New to my Celica, Need tips on working with it Options

[Mannyrav]

Hey guys, I'm new to these forums and I heard you guys are helpful. Basically, I bought my Celica about 2 months ago, and it's my first car. As much as I love cars, I know very little about them. I wanted to remake my car into a street racing car, more looks than performance though. I'd be satisfied with a decent 300hp to my car once I'm completely finished with it, but performance is later on. So I want a few tips and to be pointed in the right direction on how to begin this extremely long project of transforming my car- I'm looking forward to it though.

I have a 94 hatchback Celica, I guess its ST because its not GT lol..1.8 liter engine or w/e..

There's 3 sections to my post, Exterior (which I want to work on first), a problem that I'm currently having with my car, and then performance.
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Section 1- Exterior

I want looks before anything since my car is running fine right now. So I'm currently looking for body kits, rims and tires, and spoilers. I was told to change the tires/rims first, because right now my celica comes with the stalk tires and hubcaps. Is this true? And where could I get some good quality black rims for a decent price, and a good set of street tires? Also, what brand should I be looking for when purchasing rims/tires, and bodykits? I want good quality but my budget is kind of tight.
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Section2

I'm currently having a problem with my car, I'm hearing a humming noise coming from the front and it gets louder the more I turn my stearing wheel to the right or left. A guy I used to work with says that it's the power steering, but I don't know. Also I hear this loud screeching sound too when I first start the car but it goes away after 20 seconds, I don't know what's that.
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Section 3: Performance

My engine is at 167,000 miles, and I'm going to get a new engine in about a year or so. I don't want the stalk engine, I want one that will hit around 300-400 hp when I add the little tweaks to it. What engine should I look for? And how much will it cost me? My car is also a automatic and I want to change it to manual, but I guess I'm better off doing that when I buy my engine so that I can buy the transmission along with it.


Ok that's it for now. Sorry for the long post, but I'm completely new to working with cars lol. I love my celica, and I'm looking forward to slowly but eventually turning it into my dream street racing car. But I'm going to need alot of advice and tips to point me out in the right direction, so I really appreciate anyone who helps me out. Thanks!

-Manny

[Mannyrav]

Yeah sorry I should've specified what I meant when I said street racing car. I meant I wanted it to look that way, I didn't want to sound unrealistic by saying 'fast and the furious' style lol. I havent gotten a ticket or killed yet, and I want to keep it that way

And the humming, yes it gets louder the more I turn, so I should change the power steering liquid or tighten the belts?

And about asking questions that's already been asked, I know it can be frustrating and I apologize. But since this is my first post, I wanted to summarize everything that I needed help with while at the same time introducing myself. But thanks for the tips guys I appreciate it, I'm liking this site so far.

This post has been edited by Mannyrav: Jul 29, 2007 - 1:30 AM

[m0dd3d1]

Yeah sorry I should've specified what I meant when I said street racing car. I meant I wanted it to look that way, I didn't want to sound unrealistic by saying 'fast and the furious' style lol. I havent gotten a ticket or killed yet, and I want to keep it that way

And the humming, yes it gets louder the more I turn, so I should change the power steering liquid or tighten the belts?

And about asking questions that's already been asked, I know it can be frustrating and I apologize. But since this is my first post, I wanted to summarize everything that I needed help with while at the same time introducing myself. But thanks for the tips guys I appreciate it, I'm liking this site so far.

I think he was talking about the fact that you said "street racing", because it's illegal and this site doesn't have anything to do with it so you have to refrain from talking about it. But I think we knew what you meant!

Do you have any pics? An ST...ouch, 300hp is up there, even for a GT. Like what was said before, unless you plan on swapping, it's extremely difficult if not out of reach. Hope you find the info you were looking for.