Not sure about my Celica anymore, not sure if its worth working on Options

[Mannyrav]

When I first bought my Celica and came to this site, I was so enthusiastic about working on it. I fell in love with the car and the idea of having it the way I wanted, and I fell in love with the 3sgte engine and the thought of a GT4 conversion.

I forgot who was it that told me, but someone recommended that I sat down and thought about what I really wanted to do with my car. Well I did alot of thinking, and with my budget, by the time I have enough money to get the dream celica I wanted 4 years would've passed by.

I never knew doing an engine and tranny swap would be so expensive.

I know most would probably respond with; its a process that takes patience and time, and you need money for these kind of things, it never comes easy; but I still wanted to work on my car.

By the end of the year I should have atleast 1 grand saved up, and I expected to accomplish something with that money..but it seems that even a bodykit is out of reach with my budget. (I'm a college student with a crappy job at radioshack, with bills up the a@#; not some broke bum).

Yeah I know I'm kinda impatient, but I'd like at the least for my car to be a manual so that I can get more out of my everyday driving experience.

So my question is, with my situation is attempting to hook up my car even worth it? Or should I just buy a crappy manual coupe and work on that (I'm still paying for my celica btw)...I don't know what route to take, and I'm disappointed that I feel discouraged when I grew to love my little st celica

Edit: I was even willing to take a different and alot cheaper route than a gt4 conversion- getting a 4a-ge engine and a manual tranny and a invader bodykit..but I dont know what I'll be looking at there $$ wise

This post has been edited by Mannyrav: Oct 19, 2007 - 12:39 AM

[kerosene]

man, someone told me (illneversellmyceli), if you dont put your heart into it, it will never look any good...no matter what you add... by what you just said...money this, money that.... if money is your BIGGEST concern, your heart is not in it... so now...its either you put your heart into it or you get rid of it...it's hard for somoene to make your mind up for you...

[FortuneCookie]

Dude, I have a ST celica. It's manual, saves gas like a mother freaker, and its pretty damn quick. I always wanted the 3SGTE (like 90% of the people in this forum) but ofcourse, butchet is too high. To my honest opinion, that $8000+ isn't worth it. $2000 more, you can buy a GT-FOUR conversion from somebody. So, now, what I REALLY want out of my celica is to be a DD and save gas while still having the good racing feel to it while I drive it. It's going good. Oh yeah, btw, I'm in a process of doing a 7A*G*E. Only problem with it I'm having is that the 7AFE picks up 0-60mph like 3 seconds faster than the 4AGE. I'm having second thoughts about it.

BUT, honestly dude. If you really want a GT-FOUR for cheap that fits your expense, go for the ST185, 1st gen alltrac. They aren't great looking but they can be and VERY clean and eye catchey. That is the closes thing you can get to a gt-four quickly. There are alot in Cali. It's just up to you to search and have the money ready.

EXAMPLE:
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/car/449721012.html

This post has been edited by FortuneCookie: Oct 19, 2007 - 4:26 AM

[97Celica]

Celicas will last forever. So working on them is worth the money.

[Culpable04]

some of the nicest celicas on the forum have been built over the years, not too many people have the money to just get the car and put close to 10 K on engine, body parts, paint, wheels.......

it is a process, you first take care of priorities ( tune up, mantinience etc ) then you start putting money on the side and wait for a good deal on something you want to pop on the buying and selling

I remember a guy who bought a full set of JDM headlamps for ~ 500.00 shiped brand new in a box.

[95CelicaST]

Or you can do what I did... wait for someone to sell their Celica that has thousands into it for cheap and pick that up.

Only problem with it I'm having is that the 7AFE picks up 0-60mph like 3 seconds faster than the 4AGE. I'm having second thoughts about it.

the 4A-GE makes up for the lack of low end torque with high end power.

This post has been edited by 95CelicaST: Oct 19, 2007 - 12:03 PM

[xs94st]

my girlfriend makes me feel the same way about my car. saying its too old n not worth it >:[ but i think that my baby is awesome no matter its flaws. yea its got some front end damage. yea its needs new paint everywhere. yea its got some funky sideskirts. but i dont care. people still look at it even though cuz people rarely see celicas. people even mistake the celi as a supra until their knowledgeable friend puts them in their place. i know its an ST, but i see people driving Geo Metros still n they are like 40 years old. i duno how old you are, u seem young n u said ur in college, so im assuming 18-21ish.

when i first got my celi, i startd dreaming of all that could be done, but when i realized i gotta prioritize things n save up, i realizd that it can happen, just through time n patience. i know that if i keep my car in good condition, it will last me forever. its also my teacher cuz i learn more stuff from it every day. n when it doesn't start or just takes a dump on me, its testing me n making me learn more.

don't think about the money part as much. if you want it done, you will get it done. it just takes time.

[jason]

i think since you work at radio shack, should work on your interior with liek leds and make your car clean... like make the paint look all nice n save your money till you can do something good to it, dont spend 100 here n there if your aiming to put a new engine in it

[FortuneCookie]

the 4A-GE makes up for the lack of low end torque with high end power.

