My new Celica ST205 GT4 Options

[alex1981]

Hello,

Pretty much a lurker of the forum but thought I would share. After a very short period of no Gen 6 ownership I bought another GT4. It had pretty much the spec what I wanted to get my previous car to and was a very nice example so it made sense. I might get slated for buying a pre-modified car but I don't care to be honest!

1994 Celica ST205 GT4 JDM

Spec:
Engine etc:
Garrett Ball bearing GT3071r kit (4" intake version) with Tial external wastegate, 3" downpipe and screamer pipe
Apexi PFC and Commander Mapped by Ryan G from 2Bartuning
Sard 800's
Ported manifold
3" Japspeed stainless steel exhaust
Blitz SBC -ID III -Spec R and Blitz power meter
Innovate wideband sensor with afr gauge
Walbro 255 fuel pump
Straight intake with big K+N filter
Magnecor KV85 8.5mm leads
Evo 8 fmic
Blitz bov
Omex rev limiter/launch control operated from clutch pedal switch

Suspension/brakes:
BC coilovers
Grooved Toyota front discs,ebc rear discs and yellow stuff pads front and rear
Whiteline adjustable rear arb
Hel brake hoses

Cooling:
RTP alloy radiator
Slim fans with override switch
TRD thermostat
Turbo pre rad cooler
Mocal oil cooler
Mocal thermostatic sandwich plate
Mocal braided hoses
C-One cooling panel
Swirl pot and header tank system
Silicone hoses

Interior:
Momo steering wheel
Momo alloy gear knob
Alloy pedals
White Dials switchable from green to blue
Full leather interior
Carbon fibre dash bits

Exterior:
Carbon fibre wind deflectors
Carbon fibre door sills
TRD side skirts and side spats
De-tangoed
Later lights
Spoiler riser blocks
Cat1 Alarm and immobiliser

[Wolfsting]

nice , good to see another uk owner as well

[Neon90424]

very nice car!

I believe the original C-ONE cooling panel didnt have a gap in it...might be wrong though. mine doesnt.

[alex1981]

Thanks guys

I wouldn't know if it was a genuine one or not to be honest - as far as I am concerned it's a bit of sheet metal What gap do you refer to?

Next plans are to get a forged engine if I can raise the funds and decide what I want...as running 1.6 bar on the stock internals is asking for something to break (even though it has had this setup for about 2 years)

Alex

This post has been edited by alex1981: Dec 29, 2012 - 5:56 AM

[S8S8]

Looks awesome. Nice purchase.

It had pretty much the spec what I wanted to get my previous car to and was a very nice example so it made sense. I might get slated for buying a pre-modified car but I don't care to be honest!

I know what you mean. I prefer to buy unmodified too, but given we all know how much money you lose when modding a car, it's probably not a bad idea to buy one that someone else has already lost a heap of money on!

[alex1981]

Thanks

Indeed. Don't get me wrong - I love the process of modifying from initial research to the testing - but you do end up realising how much money you throw at things in the end.

[Neon90424]

1,6 bar, and no smoking? you sure thats not forged? my rings went at 1.7 bar complete cluster****

my panel says C-ONE on the left and there is no gap near the hood release hooky thing, it is a full cut out rectangle

[alex1981]

No smoking, turbo picks up hard from low revs all the way through to the redline (which has been raised a bit) - it's not laggy either - the power is there whenever you want it. Engine temperatures stay low (infact, lower than my previous Celica when it was stock) and ECU tells me the knock never goes too high The engine is not forged - as far as the previous owner is aware (the first to start properly modifying, so unlikely the previous owners would forge it) it is completely untouched stock internals.

Ah fair enough, perhaps mine is a copy C-One then. Ah well

[Neon90424]

I never understood why they left a gap in the replica I remember em from the group buys... i use mine as a small tool bench when working on the car hehehe

[yellowchinaman]

hi Alex. Ray here at RTP. Did yiu ever get that dynoed to see what figures you got with its current setup?
Also i know you said yiu bought it at that spec but do you know wuo did the plumbing of the manifild and screamer?

