The white rescued Celica. (1994 ST204) Pictures galore., Suspension re-do time! Options

[RabidTRD]

Well the cell phone camera warped it lol... but the question was, is it normal for the car to be at 4k RPMs when at 82MPH?

[epocsirhc]

That sounds about right. I haven't owned my Celica for like a year and a half.

I'm liking what you've done so far! Keep up the great work.

[m4dm4n]

not sure what the conversion is to Kmh exactly (125-130??) but at 110 I'm at something like 3200rpm or so

[RabidTRD]

Out with the old, in with the new(ish):





The rear wheel is angled out funny. How do I correct that on this car since there is no camber adjustment?



Clearance:
Rear:


Front:


And a little retro!



Now, does anyone on here have any experience with the rebuildable Koni Special D shocks? My drive side, both front and rear are rattling like the spanner nut is coming loose. Is that possible? I haven't had day light long enough to get in there and try anything yet. It took me all day to change the rears due to a broken socket, seized bolts, and an irritating sway bar link.

[whatthe]

Loving the progress mate!

[RabidTRD]

Thanks everyone! I should have the exhaust on soon. Then I'll have to get the Scion TC rims at the 17" 45 offset and I'll be happy. Then I'll have to save up for the splitter kit and possibly a new engine. I may be doing a 3S-GTE instead of the beams... just seems more practical. Parts are easier for me to come by, cheaper, and the stock turbo shouldn't lag, so I just won't **** with it.

[RabidTRD]

Quick shot I took today while on my lunch break at work.
Parked next to my co-workers MK2 Golf:


Another view of the ride height:


I need camber bolts bad. Good thing I can get Moog ones from work.

[RabidTRD]

Anyone know if this means my car is really made in Japan and if this also means my car is the 675th car made?
What kinda information can I learn from this sticker?


Also, anyone putting on emblems, don't use this garbage:

Just use 3M Sticky Tape and cut it to fit. You'll be better off for a clean, easy job. This **** sticks to everything but the thing you're trying to stick it to. What a freaking mess.

[SwissFerdi]

That sticker really just confirms your paint, transmission, and chassis codes (040, S54, and ST204, respectively). Your VIN is also on it. The rest is just government blahblah. These were made in Japan, though. JDM for sure.

Also, excellent progress here. Looks like you're taking a very clean, practical route to modification.

This post has been edited by SwissFerdi: Jul 3, 2011 - 11:19 PM

[mkernz22]

How much is the car lowered now?

[RabidTRD]

Uhhh... I'd say about 2 inches. It's pretty freaking low. It's advertised as 1.5 with the Sportline, but I assume that's 1.5 out of the box new. This is over a year old.

Before:




After:



I don't have any good before pictures.

I'm trying to make it as clean and OEM as possible, but still semi JDM and fun? I don't really know how to explain it. I don't like the gauge bezel I have and will be changing that ASAP. I will also be ordering custom fab brake pedals, dummy pedal pads and whatnot in a brushed aluminum. Ones that are designed for heel-toe. Or, I'll buy the WRC pedals that lift the gas pedal up to a height roughly the same as the brake pedal, and extends over towards the brake. (Roughly 200 to my door for the whole assembly)

This post has been edited by RabidTRD: Jul 3, 2011 - 11:32 PM

[Arsaces]

What kind of paint did you use on the valve cover? Looks great!

[RabidTRD]

This stuff:



Also used a grey primer by the same company and type under. It worked great on the Camry I used to have, so I did it on this as well. 500 degrees and ceramic.

[Arsaces]

Thank you very much!

[RabidTRD]

Photoshoot time!
Decided to go out with my Canon 20D DSLR and a tripod and snap some shots. I then realized after returning home that there was a bug on the lens...

Aaanndd... CAMBER!

