6G Celicas Forums

So I figured I should make a thread about my rescued '94 GT-S Celica ST204. Here goes.

I bought her in November of 2010 to replace my old child, a built 1999 Toyota Camry LE.

She was my baby for 4 years. I put tons of money into her, seeing as I got her for free from my aunt. She came in terrible condition and was not loved when I received her. I rebuilt her, put in eibach pro suspension, a full 2" SS exhaust, bored out the pistons and replaced with larger ones, ect. I absolutely loved her, as did my friends and a few shop guys that race cars that I know through work. She was killed by a guy running a red in September of 2010.


So after accepting her loss, and receiving a $5,300 insurance check... I set off for another under loved child. I don't believe in buying new cars, nor do I believe in buying anything American in relation to cars. I searched the newspaper, I searched the internet... finally I found an app on my iPod that was "Cars.com." After searching on there, I decided I really wanted either a Prelude, a Integra GS-R, a Civic Si/EX, or a Celica. All the cars I went to see were either too expensive or were not as advertised.

Finally I cam across this little white gem. The car was listed for $2,800, power everything, 6 speaker stereo, GT model and best of all, 5 speed. So I went to have a look. There I found her, in a field, next to a house and she looked like she had been sitting for at least a year. Grass was growing into her miss-matched tires, dirt covering her exterior, dust all over her inside.... she was a mess. I asked to have a seat in her and to see if she started. I opened the door and sat down, instantly falling in love with the craftsmanship, the side hugging seats, and the feel of the leather wrapped steering wheel in my hands. I turned the key and instantly (the owner hadn't started her in over 6 months) she shook to life. I was greeted by dust blowing out of the vents as she roared from the hole behind her lower cat converter. I could tell she would be a trouble maker, but still, I was intrigued. I popped the hood to have a look at the 5S-FE, an engine I learned very well in my Camry.

First off, I spotted the normal usage signs. Leaking valve cover, old plug wires, dirty, oily, hairline cracked radiator, and an acid covered 34 series battery (mind you it's not facing the right way, wrong sized battery that had no hold down and didn't sit in the pan flat). She was a tad rusty, but still cleaner than most of the Celica's in Rochester.

I told the owner that I would have to think about it, and we shut her down and closed her up. I left that day to go home and talk to my dad about what he thought of it.

I returned a day after to see that the owner had cleaned her up, vacuumed out her interior and she looked fabulous. I gave the owner an offer of $1,800 cash because I knew the amount of work I would have to put into her. The owner wouldn't have it and I left once more.

That night I had a dream about the car... I awoke in the morning, wanting to take her for a drive and went back once more to talk to the owner. This time I had $2,500 cash with me, in hand, in case I really couldn't leave without her. We opened her up and turned her on. I took off in her, feeling her torque, her bite... I fell in love. I couldn't get out of her and decided to buy her. I told the owner that I won't pay more then $2,500 for her and that I have the cash in hand. The owner agreed and signed her over to me. I then returned home without her one last time to go to the DMV and get everything processed. The next day I went back, picked her up, and drove her home.

On the way home, well thats when she started to complain. At 60 she started to shake, making a weird rattling sound in the rear. I stopped at a gas station to fill her up and inspected my tires. The tires were 3 of one size, 1 of a smaller size and they all were cracked and weathered. I figured the owner put old tires on just to get rid of the car and knew I'd have to get new tires anyway, so it didn't bother me. So I went to fill her up. Half way through filling up, she started to make a really bad smell. The fuel filler neck was cracked and rusted to hell on the bottom. Fuel was dripping out as I filled her. Oy... she started to look like a nightmare.

I had the owner fix the fuel neck, which they agreed to, and footed the $200 bill from Toyota.

This is a picture the day after I got her (pre new fuel filler neck):

Finally started to get things fixed up on her and got some more shots via cellphone:







Then winter hit. I put new tires on her, Hankook Winter iPike 195/55/R15's (best grip in snow I've ever had. This car is a wonderful winter car.) I couldn't do more than that due to the weather so it was a cold long wait until the weather broke. I did manage to get my HID's in before the storm hit, and my yellow 9005 high beams. I managed to snap a pretty cool pic during a heavy winter storm too:



Then I found some smoke Depo lenses on eBay for a good price and popped those in (while freezing my butt off) and fixed my faulty washer pump as well. (Try driving in salty Rochester during the winter with no washer pump)


Finally winter came to an end and I re-did the breaks. I knew she leaked oil, but the leak seemed to get worse after the winter. I looked around and only saw it on the valve cover, so I changed that. I had done it twice before on the Camry, so I knew it would be an easy job. Wrong. I got the cover off and saw this:


What a mess! The engine had so much sludge in it. Even my Camry with 216k miles was cleaner than this! Apparently the owner never changed the oil...
So after a little scraping, I decided I should paint it while it's off too in order to accent the lines.