[johnyboy1976]

Looks like a car belonging to a old GT4OC member from Nottingham area

[alex1981]

Correct Johny

Ray: No idea who did the plumbing for the screamer and manifold. I could ask James if you are not in touch anymore? I assume you are where the rad came from then?

Not had it Dyno'd. Anyone want to make a guesstimate?

[Neon90424]

I wonder why they kept the stock exhaust manifold. its such a pain to work with putting an adapter since its a tight fit with a large rad.


atleast 1/4 inch from fans to turbo in my case

This post has been edited by Neon90424: Dec 29, 2012 - 10:53 AM

[alex1981]

What manifold would you suggest, then? Or is it a case of a custom made one?

[alex1981]

Thinking about what you said...I assume you have a stonking great big turbo then? I have a fair bit of room.

[alex1981]

Nipped out and took an interior shot. Sorry for the bad lighting - the weather here in the UK is dark and horrible :\

Some say the Celica interior is drab. I disagree and also find it to be one of the comfiest places to be.



This post has been edited by alex1981: Dec 29, 2012 - 11:37 AM

[johnyboy1976]

Standard manifold is strong and wont break and if ported can make good numbers , if you are going aftermarket id recommend a full race version - Tuning Developments in manchester area can supply these.
When James had this i thought it was best silver 205 by a country mile - just needed projector headlights to finish it off.
At one point it had a black rear number plate surround to break things up at the back - i sent it James FOC as i had a nice carbon version

[yellowchinaman]

As johny said. unless youre running very big hp the stock cast manifold actually out perform many ss manifolds out there.
Yes Alex the rad is from me. You have a very sensible even and supported setup there.

This post has been edited by yellowchinaman: Dec 29, 2012 - 1:11 PM

[alex1981]

Ah fair enough. What power do you think the stock manifold will take?

Hmm black rear surround had never occurred to me and not seen one.

Chinaman - the rad is decent quality and with the other bits runs at a steady temperature. Could you tell me/pm a price for another exactly the same - a friend has just bought a GT4.

[RobStar86]

Beautiful GT-Four!

[SwissFerdi]

not seen one.

[alex1981]

Thanks Ferdi :-)

[johnyboy1976]

Another one but with late specs - the wifes car

[alex1981]

Cool :-) just need to see a silver one!

[johnyboy1976]

[alex1981]

Cheers :-) will have a think on it :-)

[delusionz]

hey bro really nice car, especially the bodywork

if you have the fc datalogit, any chance you could send me your map? i'm curious to see the injector lag time and duty cycles used for sard 800 injectors

[alex1981]

Thanks

I do not have the FC Datalogit I am afraid Happy for anyone in the UK to plug in though if you know anyone?

[alex1981]

Few more pics for you - taken by Loki Powers Photography:
(Just a shame I did not wash the car before he took the pics - wasn't expecting!)













This post has been edited by alex1981: Jan 2, 2013 - 9:00 PM

[yellowchinaman]

Unfortunately Alex we no longer sell those rads so count your self lucky to have had one of these.
However with enough demand, Im sure we can make some more.

Also Alex, can you tell me about your header tank. Where does it tap into the cooling system? Is it plummed all the way round to the inlet before the thermostat at the opposite corner?

[delusionz]

and wheres the pressure release!!!

[alex1981]

Ah fair enough if you don't sell them. If you do start making them let me know - it is a superb rad and wouldn't want something else if it died (can't see that happening any time soon - it still looks factory fresh). You want to get advertising on the UK based sites perhaps?

Main pipe top of rad ---> Swirlpot---> Waterpump
Header tank has a pipe from both the rad overflow and the swirl pot overflow.

[yellowchinaman]

Ah fair enough if you don't sell them. If you do start making them let me know - it is a superb rad and wouldn't want something else if it died (can't see that happening any time soon - it still looks factory fresh). You want to get advertising on the UK based sites perhaps?

