6G Celicas Forums

Makes a lot of sense slavie.
If I need to be patient, flexible, and do some custom work that's fine.

I've been keeping my eye out for a long time and you're right.
Searched many Eastern European shops for that hood latch, even came close once.
And I did see that yellow one go.
As I was looking up how to replace the foglight grill (they were missing as you said) someone else bought it.

There's a silver engine clip with body parts for sale in HK, listing still active, but my local shop advised me not to go for it on my own.
They're keeping an eye out for me in case one of their yards in Japan get something.

Actually had a private seller last week, agreed to his asking.
Beautiful clip, had everything, in the US.
Then talked delivery, never heard from again.
(I hadn't paid yet so I'm good.)

Thanks for your feedback man.

* Bump

Would be cool to do a drop-off deal, or (if not too far) meet half-way.

Any color is ok as long as no damage.
Prefer projector headlights, but not necessary.
Working fogs.
Modified (weld) or OEM 205 LHD hood latch.

I think he sold it mate.

*Bump

Modified hood latch is fine if it's a weld, until I can get my hands on a genuine LHD hood latch.

*Bump

*Bump

Your white conversion looks cool, slavie!
I think I'll hold out for silver for a bit before biting the bullet on an expensive paint job, however.

Hey all!

Looking for a GT4 ST205 nose cut with all parts out of the box to perform a front-end conversion (including hood).
Silver preferred as that's my car's original color.

LHD hood latch would be a nice bonus so I can swap that out (in case the clip is RHD)

Located in the southeast but can discuss shipping.

This is not a full guide for installing an aftermarket head unit.
You can find that here: http://www.6gc.net/howto/install_head_unit

If you have the factory amp and the wires you need to connect to your new radio are clipped underneath, then this simple guide might help.

I noticed that many people solve the problem of getting under the factory amp by going to great lengths to remove the entire center trim, which is a lot more trouble than it's worth.

This tip took me hours to come across, and many scratches on my arm and curse words later, I can now pass this on to you.

What I did was remove the left and right nuts on the front of the amp bracket, then pivot the amp up to get enough room to stick my hand in there and unclip the wires from the blue harness.

Here's a picture guide:



I used a 5/16" socket.
The lip of the bracket makes it very hard to approach the nuts from the front, so you have to get in on the side. You may have to bend the plastic out a bit to get in from the left. Once you loosen the nut, you'll be able to take it off with your hands. It's much easier to get your fingers in there than a wrench.






The right is much trickier because there is almost no space to work with.
I finally figured out that I could slip my wrench up from under the trim and get in on the side of the amp bracket. The circled part in the picture is the handle of the wrench sticking out from the bottom of the trim. It will take a lot of patience to finally get lined up on the nut. You may find it helpful to first use your hands to place the socket, then attach the wrench to it.
Once you feel it loosen, turn it a few more times and then take it off with your hands.




You'll be able to then pivot the amp up an extra inch, which will give you enough room to get your hands in to unhitch the wires from the harness under the amp. On mine, the blue harness is attached by a plastic hanger, so it was a bit like surgery getting the wires out, but I managed to do it.

I hope this guide saved some you some trouble!

You'll be able to see my new interior lighting and head unit when I update my Celica's thread here.

My new tailgate came out of the shop today!








I found this about a month ago on a wrecked Celica in a salvage yard.
It was black and had all the trim, so I got it repainted and repaired, and I'll be able to wax it in a couple weeks.

I'll have to swap out the wiper motor but that's about it.

When I'm ready, I'll be able to use this hatch with the riser blocks.
Until then, I'm very happy with my 3 post wing

About my brakes and header questions, I guess I'll have more luck if I start a new thread for that.

haha sounds like a feature not a bug.

I thought it would be nice to upload pictures to clear things up, but I want to finish the lights in the climate control and clock first, then post the finished product.
I'll try to find time to finish the install but I've been pretty busy...

Glad I could help

I am looking for genuine oem silver SSIII riser blocks with the stickers on them from the factory. I don't need the whole wing assembly, just the blocks.

Hey guys, these are a few tips that I thought would be useful for those of us installing Spree's LED kit.
I installed mine last weekend and I couldn't be happier with the results! I haven't done the climate control lights yet because I'm going to do that when I install my new head unit.

I don't think I can give out full instructions for installing the kit because that is intellectual property that is part of the kit you purchase. However for those of us that have purchased the kit, I think these tips will save you some trouble.

Please keep in mind I am speaking from the perspective of a 97+ USDM Celica GT, so some things may be slightly different for you.

Also, these tips may be obvious to some of you so please bare with the rest of us.

First off, do what Spree says and be patient! It's worth it in the end.

Testing the LEDs:
You can test the smaller LEDs with the 9v, but when testing the larger LEDs that go behind the speedometer, tachometer, and fuel gauge, they need 12v to be tested (which is the voltage in our cars), so a 9v battery won't do anymore. You would need to use a resistance meter that can test diodes. Therefore, don't be nervous if you find the larger LEDs don't respond to your 9v battery! If you don't have these tools, just do what I did and install them into the back of your dash anyway, then, without refitting the dash, just reattach the wire harness to the far left (it's the blue wire harness in my car), flip on your headlights with the key in the car, and you'll see which LEDs were installed correctly. The ones that aren't won't light up, so all you have to do is reverse the direction you put them into the bulb socket.