Well, in that case, I guess I'll continue with it. All I have right now is the 4AGE red top head. I'm planning on rebuilding it and and throwing in hks cams and cam shafts with aftermarket pistons and valve srpings and possibly doing ITB. Not going turbo... atleast not yet.

[kerosene]

the 4A-GE makes up for the lack of low end torque with high end power.

. All I have right now is the 4AGE red top head.

wtf is a redtop? Theres a blacktop and silvertop from 4age then beams is red... unless its painted

[GriffGirl]

my girlfriend makes me feel the same way about my car. saying its too old n not worth it >:[ but i think that my baby is awesome no matter its flaws. yea its got some front end damage. yea its needs new paint everywhere. yea its got some funky sideskirts. but i dont care. people still look at it even though cuz people rarely see celicas. people even mistake the celi as a supra until their knowledgeable friend puts them in their place. i know its an ST, but i see people driving Geo Metros still n they are like 40 years old. i duno how old you are, u seem young n u said ur in college, so im assuming 18-21ish.

when i first got my celi, i startd dreaming of all that could be done, but when i realized i gotta prioritize things n save up, i realizd that it can happen, just through time n patience. i know that if i keep my car in good condition, it will last me forever. its also my teacher cuz i learn more stuff from it every day. n when it doesn't start or just takes a dump on me, its testing me n making me learn more.

don't think about the money part as much. if you want it done, you will get it done. it just takes time.

I was going to reply to the original posting, but then I saw what this posting said and thought, hey, that's me! I feel exactly the same way. That totally describes me!

I'm driving an ST with no sunroof and manual windows with 221k on the body - NOT what I had envisioned when I set out to buy a '99 GT and quickly realized I was about 7 grand short and more than a few days late. It has a crappy spray job on the hood, a crack in the front lip, needs new rotors, drums, shoes and pads, not to mention new shocks/struts all around. I had to put a new starter in it the first week I had it because the little **** that sold it to me had the engine already running when I met up with him twice and lied to me about some stuff. (yet another car lesson learned!)

So yeah, you prioritize, work on the mechanical stuff and get it where it needs to be before you drop a bunch more money into it. Take small steps on the bells and whistles - today I ordered hyper white LEDs for the gauge, and I can't WAIT to get 'em! I'm NOT 20 years old, I'll be 34 in two weeks! (ugh!) But it's like 15 bucks that'll enhance my driving experience that much more.

I love my slow ass little ST. It's a sexy ass car to begin with, it's a GREAT place to start and like I've always said, if a car could be bullet proof it'd be a Toyota. They kick ass! I truly don't think anyone will ever have a finer car than a Toyota, for reliability, looks, cost and ownership cost combined. You can't beat it!

[kerosene]

not for the price you cant beat it... =) griffigirl, but in the future you see possibilities though...right...

[GriffGirl]

not for the price you cant beat it... =) griffigirl, but in the future you see possibilities though...right...

ABSO-F'IN-LUTELY!

[Kwanza26]

wtf is a redtop? Theres a blacktop and silvertop from 4age then beams is red... unless its painted

It's the 16V smallport 4AG. There's also a bigport Bluetop 4AG...

This post has been edited by Kwanza26: Oct 19, 2007 - 6:28 PM

[xHiKO]

well not meaning to flame or anything but i mean if you really really love your celica, of course it would be worth it. not relating to celica's in general. my buddy has been working on his 95' 240 SX for a while. he is in university and has a $9 per hour job and its been about 3 years since he first started it. he has recently completed it and has poured a lot of hard earned cash into it. 240 SX with S15 Front end conversion and S15 SR20 DET black top engine. moral of that story is that if love your car enough anything you wanna do should be worth it. sure if you don't got the money and are working hard for it it will take some time but in the end you will have your dream car right?

[kerosene]

wtf is a redtop? Theres a blacktop and silvertop from 4age then beams is red... unless its painted

It's the 16V smallport 4AG. There's also a bigport Bluetop 4AG...

what are the specs of both?

[crismillencolin]

reliable ha , my car ate two engines in two years .

3sfe is weak **** .

[kerosene]

reliable ha , my car ate two engines in two years .

3sfe is weak **** .

OR, you drive like S*** ... a car is only as good as its driver, and if you killed 2 motors, that would mean you suck at driving

[soulshadow]

If ya got the Money. Yea You know Happiness.

Any fool who says money can't buy everything, GO Live like a bum for a while and you'll see.

[Kwanza26]

what are the specs of both?

If you're gonna try to debate with me about making 280hp out of a 4AG... at least know the specs dude...

Bigport 4AGE aka Bluetop (although also came with red lettered valve covers). There are two versions of this motor with nearly identical specs performance-wise. The difference was the bottom-end, the earlier ones having the smaller 40mm crank versus the later models with the 42mm crank. Both versions used TVIS.
112-115 hp
97-100 ft lbs of torque

Smallport 4AGE aka Redtop. Although they only came with the red lettering, "redtop" is an inaccurate name because the previous gen motors had the exact same valve covers. Smallport, high-comp, or non-TVIS is the more accurate name.
138-140hp
100 ft lbs of torque

This post has been edited by Kwanza26: Oct 19, 2007 - 9:55 PM