I fixed the top leak, but for some reason, she still continued to drip oil. So I jacked her up and had a good luck after the winters fury. Man was she wet underneath... The back side of the engine was covered, the oil pan was leaking around the seal, and it seemed like the oil was dripping out of the timing cover too. The owner said that they changed the timing belt not too long ago... so wouldn't they have changed the seals too? Nope. We got the covers off, looked inside and it was a huge mess. Oil was everywhere. It was also gunked up on the camshaft pully, showing how long the thing had been sitting with oil dripping down on it. We then replaced all the seals, the timing belt, the components (the tensioner had the wrong spring on it and the timing belt was flopping around inside) and put her back together. FINALLY the drip stopped.

Then the weather got nicer, so I decided to have a go at resurfacing my rusty, pitted, old rims:
Before:

After:


Then a noise started coming from the rear. I jacked her up again, and it seems that the bushings in the rear adjustable arms are going. You can grab the wheel and clunk it up and down. Dealer wants $300 for the two (and thats wholesale due to my connections through work). So thats a soon to do project of mine.

I had to cut my secondary cat out because of the break. I welded her up once, but she broke again so I just had enough and cut her out and fitted in some pipe as a temporary solution while I save up for that exhaust I've been dreaming about.

Work I want to do to her in the future includes:

• Exhaust - Manifold back
• Suspension - Eibach Sportline springs, Koni struts, full energy suspension urithane bushings
• JDM Projector headlights
• JDM Front and rear splitter, sideskirts
• Decent JDM style "chunky" rims
• 3S-GE BEAMS Red Top swap
• JDM 94-95 foglights

More pictures of what I have done to date:














So far I have put in:

• Injen SRAI w/Spectre open ended filter
• NGK Wires and Iridium IX plugs
• ST205 rear strut support bar
• REAL TRD Carbon fiber shifter knob
• Carbon fiber hand break handle
• Electric Oil pressure guage by Sunpro
• Red LED lighting all over the dash
• Normal maintainence items including: Break cables, breaks, dis cap, rotor, seals, battery, starter, waterpump, timing belt, Energy Suspension rear sway bar bushings

I have a long way to go. Money is the largest issue right now.

This post has been edited by RabidTRD: Jan 19, 2013 - 7:17 PM

*sniff sniff snifff* I smell something coming my way for the front end very soon (unfortunately I'll probably not have them on until spring. I have to see how low it'll sit with them on, seeing as I don't want to turn the new... something... into a snow plow lmao)

Is this the where the crankshaft is? I was told I have a leak there. So is this common? Do you know how fast should I change this if it's already leaking?

Yep. That's the hole that the distributor goes in. That attaches to the intake side camshaft. I drove mine for a year with a slight leak. It started seeping into the cap and I was irritated with losing oil since I run full synthetic. I can't afford to keep dropping money on oil by burning it AND leaking it...

You can run for as long as you want to keep putting oil in lol. It's not going to damage anything. It's super easy to change though. If you want, I can run you through it.


By the way, very nice, clean post-facelift. You've got the same idea I do with the front splitters and side skirts

This post has been edited by RabidTRD: Dec 15, 2011 - 5:00 PM

Ok... so the motor is on it's way out. Cylinder 4 is still letting oil in. Has to be bad rings... Blah. So, here lies the question; do I build a 98+ 5S-FE on the side while this one dies? Or do I go 3S-GTE? I'm not looking to heavily modify either engine as I like the stock feel... (I may later, which the 3S will be worth more for) and with the 5S, I'd just be doing cams.

So here is the question, what have you guys spent on 3S-GTE swaps? What would replacing this old neglected 5S with a new one cost? (I know cams are around $600 for the ones I want... so +600 to the cost)

V6 lol

Lol that would ruin the car for me. I like factory. Plus I'm too lazy to do the fabrication needed lol

there is no reason to spend money on a 98 block. its not going to make a difference. just rebuild your engine. follow my guide on rebuilding the 7A in the stickys. the 5S is very similar.

When I spoke to Jim in person, he said the 98+ had a better head gasket. The problem is, this car is my daily driver... so down time is a biggie. That's why I'd rather buy another engine and rebuild it on the side while this one dies.

either way, it doesn't need to be 98+ specific. I mean, if you were going for 450WHP then ok, sure. But because you like factory, and because $$ is an object like it is for most of us, I would recomend looking in local classified ads for a beater camry or something that someone is selling as a work car for 500bucks. That gets you motor and parts parts parts for other things. You either A) then have a working motor, or B)have a motor to fix and build a bit that didn't cost you an arm and a leg.

