Jesse's 95 ST Project, ST with some JDM and other parts Options

[jesse09]

Little background info..

I bought the car sometime around turning 18 and it was all stock with 185,XXX miles. As strange as it may sound, it was the only car I had been wanting for well over a year. Celica's aren't very common in my area so had to be patient while waiting for one to turn up.

(I had originally ran into a 99' fully loaded celica GT with 55,XXX original miles for $5,000!! .. I wanted it so bad but could not afford it)
So I settled for a 95 ST automatic for half the price. Yes, I know a lot of people don't like autos, but it was my only realistic choice at the time.

Since then, it has been my pride and joy.. literally almost everytime I look at it.

I've been inspired by many cars on this sight and while my car may not be to everyone's taste it is to me.

Here's how it looked when I bought it..



First 2-3 years with the car
After about a year of just enjoying the classic looks I ran into 2 small trees that really damaged the fenders and damaged my bumper beyond repair
So I decided to start chasing my dream of the gt4 look. I bought the gt4 bumper for $450 and had a local body shop "fix" the fenders, fit the new bumper and do a full car (but lower quality) paint job for $600.

During this time I also added
Entry Level Sound system (Dual subs, SPL amp, power acoustic speakers, Pioneer Deck)
Car Alarm
Window Tint
Neon Dials

From this


To This


Installing Indiglo Face Dials with a buddy


Years 3-4
By this time I had become attached to my celica and was sure that I would never want to sell it, so figured might as well just keep adding and modding
These years I added..
17" Katana Wheels
Mud Flaps
GT4 hood
Sun Visor
7th gen steering wheel
Upgraded sound system to (kenwood speakers, Kenwood amp and sub)





Most Recently

Now my car means as much to me as a machine could to a person.. well maybe with the exception of young john conner and the terminator in part 2.
I get complements about my car all the time and turns a lot of heads when I'm driving. Everytime we go somewhere my friends always wanna go in my car and for also take some pride in it cause they have helped me out a lot with repairs. Not gonna lie I feel like I'm driving my dream car. I know its probably the slowest 6gc ever but it is awfully dependable. I may not even bother racing when a new mustang or corvette try to test my car at a light, but i think it's funny that $60,000 cars feel the need to impress my $2500 car. I have been saving up and sometime this year I really want to venture into the v6 swap or even give it a go at the rare 4agze but only time will tell on that..

Things I've done
Upgraded system (infinity kappa speakers, alpine amps, audiobahn to image dynamics sub)
Enkei Rims
Falken Tires
Eibach Springs
KYB shocks struts and mounts
Limited Edition Floor mats
JDM Tails









I have been upgrading parts as my budget allows.. I know some people say if your not gonna do it right don't do it at all but i've been learning mostly through trial and error. I'm a 23 yr old mex-american, still trying to finish up on my bachelors degree and so I can only work part time. I usually only buy the goodies when I get a really good deal.

Deals I've gotten include...

Set of JDM Tails- $80 picked up from local member
GT4 Hood- $145 shipped
Brand new Enkei rims, Falken tires- $575
Limited Edition floor mats- $50
TRD front and rear splitters- $95 shipped
Oem side skirts- $80 picked up

Body Kit is awaiting paint at the moment


Well that's about it for now, super tired from all this typing and uploading
Tomorrow or the next few days I will be posting of some stuff I have lined up to do and seek some advice about some stuff.

Thanks for reading and hope to hear from some of you guys
-Jesse

[jesse09]

Had a busy Saturday.

Cleaned up the engine bay.

Changed oil, tranny fluid, motor mounts, added front and rear strut bar, and painted my rear rotors to prevent rust from accumulating so quickly.

I also added a set of used rear Moog sway bar end links I purchased from a member here but not have a clunking noise that wasn't there before. Wonder what it could be.

Also added pics of the tires and wheels installed couple weeks back.

[jesse09]

Lately i've been getting a bit bored driving my car and my bro recently got a stick shift 350. No one in our family's had a stick in years, so it was a cool to drive a sports car have access to driving it.

I had plans for a supercharger but i'm starting to come to the realization that I may have gotten burned on a project by a member here unfortunately.

