Project 'What was I thinking?' - Celica ST 182 Content

[Lukas1]

Well after selling my Clio to a chap named Scott from Portsmouth, who may be on here I’m unsure? I decided to go down the Japanese route of ownership and bought myself a rather banged up but low mileage Mazda Eunos, complete with hardtop

My Clio: http://www.cliosport.net/forum/show...Southampton&highlight=project+172+southampton

All was well for 2 weeks, except a leaking coolant no.1 hose that spilt just outside the bulkhead (sorted by Autolink in Hampshire - if you ever need any work doing, it‘s worth the travel, second to none customer service and skill level!), I was loving the Mazda, such balance and precision with the handling, coupled with RWD made me a very happy chap, until the unfortunate happened… CRASH!


As a result of my bag of talent being a lot more empty than I realised, and a member of the OAP association of Southampton, my Eunos was deceased :dapprove: With a very low market value, it was definitely a write off so back to the drawing board for my next car.

I decided to work around a 50 hour week at my part-time job (I’m a bum student just about to enter my final year) and at the end of the summer get myself a mint 106 GTI or Saxo VTS as a cheap runabout for the next year as I plan on travelling at the end of next year but the night before my holiday I stumbled upon one of those cars that was screaming to me. With such a low price, genuine reason for sale by the owner and within walking distance I set about a viewing and came away with her the same day and here she is in all her glory:

The spec:

- 1993 Toyota Celica 2.0 GTI-16 (158bhp I believe).
- Red/Pink in colour, unsure of which colour code Red.
- 118k on the clock.
- FSH with cambelt replaced in late 2006.
- Tax and MOT until January 2011.
- Had the rear shocks recently replaced on the last MOT.
- ABS/AC/PAS/EW/EM/ELA all working fine.
- Bosch Aero Wipers.
- Later Spec. Gen 7 Alloy wheels.
- An array of free goodies such as; Tape Player iPod adaptor x2, Halfords Premium Screenwash, Halfords cheapo Red polish and some other random crap

Not too bad for £480 and an impulse buy

The Celica is not without it’s problems however as noted below:

- The Drivers door is suffering from quite bad rust on the base so will need treating or to be replaced.
- Brake discs and pads need changing fairly soon as they have seen better days.
- Alloys are disgusting, not a fan of the design or the state of them to be honest.
- Exhaust has hole so will need to be sorted.
- Speedometer doesn’t work 90% of the time, but the Odometer does :S
- Carpets are in a pretty bad way so need a good scrub.
- Oh yeah almost forgot, the paint is a bit pants!

Now as I have mentioned before that I am travelling next year, I need to keep costs to a minimum for this car so it will be a project on the cheapest level, except important things like brakes and tyres so here are the proposed plans:

- Clean up the interior and replace the Tape Player with the Stereo my OH got my for my b’day.
- Change over the brake pads and discs fairly soon, may upgrade but unsure of what a good set up would be?
- Replace the wheels as a refurb for wheels I don’t like seems like a dead economy to me, will probably opt for some 17” ones as I feel the Celica has a larger arch gap than a FRP!
- Have been looking at some Cat-back systems for the car, not really happy with the design of most of them so will be giving Charlie a call at Prospeed or the guys at Long life a ring next month.
- Purchase and fit a new speed sensor to sort the Speedo out.
- Polish the paint up as it has suffered from a hedgehog breakdance competition on the bonnet and awful Oxidation elsewhere.
- Replace or get the Driver’s door treated for the rust and resprayed.
- Get the Passenger side wing and bumper resprayed.
- Lower the car by around 30-40mm so it sits at a nice height without the arches rubbing against the 17” wheels.
- Timing belt done within the next 6 months.
- Enjoy driving the car!

So that’s about it for now, I will keep this thread updated as often as I can and I hope to have the majority of the work sorted on this car by mid-late October dependent upon funds and time off work.

Of course suggestions, recommendations and most importantly opinions, good and especially bad will be appreciated

Thanks for looking,

Lukas.

 

[Hazza]

Make it into this and i would make love to u!

 

[Lukas1]

*UPDATE*

Ok well it has been an eventful few weeks with the car from the word go.

First day back from holiday to Sri Lanka (awesome place to go, would highly recommend it), I’m really excited to get behind the wheel of my new car for the first time and low and behold it won’t tick over! I feel suddenly shafted by the chap I bought it from and I then realise I haven’t got the immobiliser key, I have stupidly binned it thinking it was a banged up Toyota key ornament :dapprove: epic fail so a quick ring to the RAC and the nice chap after an hour and a half and about 6 cups of coffee, rerouted the wiring around the immobiliser and she is purring like a kitten so £20 to him for going out of his way to help and I was off!

