6G Celicas Forums

Hi, my name is Mouse. I am now working for Dr. Tweak at Phoenix Tuning. I have always been interested in imports, but am new to the Toyota scene.

So, Dr. tweak and I have been talking about me needing another car since me and my girlfriend are new here and currently only have one. Dr tweak wants to provide me with a motivator for the work that we do and give me hands on experience with the joy of being a Toyota owner.

In the middle of the day as we are working on our wiring conversions. He turns to me and says, "Do you want a Celica?". Then tells me that he received an email about a project car that never got completed and needs to be gotten rid of by this weekend. This was on Wednesday. So the guy send us pics of the car. He tells us it is in pieces but everything is there. He originally wanted to do the motor swap to the 3SGTE and had planned on upgrading the suspension.

So on Saturday I meet Dr. Tweak here in Savannah and we go get a trailer from the local u-haul and head off to Daytona Beach, Fl.

When we arrive at Dennis's house I finally get to see what we are working with. I had assumed from the pictures he sent that the front fenders and bumper were removed as well as the engine. This is what we saw when we got there.



We have dubbed this: Project Stuart Little.
Because, as you all now know, everyone calls me Mouse, and Stuart Little drove a convertible:)

Here are the pics as we unload the parts from the car. Dennis didn't just attempt a motor swap, although I'm not sure why he stripped the car this far down, he took out all the harnesses, seats, instrument cluster, disconnected the shock on the drivers front, and removed the headlight and the transmission. The stock motor was still in the engine bay but ready to be removed.



Putting the 3SGTE in the Tundra










Dr. Tweak strapping the engine down





At this point we were unloading everything from the 6GC to load the car on the dolly. Dennis even had the AWD transmission for the 3SGTE.











So as we are unloading the part from the 6GC I begin to wonder what Dr. Tweak has really gotten me into. His eyes are as big as mine as we work together to unload the car and see just how much work there is in putting this back together.



Then its time for the top to come up. It was a lot easier than we thought it would be. There is a switch to unlock the motor for the convertible top in the trunk, so it went up fairly easily.







We were told that the stock motor ran good when Dennis decided to park it and attempt the motor swap. The stock motor never made it out of the car.



With the help of the guys that were there we got the Celica loaded and were almost ready to head back to Savannah. Note the chains dragging on the ground after the Celica and parts were Loaded. When we pushed the car on the dolly I was in it. then tried to open the door only to find that the fender wells on the trailer were too close to open it. All the windows were rolled up and the top up so I had no choice but to climb out the door.



Here is all the parts loaded in the Tundra.



The Stuart Little Project loaded and ready for transport







Dr. Tweak and I with the new 6GC project



So to begin with we are going to reinstall everything including the stock motor and manual transmission to get it back on the road for now. We are going to sort out all the parts that came with this and figure out what is missing for the 3sgte. The turbo was gone, and with all the parts strewn around god know what else. Then we are going to order the parts we need to do the 3SGTE swap.

So I will keep you posted as we decide what else we are going to do to make this a one of a kind build.

Nice story so far .. looking forward some updates. ;o)

Cool...looking forward to seeing this project take shape

wow, from out of the rubble. This project will fit the name of "Phoenix" tuning.

Look forward to seeing the project.

im a little jealous, id love to have a clean convertable 6th gen. definatly keep us updated on this project.

Looks like it needs a little TLC, but will go back together fairly easily. You've got the 8 speaker system, I see. Put this car back together and I'd love to have it! Good luck with your project. I'm looking forward to watching this car come back to life.

LOL @ transmissions in the trunk.

This sort of thing is always exciting to me. Keep us updated!

Cool sh*t

x2 looks like you guys have your work cut out for you. Also looks like you're in good hands; you'll have the most badass Celica vert that side of the rockies!

looks like a fun project!

Promising...so this is getting a 3SGTE and a GT-Faux look?

OOhhhhhhh.....nice blank canvas to start with there. Should be a great project!

i'll be sure to keep on eye on this thread

so was it for free. Thats a nice project

x2 on price. Seems like a pretty good project. Looks like lots of parts to work with. Keep us posted!

haha he would be one lucky SOB if it was!!

great looking project!!

Not quite, absurdly cheap would be accurate though

-Doc

Props for lifting a 3s by hand.

Good work on there Doc on the strap down.