1980 Toyota Starlet

Roof both sides needed most TLC where moisture had got in along the gutter seam & rotted quite badly, but cut out, fresh steel welded in & a skim to filler to smoothen it off.

All glass removed & agri spec spray job courtesy of by brother in the farm shed.







Bonnet replaced with a much better one, as although the top looked ok, the bracing was completely rotten

There’s a fair bit of catching up to do. Managed to get it on the road this summer, just didn’t take as many photos as I wish I had.
I’ll try & update soon!

It was then back in storage for almost another due to house moves etc, but finally got it home form the family farm late last year, as for the first time I had space to keep it & work on it at home.

Outside was starting to look a bit more respectable, but the inside wasn't so happy.






Roof lining out to prevent it from catching on fire during the welding

Nice.

about 20odd years ago i was looking for a RWD Starlet because i just bought back my old '77 Toyota Celica GT Liftback (genuine RA28 twin cam with twin 40's, LSD etc still running and driving) for £100 (yes a hundred quid). Plan was to transplant the running gear into a Starlet. didn't happen though and sold the Celica for £300.

always liked the Starlet but never got one.

Bumper stripped, repainted & refitted with lights & grill.

Inner wings were given a quick freshen up, but didn't go to the point of pulling the engine out this time, just removed the carbs as they were being changed anyway to give. bit more space







It was a very rough shell when I first got the car 20 years ago, hence the amount of welding on the strut tops (not pretty, but strong)

The carb's that had been on for years were rough, they weren't great when I first fitted them years ago so it was time for a fresher pair.



Bought these locally 'yeah m8, they're mint, nuffin wrong wiv em'

Turned out one leaked quite badly, assumed it was float height, but that seemed fine so a steep learning curve with Weber carbs resulted in almost full strip down




& eventually found what I hope is the cause- a cracked spill jet.




Replaced that along with gasket set, needle valves, reset float heights etc.

Nice... and shows what a small world were in. We've chatted before on a night out running over the hills with the club. I saw this starlet thread pop up and thought what are the chances.

Looks good. Will be good to see it getting some love.

Cheers Chris

Decided it was time to give the interior a bit of TLC, as I didn't do it last time, together with time & storage doing its worst, it didn't look great (not to mention broken glass everywhere from the boot lid)



DIY paint job-outside on a sunny day..


Pretty pleased with how it came out, just masked off the dash, gearstick, doors etc, de greased, couple of coats of primer to even things up, then threw some white at it.


Re fitted the seats, harness (Motordrive bucket, original passenger at the moment) & SD rear cage (not a big fan of full cages in road cars, especially when they're this small & your head is so close to the bars)




Nardi steering wheel & genuine 40 year old TRD horn push bring the interior close to how I'd like it.


It may have to change though with possible motorsport plans, the rear seats may have to go back in..

Very cool