Edsers 1996 GT Project, Car still in hibernation years later! Options

[Edser]

My names Ed, and I live in Barcelona, Spain. I am from the Republic of Ireland. I've been living here for 13 years. In that time I've had a number of cars.

First one I got a year after arrival was a '93 Prelude 2.2 vtec. After that I got a '00 BMW 318ci. I sold that to get back into university.
So now I've got this 1996 GT. Its covered in dents and scrapes. Pretty tired looking. I want to make it look like new, improve it where I can and try to keep it as standard as possible. I'll be painting it black, and keeping the wheels as they are, just tarting them up a bit.
All of this depends on my finances of course, so it'll be a slow process. Patience will be required. Lots of patience.



















This post has been edited by Edser: Jul 21, 2022 - 5:58 PM

[Edser]

Here's some photos during the first days work. Sanding and filling etc.

[enderswift]

keep it up dude, we all want to see a celi brought back to like-new shape

[Edser]

keep it up dude, we all want to see a celi brought back to like-new shape

Thanks enderswift! I hope I can get it looking as good as yours!

[Edser]

Here's some more photos of progress.
I took off the side skirts - it was very easy.
The rear wing was a bit more complex, had to remove a small plate that was covering the central bolt. The I discovered the wing was glued on as well, so I had to cut away at the glue. That was so difficult to clean off afterwards.

Quick 2 min walk around of Celica, showing some of the many flaws. I've seen cars in scrapyards that look better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmNqihypO-4...;feature=relmfu

This me sanding away to get rid the lumps and only leave the sexy humps. Good tip when filming, don't leave a glass of water on the ground where it can get kicked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvBQr49PEs8&feature=plcp















I got some good and bad news today too. I went to talk to the owner of a garage here in this small town, and he said I could paint the car using his spray room.

Bad news is that the paints he uses are expensive, and could cost over 500 euros. Still, if I can get a top quality finish it'll be worth it.
There's rust on the rear boot lid (Trunk in American!) so I'll get him to take the glass out of the rear lid and weld in some fresh metal.
I'm not sure if I should take out the front wind shield for painting as well.

My Sleeeka also has the usual clack clack clack when turning left with the foot on the pedal. So I think that's one of those drive shafts jumping. So I'll get the mechanic to put in a reconditioned one. Apparently it's a lot cheaper.



This post has been edited by Edser: Jul 9, 2012 - 9:25 AM

[Edser]

It's been a difficult few days, my arm feels like it's going to fall off and my back screams at me whenever I bend over. Nonetheless I am encouraged the results so far.
I was filling the more noticeable dents all over the car, but I realized I should probably go carefully panel by panel so as no to miss any defects. The longer I stared at a panel, the more dents I could see. It was like as if I had someone following me with a battery in a sock.


I think the tiredness and the heat took their toll on me.
I took the car outside into the 36 degree heat in order to check for odd reflections and strange shadows. I nearly passed out in the heat. I'm just a pale skinned Irish guy, not designed for this weather.

I think I may just buy a second hand front wing as they seem easy to swap. Better that than try and fill and re-shape the old one. It's also lost it's strength due to the inside edge of the wheel arch being folded inwards.

I think the rear looks good. Still needs a lot of work though.
I'll have to wait a few weeks before I can continue as I'm going to England for some holidays.
I'm tired but itching to do more!

[Edser]

Just discovered my university fees have nearly trebled this year, so it looks like my Celeeeca will have to wait a year longer for its paint job. Still, this gives me the opportunity to ensure the bodywork is as close to perfect as I can get it. I'll keep at it, taking my time til its awesome.
This is how it looks at the mo, looking a bit pimpley.


I took a wheel off to see what could be done to make it nicer. Really it seems it had polished fronts to its spokes, machined grain that probably shone in the sunlight. Unfortunately the years have been hard on the finish, and there is a fair bit of oxidation on the edges and in many small scratches. So I took the decision to sand the whole lot back with my rotary sander, and then 400, and 600 and then polishing to a chrome-like finish with a polishing disk.
I think I'll paint the edges with a a titanium coloured paint, or maybe darker, and then clearcoat the lot. Should be nice 15's.



This post has been edited by Edser: Jul 30, 2012 - 4:13 PM

[Edser]

I did a bit more work on the wheels this week, sanding and polishing. I'm quite happy with the results. Gives the car that bit of "bling" like those American imports we sometimes see. I'm thinking of painting the sides of the spokes a gun metal grey colour. I already put a bit paint on the hub, to see what it'd be like. It looks good I think? I may paint it with the darker gun metal grey colour later.