So I figured the next best thing to do was to go for a manual swap. After searching for a running donor car with no luck, a 5 speed ST popped up in a local junkyard. I calculated the costs for each component in a spreadsheet and figured I can get away with a full swap for under $600, of course budgeting extra since these things rarely go without an extra expense or so.

I've read and researched and believe I have a full understanding into the installation. Only thing I'm still a bit stumped on is wiring. I haven't seen a good write up or explanation on how to do it with an OEM like wiring set up, where you have to depress clutch and using M/T ECU.

Going to keep reading but if anyone knows about it lmk.

I've already ordered my first parts and have more coming in, will pull the rest of the parts on Monday during half of memorial day sale. Also, bought some new suspension components for some are worn out.







The brake hardware on the left are older parts that i no longer need. Only mevotech part i will use from the picture below is the front sway bar end link.

[Box]

SwissFerdi on here manual swapped his ST, might try sending him a PM. The information on swapping is bound to be around here somewhere though.

[jesse09]

It's been a long time since I've shown the Celica much attention. Paint is getting bad, suspension components need replacing, still wanting to do the manual swap, and interior seat covers are getting rough.

Over the last 18 months, I got married, we bought our first home, family vehicle, and had a son (also our first). Crazy how the car that was once my infatuation has now worked its way down the totem poll in my life. But still, it remains special to me.

Proud that I was able to get the Celica going for it to be his first ever car ride, since we only live about a mile from the hospital. Other than that it's probably sat 9 of the last 12 months, due to it taking me much longer to get around to fixing issues, even easy ones.

I've come to terms that progress is likely going to be a lot slower moving forward but I still want to keep track of the progress.

Next in line is to get the fuel system finally fixed. Ordered a new bracket, pump, and pressure regulator. That should get it running again at least.

After that I will do a more in depth suspension repair consisting of poly motor mounts, axles, ball joints, control arms bushings, and I have a set of brand new Falken tires as well. Debating on adding some 10-15 HR or Ichiba spacers.

Debating if I want to go ahead and swap the tranny while I have it up, but this will obviously result in more down time.

New audio system, since apparently I have a never ending desire to continue upgrading this system.

And then paint job, and possible engine overhaul. Still have some pieces to a supercharger project a started collecting for a few years back that got put on hold. This will likely be the last hurdle.

Also, I came across a good opportunity to buy a mostly complete FJ40 and 2 FJ40 parts cars.

[TimeslideZ]

Wow man long time! Congrats on the new home and son man!!!!
As always, family will always be more important. But I'm glad you're still staying with the celica.
I hope to still have mine when I get a son too but when family things call... They call.

[jesse09]

In the market for some new wheels. Trying to move away from the GT4 rep look now that originals are more common in the states. Keeping hood and bumper though because it's the best upgrade from stock.

Have a few other updates I've done that I need to log as well and hopefully get some pictures up.

I've basically redone most of the suspension. Added BC coilovers, BRD front and rear motor mounts, axles, ball joints, control arms bushing, Suspension Technique sway bars front and rear.

Still need to get around to the MT transmission swap. I've also picked up what I believe is a TRD LSD that should fit the c52.

A few years back I picked up a running (but with some issues) turbo charged 1994 ST with some quality parts (HKS, Garrett, Tial, Apexi, BEGI FMU) as well as other upgrades (adjustable struts, GC coilovers, HR spacers, etc) I plan on swapping most of the parts over to mine and reverting the other 94 to stock.

I have some quality alpine audio- amps and DSPs that I need to install.

Need to order new leather as well.

On a personal note, had a second kid last year, a girl. Almost convinced my wife to name her Celica as a middle name lol. But ultimately it was vetoed. Maybe the next one.

[Jaws4God]

In the market for some new wheels. Trying to move away from the GT4 rep look now that originals are more common in the states. Keeping hood and bumper though because it's the best upgrade from stock.

what you have in mind?

On a personal note, had a second kid last year, a girl. Almost convinced my wife to name her Celica as a middle name lol. But ultimately it was vetoed. Maybe the next one.

Congrats! Celica would be a beautiful name.