[whatthe]

Nice colour chosen for the stock wheels. And all red taillights too. Noticing alot of rust on the doors =[

This post has been edited by whatthe: Jul 5, 2011 - 12:57 PM

[RabidTRD]

Yeah... up here in upstate NY we like snow with our salt. This car was abused before me. Apparently this is clean for how old it is. I'm going to be working on the rust next after I get this camber figured out and the exhaust on. Then comes rims from a 05 TC and after that I'll be trying to get my hands on a OEM lip kit. Hopefully SS-II splitters for the front and TRD for the rear with the OEM facelift skirts on the sides.

[RabidTRD]

Let me start by saying... ****.

So about 5 days ago after work, I started my car and black smoke came out the exhaust. I looked behind me and went outside to check and see how dark it really was. Got to the rear and it went away...

...Okay. So I figured it was just some crap that got into the cylinder and burned off. I brushed it off and went along for the past 5 days without it happening again or any problems.

Today I got bored, so I decided that I should check the gap on my plugs and, just to make sure, see if there was oil in the cylinders. Took out plug 1, whew, nothing. On to plug 2, again, nothing and gap was perfect just like the first. So then comes plug 3. Again, nothing to worry about. At this point I'm happy and just like, "oh well everything is fine, I just worry too much." Plug 4. ****! I pull the plug out and oil drips off and onto my finger. Plug smells like burnt oil. Wonderful, so I dry the plug off and run a few extensions down into the cylinder to see how much oil is in there. The oil only left residue on the tip of the extension.

I call my boss and ask him his opinion (If you guys haven't already figured out, I work at an autoparts store and the top on in our division at that) on what I should do. My thoughts were that my piston ring is leaking. So I ask how much would labor and all of that cost? His response, "you have to take the whole bottom of the engine apart, so you might as well swap the engine out at that point or replace it." Grrreeeaaat. I can't afford that right now. I don't know how to do that on my own and I don't have a cherry picker or a stand. My friend does, but I doubt he'd want to help me with this. I'm already suffering from depression, I have had a recent breakup with a girl that I devoted myself to for 3.5 years that decided to tell me that we have nothing in common and we should break up. I'm also trying to deal with my mothers death and my father re-marrying...

This damn car is the only thing keeping me sane right now besides my friends and alcohol. I work on it when I feel upset, I tinker and I forget my pain and feel free for just a small amount of time. In that amount of time I feel happy, I know what I'm doing and I know I can fix it. Right now, I'm lost. I don't know if I should rebuild it, replace it, do the 3S-GTE swap that I really wan to do, or make a hybrid engine with a 3S-GTE head and a 5S-FE block... (That one always intrigued me.)

I'm losing my mind and I don't even have enough money to go buy some beer to just calm down. My dad yelled at me after I told him to pray for me because I might need to replace the engine and told me, "You've already spent too much on that piece of junk car." That again crushed me. I hate when people call my cars "junk." I proved with my last one that anything was possible and even the junkiest of cars have life left in them and deserve respect and love. I honestly feel like crying right now because this car is my only love. I can't lose this one too.

Just an example of what my Camry came from when I first got it:


I then turned it into this:

A 160hp BMW killer.

[Malhar95]

feel ur pain man, somewhat the same story with my car, ppl dont understand what it really means to us (well atleast what it means to me)


just a tip, dont get the ebay rebuild kit, i got it and within 1200 miles , bearings failed (it might be the mechanic to blame but) i can tell u now the quality doesnt feel too good....people warned me but i was stubborn and still got it, just a heads up

[beams78]

sucks to hear that dude life is already hard enough as is but hey if you love that car then revive it. it wont happen over night but as long as you get something done on it you ll feel good my celica engine blew on me and also need a few other things and i still have it i didnt let it die before i wont let it die now. besides theres other ppl in this forum that are from the same area as you( im one of them) that probally wont mind giving you a hand i already found someone who will help me whit my swap for my celica (when i finished saving up for the engine that is >_>) so take it easy and good luck whit your car