged it between London, Evesham and North Yorkshire. By the time I'd finished with it there was nothing left. The chassis rails were getting flattened due to jacking so were obviously rusting internally. The floor had rotted out and been badly replaced. There was nothing metallic left to weld to. It was made of rust and filler. Imagine a comedy version of me crashing it and winding up sitting in a seat holding the steering wheel on a large pile of brown oxide and you won't be far off.

December 2015 and your wife has dragged a 70's Celica out of what appears to be a hedge. Given my history of Toyota cars you think this thread would be right up my street.
I'm ashamed to say, I couldn't look. I remember what my Corolla was like in 1990, what would a Celica be like 25 years later? I was scared, horrified even! When I accidentally clicked on your thread I had to hide behind the sofa, shaking and peaking over the cushions in terror. I had visions of the fizzing noise of the Corolla made as it dissolved in the rain. Eventually Mrs Sweetpea clicked on something else and I could come out again.

Anyway, I've been in therapy... I've finally 'grown a pair' and read your thread.
You, sir, are sure to go to Toyota heaven for your efforts. Well done and keep it up! I shall be reading along from here on.

James

Talking of 'fun', I had another weekend planned where I could spend most of it on the car once more, albeit bar a minor distraction which involved talking salad over a couple of beers (those who know will know), anyway I still managed a good day and a half's worth... not bad all things considered.

The intention was that I would try to get everything prepped to a point where the outer sill could go back on, unfortunately it meant a whole host of jobs that although weren't difficult, they just sucked time. Those horrible, fiddly little jobs that had to be done before the main objective, bit like peeling sprouts at Christmas before you can open your presents (me scarred? never ).

Nothing for it but to knuckle down and get on with it then, just trying not to rush and cock things up to a point where they would take even longer...

But before then, back to starting with the lights.. Friday night I managed to finish cleaning the units


and started to test out a replacement for the foam gaskets


will come back to those one evening this week as the foam needs a little shaping and trimming still.

Saturday morning came and I decided the beast needed to make an appearance to finish off the inner sill properly - forgot how damn heavy this thing is!


Soon did its job however and the inner sill was spot welded along the top and all along the floor edge at the bottom.

I then started to make up some smaller panels, but as the aforementioned beer was calling, refitted everything to make sure all lined up ok still before i left.

If it's only tacked then cut and reposition.
Great work so far.

Thanks both, agree that's probably the best way forward, might see if there is a way I can do it with the wing in place. Guess what I'm going to be pondering all this week