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1988 Celica GT4

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alwayzsidewayz Part of things Posts: 15	1988 Celica GT4 alwayzsidewayz @alwayzsidewayz
	Aug 29, 2009 11:21:02 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Hi, found this forum and really love the cars here, thought I would share mine. My car was completely stock when I first purchased it in 2003, with FSH and 2 owners and 85k on the clock. When I first purchased the car, it remained standard for a while with just the 17” Alessio rims. However the lure of increased power from the turbo engine was hard to ignore. So while the cam belt was being done, a stage 2 hybrid turbo was fitted, a 3” downpipe, replacing the cat, and a full stainless exhaust system was fitted 2.5” throughout. A Blitz filter and a FCD rounded off the mods, increasing power from 182bhp to 250bhp. An upgrade to Carlos Saniz ST185 front brake callipers was carried out, with new black diamond grooved discs and pagid pads fitted along with goodridge hoses. I also got a body shop to cut out the vents in the bonnet and wing, to aid both intake of air and cooling. Unlike the later GT4s the ST165 did not come with any vents in the bonnet to aid heat management. The car stayed like this for a while, clear indicators from Japan were added which made a big difference to the look The standard clutch was pretty shot by the middle of 2007, and I had the bug to do some motorsport in the car, so it was taken off the road for a couple of months, while we carried out the following work. Recon head, new Metal HG, ARP head bolts, New alloy Rad, metro turbo rad as a larger charge cooler radiator, all new sensors, inc knock and temp. A later ST205 gearbox was sourced from a crashed car, and along with a lightened Fidanza flywheel and a new ST205 clutch was fitted.
	1988 Celica GT4 Sprint and Track car. car No 22 in the Toyota sprint series 1995 Astra 1.6i 5dr, soft and squidgy, parts chaser and support car, will get slamed one day.

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alwayzsidewayz Part of things Posts: 15	1988 Celica GT4 alwayzsidewayz @alwayzsidewayz
	Aug 29, 2009 11:21:47 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	At the same time, we took the opportunity to strip out the tired standard suspension. New front adjustable inserts were fitted to the front. KYB AGXs, the front set up was fully Polly bushed, with whiteline products used throughout, An Anti dive kit was fitted; along with strut braces front and rear. The rear shocks were replaced for brand new OEM ones and the springs fitted were whiteline control ones. I also swapped the wheels for some much more motorsport type rims, compomotive MO 5 spokes 17” x 7.5” shod with Yoko parade spec 2s. I was pretty pleased with the result. I took part in the first ever Toyota sprint series event at Barkston Heath in Oct 07 As my first event for nearly 10 years it took a while to get in the groove and to be honest our final times did not set the world alight. Taking a car out on track always highlights issues, but at least we had a starting point. We got rid of the charge cooler set up; the period spent idling before track work was just heating up the water. So a new inter cooler from a ST165 rally car was fitted, along with a straight intake, new Mocal lines and coolers for the gearbox and PAS. A varley Red top battery was fitted too. All in time for the first event of 08, a wet and windy Waterbeach airbase. My driving on track was better and the car was faster, but the first of our on going saga off brake problems raised its head, compromising our track performance. We then fitted an HKS Evo 4 boost controller and Tein Pillow ball top mounts. We bleed the brakes to try and cure the soft pedal I was suffering on track. Next up was a repeat visit to the Barkston Heath Track, and this time we were on the pace, finishing with a top 20 place and beating much more powerful and newer cars.
	1988 Celica GT4 Sprint and Track car. car No 22 in the Toyota sprint series 1995 Astra 1.6i 5dr, soft and squidgy, parts chaser and support car, will get slamed one day.

