Bought a celica!, new member, celica owner Options

[chaynes]

Hey guys! I bought a celica today. It is a '95 ST hatchback. $180k miles, loaded with power everything and 5-speed manual. I bought it from a friend of mine who has owned it for the past 10+ years, from when we were in high school, so I have a good idea of the history of the vehicle. It hasn't been meticulously maintined to my standards, but if it survived this far, I can make it survive longer. I'm pretty happy with it, but it needs a few things before it'll be a good daily driver. Here's the short list:

New Tires - Has 2 good tires up front, but I found a set of 14" goodyears for $30 apiece on clearance. Is that a good deal?
New CV shafts - I have never owned a FWD vehicle. Both sides have busted boots, is that a good indication that they need to be replaced?
New Brakes - Shakes pretty bad, and sometimes makes a grinding noise! It has 180k miles, i don't think the rears have ever been changed.
New valve cover gasket - slowly leaking oil.
Fix A/C - the compressor doesn't respond to the switch. I'll check out the electrical, but i fear it may be a bad clutch. Hopefully it is a fuse or relay or something?

Also, there are little things:

Dash lights: only the center illumination is working, making it hard to see the gauges at night.
Struts on the hatchback need to be replaced. I'm using the prop method to hold it open right now. Hope it doesn't fall on me!!!
Antenna was broken off at some point.
Looks like there is a skid plate missing in the front, center.
There is a funny looking exhaust support toward the front of the vehicle that was broken.

Also, i need to look around for the hatchback divider panel. It could use some good seat covers too, or new seats all together.

The stock steel wheels are missing all their hub caps! It came with one, and when i went to pry it off it just fell off, leaving a pile of plastic tabs! Good thing it didn't come off on the interstate!

Checked gas mileage, it took 10.5 gallons after 375 miles. That's about 35.7mpg. WAAAAAAY better than the 14 i was getting in the Jeep I just sold. I didn't use AC of course, but the windows were down and the sun roof open on the interstate, so it probably evens out. I'm impressed! I do tend to be easy on the throttle though, and I use cruise control.

Great site BTW! If anyone has parts for sale (hatchback supports, antenna, skid plates) i'm interested in buying them.