6G Celicas Forums

Just my 2p worth (2 cents)...well I am in Wales! I converted all my dash to BLUE LEDs last year and found them great, very clear in fact.

Whatever LED colour you do decide to go for...try for a multi-LED setup to spread the light in several directions behind your dash.

I usually leave it a couple of days for the clear to harden...depending on how many coats/thickness of the clear, but I would try sanding with 1000 Grit then 1500 Grit. I have gone right up to 3000 Grit in the past but this is overkill just for the one panel.

Don't press too hard otherwise it will take longer to buff out the sanding marks.

For future reference, some use a slower hardener with the clear which helps the clear coat to "flow" a little more on the surface of the panel. I try fine tuning my spray gun to help reduce the orange peel effect...a little practise can make the world of difference.

A great site full of all information is at: www.autobody101.com/forums

It happened to my black Celica a while ago...a good buffing with compound liquid will get rid of the dull paint and bring it back to a good shine.

To help stop it happening, a good quality wax and paint sealant should be used.

I agree with you to a point...however, if you have the skills and prepared to learn to do it properly with the proper equipment then why not. This is key to a top job naturally.

There are plenty of custom spray jobs on this forum which have looked really great.

If I didn't respray my car I would still have plenty of stone chips, parking trolley dents etc that make the car look only good from a distance.

I have just looked through some of my favourite links I have saved...the first two are Celica based and the third link is a cracking site full of information of restoring an old jag...but has everthing laid out in stages:

http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=64871&st=0

http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showto...p;hl=yelli+celi

http://www.mckennasgarage.com/xke/

I will have a good look around...I'm sure I have a good few during the daylight as well.

I have been so busy as work full time, plus sport, plus families!!!!! I haven't forgotton...honestly.

I think the colour of the MG paint is referred to as Trophey Blue...looks really nice option.

The paint should look good on the Celica...as similar to the MG...both cars have lovely curves. The type of paint on the MG is known as pearlescent so on the outer extremities of the bodywork curves produce a lovely subtle colour variation.

With a black Celica, you could get away of spraying a solid black paint without needing clear...the blue would need the extra protection of clear. This clear would produce the shine.

I have a solid black colour Celica myself and as long as I keep it clean/waxed/polished, it looks great...but the clear of the blue would add more protection and stops paint fade etc.

I know the blue colour of the MG's...it is nice but not sure how much experience you have with spray painting?

A rattle can paint job will look no where near as good as a full spray gun setup...but will be the cheaper option. I wouldn't recommend it as so many people have come to me to fix these paint jobs in the past. Rattle cans are generally ok for a quick repair but not necessary a full paint job.

I have a 300 litre compressor which cost me £450, I use 2 Devilbiss guns; one for primer and one for bascoat/clear...plus you would need about 3 litres of each proces...eg. 3 litres primer, 3 litres basecoat, 3 litres of clear. On top of that, you would need thinners, sandpapers, etc...

As you can see it can be very expensive not to mention posionous to your body if you do not wear proper protection.

If you really fancy looking into it try checking out a couple of threads on here...plus try out www.autobody101.com forum for great lot of readable info.

There is nothing more satisfying than doing this type of work yourself, but make sure you research as it is not an easy step to create a good result.

It is surprisingly easy...just make sure you take your time when you make your cuts. Rather than rely on just sticking the mesh, try to use the metal clips as well as backup!

The following link is a cracking example, which in my opinion looks quite stock...you just follow the lines of the bracing underneath the top skin bonnet/hood:

I bought myself a second hand bonnet from Ebay to see if I can do it.

http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showt...p;#entry6289726

It has been about 3 years since I made them...the Hella lamps were bought from Quadconversions, but you can get them from many other places.

I built it using the original lamps I purchased for spare. I am not sure what photos I made of my process but I can produce a little write up if anyone would like one.

It didn't take that long either...the longest part was waiting for bodyfiller/primer/paint to dry!

How about these......I created them a couple of years ago. I purchased the Hella ring lights myself from Quad Conversions but did my own rear lights:

Instead of going for a full replacement of the front seats...you could go for a hybrid like the following link:

http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=66732

Is it the one available direct from Toyota? I think it came out as a standard feature of the special edition 1.8SR in the UK.

I bought one direct from Toyota for my Celica...it just fixes perfectly into the mouth of the standard Celica bumper.

I got caught on on this myself...gotta get that dimmer switch plugged back in!

I was gutted as I took my time getting everything ready, soldered, put back...and then nothing!

It was such a great feeling, when I realised my mistake, and got everything lit up again.

Just a bit of info for you if you really fancy doing a hard top...try visiting a couple of websites that I belong to...so much information and I'm sure this has been done before for another car:

http://www.fiberglassforums.com ....this is a fantastic site with photo build diaries and the most popular.

http://www.racingcomposites.net .....this site looks like it is down for maintenance at the moment.

Oops...sorry didn't read the post correctly!

I think the brace is the backside of the lights...where the lights are mounted to for adjustment?

To help you...the following link shows exactly which wire does what for the original Celica stereo...I used this to wire up my DVD/Audio screen.

http://www.installdr.com/InstallDocs/Toyota/Celica.html

Just click the PDF link and it will open a document you can save to your computer for reference.

I try my best!

I have found several little circuit diagrams when doing some research...I shall post some more info soon that has bit more of an explanation.

Apparantly, you can purchase an already made circuit that you can just connect to the lighting?

I have found a nice little circuit diagram for which will help change your interior/courtesy lighting...it will softly get brighter and then once door is closed it will then fade to darkness slowly.

The timings can be varied with the size of the reister used:

My Celica bonnet went the same way...tried buffing it out but it always came back to haunt me. I managed to buy another Celica hood for 99p and picked it up myself only 20 miles away...it came with the optional bonnet sound proofing which will stop this happening again.

This was last year and so far it works perfectly. I have also had my exhaust wrapped which has reduced the engine bay temps...again this has been on my vehicle for about 2 years or more without any problems and 220k miles done.

You would have thought that the models are standard is this department...it looks like there are differences in the prefacelift models and even between UK spec and Euro cars...not to mention USA based and Japanese cars!!!