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alwayzsidewayz Part of things Posts: 15	1988 Celica GT4 alwayzsidewayz @alwayzsidewayz
	Aug 29, 2009 11:22:33 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	But every high is followed by a low, and on the way home the car over heated, the head had lifted, as I had not quite followed the Arp install torque settings correctly, a combination of duff info and bad luck. Head was off again and sent away to be re finished, meanwhile as we had a tight deadline, the old one was fitted along with a further TRD 1.2mm metal HG The car was running the night before the next event, at Teeside. The car had a bad day, the timing was off and my worries about the temps saw me distracted on track, not helped by a few spins, we finished last in class. Some good pics though, and Weston Motorsport agreed to a sponsorship deal, helping with costs no end. With the sponsor deal in place, I took the plunge and purchased a standalone ECU, a Haltech E6X, getting rid of the restrictive standard ECU. It was not an easy install; the loom had to be custom made, as they is nothing off the shelf ready. With the same boost level 1.0 bar we now add more power and far better drivability Cobra Monaco S bucket seats were fitted to both hold driver the better on track and save weight, the std seats having lots of motors in it. We used a track day at brands as a shake down Next up was the last but one sprint off the 08 season, at Woodbridge airbase, In an effort to cure the poor braking feel; we swapped the master cylinder for a different one, hoping that would cure the problem. On track at Woodbridge, the driving conditions were “different” It did dry out by the end off the day I had a bad day driving wise, not getting to grips with the course or the conditions, spinning wheels in 4th gear in a 4wd car was a new one on me. My Existing wheels are tyres were not up to the job really, the comps are lovely wheels, but mega heavy and the yokos are really not that great on track. So I got a set of 16” rims and painted them satin black and covered them in R888 goodness. I had been unhappy with the ambient temps drawn un from the blitz filter, so we made up a custom cold air box. A new gearlever from a ST185 RC was fitted, much improving the throw and speed of the change. The Haltech ECU was re positioned in the glove box The last race of the season was again at Teeside, but this time at night, in the wet. We had our best race so far, 5th in class and 11th overall. Everything clicked and the car worked really well in the damp conditions, even with the R888s unscrubbed. We finished the season with a test day at a very wet Barkston Heath, few things tried with the wet suspension set up, but the road wheels and tyres and really not great in the wet, when money allows we will go with something more suitable for the comps. So roll on 2009. First off was a quick service and clay off the bodywork to get rid off as much of the war wounds from last year Then off to Rockingham, first event of 09 and first time to the track We got a pit garage which was cool Did not go quite to plan always! After some rustiness in the morning session, we finished in the top 20 and decent enough class placing, but the brake prob was still evident, as was high intake temps from the FMIC pipe work routing. So the pipe work was re done, much more efficient and less heating from the downpipe and turbo. We also took the plunge and re did all the suspension, the prev set up was very much a fast road combination and the body roll from the springs was too much on track. New much stiffer and lower whiteline springs were fitted, along with camber bolts for the rear, and much more neg camber introduced to the front end. A much stiffer uprated front ARB was fitted too. To finally sort the brakes, we upgraded to a ST185 master cylinder, which is bigger and finally has given me a decent pedal. The car was also stripped out. Class regs stop me taking the carpet and trim front the front out at present. The car is significantly lower now Using the ECU we have installed a flat shift system which is great. Keeping the turbo spinning and stopping the revs falling to much on track We went with high hopes to the next sprint event, but sadly this happened. A blown intercooler causing us all manner of issues. So we had to go for a bigger one. Which once we re mapped the car gave a further 8 bhp. Further suspension changes saw us have a great event at Woodbridge in early August. Future plans are to fit the rear sub frame with all new bushes along with the rear suspension. Adj rear shocks and a group A LSD rear diff of a Rally GT4 New R888s for next year and a possible engine build. Full spec of the car is as follows. 1988 Toyota Celica ST165 UK Model Engine Mods Stock Gen 1 3SGTE short block Re conditioned cylinder head Stock cams Steel TRD Head gasket 1.2mm ARP head bolts New OEM parts Starter Motor Water Pump Alternator Thermostat New Temp sensors New O2 sensor New knock sensor New Ignitor New coil Blue print HT leads Re built Distributor CT26 hybrid turbo Aussie 3" downpipe Mongoose 2.5" stainless steel exhaust with 4.5" slash cut tail pipe Straight Intake Custom sealed Cold Air box Ali Catch can with Aeroquip hosing Mocal 11 row Oil cooler for Power steering with Aeroquip Hosing Mocal 16 row Oil cooler for Gearbox with Aeroquip Hosing Aluminium Rad Tec radiator 60% more efficient All New Water hoses Evo 6 Injectors Blitz SUS filter Iridium grade 4 plugs 3 Bar Map sensor HKS EVC 3 boost controller Haltech E6X Ecu currently mapped to 269.5 bhp at 1.0bar boost FMIC 2" inter cooler pipe work Heat shielded Turbo, down pipe and air box ST185 Drivers side Engine (mount to be fitted) Re-newed OEM engine mounts Stripped Out Air conditioning Re located Battery Varley Red Top 25 Battery Electrical cut out switch Gearbox and drive train ST205 gearbox ST205 Clutch Fidanza Flywheel ARP flywheel bolts ST185 RC gear lever ST185 RC Rear Diff with LSD Group A Xtrac internals (to be fitted) Suspension Front KYB AGX adjustable inserts Whiteline Flat out front springs White line Anti lift Kit Whiteline Front ARB 27mm Tein Pillow ball top mounts Poly bushed though out Whiteline Front strut Brace Rear New Rear Shocks Whiteline Flat out Springs Whiteline Rear adj ARB Poly bushed ARB New OEM bushed sub frame Rear Camber Bolts Whiteline Rear Strut Brace Brakes Front ST185 RC callipers Newly refurbed Pagid Front pads Black diamond Front Grooved Discs Goodridge Hoses Dot 5.1 Brake Fluid ST185 Rear discs and with ST165 Callipers and standard OEM pads Wheels Road Use 17" x 7.5" Compomotive MO 5 Spoke wheels in gun metal 205 40 17" Yokohama Parada 2 Tyres Track Use 16" x 7" 7 spoke Lightweight rims painted in satin Black 215 50 16" Toyo R888 Track tyres Lightweight Rays Wheel Nuts Body Sprayed in the original Super Red 2 Custom cut out bonnet with black Mesh Custom cut out vents in front passenger wing with Black Mesh leading to cold air box Enlarged cooling ducts in front bumper Trim removed for FMIC De Badged Corona Clear side indicators, with side lights Raybrig Clear Headlights Clear oval side repeaters Interior Partially stripped rear interior Front seats are Cobra Monaco S bucket seats in black to FIA spec Drivers seat bolted straight to the floor ECU mounted in the Glove Box A pillar Mounted Boost gauge Stainless steel dial surround Mountney M sport Steering Wheel Sparco drilled Pedals Rich brock touring car Gear lever ICE Pioneer DP7600 Head unit Boston 4.5 front component speakers with dash mounted Tweeters To do list Fit Engine mount and Rear Diff Fit oil filter re location kit along with oil cooler Fit Walbro 255 Fuel pump Fit Brake stopper Fit the following gauges Oil pressure / oil temp Water Temp EGT gauge Fuel air ratio gauge Fit Intake temp gauge Remap to 1.2 bar Port and polish of Exhaust Manifold ST162 side feed manifold with custom plugged sensors. Replace rear shocks with AGX inserts Cheers for reading.
	1988 Celica GT4 Sprint and Track car. car No 22 in the Toyota sprint series 1995 Astra 1.6i 5dr, soft and squidgy, parts chaser and support car, will get slamed one day.