I fell in love instantly I have to say, it has a very good throttle response and the power is more linear compared to the Clio with it’s woeful 5.5k on cam piece. I know many will think that I should have opted for the GT-Four and in some ways I wish I had as I still haven’t owned a boosted car yet and it’s a massive itch I need to scratch but for the price I was very happy and the fact it revs to around 8k makes it all the more enjoyable!

Obviously the handling is not on par with the Clio or Eunos but it is fairly capable still and only rolls like a boat a tiny bit but I’m sure the uprated springs I intend to buy will sort this issue. The exhaust note is fairly sporty for a standard system with a Cat, however this is probably down to the hold in it lol never theless sounds ok.

After the drive I decided that the car definitely deserved a paintwork to accompany it sprightly nature so I planned do get my new obtained Kestrel DAS-6 onto the paintwork as soon as possible.

Unfortunately due to the poor weather and my work/gym commitments I didn’t find time for 2 weeks to sort the paintwork out. I did manage to however sort the Stereo out and replaced the OEM unit with my new Sony one and it works a treat with no problems

I finally managed to get 2 days off work in a row and set about sorting the interior and exterior of the car out, unknown to me it would take a lot longer to sort than I expected :S

Here is the interior before, quite a state as you may agree:

Quite bad as you would probably agreed, seemed the car hadn’t been cleaned in quite some time.

So it was attacked with some AutoGlym Interior Shampoo and wiped down on the inside with wipes and a microfibre cloth to get rid of the fluff left over, hovered and airfreshened…

During the cleaning stage:

Finished :star:

New Stereo :evil:

Definitely hasn’t come out as good as I hoped for so I will have another attempt at some point in the near future with some stronger carpet shampoo!


After this was complete I then made an effort towards the exterior but before cleaning I thought I would give you guys the rundown of the Celica’s state…

Dent in bumper/wing:

Cracked mirror:

Non-intentional ‘50/50’ shots

Bit of laquer peel

As you can see not in the best of condition by any means but I’m a stubborn lad and saw it as a challenge to character and determination

The pictures of the exterior detailing stage will be updated later today.

CUMULATIVE COST = £500

Lukas

 

[_Tom]

Shoulda bought a GT4

 

[Lukas1]

Make it into this and i would make love to u!

Well I was thinking of going down this route and recently found some OZ Roulettes for sale quite cheap but I don't think the 182 could pull it off as well as a GT-Four would, it sits too high lol

 

[Lukas1]

Shoulda bought a GT4

Lol don't remind me

 

[Naith]

this 'could' turn out great, interiors nice now, very clean, outside i think you should replace parts (wipers, numberplates, the little things that perish) and refurb, not too hard, new wheels, new exhaust and paint work it would be tidy as tbh.

good luck fella

 

[Lukas1]

this 'could' turn out great, interiors nice now, very clean, outside i think you should replace parts (wipers, numberplates, the little things that perish) and refurb, not too hard, new wheels, new exhaust and paint work it would be tidy as tbh.

good luck fella

Cheers bud, that's what I am aiming for to be honest, want it a little lower so the wheels sit better, new exhaust to get the JDM look and obviously the wheels themselves need changing. The Paint is nearly there now, just waiting to photos to upload and then I shall update again

 

[Ian_182]

Keep up the good work.This could be epic...

 

[Cookson]

different coloured seats?

 

[Padso]

Had a Jap import Celica many moons ago. Was nippy for what it was but was also one of the early round light models. 180 or 190hp or something seemed to really take off at 4.5k rpm.

I also fitted a set of those alloys from the latest Celica which i got on ebay for £90 brand new as it came to me with gold impreza alloys.

Rust is the problem with those old ones. My cousin foolishly bought one which, needed scrapping shortly after due to the amount of rot it had.

 

[mphgoose]

This looks promising! A little bit of cleaning and tidying goes a long way on an old car doesnt it?

 

[Sarah]

keep us upto date on how u get on

 

[AlexS]

I love tarting old cars up like this, as soon as its mint though I loose interest and sell it on! Just helped my mate do a similar thing on a faded red UK MX5.

 

[Gaz.]

Welcome to Japanese rust.

 

[Lukas1]

Keep up the good work.This could be epic...

I shall and I believe that it WILL be epic

different coloured seats?

Yeah I'm quite confused by them as well, but did a HPI check and was all clear so guess someone preferred these seats instead :S going to possibly get some decent bucket seats and a dark cloth rear bench

 

[Lukas1]

Had a Jap import Celica many moons ago. Was nippy for what it was but was also one of the early round light models. 180 or 190hp or something seemed to really take off at 4.5k rpm.

