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One of my most vivid memories as a kid was when the family was coming home from my Gran's house. It was a long journey - at least 40 minutes, which is just aaaages when you're 5 - and as I was already mad on cars by then, I spent the time looking out the window deciding whether I preferred E21 BMWs or Mk1 Golfs or Volvo 240 estates etc. As you can tell, this was a while back now... it must have been 1978 or so. So on the way home, there I was looking out of the back window of my dad's brown '74 Granada (how cool would it be to own that car now?) and I saw a friendly face looking back at me. It was due to the smiley bumper being worn by a red car following us, which I found out was a Mk1 Celica. I know now it was a TA22 and it was very probably an ST trim spec. Not that I cared about the details, cos I was smitten. Sadly, as I said, I was 5 at the time so owning one wasn't very likely. But forget Countachs or Ferrari 328s, I really wanted a Celica. Equally sadly, 1970s Japanese cars rusted like nothing else. So when I got to driving age in 1990, most of them were already gone. And I was living in west Scotland at the time, which seemed to be really harsh on cars and made even the best of them rot to bits. So I made do with Mk1 Astras for a bit, then embarked on ticking off a load of cars on my wishlist like most of us on here are a bit guilty of (still not worked through the list though!) 37 years later, I've still never seen another Mk1 Celica on the road. And only one at a car show, which was carl1970's black RA23 at this year's Gathering. It was enough to persuade me to have my own. I'd built a garage this summer and finally had somewhere to store my dream car out of harm's way, so I sold the Mk2 Golf GTi, the MX5 turbo, and my beloved z750, and got looking on japaneseusedcars.com for a likely candidate. After a few weeks of looking at green ones, this came up.  It's a '74 GTV, with my preferred "blunt" front end and indicators below the bumper rather than inset, the essential chin spoiler already on it, and as a GTV it had wind-up windows and twin sidedraught carbs. Lovely. The auction sheet showed a category R as it had fresh paint, a 4AGE engine, and "a few aftermarket parts" according to Tony at japaneseusedcars. Well the 4AGE is a benefit as far as I'm concerned, as parts availability and tuning bits are freely available where they aren't for the 2T engine, and the 18R-G 2 litre isn't widely liked - it doesn't like to rev and is often disparagingly referred to as a truck engine. Aftermarket parts that were obvious were door mirrors, front and rear spoilers, wheels, stainless exhaust, rear half cage and steering wheel. No carpet due to the cage, but the drivers seat was still there (many have a purple Bride bucket instead, not my bag) and the interior looked pretty complete. A risk due to the fresh paint - what's underneath, how has it been dealt with? - but I was happy enough with the inspection to bid. And I only went and won it! :-o |
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Last Edit: Mar 8, 2019 10:41:07 GMT by jamesie
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A week later, once it was safely mine and therefore rather too late to back out, some pics arrived from the holding compound.  Blue engine bay? Blue door shuts! the white paintwork ain't going to be great then is it?   Otherwise it's not looking bad. What was advised, 6-8 weeks to arrive? Not long really. In reality it was 13 weeks from purchase to arrival at my house. The boat left a month after auction end, then was fairly slow, then was delayed in Germany, and lastly the customs clearance incurred a few extra days too. But on 9th December it finally arrived. Couldn't wait to get stuck in! But that weekend was booked out, so it'd have to wait. Then my first child was born the following weekend, on 19th December. So, no car time. It was always a risk given my wife was 6 months gone by the time I placed the bid, but the shipping delay made it a reality. Never mind, it's not going on the road while there's any risk of salt or snow, and I'm not intending to drive it til April or May, so I'll have at least some time to sort out whatever it needs. Here's how it sat on its first night at home.  |
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Last Edit: Feb 13, 2016 8:43:04 GMT by jamesie
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So - what does it need? Some iffy bits of rust: - bottom of rear window corners - they all seem to go there - nearside sill at the rear of the door opening - halfway along the nearside sill has a bubble under the paint that I don't want to investigate but really ought to - surface rust at the rear of the offside front wing, where the paint didn't adhere properly - just below the fuel filler cap Floors look good though, no evident impact damage, no rot in the boot or cabin floor. Some iffy bits of paint: - crack in nearside front wing - lower front valance has various bits of rust - nearside rear quarter below the rear bumper might be surface rust, might be rot - door shuts need painting white - boot shut is blue but isn't much of a deal breaker The cage is more style bar than rollcage, so will probably go. But may make a pattern for a proper cage in CDS that triangulates to the rear structure rather than the parcel shelf.  Door and quarter trims still have their factory protection on!  The shift gaiter made out of curtains has gone  And it arrived with cream sun visors, fortunately I'd already got a pair of black ones from Japanese yahoo auctions - easy fix.   