It's not leaking that much as it doesn't show. I'm not really the mechanic type so I have everything done by one. And he said it's easy but takes a lot of time ... I'll probably wait a few more months.


Thanks. I got it like this but now am working on a few details to get it where I want it (JDM tail lights, wheels etc.), though I definitely like the whole clean look the previous owner did.

Agreed. It's spiffy haha.

Basically, you need to remove the air filter hose. Then after that, you unscrew the distributor cap (Leave the wires attached, you can push it off to the side). After that you make a mark with a paint pen on the distributor and block so that you know where to line it up again when you place it back in. Then you take off the one bolt on the front side and the whole thing just comes out. Replace the gasket, and then slide it back in with the notch for the rotor matching (as I've got pictured above) and line up your marker line. Cap back on, air box hose back onto the intake and you're good.

Tools needed: 8MM socket, 14MM socket, towels to wipe off the oil, and maybe a screwdriver. I can even take a video if you'd like.

That's true.. I could also sell the parts and make money back... Problem is finding one with low enough miles. I don't want a late 90's camry engine because the valve cover is designed different and looks stupid. I'm sure there's a beater out there with a completely rotted body and... low...ish... miles lol. How hard is completely rebuilding an engine? I've got the wrench time... just haven't actually done one before. I can do an exploded view of the engine in my head and I know where everything goes, it's just getting it all apart.

Added some stickers:


And washed her:

That really sounds easy. I'll have to take a closer look and see if it's actually the same issue. Thanks!

Any updates? haha

Lol I've been so busy lately, I haven't been able to put them on. I'm trying to decide if I want to paint match, or go with the factory black... but that may disappear lol. Maybe paint matched two stripes next to each other? Hmm...

Snow has finally hit and I have a new head unit on the way. I also snagged a set of Sparco WRC mud guards that will be in soon too. Need to protect my baby against the stupid salt and rocks.

Some like these, only in red:

Feel that pain somewhat as well, I have respect for you being able to tell your story on a forum. have some of those same problems, but not gonna get into that and dampen the mood lol.
I have a buddy who's tuning a camry V6 with a 6 speed actually, its got pretty good power, but he does have an ego or an unhumanly amount of confidence where it turns into an inflated ego lol ill just say in short he has street raced a jag and a hyundai genesis coupe cuz of it. Build looking good tho, started watching this and love the stuff your doing.
Do you know by chance what the guy on toyota nation is doing to get 200HP out of 5S'? what are you thinking for cams if anything yet?And same thing as you dude, everyone around here abuses their celi's like you wouldnt believe, theres one that has a chunk a size of a hand missing from his doors, its horrific and I dont know of any 6GC's around here that are getting tuned and in good shape except for one thats practically identical to mine!
and rust is the biggest pain! Fixed it on my driver door with duraglass and still have a bunch of that rust to black primer stuff I need to paint over and replacing the passenger door its so bad, its actually cracked because there was so much bondo under the paint! and still need to tackle the trinklid...
the guy before me did cheap fixes with this poor thing and im trying to treat it well but im new with this, very new. and its even in the shop right now which pains me sooo damn much that I cant fix it myself.......
And I soooo want that spree kit! is it brighter than that weird stock green?

I know what you mean about the 6gc abuse
Everyone around my area could care less about a Celia pre 00 and even then there's very few that are tuned up more than a muffler
All my friends are Honda guys like 99.9% of the rest of the people around me
An they think me tuning a Celia is pointless because an I quote my buddy Seth " you can never mod that Celia enough to out run my b16 hatch " an the rest are if it's not Honda it's not worth it

I feel that,, there are a ton of 7th gens around here that have those big factory bady kits. Hate those, they look like they tried to steal their looks from a lambo or something. the normal ones are nice but 6th gen imo is the best. alot better style and more original. and luckily Im not surrounded by honda fans, My friend has that camry so it kinda balances things out, but what I lack in honda people, ive sadly gain truck tuners (not sure which ones worse) cuz they keep saying "Why are you tuning up a ricer? american cars will beat you anyway" and s*** like that. But I just tell them to buzz off (trying to cut back on my swearing lol) and just wait until I acually get started. but yeah those douchy honda fan boys are annoying as hell, the one I hang with says to tune up the celica and see what I can do.
and is that spree kit installation pretty easy or is it more than pluging in a few bulbs and calling it a day?