6G Celicas Forums

Hey what’s up everyone, my name is Vic. I've been a member for a few months now, but never really took the time to share my toy. Last year I scooped up a neat little 97 vert with 140k. Eh I probably did overpay for it - $5500, but what caught my attention most were the fact that it was a 2 owner car, (both prior owners were females) and it was maintained. It had a lot of parts replaced and even came with a brand new soft top recently installed. (only 1 month old/stock clutch though) Overall it was just a really clean looking car and I didn’t want to pass up on it. I knew how fun they were from past experience having bought 2 from auctions to flip. (part time hobby back in the day) I’ve actually had so many cars over my life that I wanted to take a break and told myself this one is remaining stock. Well, that didn’t really last. Shortly after I was telling my wife why I needed to do this and that do it lol. First thing was first, the old carpet had to go. It was originally tan but I switched it to black. Apparently nobody sells carpets for these so I had to buy one for a coupe, and then modify that one. So, I took the opportunity to clean the bottom frame and inspect for rust. All the speakers were blown so I upgraded those, but didn’t want anything crazy with amps or anything like that. Next came tint, I didn’t want to go too dark so I went with 35% all around. Interior bulbs were very dim, so I upgraded those with blue LED’s from SPREE and while I was at it, I upgraded to HIDs. (2 birds with one stone right?) Next came the body. I wanted to complement the natural curves, so I went with the ss-III look. Just clean and not out of place, it could use some massaging, but that’s for the body shop whenever I get it painted. Picked up a set of Curren taillights and hopefully in the next couple weeks I can get the ss-III front grille. Future projects are yet to be decided, but I’m not trying to go crazy with this since I’ve been thru that road before. I had a heavily modified mustang which I sold last year (owned it for 10+years) and cars at the end of the day are just a blackhole in your pocket lol. On a side note, you guys do great work with your projects, some really nice cars in here.

welcome
Thats not too bad of a deal for what you bought it plus theres like no miles, if it was well maintained it'll go forever. im on like 250k miles on one of mine and i drive it everyday still no problems.
If your looking to spice it up a little without spending a whole lot of time/money id get projector headlights, or lower it a bit.

Toyota's overall are very reliable and I also like the fact that unlike todays' modern cars, it fairly simple (no daytime running lights, no tire pressure sensors etc) I think the next project perhaps might be getting rims and tires or going thru with the paint job. I'm not to sure yet on lowering it, but perhaps down the road. I like the way it handles as is. Here is a picture of the rim's I'm thinking about maybe you can give me an opinon. Current size are 15inch, I'd probably go with 16 so not to throw off the speedometer, and plus anything bigger would probably raise the car up and force me to get it lowered lol.

i feel like we already know you around here, I was wondering why you were posting an intro so late! hahaha
(maybe I just remember you better since you arent far from me hah)

Nice vert. I tought it was one of my old pics for a minute. But then I realized ssiii stuff.

welcome

tidy celica, nice plate

Thanks. Yeah I'm crawling out from the shadows lol,,I want to contribute to the forum the best I can really. I've had countless projects (and cars unfortunately) thruout my short career and I want to be active on here and share/help others. If anyone needs a hand with any type of work (except bodywork) I'm in the Northern Va area, let me know and I can lend a hand.

Rim size doesn't throw off the speedo or raise the height by itself. All you need to do is maintain the overall tire diameter to retain the original speedo and height. 16" wheels make almost no appreciable difference in handling characteristics or aesthetics. 18" rims IMO are too rough in ride quality but are a VERY common upgrade to these cars. IMO a 17" rim is the perfect balance between handling and looks and I think you'd find that they are the most common size of aftermarket wheels added to cars on this site. If you'd like - take a look at the pics on my profile - those are 17" rims. You'd be surprised how much better they look and the improvement to handling makes this car way more interesting to drive.
I really like the nice clean look you have going on with your vert so far - keep her clean

This post has been edited by DEATH: Apr 3, 2013 - 9:39 AM