Bonnet is GRP, and is decent enough but needs repair at the bonnet stay and a new set of bonnet pins (I'd rather not have pins but recognise the need for either pins or a steel bonnet with proper catch and pull cable, neither of which I've got on the car). Drivers seat base needs repair, which means a good drivers seat base cloth from Japan which will cost a fair bit to bring over. But better that than buckets. The front seat rear mounts could do with lowering too, as I feel a bit tall in the seat and the steering wheel feels low. Rear axle is from a Corolla AE86 according to my measurements, so my hoped-for 9J deep dish rims won't fit. I need to carefully measure up what space I've got, and also raise the ride height, because at the moment nothing wider than a 7J is likely to fit under the arch as the tyre sidewall is next to the metal. The car is lowered on what I suspect is chopped springs, so need some new ones that are lower than standard but higher than what are on it. Coilovers would be great but they seem to be in the 700-800 quid bracket, need to come from Japan or Australia, and funds just don't allow. Nor I suspect does a custom set from Gaz, for now at least. I haven't investigated the gearbox yet, but given the engine and axle I'm expecting it to have a T50 box from a Corolla. I can say that the shift is very precise and mechanical so the gear shift has nowt wrong with it, at least. Got a Razo knob to fit already, having regretted letting my last one go on my 200sx some years back. And am hoping for a LSD, as that would seem the right reason to fit a Corolla axle, but haven't had chance to check yet. The lower kick panels and passenger dash shelf are brown not black, and the rear D-pillar trims and parcel shelf are missing presumably removed to make space for the rollcage, but that's some paint and some ally sheet or MDF respectively, so no worries there. What it really needs is the ride height and wheels sorting, and the rest is incidental...  |
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The plan is to initially get it through MoT, then get the rough areas of paint taken back and patched in with aerosol before it goes on the road, and stick it in a carcoon to preserve it for dry runs out - for now at least. Some new fluids and a bit of attention here and there to sort out some minor nasties, and enjoy driving it and listening to that induction noise. Later, it's going to want a full strip and respray with windows out and trim off, and at that point I'll probably do it in the blue that the engine bay was painted, cos that still looks pretty solid and respectable - and I like both the blue and the white, so white will do to protect the metalwork with least amount of labour for now, while blue can wait for a proper job to be done. I'm not loving the white bumpers and bonnet vents, but have heard some horror stories about rechroming both in terms of cost, time taken, and eventual quality of the work, so am considering other options. They are: - repaint in sparkle silver for now - try the matt black route - powdercoat in chrome All of course pending removal of the white paint, as it's feasible that the chrome is still good underneath. Stranger things have happened. All it needs to present for MoT is: - indicators sorting - think a faulty hazard switch is the reason for this, so I've stripped the dash binnacle out to fault find the wiring and remove the hazards until I can rebuild or replace the switch - seat belts - it didn't have any on arrival, looks like the last owner had a harness on the drivers side only and removed it before auction, so I've fitted harnesses for now but need new inertia reel belts - this isn't a buckets and harnesses type of car - fuel in the tank and air in the tyres - a dry day to take it on the road! And some time to do the work... Arty night nime shot to keep my motivation up while baby takes priority  Life's changed a great deal in the last month, adjusting to a new baby in the house and having to ignore my new baby in the garage! But I managed to get a few hours over the weekend to remove the dash fascia, work out what's going on with the hazard switch, and remove the godawful rear spoiler (still to block up the holes temporarily). Also took off an earth grounding kit, made good the earths they were attached to, removed a really iffy looking heat wrap around the distributor, and binned the gearshift gaiter which looked like it was made from your aunty's old curtains. Before it goes much distance, it needs a better dizzy heat shield, and if I can get access I will wrap the 4-branch manifold too. But otherwise it starts ok without choke, idles after 10 seconds of warm idle revs, seems to build revs ok, but stinks of unburnt fuel. So those carbs need setting up don't they! I've a feeling the engine swap means the oil pressure and water temp senders don't match up with the dash, and probably aren't even wired in, so there's a bit of work to do there. And the heater matrix isn't connected to the engine hoses, so no heater / risk of needing a new matrix / some plumbing and heatshielding headscratching to do. This is going to be a slow burning project because of the new family commitments, but I've negotiated some garage time to keep me sane, and the car's a keeper. I've waited this long for it, so I can wait a bit longer til it's on the road, and it'll take a fair bit of time and work til it's a car I can just drive and maintain. The massive advantage is it's already tax free, so an MoT and classic insurance every year won't deplete the coffers much and it can sit there looking awesome while I get around to all the jobs. I can also run black number plates if I want to - although I may well stick with white and yellow. Thanks for looking in, I'll try to keep the updates coming. Less words, more pictures in future updates! |
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Beautiful car mate, shall follow this build closely!
