Kaiser's 1996 Survivor Celica Options

[Kaiser]

This is Lucy. She is a 1996 Celica ST Hatchback, cutest one in town.
Bought February 2nd, 2013 for $2800 with 103,XXX miles. My first car.

As of 01/01/15:






When I bought her:










Modifications:

Underhood:
-Cone filter
-NGK plugs

Wheels/Suspension:
-Stock suspension
-Stock wheels powder coated Alert Red

Interior:
-Painted interior trim
-Removed rear seats

Electronics:
-Pioneer HU
-BOSS amp + 13" Subwoofer

Exhaust:
-Stock exhaust piping
-Muffler deleted, welded a straight Impala SS Flowmaster tail pipe on the back




***I haven't been around for a year, a lot has happened. The Celica was wrecked and fixed and now I'll probably be losing it anyway after I graduate. But I miss the forum and I'll get another Celica someday, so I came back to finish Lucy's little story.***

This post has been edited by Kaiser: Jan 3, 2015 - 2:27 PM

[mgnt232]

Welcome to the site, hope you do some mods soon. keep us updated, there is also a ton of info here

[Kaiser]

Welcome to the site, hope you do some mods soon. keep us updated, there is also a ton of info here

I hope so too; gotta stack up some more money for mods after buying the Eclipse. Slow going, but something's bound to get done eventually.

[Kaiser]

Well, it's been a while and the car has left the shop, but I have a sinking feeling it's about to be parked again. Some interesting updates, though:

(During the Celica's time in the shop, I happened to miss one day; another guy in the shop put the rear wheels back on after the drums had been cut. Funny enough, I almost died driving that car because apparently putting a wheel back on a car is too complicated for him. He tightened the rear passenger tire/wheel assembly on crooked, and the lugs came loose while I was driving home. Didn't know what it was when the clunking noise started, didn't have a choice but to keep driving with the hazards on the rest of the way (slowly, of course). By the time I parked the car, one of the lugs had actually fallen off, and the others had all come to be hand-tight; if I'd driven much longer the wheel would have come off and, considering it was rush hour, that probably would have been the end of me and the car. Guess I won't be trusting anyone around the Celi unless I'm there to make sure work actually gets done the right way.)

Anyway, issues currently plaguing the car:

Obviously winter is setting in and the mornings are cold, but the screeching noise that has started from under the hood is unbearable. Before we changed the timing belt, there was no noise. I'd assumed something was wrong with the power steering belt because it screamed on a cold start and whenever the car took a turn. Just turning the steering wheel back and forth, the belt starts to screech.

My father looked at the car and said it might actually be the alternator? After a quick search, it sounds like the screeching should be coming from a loose alternator belt. I'll have to double check that tomorrow when I pull the car into the shop. The power steering belt is definitely tight, the thing has no play whatsoever. But when I was driving the other day, my father commented that the headlights dimmed every once in a while, particularly when I hit the brake. My father actually suggested the alternator itself was on its way out? I'm wondering if anyone can confirm or deny this, tell me if it sounds like I'm on the right track here. I haven't had a chance to look at the car myself really, but tomorrow I'll have to check the belts.

[cheela]

yup, that's the alternator belt, mine was screeching like that a while back. snapped the damn bolt trying to loosen it. had it sit for a WEEK looking for ONE bolt there's 3 bolts holding the belt and alternator, just loosen the locking bolt and turn the adjusting bolt until it's tight and the sound goes away.

[Kaiser]

yup, that's the alternator belt, mine was screeching like that a while back. snapped the damn bolt trying to loosen it. had it sit for a WEEK looking for ONE bolt there's 3 bolts holding the belt and alternator, just loosen the locking bolt and turn the adjusting bolt until it's tight and the sound goes away.

Alrighty, sounds like it shouldn't be too much of a hassle. I can only hope I'll be able to take the car tomorrow, they're calling for sleet and snow. :\ It's insane how loud the noise is with the hood open... I thought it sounded bad from inside the car, but when I got near the engine bay it was horrible. Thank god it's not something uber intensive, though.

[Kaiser]

Tightened the alternator belt up and the sound is gone, great. Still need to fix the passenger side window and replace the lights over the license plate. When this car gets parked during the winter I'm planning to pull the climate control + gauge cluster out and get some Indiglos in there/change the lights from green to red. Might also be a good time to get some red LED strips for under the dashboard.

[Kaiser]

Car's been leaking gas a little for the past month or so. My father replaced the breather hose before we found that it was the filler pipe. So that got replaced today, thank god the gas smell shouldn't be hanging around anymore. Supposedly my gas tank looks like crap too, but that's a trial for another day I guess. Aside from that, not much has gone on with the lack of money lately. Got a little steering wheel cover I'd liked for Christmas, red and black so at least it goes with the theme. Installed the Pioneer head unit from samboo (thanks, man) a while ago as well. Car is dirty as heck lately.



So the red wheels don't look so hot when covered with salt, oops





Glad to have gotten this done, I hadn't realized how fugly the old pipe was until it was off the car.



For humor's sake, a photo of the steering wheel and the head unit behind it; kind of weird driving, the wheel's so bulky now. Cute enough though.

Maintenance to-do's for the future I would like to get done:
-fix the leaking sunroof
-fix the passenger side window (motor, I guess, will have to check that out)
-replace the drive accessory belts
-fix the cigarette lighter

And things I would LIKE to get on it eventually:
-Indiglo gauges
-black seat covers (or seats.. preferably)
-black carpet and new OEM floor mats
-black lug nuts
-Kouki tails
-short ram & aftermarket muffler of some kind
-probably maybe paint the interior trim
-pull a driver's side fender out of the yard or somewhere... one that isn't dented up
-bigger wing (more fast more furious)

Man, someday I'll take photos with a legit camera.

