89' Toyota Celica ST165 GT4 Barn Find Project

Very nice,
The sort of "barn find" we probably all dream of,
Be interesting to see how this progresses,
Bookmarked,
Nigel

Great find! I absolutely love the ST165.

Collected the car from its resting place since 1995 today. Local firm Oakwood recovery helped me out with their low loader and had it home in no time.










I couldn't resist washing off all the barn dust to see if it was as good underneath as it looked. Overall its very positive with just the sunroof and rear bumper needing attention.






















I joined the owners club, only about 400 members worldwide including quite a few from the USA where the GT4 was called the Alltrack. I gave the chassis code to the admin team and they confirmed this is build number 9752 of 1078 ever made so one of the last 400 off the production line.

My first aim is to attempt to get the engine running. I was told it ran not long ago but was producing smoke. I got onto eurocarparts and order bits I think I needed including new battery, spark plugs, fresh oil and filter, fuel filter and wipers as the old ones are perished. First problem, universal wipers do not fit as the current ones are original and screw to the wiper arm. My first observation is that compared to other Japanese cars I have owned this thing is a nightmare to work on. Toyota did not think of working on the car when designing it. I had to remove the intercooler to fit the new plugs and found some pipes already disconnected as well as an HT lead, someone has been in here before me. The fuel filter was a nightmare as well having to remove the airbox and carbon filter, the lower fitting was almost impossible to reach and undo. As I had everything out I took the dizzy cap off to replace the arm which was also incorrect. I may have found the running problem, someone had fitted the incorrect rotar arm and it had eaten two points on the cap meaning there was almost no metal left at all.









A frustrating find as I wanted to try and start the car that day. Back on the interweb to specialists GT4-Play I ordered a new dizzy cap, correct rotar arm and genuine wiper blades. Hopefully it arrives before the weekend and I cna get it running.

In the meantime I fitted the battery to check some of the electrics. Ignition on and all lights work, headlights pop up and drop as they should. Even the electric windows and mirrors still work and all the dash and centre console lights, great result.










It runs over ok so hopefully with some fresh fuel and an oil change prior to starting it she should run sweet. There was some oil deposit in the intercooler which apparently is normal but could have been causing the smoke. If it turns out to be a more severe issue I did have a spare engine and turbo come with the car.

The heater panel above the radio with the a/c and econ is almost identical to the one I've got in my Lotus Excel.

If you do take that panel out I'd be interested to see the pictures behind (because I need some spare parts at the rear!) and if they are similar it means I can add this model or toyota to the search references!

A great find, always wished these had more power; once you've got it running this is going to be great (and if done properly could be a brilliant car to fetch a premium at Silverstone Auctions or collecting cars.)

There's massive demand for these types of cars at the moment imo. Perhaps not a cosworth premium .........but a premium nevertheless.

Great find, excellent purchase, am looking forward to the updates.

I will have to double check for play in the shaft I reckon as I think you can only put the dizzy on one way. The rotar arm dos look too large.

His group N car sold not so long ago on collecting cars for not a lot of money but I didn't have the funds at the time sadly. I do know who owns it though and its in good hands.

What a find!

Not that much has been going on recently. We found that the fuel pump has indeed failed, I looked in the tank and it is minging so it will go off to be cleaned and lined before we fit a new one. I have had over £700 of maintenance parts arrive for the car including things like cambelt kit, water pump, oil pump, fuel pump etc. The car will go off to Harveys Autotech in Westbury for this work, the tank will be removed whilst its there and I will also have the wheels refurbished and fresh tyres fitted. Its looking like a shorter project that we thought providing the engine runs ok when it is finally started.

In the meantime I did hand polish one side of the car just to see what it comes up like after 27 years in a barn and its a great result. When the car goes in for rear bumper, sunroof and wing mirrors to be painted it will get a full mop as well.

We are on the move again. Car has headed off to Harveys Autotech in Westbury for Mechanical restoration thanks to Oakwood Recovery of Corsham.




I have given Harveys an extensive list of things to do to the car whilst there as a long term project which includes getting the engine running and fitting all the new parts to it like gaskets, cambelt kit, water pump, oil pump etc.

They called within a couple of days to say the fuel tank was off and could be taken for restoration so I shipped it to Arrow Radiators in Melksham for them to work their magic cleaning out the curse word from the fuel tank and re-lining it. They say the turn around is 10 days and the cost is around 365 + Vat. Considering I would never find a new fuel tank its not too bad a price.

The state of the fuel sender and pump gives you an idea of what the inside of tank must look like. bearing in mind the car has not seen the road for 26 years we will also be replacing all the fuel lines for peace of mind.







With the car on the ramp at Harveys it was a good opportunity to take a proper look at the underside and we are very pleased. The only real surface rust is on one jacking point and just wants a wire wheel and paint.










Before they put new parts on the current engine they will use a spare pump and a jug of fuel to attempt to run the car up without the factory fuel tank. If all seems well then they will crack on. But I do have a spare engine and turbo that came with the car we can use if needed. But ultimately would be handy to sell these on if not required to get some money back. The 1st gen 3SGTE is worth £1500-£2000 and the turbo £200-£300.