Sorta cool ra24 Celica

[Greasy63]

Rust sucks, replacing pieces of panel isn't hard just tedious. When you give it a go it won't be bad.

I love kyusha style, it is weird I have a Bosozoku style bent license plate on my dodge magnum? Or that I had my Jdm tsurikawa dragging from my undercarriage? Lol I Love JDM too much my wife says.

[Golden Gramps]

I know it has been forever and a day since I have posted an update on my Celica, but nothing has been done to it until today. I have had this idea in my head ever since I got the car, but I was always hesitant about it. However, I finally said screw it and went for it.



Say goodbye to 40 year old tan/yellow paint!



Needless to say that it was nerve racking at the start so I started with a small strip on the front fender.



About five minutes later...The process of paint stripping was in effect.



The towel kept the carb and motor dust free while everything else was getting completely covered in dust and paint particles.



That's my attempt at brushing the metal, but I kept are limited to a few spots on the fender.







Now that I have started stripping down the car, it is time to start thinking of colors for the wheels. I am thinking like an aqua color or orange. Also I now have enough money to get this thing lowered so I would stay tuned for future updates.

-Kobe

[Greasy63]

I like it.

Out of those 2 colors I'd say orange because I fear the aqua might look too much like that turquoise everybody and their moms are doing that happens to be really lame IMHO

[Golden Gramps]

I'm back, and I come with new wheels and no more ugly US spec bumpers.









They are 15x8 0 offset with 195-65-15 tires. The tires on the wheels now are sketchy and dry rotted so they will be replaced soon.

As far as the bumpers go, I took them off because they stuck out like a sore thumb and looked really bad. I though about the idea of tucking them, but I ended up taking them off. I have to put the front valance back on, but for now I still have to hammer out the dents.

[Benwalsh91]

yaaaasssssssss

i like these.

[EuroJDM]

Oh yes yes yes !
One of my favourite car !
Fender flares and big wheels, you can't do it more right !
You need JDM or Euro Bumper and a front spoiler too ! and a 4AG ...

[Greasy63]

When I was looking for an old Jdm car I remember reading somewhere that you can probably use old Jdm pickup truck bumpers. I'd measure and go hunting. As for a front chin spoiler you can buy replica shitstang (second gen I think 68-71?) online for like $80 IIRC and just trim the ends off to fit your application. Or a different route for front lips would be the 80's s10/blazer air dams.

[Golden Gramps]

Oh yes yes yes !
One of my favourite car !
Fender flares and big wheels, you can't do it more right !
You need JDM or Euro Bumper and a front spoiler too ! and a 4AG ...

I definitely agree with you on the bumpers and 4AG. It's going to take some time to build up the cash, but it will happen regardless.

[Golden Gramps]

When I was looking for an old Jdm car I remember reading somewhere that you can probably use old Jdm pickup truck bumpers. I'd measure and go hunting. As for a front chin spoiler you can buy replica shitstang (second gen I think 68-71?) online for like $80 IIRC and just trim the ends off to fit your application. Or a different route for front lips would be the 80's s10/blazer air dams.

That's a good idea! I will have to look into it soon because it sounds like a good solution.

[Golden Gramps]

Got a chance to work on the Celica the other day and grabbed some shots.



I realized how crusty the car is looking. That muffler is looking quite bad and I'm thinking about getting an Aspec Blast pipe or a simple muffler that blends in. Also I need to change these tires out bad and I'm debating on getting 225/45/15's or 195/55/15's.



Also this is the difference between an 8 inch wide wheel versus a 5 1/2 inch wide wheel.



Needs to come down a lot more!!



The struggles of having a small garage and a bight sun. The Celica is looking super rough without the front valance, but that will change soon.

[Nagah]

I like how you just fuckin' fan mother nature. Because you can. That's why!

[Golden Gramps]

I like how you just fuckin' fan mother nature. Because you can. That's why!

Yeah I did that because it cooled me down when it was 90 something degrees out with zero wind. Also it helped blow the dust from the sanding out of my face

[Golden Gramps]

I made some progress since the last time I posted on here, but I just sent my front struts off to be converted into coilovers. So while the Celica will be up on jack stands for the next month or so, I plan on fixing little things and removing anything unnecessary. I've already stripped more paint off the car and now it's only down to the hood and the doors.



Before I sent off the struts, I lowered the rear of the car using KYB Camaro shocks and AFCOIL springs. The combo lowered the rear about an 1 1/2 inch, basically enough to give it a nice stance in the rear while still functional.



So here is how the Celica sits in my garage as of now. It's kind of depressing because I really want to drive it, but I can't no matter how hard I tried.



I also tried my hand at sandblasting for the first time and I can tell that I need a stronger compressor for sure. I'm 99.9% sure on the color I am going for with the steelies. Ideally I would like to be running a decent sized set of SSR Longchamps or Work equip03's, but my budget does not allow either of those.



Until my coilovers arrive, I'm going to be working away on the Celica and I'll try to be more active on the site, but I finally caught a break from school so I'm maximizing my time to the best that I can!

[Golden Gramps]

After a couple of days work, I am finally able to say that I have stripped the whole entire car down to bare metal.



I know there is tan in the front right there, but that will be painted black.



Other than those pieces the whole car has this cool pattern which will look better once buffed and polished.





One upside/downside of stripping your car all the way to metal is seeing all of the previous body work and rust holes your car has. That pile of whatever (grass, dirt,rust etc...) fell out of a rust hole in my door , but after applying some all metal, it will stop the rust.







Since this is such as messy job, we had to move my dad's hot rod out of the garage. I haven't really messed around shooting this car, but I had a chance to before the sun comes down. I have been trying to get my dad to build this car beyond a boulevard cruiser and into a real hot rod.

[Golden Gramps]

Got bored with my camera

No progress was made on the Celica today so I got bored and decided to shoot my other car (1992 Lexus LS400).









I think after I get the Celica up and running and show it off at Import Alliance, I will bag this and hopefully get some wide 18 inch wheels to have a cool and functional daily.

That's it for now!