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Lovely looking car, shame about the couple of rusty bits but it's always a gamble with J imports. A friend of mine imported an ra28 last year and there's way more rust on it than yours. As regards suspension you could run ae86 short stroke shocks and lowering springs in the rear and convert to coilovers up front. I'd imagine celica ones are similar size to ae86? I've shortened a good few struts and used corolla gti inserts coupled with Rally Design's weld on coilover sleeves and I can't fault the setup.
Good luck with the build!
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samta22
Club Retro Rides Member
Stuck in once more...
Posts: 1,276 
Club RR Member Number: 32
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Jan 20, 2016 13:45:28 GMT
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Another one! I might just have that smiley faced red ST that looked back at you all those years ago...  Congrats - looks a beauty and a great base to start from. Will be following with interest. There were a couple of original seats for sale on eBay recently, might be worth a look. |
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'37 Austin 7 '56 Austin A35 '58 Austin A35 '65 Triumph Herald 12/50 '69 MGB GT '74 MGB GT V8'73 TA22 Toyota Celica restoration'95 Mercedes SL320 '04 MGTF 135 'Cool Blue' (Mrs' Baby) '05 Land Rover Discovery 3 V8 '67 Abarth 595 (Mrs' runabout) '18 Disco V |
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pOG
Posted a lot
SHATNER'S BASSOON
Posts: 1,341
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Jan 20, 2016 22:54:53 GMT
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Great story! Will follow with interest.  |
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Thanks for the kind words guys, my apologies I haven't replied sooner. Can't believe how much time a baby takes up :-o
About the rust, I didn't expect it to be rust free and just had to hope it was one of the better ones. It seems to be. Definitely got some issues in the usual places but not rotten through. I absolutely couldn't deal with a car that needs a strip to bare right now.
For suspension I've seen some AE86 springs but not rears only, and reckon I'd be in for £250 by getting rear springs and front coilover sleeves and springs. Then wonder if the dampers will be ok (another 200 on dampers if not). At which point it may be brave-pill time and get some specific coilovers.
Alternatively I may be able to get a full set of lowering springs from Japan for less than £250, which is a lot for springs but would get me where I need to be.
Bit of thought needed and I need to drive the car and see what I think to the dampers that are on it.
And yes Sam that might well have been your car I saw in 1978! Watching your progress with interest, it's good to compare a Japanese car to a UK car.
For seats, I'm trying to get a seller in Japan to remove the base cover from a seat he's been trying to sell for ages, send that to me, and bin the rest. He's reluctant but equally I'm reluctant to spend £200 bringing over £30 of seat cover because I'm getting a frame, foams and knackered seat back cover that I don't need!
Anyway before all that, it needs an MoT and I'm nearly there with that.
All I (thought I) needed was:
- get the indicators working
- washer pump working
That's turned into removing the dash fascia, a job I don't want to do twice.
So while it's out I've checked all the bulbs, traced the gauge wires into the engine bay (the oil pressure gauge and oil temp gauge aren't connected), inspected the radio wiring - the radio doesn't work on uk frequencies and I don't fancy spending 165 quid on a new bluetooth one - and got the glovebox light working.
Next, the washer tubes are rock hard and falling off the nozzle barbs, so am replacing that lot tonight.
I've put some 4pt harnesses in for the MoT, and will sort out seatbelts later.
Not expecting it to pass its test but I want a list of fail points to work on this spring with the aim of it being road legal by May. Plus an MoT pass means being able to register it and get number plates, kinda critical.
I need to know if it needs any welding or significant bodywork that would drive a respray, which I'd need to get done for me. Hopefully not and I can keep it white for a while yet, and spend on wheels, suspension, brakes etc instead!
Hoping for a couple of hours on it at the weekend to get it up in the air, measure up wheels and gaps to arches to see what offsets I can fit especially on the rear, and make myself happy that it's not an utter pisstake to present it for test as it stands.
Can't believe I've had it 6 weeks and it hasn't turned a wheel or been up in the air yet. Definitely a slow burning build, this one!
