Which To Do? Options

[GuYun14]

What’s up fellow 6gc Celica enthusiast,

I just need some advice, tips, opinions, ideas, on what I want to do this next summer before I head out to school. I have a 1998 Celica GT which is unfortunately an auto. I only have next summer to work on my car so here’s what I have in mind at the moment:

•Suspension - since I do want try autocross this summer. I have Eibach springs with KYB struts, TRD front strut brace, OEM rear strut brace right now.
•Cams upgrade - since I do want a little power increase but don’t know how hard the install is.
•Body work - because the car does have a few ding and scratches here and there. And either new paint or plastdip
•Auto to manual swap – because manual.
•Engine swap – more powah! But maybe not in my price range.

Now know that I have no experience with any of these except suspension work. So, in the timeframe I have, what’s the most viable project to get done? Your opinions will very much be appreciated.

[cheela]

you have one whole summer, you can get a lot done. I nearly finished my swap in one summer but ran into a LOT of issues you won't because I have an ST and I'm a noob at it so I'm stuck fixing it up during the winter instead.

A couple things to decide on for you. Are you set on swapping the engine or is it just a dream? Because then I wouldn't bother with upgrading the cams on an engine you're going to be replacing. And if you are going to swap then you might as well do the manual conversion at the same time and save yourself from doing twice the amount of work. It's quite simple once you get into it.

Suspension is the easiest and cheapest to do. A few hundred dollars and a weekend to install it all and you'll be good to autocross until you get bored or the auto 5sfe.

Body work will depend on the quality you want. If you're just covering up things so it looks good from afar then you can get it done but if you want a showroom shine then it might take a while to do correctly as well as cost alot more. I wouldn't plastidip, get a real paintjob.

and lastly, the one thing you didn't address is budget. this is the biggest deciding factor in ALL your options. You have time frame (summer) and power goal (autocross build) but you have to define a budget before all that can happen.

some numbers for you:
*my suspension so far is about $800 more or less and it's s very basic setup (coils, F&R strut bar, and end links)
*painting my lip, sideskirts etc and a few touch ups on the body is just the cost of materials and paint so maybe a few hundred $ but that wasn't a full repaint. DIY you would need a good air compressor and a good setup and gun etc.
*my auto to manual, 7afe to BEAMS swap so far is over $3000, ALOT more than I budgeted for but I'm still happy I attempted it.