I also fitted a set of those alloys from the latest Celica which i got on ebay for £90 brand new as it came to me with gold impreza alloys.

Rust is the problem with those old ones. My cousin foolishly bought one which, needed scrapping shortly after due to the amount of rot it had.

Yeah they do shift quite well for how immensely heavy they are as a car, but I'm not after speed really just something with a bit of character which is what I believe this car has

Checked all under the sills and arches, in the boot etc. all rust free, just the door and wheels suffering from harsh corrosion but I will get some quotes sorted soon for the door, bumper and wings, just need to know a good body shop in the South.

Not a fan of the wheels at all, they look ok on the Gen 6 & 7 but look lost in the arches on this model unfortunately

This looks promising! A little bit of cleaning and tidying goes a long way on an old car doesnt it?

It definitely does, I will be updating the pictures in a little while, a lot has been done to the paintwork but it's not complete yet

keep us upto date on how u get on

Will do Sarah no worries

 

[tom172cup]

looks like you got your work cut out there looks like a good project to do tho

 

[Alastair.]

more pics, i wanna see a red celica!!

 

[Lukas1]

I love tarting old cars up like this, as soon as its mint though I loose interest and sell it on! Just helped my mate do a similar thing on a faded red UK MX5.

I know what you mean bud, I would probably get bored of it quite quickly but since I'm going travelling, I'm sure I can keep hold of it at least a year depends if a nice cheap ST185 project comes up :evil:

Welcome to Japanese rust.

Lol I'm not stranger, my old Eunos was awful

 

[Lukas1]

Ok another update now as promised to you guys

After getting increasingly annoyed/embarrassed by the state of paint I was 100% determined to get it corrected as best I could in the small time frame.

So out came the Karcher pressure washer and the Celica was blasted to get rid of all the grime and dirt in the seals and cracks so to leave a contamination free surface to detail. I also used the supplied Karcher Shampoo bottle with some cheap car shampoo to aid in dirt removal.

Car was then snow foamed, unfortunately I have no pics of this as I left the camera inside getting a cuppa so the car was then power washed again to rinse off the contaminants and then followed by a good scrub with the 2BM and lambs wool mitt and Autoglym Car Shampoo.

As you can see I have removed the registration plate as it was askew and to also give a better clean of the front bumper, working at Staples gives the added benefit of a discount on sticky foam pads to use for placing the plate on once complete

Next up was claying the car, using I4Detailing Orange Clay with Dodo Juice Born to be Slippy, the state of the paintwork was little to be desired as shown in the clay:

After one pass of the rear of the car:

All the clay used:

The car was once again washed and then dried using an I4Detailing Plush Drying Towel and then moved inside for taping up and examination of the paintwork under artificial light:

Lovely bit of pink

All Taped and ready to go the next day as it was very late and I was completely shattered, has been a long day of cleaning:

As you can see, not just the obvious shade of red some parts of the car were but also the RDS and marring in the coat were quite evident:

Before heading to bed however I decide to annoy the neighbours more by giving a tiny segment of the car a hit with the Menerza Compounding pad and 203S to see how the paint would fair and as you can see it came up trumps

So I wake up the next morning extremely excited about the prospect of the day to be welcomed with a nice downpour which greatly upset me however due to the unpredictability of England’s weather it soon cleared up and I was able to begin.

I worked anti-clockwise around the car from the passenger door and whilst getting completely stuck into doing the car I neglected to take many pictures however here are some 50/50 shots:

Passenger door:

Rear Wing:

As you can see, the result of the polishing in one hit is pretty impressive, not perfect but definitely an improvement

Rear wing and passenger side before:

After:

50/50 on the spoiler:

Once again I was distracted with the detailing of the Celica so pics are a bit scarce as the light was fading and I was very peckish but by the time I finished for the day around 85% of the car was complete.

These pics were taken around 5 days after the car was detailed as I had to work those said 5 days so was unable to get decent pictures plus the car was covered in a little bit of road dirt so the finish isn't 100% in the pics. These don’t really do the car justice as I’m only starting out in car photography at the moment. Anyway enough rambling, enjoy!

Passenger Side Before:

Passenger Side After:

Some random before and after pics:

And here are the full shots (apologies for the number of photos and untidiness):

Well I’m pretty happy with the result so far but please remember this is a work in progress and is by no means complete in the paint correction, just a lot less pink :rasp: More pictures will follow very soon as will more correction just need to order some more pads as there were some casualties…

So some 3M or Sonus pads will be order very soon as I have a list of cars to now detail for people I know since they have seen the Celica which gives me hope in my ability with a DA polisher, especially as this was my first ever go at it!!