Main pipe top of rad ---> Swirlpot---> Waterpump
Header tank has a pipe from both the rad overflow and the swirl pot overflow.

We used to be traders in the GT4OC alex. Currently trading in CCUK and many other forums as celica's aren't the only car we work on.

Regarding your header tank. So aside from the 2 inlets, you have no outlets? There should be a large outlet to feed water back into the system.
Otherwise your Header tank is just acting as an overflow tank for the rad and swirl pot.
I was wandering this because you have such a small header tank where as normally people use about 2-3 litre tanks.
Im trying to figure out if it is necessary to have a header tank if in your case you manage to lower the temp simply by using a swirl pot on it's own.
Im researching on doing it for my car you see and some people say the expansion tank is more important than the swirl pot.

[alex1981]

Sorry yes should have added there is a pipe from the bottom of the header that goes to the bottom of the rad so it creates a circuit with that and the swirl pot! It doesn't seem to be a problem using a smallish header tank.

r.e using a swirl pot on its own - I suppose all you would need to do is make sure you have an outlet from the swirl pot to an expansion tank and that both are at the correct height - from what I have read the swirl pot needs to be lower than the expansion tank and the swirl pot needs to be close to the rad outlet.

Fair enough r.e the rads...but as I say...if you do get a demand for them let me know (I only know of one friend that is 90% certain he wants one so that's not much use to you!)

This post has been edited by alex1981: Jan 7, 2013 - 8:59 AM

[yellowchinaman]

Thanks Alex
That explains a lot. I'm going for the same set up as yours and I was told the expansion tank needs to be at the highest point. I just don't like the idea of a long return feed from opposite ends of the engine bay that's all.
Can your tank fit towards the left of your rad in front of the relay box? I know the lamp adjusting nuts are quite long but I don't have them cos I'm having no middle lamps.

[alex1981]

It might just about fit there if it sat as low onto the wing as possible. But it would sit much lower..remember the bonnet is sloping so the further back you go the higher the tank can be. Personally I think mounting to the left of rad is a bad idea. Someone else might have a different opinion...I am no expert!

I don't see long pipework as a massive problem...think of the people who run rads in the back of the car!

[yellowchinaman]

It might just about fit there if it sat as low onto the wing as possible. But it would sit much lower..remember the bonnet is sloping so the further back you go the higher the tank can be. Personally I think mounting to the left of rad is a bad idea. Someone else might have a different opinion...I am no expert!

I don't see long pipework as a massive problem...think of the people who run rads in the back of the car!

I suppose. Ive seen many people put the tank behind the ABS but it would mean making some custom tank made up to get it to look rite.

[alex1981]

Comment about pressure release. Actually, that is a very good point. Will someone more educated than I am care to exaplin if there is a good reason why I should not have a pressure release? At the moment the swirl pot wil purge air to the expansion tank....but the expansion tank has no breather (fixed cap, no over-run). So this has to be bad surely. Or am I missing something obvious?

Lots of snow over in the UK...I have to say I feel slightly smug in a 4x4 sports car which is actually very stable on the snow (as long as I don't boot it...need a lot of space to do that!)

[alex1981]

Just a little update. Currently in the bodyshop getting tidied up a bit...there were a few imperfections that I am not happy with. Also got it setup properly by Ryan @ 2bar tuning. Before remap: 330.7BHP (flywheel) After remap: 366.7BHP (flywheel). Goes to show what a difference it can make with someone who knows what they are doing. He could have pushed it a fair bit more but not a good idea at the moment. Still on stock internals and clutch and ran a 12.98 1/4 mile.

[alex1981]

So....to expand on the bodywork bits.

