GT-FAUX, Hatch off, seats out, color test, dents beaten, and more! Options

[Pfloyd09]

In early 2012 I was driving over 100 miles each way to work, and I was driving a Blazer that got about 15 MPG that was killing my wallet. I decided to start looking for an older car that was reliable, good looking (MUST be good looking), and efficient. After doing a good amount of research, I settled on finding a nice Celica. I happened to get lucky, and found a very nice '95 GT Automatic Coupe for $3k. I put about $2k into it replacing struts, exhaust, radiator, water and oil pump, and he (Tom Celica) runs like a dream with almost 200k miles now. 65k of them were last year alone...

My kids (18 and 20) have loved Tom since the day I picked him up at the lot, and want a Celica of their own. Fast forward to last week..

I was browsing the local news classifieds to see about getting my kids a 6th gen Celica, when I saw a white '94 GT 5-speed hatchback that had thrown a rod out the bottom of the engine. The interior is great except that tear on the driver's side seat that all older cars seem to get, and a little spot on the carpet. The exterior is a little beat up, but nothing a new set of fenders and some new glass won't fix.

So today I embark on my journey of not only resurrecting this old car, but restoring her to proper glory! Not sure where I will end up, but I know when I'm done I'll be getting there FAST!

I have paid for the car, have the title in hand, and will be getting it towed to the house tomorrow to begin work on it. I am not a mechanic, but I do have a very strong desire to give this my best effort, and hope I don't end up missing extremities or limbs when all is finished.

If anyone has any advice before I begin, I'm all ears. I've listened to the Manny and Dustin show (6gc podcasts), done lots of reading, but overall there's TONS of info that doesn't necessarily agree with each other.

My goals are to have a nice fast car with as few problems getting there along the way. I would like to *eventually* go with a LSD up front and going beyond stock on the motor, but for now the S54 is all I need for a stock 3s-gte. Once I get the motor in, I'll worry about upgrades and all that. Right now my focus in on getting the new girl running, making her look REALLY GOOD, then finally upgrading her to the point that I need to change tires along with oil...

Ultimately she will be a GT-FAUX. That is, the only thing it won't have from the GT-4 when I'm done is AWD, hence the name..

This post has been edited by Pfloyd09: Sep 16, 2013 - 2:00 AM

[Box]

Find a trashed 97 Camry V6 and take its engine, ECU, and harness. Will cost a fraction of what the 3S-GTE alone would be. If you want another Celica you should buy mine so I can get a gas guzzler.

[Pfloyd09]

Between waiting on the title to arrive in the mail, dealing with Utah DMV, and being on vacation, it's taken over 2 weeks to get her home. She's not much to look at right now, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how nice the interior is, and that it has the 10 speaker system with the two speakers in each door. SCORE!







And here is my good buddy Tom Celica, the 95 GT automatic..



My daughter thinks we should call the new car Jerry (Tom and Jerry), but this one is a girl because Tom needs a lady friend, and she's gonna be sexy as hell when finished, so I think we'll just spell it Jeri..

This post has been edited by Pfloyd09: Aug 23, 2013 - 1:26 AM

[Box]

1MZ is reliable, efficient, and easy to get parts for. Makes 200 hp and 214 ft lb stock, which is a good amount for a FWD car that'll weigh around 2,500 pounds. Best part is no annoying 4 cylinder exhaust.

[Box]

.

This post has been edited by Box: Aug 20, 2013 - 9:09 PM

[JoshuaM]

Hello and welcome to what could be a very epic thread

I have to disagree with Box, the 1MZ is a great engine, but getting any more than the stock 150ish kW out of it is not an easy feat. You were talking anout the desire to eventually upgrade further from the 178kW 3S-GTE, which is much easier to do apart from the obvious straight up advantage. You will beat the little Honda kids with the 1MZ but you won't be shaming any WRX's.

That and the Celica is a 4 cyl car - putting a V6 in it will ruin the whole GT-Faux thing

Be sure to show us some pics when you get her home

[Box]

What do you know, you don't even speak in horsepowers or torques. You can supercharge the 1MZ, which TRD offered a bolt on that gave it 242 hp and 242 ft lb. Also the option of the 3MZ or a hybrid of the two like Smaay did. The thing though is the 1MZ weighs considerably less than the 3S-GTE. Which is a good thing, especially when we're already talking about unevenly balanced FWD cars. For what it'd cost to do a 3S swap just buy a LS1 F-body...