I also did a bit more sanding of the bodywork. I'm still at the 400 grade stage as there are still some noticable imperfections. I'd like to just swap out the driver side wing completely as it's a bit too damaged, to much filler etc, but I don't have any money to buy another. I found a car in a scrapyard here in Barcelona, but its wing was more mangled than my own... Guy said he'd sell me the whole hatch with spoiler and all for 100euros (mines got a bad patch of rust right in the join between the glass). I haven't got a 100euros!!! Arrrrgh! The agony!!! I'll have to wait. I'm not good at patience.

BTW I never did swap out that damaged wing, and it's still on my list.

This post has been edited by Edser: May 18, 2015 - 7:38 PM

[enderswift]

good work bud,

the car has already come a long way and you're only getting started. Any plans for performance upgrades in the future?

[SwissFerdi]

I can make you some money if you're willing to part with those Euro splitters.

Otherwise, best o' luck.

This post has been edited by SwissFerdi: Aug 26, 2012 - 10:45 AM

[Edser]

good work bud,

the car has already come a long way and you're only getting started. Any plans for performance upgrades in the future?

I'd like to do an SSIII BEAMS swap, but I need some money to do that.

This post has been edited by Edser: Sep 10, 2012 - 7:35 PM

[Edser]

I can make you some money if you're willing to part with those Euro splitters.

Otherwise, best o' luck.

Thanks for the offer but I'm not gonna part with them until I have some SSIII splitters. Watch this space (although there's no hurry).

[Edser]

Another photo of a polished wheel



One of the wheel bolts is broken. I hope it's not to difficult to change. Seems the last owner broke it off. I have no idea how!

This post has been edited by Edser: Sep 10, 2012 - 7:41 PM

[Edser]

This weekend I'm going to polish the last two wheels and paint the painted bits with a gun metal grey and a coat or two of clearcoat.

[yagamius]

Parles Català.
Que hi ha, que bé veure com un Celica torna amb força, segueix amb la bona feina. saluts

This post has been edited by yagamius: Sep 11, 2012 - 5:26 AM

[Edser]

Sí que puc parlar una mica, però jo parlo millor espanyol, ja que era la primera idioma que vaig aprendre quan vaig anar a barcelona. Ara estic estudiant enginyeria en català. És bastant fàcil d'entendre ara.

This post has been edited by Edser: Mar 16, 2013 - 10:46 AM

[Edser]

Here's the wheel inserts all painted. I went for a dark gunmetal grey. This is the colour I'm going to paint the sides of the wheel spokes with this weekend. Should look banging. More photos soon.

[Edser]

I finished one of the front wheels today. I sanded it with an orbital sander then with finer grades by hand, polished it with a drill and polishing disk, masked the outside, and painted the inside silver and parts of the outside dark grey.

The grey looks lighter than I imagined, until you compare it to the plastic inserts (which are painted the same colour).

While I was waiting for the paint to dry, I painted the front hub dark metallic grey and the brake caliper red. I think it looks nice.
The silver splash on the tyre is because I moved the wheel while painting it. The newspapers underneath had become silver and wet, and I put the wheel on them. Dumb I know!

Tomorrow I'll finish the rear wheel and the other side (which are already polished).
I gave the whole wheel two coats of clear varnish. I hope that'll protect it a bit.


This post has been edited by Edser: Sep 17, 2012 - 4:44 AM

[rivs]

Looking good man! I'm thinking about painting the rims like you did. I wouldn't worry about the paint on the tire, I did that once and with a stiff brush it came right off.

[Edser]

Here's a better pic of what the completed side looks like. It would look a lot better if I lowered it slightly of course, but that'll happen later.
It took me about four hours to do each wheel, and I masked and painted the hubs and calipers in situ (I had previously scrubbed the calipers clean) while I was waiting for the wheel paint to dry.
I didn't get the passenger side front wheel sanded and polished, so it's the only one left to finish. I'll do that next week. I'll also scrub those tyres to get rid of paint marks and to generally improve their appearance.
While I was waiting for paint to dry I also whipped off the stereo/aircon surround and the gaiter surround. I've been thinking about painting these with the same dark grey as the wheels, as the lower piece has a melt from a cigarette burn and the top has a LED in a hole (I think from an alarm - the wires aren't connected).
These pieces came off surprisingly easily. The gear stick surround just jumped off when I pulled at it! They are all held on with simple clips, and two screws on the lower edge of the upper piece. I'm not surprised that when driving, the interior squeaked like party of mice on cocaine.
Has anyone stopped the squeaking? How? I was thinking of smearing a tiny amount of silicone on all the edges in that are in contact.



This post has been edited by Edser: Sep 17, 2012 - 4:41 AM