[Kaiser]

A '98 Suzuki JLX slammed into my passenger side at about 40mph without trying to swerve or stop while I was crossing an intersection. My car fishtailed across the intersection and came about a foot away from a building before stopping. Details of what happened immediately after aside, my whole rear quarter panel was crushed in further than the wheel. I was, however, able to drive my car away without issue (and thus, non-reportable "minor"accident). No damage to the Suzuki, literally. There was a huge streak of red paint across her bumper, and when I realized that it was not from my car I understood what kind of person I was dealing with. We beat the dent out from the inside and I sanded it down, a friend was doing coats of bondo every now and then but he doesn't finish what he starts so I finished it myself so we could paint it. I didn't want to show up at school with what my friends were calling "the cow car" because of the massive bondo/primer patch on the side.






My father left the stupid blue towel over the back end and I didn't notice it when painting, so the car has a weird little primer/black overspray/towel fuzz streak. It's not really that noticeable. The quarter panel could have come out better but the car was a real wreck originally. After the accident I replaced my flex pipe and discovered that the exhaust had snapped at the back of the car. Because it was hanging, we took the muffler off for a while until we could get some new piping in there. I liked the sound without the restrictive muffler, and ended up tossing the stock muffler when I found a Flowmaster Impala SS tail pipe laying on the ground in the junkyard. Sounds a lot nicer than anybody expected.

I don't remember why anymore, but in October of '14 I removed the whole rear bench and seatbelts from the car. For a temporary carpet extension over the exposed metal, I took the black carpeted boards off of the back of the seats and laid them down over it. I wanted to open up the back of the car I think, and I don't like having passengers anyway so the back seats were useless. Hella more room for car parts, if nothing else.

And of course, over time I ended up painting the interior, the gas door, and the wiper arms to match the wheels and continue the black and red theme. I was going to get seat covers and a black carpet and yadda yadda yadda, but now I'm not sure. I think I'm going to lose this Celica this year, and after the accident that would have honestly totaled the car out, I'd rather start over someday with a cleaner car. Or at least one that isn't covered in dents. Really, I'm looking to restore a first generation Celica and base the colors of off this one.

Anyway, that's how the Celica and I spent our year. It's been wild, and now we're just about to hit 115,000 miles on the clock.

[Kaiser]

Well scratch that, the Celica may or may not be heading to the junkyard now. I'm going to the yard tomorrow to scope out parts. Coming down a windy mountain road that I'd made it through earlier with no issue, I tried to make the last turn and the car started sliding straight into the guide rail (we got hit with some rain and snow and freezing stuff today). Smashed into the rail, slid along it for a few feet and then slammed into a large tree at the end of the rail. Shut it off immediately and tried to get out - driver side door won't open. Jump out the passenger side and try to see how bad it is. It's pretty bad. Called my father and my friend who's close with a towing company and waited. Mechanically, the car actually might be okay. I haven't tried to start it, kind of afraid to so do; but as far as WHERE the damage is, and what we saw when we forced the hood open, the engine and all major areas of the bay are fine. Fuse box was where the main impact was focused, the frame seems crimped a bit. I'll see what happens as far as that. Anyway, as far as what seems to need replacing so far:

-hood
-F.L. fender
-F.L. turn signal
-F.L. side marker
-F.L. fog light (found the housing a few feet behind the car)
-front bumper cover (might not replace, hard to find good ones in the yard and the edge is just cleaved off)
-driver side low beam (lens shattered, the bulb surprisingly intact and pushed all the way back to where the fuse box is)
-front driver side control arm

I know the suspension on that side is SHOT, it was dark as hell so I can't see much and I didn't get under the car but the front wheel was pushed way back into the well toward the door (I found the splash shield on the ground not far from the escaped fog light) so at the very least, the control arm is bent. I'll have to look at the suspension and steering systems tomorrow, and everywhere else under the car. Figures, the day I come back to the 6GC forums, I demolish my car. I don't think it'll get sent to the yard just yet, it isn't leaking anything and the rad/rad support weren't hit, the bay seems fine aside from the fact that the battery died and left me in the dark on the side of a backwoods road with no hazards or headlights. So probably still a good running car, it's likely mostly cosmetic damage and suspension damage. Even the tire didn't go flat immediately and the wheel doesn't look bent (got lucky with that in the original accident too somehow). Only time and inspection will tell, but this car has been a survivor so far so maybe her time isn't up yet. I'll get photos tomorrow.

[Anoroc]

This does appear to be a series of unfortunate events.

Aesthetic damage notwithstanding, with a couple of decent hits (in opposite corners?), you're probably working with a bent chassis - meaning if you've got big dreams for a sillycar, it might be best (and safest) to find another base to work from before sinking further money into this shell.


Bad feels, man

[Kaiser]

I've decided the car is going to cost more money than it's worth to fix. The suspension on that corner is definitely shot, and the cosmetic damage would be costly. In the original accident there was no actual damage to the car aside from the dent (which, based on the body shop estimate from the dealership I work at, would have originally totaled the car anyway) and the fact that the exhaust snapped where the tailpipe connected to the main (it was rotted really bad already, it was only a matter of time).

Picture of the damage... farewell my colorful friend.



Someday I'll get another Celica and build it up for real, the way I restored my Eclipse. This one had a good run while it lasted, maybe it really will get a second chance at life though if someone I know takes it and decides to fix it.