Cardshark525's 1995 GT w/ 3SGTE swap. (from DD to track car), (A continuation if you will of Supershannon77's build) Options

[cardshark525]

Hey guys,

Well it's been a while since I've been active, reason being I sold my old 1995 GT hatch in 2010. I changed locations to a more urban environment and the wife and I decided to get rid of the Celica and the 1999 Civic. We opted to get a 2010 Ford Escape V6 4WD so we can transport friends in comfort, and haul more junk in the trunk. Last year (after racking up 67k miles on the Escape), we traded that in for a 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe. As with the Escape, it is a V6, but the 4WD option again killed off that third pedal that we both enjoy using. As our financial situation improved through some inheritance, I got the itch for a 3rd pedal daily driver that I could eventually transform into a track car.

After looking around at primarily late 90's BMW's and a few other options, I happened to look back to this forum for nostalgic reasons. Although I wasn't specifically looking for another Celica, sometimes some things are just meant to be.
So as some of you already know, I synced up with Supershannon77, and ended up purchasing her baby.

Over the course of the next few weeks or couple months I will be fixing the car so it is 100% road worthy again. It runs and drives just fine.. it's just a bunch of little things it needs. It would be best characterized as the car needs "adjusting and polishing" more than "fixing". A new sensor here, a bad hose there, tightening up brakes and replacing brake lines, and so on...


The car will be my DD to and from work once all that is complete, and then as time goes on the plan by around next summer is to start tracking it. Start taking out interior pieces as they're no longer needed, adding coilovers and strut supports, getting it fully caged... etc.



Most of these things I can figure out myself or have an uncle who can pretty much work on anything mechanical blindfolded help me. However there were 2 pressing concerns that I couldn't come up with a simple explanation for when I was test driving the car so I would like the guru's here to bounce ideas...

1- We were running very low boost (5-6 PSI) on the test drive. After a little bit of driving around and getting a feel for the car, I needed to see how it would spool up and react to boost at higher RPM's. We were going about 15MPH, had the car in 2nd, and punched it. As soon as we hit 4000 RPM, we hit a brick wall. It felt like hitting redline, no other way to describe it. As soon as I felt it I immediately came off the gas. After that the car still ran just fine, still boosted (but I didn't run it past about 3000 RPM), no difference in engine character or funky noises... nothing.

Anybody have an idea as to what the issue there could be?
The cars knock sensor isn't plugged in, and the check engine light was on (code 54), however after bouncing some ideas off others last night they said it might be a problem in the ECU wiring?

2- Since the knock sensor wasn't hooked up I was closely watching the air/fuel gauge. As we hit boost (even at 5 PSI and I'm not sure that should matter), the car maintained a 14.5-14.7 ratio, as opposed to..... anything below 12. Even as I hit that wall at 4000 RPM it was still 14.5.

Any guesses as to the problem there? I'm guessing its again an electrical issue however I can't diagnose anything right now because the car is in NJ and I'm in Pa and it will remain like that for another two weeks.

I'm trying to get some ideas ahead of time so that when I do go there for the weekend I'll be able to dedicate my time to the car itself, and not necessarily seeking out answers to questions here and waiting for reply's.



Thank you all, I'm happy to be a part of this great group once again, and I will have pictures and updates on this as they come.



I figured I'd link to Shannon's original threads to keep the cars history intact both for myself and others if needed: http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=69018

This post has been edited by cardshark525: Nov 6, 2013 - 7:51 AM

[cardshark525]

Took the vehicle to local Toyota dealership and they basically re-installed the steering rack. Apparently one of the mounting bolts decided to crap out, so they hooked it back up with a new one. (Yay all labor no expensive parts).

After I got it back I ordered some new rubber to resolve the screw in one front tire, and other one deflating due to dry rot at best guess.

Took it to my friend who works at a Hyundai dealership. (Sadly he couldn't give me a Genesis Coupe as a loaner for the day).


Alignment was fixed, tie rods were fixed, new tires were mounted and balanced, oil was changed (billed as "well we're already doing other work so hows $20 sound?" lol), work from Toyota was checked and verified as proper.


I now have General G-max AS-03's on the car (they're currently on sale and look to be a fantastic tire especially for the price).

Took the car for a quick spin afterwards and I can say it's refreshing to be able to point and shoot, and not have to worry about the steering wheel shaking itself apart, the car pulling me into a roadside ditch, and even the torque steer has been almost fully negated. The tires are nice and sticky, corner very well, and I can give the car WOT about an extra 1,000 RPM in 2nd gear before they start to chirp and the engine overpowers them.

Brakes will be changed (finally) now that everything else is straight with the car.
Have a very small oil leak I HAVE to locate. Losing about a quart between changes but it dripped on the exhaust yesterday and ignited/vaporized instantly so I had a small puff of smoke come up from under the hood and almost had a panic attack. (Maybe a 1 cube foot puff, I was unable to replicate it later when my friend from Hyundai went for a ride with me to check it out, even when driving it very hard).


So it looks like this is finally coming together now and I can start putting my savings towards a standalone EMS and a second set of rims and tires instead of random "Oh look what's broken now" repairs.

This post has been edited by cardshark525: Sep 4, 2014 - 3:46 PM