Not sure about my Celica anymore, not sure if its worth working on Options

[Mannyrav]

When I first bought my Celica and came to this site, I was so enthusiastic about working on it. I fell in love with the car and the idea of having it the way I wanted, and I fell in love with the 3sgte engine and the thought of a GT4 conversion.

I forgot who was it that told me, but someone recommended that I sat down and thought about what I really wanted to do with my car. Well I did alot of thinking, and with my budget, by the time I have enough money to get the dream celica I wanted 4 years would've passed by.

I never knew doing an engine and tranny swap would be so expensive.

I know most would probably respond with; its a process that takes patience and time, and you need money for these kind of things, it never comes easy; but I still wanted to work on my car.

By the end of the year I should have atleast 1 grand saved up, and I expected to accomplish something with that money..but it seems that even a bodykit is out of reach with my budget. (I'm a college student with a crappy job at radioshack, with bills up the a@#; not some broke bum).

Yeah I know I'm kinda impatient, but I'd like at the least for my car to be a manual so that I can get more out of my everyday driving experience.

So my question is, with my situation is attempting to hook up my car even worth it? Or should I just buy a crappy manual coupe and work on that (I'm still paying for my celica btw)...I don't know what route to take, and I'm disappointed that I feel discouraged when I grew to love my little st celica

Edit: I was even willing to take a different and alot cheaper route than a gt4 conversion- getting a 4a-ge engine and a manual tranny and a invader bodykit..but I dont know what I'll be looking at there $$ wise

This post has been edited by Mannyrav: Oct 19, 2007 - 12:39 AM

[NaderG]

When I first bought my Celica and came to this site, I was so enthusiastic about working on it. I fell in love with the car and the idea of having it the way I wanted, and I fell in love with the 3sgte engine and the thought of a GT4 conversion.

I forgot who was it that told me, but someone recommended that I sat down and thought about what I really wanted to do with my car. Well I did alot of thinking, and with my budget, by the time I have enough money to get the dream celica I wanted 4 years would've passed by.

I never knew doing an engine and tranny swap would be so expensive.

I know most would probably respond with; its a process that takes patience and time, and you need money for these kind of things, it never comes easy; but I still wanted to work on my car.

By the end of the year I should have atleast 1 grand saved up, and I expected to accomplish something with that money..but it seems that even a bodykit is out of reach with my budget. (I'm a college student with a crappy job at radioshack, with bills up the a@#; not some broke bum).

Yeah I know I'm kinda impatient, but I'd like at the least for my car to be a manual so that I can get more out of my everyday driving experience.

So my question is, with my situation is attempting to hook up my car even worth it? Or should I just buy a crappy manual coupe and work on that (I'm still paying for my celica btw)...I don't know what route to take, and I'm disappointed that I feel discouraged when I grew to love my little st celica

Edit: I was even willing to take a different and alot cheaper route than a gt4 conversion- getting a 4a-ge engine and a manual tranny and a invader bodykit..but I dont know what I'll be looking at there $$ wise

I feel the exact same way , the moment i found this website i started planing what i will do: a 3sgte swap , gt4 front end conversion , custom interior , it all seemed fine , and with all the quotes i had , cost wasnt that bad either , about 8-9K to get eveything done and get a 250 hp GREAT looking Convertible that is absolutley unique since no one would have one exactly like it... a few months into the whole thing , i painted my interior plastic , changed a couple of lights here and there and it felt good ! .... but then the big stuff came in , an engine swap needs a place and alot of time ..things i dont have as a college student .... then i kept seeing all theese ppl seeling their customized celis after spending endless hours of works and thousands of dollars saying that it is time to move on .... i knew that i am probably never going to get the money i put into the car back ..... i was discourged even more to see that the engine swap would be illegal ..... but i tried to fight it and stay on task , finding solutions here and there... but then the big one hit me ! lol , my dad is anti-custom .... so now i just got my car painted and i will use it for a couple of years , sell it and buy a an already fast car ..... ofcourse i am going to enjoy the hell out of that time cause it is a great car !