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The Doctor
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 3,449
Club RR Member Number: 48
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you can get frequency changing devices with make a japanese radio work on european frequencies. You can buy them in 2 versions, as they can only change them a bit, so decide which band you use most and pick a device accordingly to it. I used one in my japanese imported car and it worked perfect! You just had to remember how much the device changed the frequency, to be able to find it with the japanese radio Great car btw |
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keenan
Part of things
Posts: 11
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Jan 28, 2016 11:50:38 GMT
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Love these cars would love to own myself one day. I know someone who has rebuilt one with a SR20DET running 400BHP who drifts it in the BDC. Here is a link to the build if you interested in taking a look. www.huxleymotorsport.co.uk/projects.html |
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Jan 28, 2016 12:27:02 GMT
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Well done finding one matey , looks stunning . Really look forward to rrg .... You have to be there. I used mr2 rear springs in mine at the rear for a while , trimmed s bit off to get the height I wanted ... But look up Benny's ra28 thread , he found a company doing springs , and think it was escort springs he settled for , fit well and the car looks spot on . I managed to get some BC rear shocks and adjustable springs , they are for ae86 , usually come in full set , but hux (drift god above). Only needed the fronts so sold these to me But fit ok and rides nice enough ... I just need to sort front properly and I'll be happy These look so good in white will watch this with interest , and hopefully get the mojo boost needed to get back in garage and start playing again |
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I'm not curse word, i just fell off my shoes
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Jan 28, 2016 13:11:14 GMT
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Would you be interested in selling the cage?
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Jan 28, 2016 15:35:13 GMT
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Hi Carl, good to hear from you, your car was the thing that got me doing something about my Celica love!
I'd seen that Benny used Escort rear springs, good to know there's a few options.
I've got a set of eibach springs from the mx5 that are going to be my first stab at offering up but if they don't work - and I'll be very lucky if they do - then I'll be back asking for details I expect.
So I know that AE86 rear coilovers will go on.
But what's needed for AE86 fronts to fit, if I could get a set secondhand? Are the drive flanges / wheel bearings / caliper mounts in any way interchangeable?
Hi Dawson, yep I'm interested in selling the cage, I think this car's not going to be doing any track or sideways stuff so a standard interior will do fine for me.
Don't know much about it but can measure up if you like. PM me if you've got a price in mind...
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Jan 28, 2016 15:47:12 GMT
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Thanks for starting this thread. This is my favourite JDM I want one!
How much was it to import from Japan?
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stevietuck
Posted a lot
Never argue with idiots,they drag you down to their level then beat you with their expertise!
Posts: 1,350
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Jan 28, 2016 18:36:28 GMT
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Now thats a good looking car my good man  Super cool. |
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Jan 28, 2016 19:23:58 GMT
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Thanks for starting this thread. This is my favourite JDM I want one! How much was it to import from Japan? Get one then! Someone gave age me that advice several years ago, they were absolutely right. i just couldn't do it til I had a decent dry garage to put one in. I'd think you'd get one here for 8-10k, one like mine that needs some work a bit less, a truly good one a bit more. |
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Jan 28, 2016 20:11:16 GMT
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Thanks for starting this thread. This is my favourite JDM I want one! How much was it to import from Japan? I am also interested in the price, too many beautiful Japanese cars on one forum! |
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Hi Carl, good to hear from you, your car was the thing that got me doing something about my Celica love! I'd seen that Benny used Escort rear springs, good to know there's a few options. I've got a set of eibach springs from the mx5 that are going to be my first stab at offering up but if they don't work - and I'll be very lucky if they do - then I'll be back asking for details I expect. So I know that AE86 rear coilovers will go on. But what's needed for AE86 fronts to fit, if I could get a set secondhand? Are the drive flanges / wheel bearings / caliper mounts in any way interchangeable? Hi Dawson, yep I'm interested in selling the cage, I think this car's not going to be doing any track or sideways stuff so a standard interior will do fine for me. Don't know much about it but can measure up if you like. PM me if you've got a price in mind... Cheers matey .... From what I can see or tell, I might be wrong .... I think the ae86 coulovers will go on the front , but I don't think the celica hubs n bearings n stuff fit the 86 struts , I think !! So I was planning on findings standard 86 struts then either chopping them and fitting them with weld on sleeves , or , as I'm keeping the car until I die , getting g some coilovers , then fitting all the hub, discs n calipers etc from the 86 strut to the fancy new coilover ... If that makes sense ! Saying that , I have bought weld on sleeves, I might just try shortening the celica cases and try different springs / shocks . ride on mine up front at the mo is shocking ! |
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I'm not curse word, i just fell off my shoes
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PhoenixCapri
West Midlands
Posts: 2,685
Club RR Member Number: 91
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1974 TA22 Celica GTV with 4AGEPhoenixCapri
@phoenixescort
Club Retro Rides Member 91
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Wow that's stunning, great find. Spotted you're just over the fields from me as well - might be time to get a Warwickshire get together going as there's a good few of us on here.
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Super cool.