[bsamps4]

The service weight of the 3sgte v.s. the 1mz is only a difference of 20 pounds based on what I've read, and that includes all accessories bolted on with fluids added...I have 280ft lbs and 298 horse...i'll take my overweight engine over the 1mz for sure.

[Pfloyd09]

I did some looking around last night on MR2OC regarding the 1MZ potential. I appreciate the suggestion, but my heart tells me to go with the 3S-GTE in this build. Partly because I am about to also buy an MR2, and would like to get to know that engine pretty well for future upgrades on both. Another reason is that I've never had a car with a turbo, and I'm looking forward to experiencing that. The SC option on the 1MZ seems to have the same limitations as the 5S-FE, in that the pistons, rods, etc., are not up to the task of supporting more than 5-8 psi, so says the guys on MR2OC. I'd like to eventually push the 3S-GTE beyond 300whp, and it seems like this would be much more difficult with the xMZ series.

So, I get the car tonight. Will post some ugly 'before' photos, then get to ripping the seats and carpet out. Starting from the ground up on this one!

BTW - anyone know of any good info on how to re-carpet a car? lol

[Box]

The service weight of the 3sgte v.s. the 1mz is only a difference of 20 pounds based on what I've read, and that includes all accessories bolted on with fluids added...I have 280ft lbs and 298 horse...i'll take my overweight engine over the 1mz for sure.

Hmm, according to Paul Woods it's a 70 pound difference. Albeit I was under the impression it was at least 100 pounds between them. Still, price vs performance is the issue at hand. For the cost of a 3S swap and the donor car you could just get a ST165 or ST185. Save all the trouble and get all of the power to all of the wheels. From my understanding the power difference on the 2nd and 3rd gen 3S-GTE is easily made up anyhow.

They make moulded carpets you can buy, that or get one from a junk yard.

This post has been edited by Box: Aug 21, 2013 - 3:58 PM

[Pfloyd09]

And now the work begins. I've edited my 2nd post above with the BEFORE pics, and am ready to start tearing her down. This weekend I'm going to focus on the interior. The only real blemishes on the inside is the tear on the drivers seat where you get in, and the top of the console has a rip. Both minor, and easily fixable. The body needs work, but fortunately I have a buddy that knows a thing or two about that, and he happens to work for beer. I hope he doesn't find out people charge money for that kinda thing!

[JoshuaM]

10 speaker sound system... Win! Watching this space

[bsamps4]

LMK if you need help wiring up the 3s.

[Pfloyd09]

I am a career IT guy, and used to working with very small parts. My skill level as a mechanic is good enough to change brakes, shocks, starters, and water pumps. I'll definitely be leaning on you kind folks for quite a few things I'm sure.

Wish I still lived in KY. Seems like more ppl on the site are back east. If there's anyone in the SLC area of Utah, holla!

Making a trip to harbor freight tomorrow. If I don't walk out of there flat broke, I did it wrong.. heh

[Pfloyd09]

In case you were wondering. This is what roughly $800 looks like after you leave Harbor Freight. This should be enough to do most of the swap and body work. Still need a few more things, like and engine hoist, but almost there.. Going to start taking the paint off and getting some body work done while I source a Caldina clip. I called the JDM import guys at the link above and they didn't actually have the clip, just the engine. Oh well, the body and interior work will keep me busy for a little while anyway.

[richee3]

I've done an engine swap with way less than that. Looks like a good setup though, I need to pick up a few new tools myself.

[enderswift]

save yourself some heart ache and return that central pneumatic impact wrench. Then go to advance auto and buy the 400 ft lb Ingersol Rand Impact. Then be happy

[Pfloyd09]

save yourself some heart ache and return that central pneumatic impact wrench. Then go to advance auto and buy the 400 ft lb Ingersol Rand Impact. Then be happy

LOL - I have no doubt you're right, but the impact wrench in the pic is $21. The one you recommend is $249 or so, from what I saw. As long as the one I got works long enough to get me through the swap, I'm gold. I moved cross-country, and left 99% of my tools 2,500 miles away in a storage unit. Will be going to get the rest of my stuff soon, so this is just to get me by for now.

UPDATE: I have begun tearing the body down, and getting the interior removed. I would post some pics, but we've all seen naked Celicas before.

[bnr32celica]

Get the Earthquake from HFT. MUCH better.

[enderswift]

don't know which one you're looking at, but advance sells them for ~$110. Money well spent. My old impact couldn't break lugs that I was later able to loosen by hand. The IR on the other hand feels like it can alter the axis of the earth. But I see your point, if it works for $20 then why not. Good luck with the build

This post has been edited by enderswift: Aug 26, 2013 - 10:05 PM