I will be making a very long trip up to Yorkshire tomorrow to get my new wheels off of another Celica-Club.co.uk member opinions on them would be liked? I know they may not be to everyone’s tastes but remember this is a cheap project and for the price I would be silly not to :star:

They are not chrome before I get slated lol

The actual wheels:

If someone wouldn’t mind doing a botch PS of them on my Celica, that would be really appreciated as I’m quite the novice and would just end up hurting myself lol

That’s about it until Friday so watch this space as I think the wheels will greatly improve the appearance of the Celica (at least I hope they will!)

Thanks for looking through my massive essay and poor pictures

Lukas

 

[Naith]

christ its scary what a little pc would do, find myself strangley interested in the shed! haha

await work tomo and new wheels, mostly the slammage and zorst fixing mind

 

[Lukas1]

christ its scary what a little pc would do, find myself strangley interested in the shed! haha

await work tomo and new wheels, mostly the slammage and zorst fixing mind

Yeah to say the least I was relieved to see that the paint could come out so well, not 100 per cent but a lot nicer I'm excited about the wheels, think they will change the car completely but it will be a very long day, worth it in the end I think. Will be getting the springs in two weeks so hopefully will see it slammed by the end of september with exhaust in mid october and paint on wing and bumper mid november thanks for the comments!

Lukas

 

[Reyes]

oooo.. Hats off mate.

 

[Dunn]

That's come out great

Good work mate

 

[Tez.]

nice work there . ive had one of these and imo there amazing cars cheap fast fun !!!!!!!

 

[Lukas1]

oooo.. Hats off mate.

Ta very much

That's come out great

Good work mate

Yeah it has come out well so far, still have the laquer peel on the roof but it's a lot less noticeable and have now sorted a pay issue I had at work so an extra bit of money for the springs in two weeks

nice work there . ive had one of these and imo there amazing cars cheap fast fun !!!!!!!

Yeah I'm warming to it quite a lot actually, definitely not as focused as the Clio or Eunos but it loves to rev and begs for more when you expect it to give up, kinda like a Vtec minus the y0 lol

Thanks guys, remember wheels tomorrow

Lukas

 

[Rob]

Can't believe the difference the polishing made, I bet you added £££'s to that car's value in a day!!!

Like Naith I also find myself coming back to this a lot... lol!

 

[FAST_aD13]

As you asked very nicely - heres a very rough and shadey PhotoChop for you

View attachment 43634

Will hopefully help give you abit of an idea

 

[Englebert]

Awesome job on the paint work! I was going to say, why spend all that time, it's a dog! Now i'm eating my words!

Those wheels are shat though. Forget them. The wheels that are on it are fine, just lower it a tad.

 

[Bodge!]

There's a very good shop in Woolston, down on Hazel Quay

 

[Djw John]

Defo added value to that already!

 

[Matt Cup]

Great transformation!

 

[Scott™]

I love how well the sun faide has been corrected! Well done.

 

[Lukas1]

Can't believe the difference the polishing made, I bet you added £££'s to that car's value in a day!!!

Like Naith I also find myself coming back to this a lot... lol!

Thanks Rob I have found the bodyshop I'm going to use to get the dent out and respray the wing and bumper now so hopefully November it will be in a much nicer state, just in time to seal it ready for the winter Keep coming back, it will keep getting better I promise

 

[Lukas1]

As you asked very nicely - heres a very rough and shadey PhotoChop for you

View attachment 43634

Will hopefully help give you abit of an idea

Thank you very much gave me the perfect idea so I went and got the wheels, they look awesome but the OEM nuts are too long so stick out by about an inch so more spending needed

 

[Lukas1]

Awesome job on the paint work! I was going to say, why spend all that time, it's a dog! Now i'm eating my words!

Those wheels are shat though. Forget them. The wheels that are on it are fine, just lower it a tad.

Lol your going to hate me but I got them and to be honest they aren't my perfect wheels for the it but they are pretty awesome, the issue is the nuts being too long and the fact the car need lowering more than a tad, it needs the springs being left off

Hope your words tasted good :rasp:

There's a very good shop in Woolston, down on Hazel Quay

Yeah there are apparently two good ones in Woolston, the one you have mentioned and another behind the Shell garage on Spring Rd so going to give them a ring Monday

Defo added value to that already!

I hope so because I have another potential project in my sights, another JDM vehicle but with a bit more y0...

 

[Lukas1]

Great transformation!

Cheers fella, almost there

I love how well the sun faide has been corrected! Well done.

Yeah needs a good sealing now, may even have to reapply a layer of laquer

 

[Ben]

Wow I'm seriously impressed! I can't believe how much better it looks after a good polish!

 

[hughski]

Nice work Lukas :star: Cant believe you got the pinkness out of the paint! keep it up!