1997 ST - The Bushmobile Options

[njccmd2002]

them toes

[Bushmatic]

I want to get a pair of tiny carriage/mushroom head bolts and bolt my license plate on from the inside of the trunk. There's a lot of car-related crime around here in SE Portland, and while I'm not worried about my car getting stolen (stick shift), I am worried about my license plate. People steal license plates and swap them onto stolen cars. Not sure if mine being a Michigan plate is deterrent enough.

I need my windows tinted too.

Anyway...WRC hood spoiler installed, European license plate surround installed, clock color changed to blue, quick interior detail, little bit of editing...

owner in Japan was probably picking up chicks in heels. thats why.

Or at least we think they were girls, sometimes you don't really know until it's too late.

This post has been edited by Bushmatic: Sep 12, 2017 - 2:26 PM

[Bushmatic]

Just gonna dump some information about my sunroof here. I opened it up and looked around the guts to figure out why it doesn't work, and in the process, I learned a lot about the history of the car. I'm including some pretty detailed stuff because the sunroof manufacturer, Farmont, was bought out around the year 2000, and now there is almost no information to be found on this product anywhere on the internet. There are certainly no spec sheets, maintenance guides, replacement parts, or anything like that available.

I believe this unit was "professionally" installed by a Toyota distributor, as opposed to a previous owner. As I understand it, Toyota is the only major manufacturer that has been using a distributor network to act as a middleman between Toyota corporate and American dealerships. This system started in the 1960's when Toyota needed help breaking into the North American market. Since then, Toyota has been steadily buying out its distributors as they have been becoming obsolete, but 2 of them apparently grew too big to mess with. They are Gulf States Toyota and I believe Southeast Toyota Distributors. Apparently they liked to buy poorly-optioned cars from Toyota, add options themselves using non-OEM products (thus "adding value"), and in turn sell those cars to dealerships. If you've been around a while, you may have heard of Toyota's end customers getting screwed in the options department because of these distributors. I have a feeling this is what happened to my car with the fog lights and this sunroof. I put "professionally" in quotes earlier because these things were not installed well at all. I'm actually surprised the sunroof doesn't leak, as everything about this thing looks like it was done by Michael J. Fox on speed.

But yeah, I just wanted to type all this info because I found it really interesting, and there may be other Celica owners out there seeking information on their strange aftermarket parts. Some of it might be wrong but the general idea is there.

-

Anyway, on to the sunroof. It is a Farmont F1000.

This is what the control panel looks like. Literally just forward and backward directions. The sunroof is a "spoiler" type, meaning the back pops up while the whole glass panel slides backward and above the car's roof in one motion. This is different from the factory sunroofs which can either pop up in the back or slide into the roof--not both simultaneously. You can tell my sunroof is aftermarket because the controls are not integrated into the dome light area by the rear view mirror, as is the case in factory systems. There are a lot of other details that give it away too, like the curvature of the glass and the mismatched trim color.


This is the rear area of the sunroof. Those two black tabs pointing down are attached to spring-loaded rolled up black fabric shades. They can be pulled forward and literally hooked onto the front trim of the sunroof to block the sunlight. I always thought this was kind of cool and unique, but it isn't the most effective. When both shades are extended, they don't cover the whole area of the glass panel. Also, the driver's side shade is starting to fall apart. The little aluminum bar is coming through the fabric, which can be seen in the picture.


Here's the exposed motor. It works fine, but doesn't catch on anything. I originally thought the reason would be a stripped gear, but I was only half right.


The problem was right above the motor. A drive gear was missing altogether:


Here is what this part is supposed to look like. I found this image on some old internet forum where a guy had a similar issue with the same sunroof:


The gear is supposed to go right in between these two threaded cables:


A previous owner must have lost it when he attempted a repair or something. Not a whole lot I can do about a missing gear in an extinct sunroof. So right now I'm looking into having the whole thing removed. I want a complete sunroof delete to save that weight at the very top of my car. I doubt I would be able to find a nice factory sunroof and be able to install it for cheap, taking into consideration the two sunroofs are almost certainly different sizes. Plus, this will be a good opportunity for me to try my hand at making a new headliner in a nice black suede material.

So that's it for now. I realize nobody really cares about this info, but I didn't want it to go to waste after I spent so much time combing the internet for it. Plus someone might find this post in a search if they are having similar issues.

This post has been edited by Bushmatic: May 7, 2018 - 10:35 AM

[cheela]

damn. that sucks about the sunroof.. you could try and have a gear machined to match the missing one and see if that works?
it'll be a fun project to rip it out and weld it shut if u do.

[njccmd2002]

im pretty sure you can find that part if you look hard enough. is that oem or aftermarket

[Bushmatic]

damn. that sucks about the sunroof.. you could try and have a gear machined to match the missing one and see if that works?
it'll be a fun project to rip it out and weld it shut if u do.

I was looking around at gear supply websites, but I'm not very optimistic about finding the right one or having one machined with just an old picture as reference Tried looking through OEM sunroof gears from different manufacturers but they are all over the place in terms of shape and size. I even looked at cheap robot building kits on Amazon which include a crazy amount of different plastic gears. But even if one those fit, I don't think plastic will hold up. I may just be screwed here.

im pretty sure you can find that part if you look hard enough. is that oem or aftermarket

Aftermarket! I did find a guy in Poland who used to sell parts for this sunroof; I sent him a quick email to see if he has any stock left.

