Mkernz22's Progress Thread V2, Starting over on a new slate Options

[mkernz22]

Sadly, the time has come and soon I'll be decommissioning my 1995 Celica GT. She's had rot that I wanted to fix, but I know it's going to be too much to handle.
Old thread here: http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=75896

So I'll be starting on a new slate with a 1994 GT hatch. The car only has 127,000 miles on it and is in really good condition.
There are some flaws such as the rear struts being blown, the high beam being cracked, the radiator pretty much on it's way out, the cracked intake hose, small ding in the drivers side fender, and the door cloth insert piece falling off....
But it's not like those aren't easy things to fix.

Starting off, this car is not intended to be a project car. I made that mistake with my 95 and I hate having a project / dd. It gets annoying.
Most of the things I intend to do will be done this coming spring, but some of the other minor things will still be in the works.


So to start off with what will happen.

Obviously swapping over the JDM tail lights. That's just a given. Sex appeal = +150%
Putting my winter tires on until the spring comes.
Swapping out the cracked high beam, cracked intake hose, and swapping over the radiator.
Pulling out that little dent.
Swap out the muffler for one that I've had in my shed.
KYB struts all around and lowered on I think sportline springs? I forget the brand.

Here comes the fun stuff
Poly bushings all around as well as the suspension bits and under body being undercoated.
Putting in all new hard brake and fuel lines because I already have them, so why not? (at some point)
SSIII lip kit will be painted and installed, except for the fronts until I get a post face bumper. The little black euro splitters should look fine in the meantime.

And I'm sick of typing so here are some pictures.
















This post has been edited by mkernz22: May 27, 2015 - 7:29 AM

[Keiri]

I've changed out the radiator, swapped over the JDM tails, and replaced the high beam; which is a huge PITA to do when you leave the crash bar on and only remove half of the bumper, but got the job done.

Seeing how things always change, looks like I won't be doing the gen2 swap into the car. There's a high probability that I might be traveling a lot this summer and I feel like I would get better gas mileage out of the 5s than the 3s and wouldn't have to worry about as much going wrong. I still have a lot of work to do on the 3s and I definitely wouldn't have it done as soon as I'd like.

So when I swap all the suspension over with the new fuel and brake lines, I'll be doing the timing belt and gaskets on the engine, maybe get a lightweight flywheel and going to do the 5th gear swap as well. Hoping to get more MPG on the highway with that and hoping it doesn't bog too much.

I've realized that I need to stop doing stupid sh!t or have some big plans and just make this into a nice daily driver. That's all I need, a nice clean looking daily driver that gets good gas mileage.

The all-trac is the new project car and I just have to keep reminding myself of that.

Mike, I think it's admirable (and a big sign of growth) that you have chosen to make the car good looking and reliable for daily duty rather than press on with a quick swapped car that may not be as dependable as you need; spending money to ensure you have a competent daily doesn't sound as fun as money into a faster street monster but it's the smart choice.

I'm looking forward to seeing you make this car exactly what you want while pursuing your other life goals/experiences!

[mkernz22]

I've changed out the radiator, swapped over the JDM tails, and replaced the high beam; which is a huge PITA to do when you leave the crash bar on and only remove half of the bumper, but got the job done.

Seeing how things always change, looks like I won't be doing the gen2 swap into the car. There's a high probability that I might be traveling a lot this summer and I feel like I would get better gas mileage out of the 5s than the 3s and wouldn't have to worry about as much going wrong. I still have a lot of work to do on the 3s and I definitely wouldn't have it done as soon as I'd like.

So when I swap all the suspension over with the new fuel and brake lines, I'll be doing the timing belt and gaskets on the engine, maybe get a lightweight flywheel and going to do the 5th gear swap as well. Hoping to get more MPG on the highway with that and hoping it doesn't bog too much.

I've realized that I need to stop doing stupid sh!t or have some big plans and just make this into a nice daily driver. That's all I need, a nice clean looking daily driver that gets good gas mileage.

The all-trac is the new project car and I just have to keep reminding myself of that.

Mike, I think it's admirable (and a big sign of growth) that you have chosen to make the car good looking and reliable for daily duty rather than press on with a quick swapped car that may not be as dependable as you need; spending money to ensure you have a competent daily doesn't sound as fun as money into a faster street monster but it's the smart choice.

I'm looking forward to seeing you make this car exactly what you want while pursuing your other life goals/experiences!

Thank you, I appreciate the kind words!
Dustin is trying to talk me out of just keeping the 5s since I have the gen2 that is already PNP.... -_- Maybe next year it'll go it? But the focus this year is taking care of everything else first.
Plus I'll be doing the 5th gear swap and can document the results with the 5s.

Speaking of which.
I went to Dustin and Steph's the other day to fix my timing, found out it was off by 10 degrees. Was set at 0, which explained why the distributor was turned all the way down, but now it's good and runs a lot better! Makes me happy

I'm averaging about 27.5 mpg mixed, but still need an alignment so that should help it out some more.
Hoping that the clutch will last another month or two, but it's starting to slip more and more.
Sometimes if I try to get on it while on the highway in 5th, it'll begin to rev up a bit without going anywhere

I'll update this again in a few months once I start the suspension makeover.