Installing the LEDs into the bulb sockets:
When installing the LEDs with their bases into the bulb sockets, you first need to fold the wires up on each side. I made the mistake of folding the wires up on each side directly on the left and directly on the right. THEY WILL NOT FIT INTO THE BULB SOCKETS THIS WAY. When you first open the kit, for each LED, one wire was folded up and one was extended straight. Notice how the one folded up isn't folded directly on the side of the base, rather, it's on the front and all the way to one side. So the two wires should be folded up, but kind of diagonal from each other, not directly on opposite sides. Once you fold them up correctly, the LEDs in their bases should fit perfectly in the bulb sockets.

Installing the large LEDs behind the dash without their bases:
Spree cautiously advised that by taking the LEDs out of their bases (the plastic that houses the polarized -/+ wires) and fitting them into the back of the dash with the entire wire exposed, you can get better light spread and less vibration or chances of the LEDs shaking loose. Speaking only for 97+ USDM Celicas, I noticed that the LEDs fit perfectly in the bulb sockets with their bases, with excellent light spread and it wasn't loose at all. You might achieve better results by doing it the other way, but I didn't see any reason to risk the polarized wires touching each other and shorting out the electrical system. In other words, for USDM Celicas, I feel like the gains would be minimal for the risk. But I haven't tried it the other way so I can't be sure. If someone wants to do it please let us know how it went!

I hope this guide helps some of you who made the excellent choice of getting Spree's LED kit. I'm planning more night trips just to bask in the beautiful glow of my dash.

If anyone would like me to post pictures, I'll dig them up for you.

Thanks everyone!

Rabid, the one you found, it's the same one just cheaper, right? That's awesome! But, they're out of stock...

I appreciate you all being patient with my questions, which are probably obvious to most people here.

Speaking of which, I have a question about putting in the header and short ram intake. If I do both of those, will I do any damage to the engine by driving around without upgrading my exhaust as well? I intend to do it, but not right away. I'll probably have a professional do the exhaust, but I am still researching which one to put in.

Is it possible to put in a performance exhaust system that I can use with both the 5sfe and the 3sgte, in case I want to swap a few years down the road?

Also if anyone wants to answer my previous brake question, I'd love to hear it.

I really did feel like this car was special, so I couldn't imagine anyone else driving it.

I installed Spree's LED kit last weekend. It looks amazing. Maybe I'll post a few installation tips and pics later on for people like me who've never done any interior work before.

I've been doing a lot of research around the forum, and I have decided the best way to upgrade a 5sfe with the least amount of cash is to go ahead and put in a short ram intake and new header. I found this listing:

http://www.ssautochrome.com/level.itml/icOid/1430

Check out the MR2 header towards the bottom of the page.
It's the only aftermarket one I could find that explicitly says it will fit the Celica's 5sfe.
I'd be interested to know from you guys if this header is legit.
It looks bolt-on. If I had a friend help me out, do you think we could pull this off?

Will these upgrades actually result in wHP?

It looks like I've got a lot more reading to do to get some experience, although I do have to be careful because this is my daily driver.
At least I don't have to drop a couple Gs on classes or something. Thanks for the encouragement jordisonjr.

Props to my main man richee for the shout out. I do love a clean celi, and I love a clean post.
I know she's special, and I will do my best to take care of 'er.

deluzionz & mkernz22, or anyone else, I did have the alignment done a couple months back, but you've caught my interest in the brakes.
I can't afford a whole TRD brake kit, and I don't think I need a big brake kit anyway from what I've read in the forums.

Instead, would it be reasonable, and cheaper, for me to find slotted rotors and slap some TRD calipers on them (you know the sweet red ones)?

Haha I admit nothing
Did you see an old posting somewhere?

Btw good to hear back from you.

Thanks for all the feedback guys. And thanks mgnt, I already feel welcome here

Yeah, she is clean! Biggest problems were the water pump, belts, and a leaky valve cover gasket.
I looked far and wide, and with a little patience (3 months of constant searching) I came across this gem and 2 weeks later I was a on a plane.
I think the cover in the front has been on there for years... I had no idea it could do damage to the paint.

My rotors were inspected during the 60k tune up I had in March. Plus my wheels were rebalanced. Guess I'll have to keep looking into it. It's very mild vibration though.
I'd feel comfortable about upgrading the rotors myself (thanks for the tip mkernz!), but I'm not sure about messing around with the hub assembly just yet.

On that note, I was thinking of opening a new thread about automotive education.
I was curious about how you all gained your experience.

You know I have been getting some vibration when braking hard from speeds above 80mph. Could that be it?

Hey 6gc, this is my first post.
Love the site and the people on it, so I just had to finally get on this thing.

I've been a member since I first started looking for my Celica, which is also my first car, as I always dreamed it would be.

She's a 99 Celica GT hatchback with 40906 miles at the time of purchase.
Silver with black leather interior, alloy wheels, 5 speed.
Bone stock, one owner.

The car has been sitting for the better part of 12 years.

Since transporting her home, I've gotten a full 60k service and tune, and installed brand new JDM taillights.

The only major flaws in the interior is a missing cover for the pocket under the CD player and some cracked leather on the shoulder of the driver's seat.
Here she is:










So, do I win some sort of record for this find?