More pics of the missing gear showing that it's a little more complicated than how it looks in my other post. Again, not my pics, found them here.

[njccmd2002]

if the sunroof is oem and not aftermarket, chances are you can get it from another guy selling a whole sunroof... not just the sproket.

what brand is the sunroof...

[Box]

if the sunroof is oem and not aftermarket, chances are you can get it from another guy selling a whole sunroof... not just the sproket.

what brand is the sunroof...

According to his post, a Farmont F1000. At any rate it's definitely not the O.E. moonroof, I should know as I had one.

This post has been edited by Box: Oct 4, 2017 - 11:12 AM

[Bushmatic]

It's a moot point by now because I've decided that the sunroof belongs in the garbage. I took a shot at cleaning it up and REALLY examining its condition, but it's just in sorry shape all around. Scratched glass, permanent water stains, exposed/crooked/dried/cracked gasketing, and it is perfectly flat which really sticks out on the curvy roof. Not to mention the interior portion--the huge trim piece that wraps around it and takes away a good 2-3" of headroom, the sun shades (I admit these are cool but not effective), the mismatched color, the oversized and asymmetrical control panel, and just the crazy amount of rattling and creaking over every bump. "No leaks" is the only positive thing I can say about it, besides the obvious positives of having a sunroof in general.

njccmd2002, I admire your optimism, but I'm confident when I say this thing is a lost cause. I'm gonna have a professional plug it up, buff it down, and repaint. The most exciting part about all this is I can finally make myself a black headliner to match the rest of the interior. Maybe I'll devote the wiring to a dashcam or something.

I'm now realizing how boring sunroofs are to talk about

[Box]

For me it's O.E. or not at all when it comes to moonroof/sunroof etc... Aftermarket stuff is just nowhere as nice. Personally I say patch it and get the roof resprayed and then put up a standard headliner and then none will be the wiser it ever had one.

[njccmd2002]

ill know and ill point it out

[Box]

Not after it's done and he uses that memory wiper from Men In Black, and deletes any evidence on here it ever had one.

[Bushmatic]

valve cover gasket job with something extra


(New alternator wire cover on the way)

Before picture for comparison... Spark plug coils were gunked up with oil from when the wells experienced leakage. Plus the rubber cover on #3 was weirdly the wrong size for some reason.

[Smaay]

that thing needs a V6 in there

[Box]

Looks a lot better!

[Bushmatic]

Half a year later update! Still alive and driving this thing every day. Just dropped $900 at the dealership to have them install a fat pile of parts I've been hoarding without the tools or garage space or time to install myself. All 3 drive belts (got the new "gator belt" style whatevers, apparently run quieter), thermostat with rad cap, new coolant, new transmission fluid, new brake master cylinder. Much more enjoyable to drive now because it actually feels like a normal car! No more belt squeal or dangerously spongy/sinking brake pedal.

Apart from that not much has changed. Installed a small roof spoiler from SpoilerKing, adds a nice little touch to the exterior. Plugged the spoiler holes with grommets the proper way. The cellophane I used to change the clock color seems to have melted and warped in the Louisiana heat, so I need to replace that or go back to the stock clock with the hard plastic color filter. Switched back to stock taillights since my JDM ones were letting water in. Installed some brushed aluminum gauge trim rings and swapped my weird silver dash bezel with a stock black one. The result is a much sleeker gauge area, I'll post pics sometime. Ric Seed has the same trim rings in his GT-Four if you've seen the interior of his car on instagram.

So yeah....I do have something really cool on the way as well. Never seen it done before on a 6gc so I really hope it fits and looks good.

[TimeslideZ]

Yoooooo glad it's still running and being worked on. What's the update on the sunroof then? Just reading back on the comments I cannot believe Toyota had something like that for the umsunroofs! I thought it was all OEM only.

Where's the leak on the JDM taillights? Wonder if you can just plug it up or something.

[cheela]

bump!

what happened to the reveal??

[Box]

Should be able to bake open the tail lights and then reseal them. Worst case drill a drain hole into the bottom of each bulb cavity.

[Bushmatic]

Sorry about the short delay, I moved back to Michigan!

Some have probably seen my quick post in the fb group but I installed some venetian blinds in the back:







Thanks for the tips about the taillights but as you can see it is not a simple silicon-around-the-edge situation:



I put them up for sale in the fb group and still need to make a post in the buy/sell section on here, but yeah I'm trying to sell them. I do like how the stock taillights look when the inside brake lights are taped off so they only light up when braking (see my second pic above). I might also want to sell my Euro splitters. They were starting to look out of place to me, so I took them off, and I'm much happier with how the car looks without them now. They are genuine Toyota as well so might be actually worth a bit. Also returned to stock clock, as supplied my Mr. Richey himself. I guess I'm on a "return to stock" kind of streak here. I wish I could afford a set of GT-Four 3-spoke alloy wheels right now, most of them are being sold out of the UK so shipping is insane. That would be like the easiest and most ideal finishing touch to how I want the car to look without delving into "huge project" territory.

Couple of random shots:





Quick explanation of what I did to my brake lights...look at this pic:



I just covered the "dim" pin with a piece of electrical tape on each of the inner taillight bulbs and left the outer bulbs as they are. Now, when not braking, only the two outside taillights are illuminated, but when braking, the inner ones go right to "bright" along with the outer ones. Makes it very clear that I am braking and cleans up the overall look. Also removed the rear side marker bulbs, always thought they looked weird.