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waveman1500 Posted a lot Posts: 3,743	1988 Celica GT4 waveman1500 @waveman1500
	Aug 29, 2009 13:09:02 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Beautiful car and a very serious and rather scientific racing development program. I'm very impressed, your poor wallet must be feeling the strain of all this work! There's a sorted Celica GT-4 (in rally trim) which I see running at khanacross and rallysprint-type events near me to get a bit of practice, and it's a serious bit of kit. It's dusted off a few much newer rally-prepared WRXs, although I would say that has as much to do with the driver as anything. Either way, they're impressive machines. I'm glad to see that you haven't had to lavish any of the budget on crash damage repair, hopefully you keep it that way. Good luck with it, and show those newer cars who's boss!
	2000 Honda VFR800 1990 Toyota Celica ST185 GT-Four - Motorsport car 2003 Nissan Stagea AR-X Four - The modern 2007 Ford Fiesta XR4 (ST) - The modern motorsport car

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alwayzsidewayz Part of things Posts: 15	1988 Celica GT4 alwayzsidewayz @alwayzsidewayz
	Aug 29, 2009 13:18:29 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Cheers for the feedback, Yeah its not been a cheap path, and Its hard because you always want more seat time on track for testing, which costs. Touch wood I don't have to spend monies on crash repair. Its a real raw car to drive, much more unrefined than the later cars. We know we will never out power the later cars, but we can out handle and drive them. Car is still built on a budget, and its a labour of love between me and my best mate who has helped me with so much of the spannering and development.
	1988 Celica GT4 Sprint and Track car. car No 22 in the Toyota sprint series 1995 Astra 1.6i 5dr, soft and squidgy, parts chaser and support car, will get slamed one day.

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leigh Posted a lot Travelin' with Flavin Posts: 4,323	1988 Celica GT4 leigh @leigh
	Aug 29, 2009 16:38:45 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	That's a fairly in depth intro! Glad to see you get plenty of enjoyment from the car too , looks like a lot of fun. There's a black one of these I pass on my way home, it's been abandoned at the side of a house for a few years and I've always thought it's pretty key. Doubt it performs like yours though
	Club Retro Rides Member

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grizz Probably posted too much REZIN ROCKIT......🚀 Posts: 28,504	1988 Celica GT4 grizz @grizz
	Aug 29, 2009 20:03:40 GMT Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top
	Evolution indeed, or is it Revolution ? Welcome.
	1966 Chevy C10 V8 REDNECK EXPRESS. (Restoration now) GRIZZ-POD Build Thread grizzmakes.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-birth-of-grizzmakes.html IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM MATE. .

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