Body Restoration & Parts Compatibility, Questions regarding OE parts fitment Options

[AFAccord]

Hello All! My father recently picked up an abandoned 6th gen Celica GT convertible, and he and I are working to restore it for my mom as a cruiser for her retirement. I replaced a snapped timing belt, clutch, and a few other things and the car runs great, but it needs some body work and the interior is in rough shape. I'm getting ready to order some components (front bumper, headlight, fender) from salvage sellers on eBay, but he is concerned by various dealers' uncertainty about what parts will fit from other trims. I'm more familiar with Honda parts, and understand that 99% of parts from a car will fit every car in different trims and markets. Are these Celica's quite the same? Should I be concerned whether the headlight and fender is from a ST, SR, 'JDM' or other model of the same generation? Thanks in advance for the help.

-J

[richee3]

All front fenders and bumpers will fit, regardless of whether it's from a hatchback, coupe, convertible, etc. The GT4 bumper has the center section raised an inch higher than the other trims, so you would need a GT4 hood to match. The JDM fenders have the sidemarker in a different location but will fit just the same. The headlight, you'll want to stay USDM for that since the JDM light pattern is different.

The '96+ front bumper is generally regarded as looking a little bit better, but that's all personal preference. The short answer is yes, apart from ordering GT4 bits and pieces, the parts are all interchangeable.

[trdproven]

if you are just trying to replace the bumper only, they are all the same except the gt4 like mentioned will need also the hood to line up.

[BonzaiCelica]

richee3 you are incorrect.

the convertible fenders look the same but the mounting point under the bottom part of the vehicle directly where the sideskirts go are different. A local member who has a convertible told me this several times before because their is added rigidity to the underbody on the convertibles that the hatchback/coupe don't have.

you can get yourself a pair of hatchback/coupe fenders and then modify them to make it fit.

This post has been edited by BonzaiCelica: Jul 13, 2012 - 12:26 PM