I took the GT4 over to the bodyshop in Watlington, Norfolk, England. Massive list of things to be done, perhaps I am going a bit over the top with it, but I want it to be right. The pland was to end end up with a front end and bottom half respray and other bits and bobs...quite a bit of rust curing and dent pulling. Below is a pic of the GT4 with someone who I have decided is the best person for the job. Have spent many an hour chatting about his past work (he's been doing it since the 70s):



You might notice there are a few circled bits. Spent a good hour or so going through all the bits and bobs...I made up a pack for him with pictures numbered of things I want doing then we went round with the marker just to confirm (and found a few more bits, whoops!)



The bottom of the door edges are starting to go and you can see rust on the surface now which is not visually appealing. I do have the option of course to source other doors, but I like keeping original panels where I can. So, if possible these doors will be saved. As he is a "proper" panel beater if need be, the bottom of the doors will be lobbed off and new ones made. I reckon the reason why they have rusted on the bottom lip is that they rub ever so slightly on the side skirts - meaning nice exposed metal, often sitting on a water trap. We reckon that we can probably get away with lifting the doors a bit - you can see that the panel gaps are consistent with making the assumption that the doors have sagged a bit.


Front upper grill is looking tired so will be painted. Toyota emblem replaced. The bonnet is covered in chips so that will get resprayed but you can also see the wings are not brilliant. Drivers side is not so bad but there are a few minor dings:



Passenger side is much worse:



So it makes sense really to get it straightened and a front end respray. Then there are the leading edges of the arches. I have seen a lot worse than this, but I want to nip them while I can. This is the worst one:



And also a bit of rust to deal with on the drivers side front wing edge:



This blemish on the rear quarter has irritated me since I bought the car. The odd thing is it's not even that bad...it just grates on me for some reason!



This also irritates me:



Perhaps I am being a bit OTT, but I want it to be right. Next issue are the TRD side skirts and TRD spats. The spats are starting to come away front the bumpers and the skirts have had a pretty bad paint job (not that anyone notices but me!). So it will be off with the whole lot, repairs made such as the odd crack here and there such as the picture below, repainted and re-fitted.



So in all, it will go through a phase of 1) sorting door out see how much work is involved 2) remove skirts etc) 3) sort crusty bits, dents etc 4) front end and bottom half respray inc skirts (need to do that if I want the doors and leading edge repairs to look right) 5) re-fit.

Well....that was the plan...

[alex1981]

Weeks later I went over to the bodyshop. It felt like seeing an injured relative in hospital. Felt like stroking it and saying "it will be fine, it is for your own good" (I did actually do that, but when the guy wasn't looking).

It seems that at some point it has been in a small knock at the front. Not a major impact, but enough to bend a few brackets and mis-align things slightly. So of course that has to be corrected before it goes back together - no point in doing an imperfect job. It had also cracked the bumper quite heavily - which was covered up by the side spats. Again...no one will ever see it as it's hidden, but it has to be fixed. Taking the bumper off also revealed that one of the oil coolers was held in by the pipes and nothing else. And the air feed pipe wasn't really doing anything as it was not meeting up with the air filter...all things that will be corrected.

It had been 7 weeks now it has been in the bodyshop at this point. I know the guy goes slow so am not too bothered...and it's partially because he has spotted lots of imperfections on the car on the way that would seem wrong not to correct (and we both have a similar mindset...if we spot something it simply has to be done).

A few little bits that are starting to take shape. You may remember the air duct (it would have originally been a fog light). Ungainly as it is held in with zip ties and there is a gap round it:



He has come up with this...has anyone else done something similar?:





And for the skirts. Well...it seems that whoever fitted them enjoyed applying filler. They have been broken in various places by the looks of it by poor fitting which has led to stress points as opposed to accident damage so they are filled with a ton of filler. That is all very well...but the filler hasn't really adhered to the skirt so instead of reinforcing it made it worse as basically being a dead weight pulling on the skirt. So much was applied that it has padded out the skirt making the fitment worse (and stress points exaggerated). He took the skirt off and this fell off:







Another few things which have been corrected. The panel gaps on the rear bumper was not right (I noticed it, but keep casting a blind eye, and didn't want to stress the guy out with so much work). But it the gap was winding him up each day when he passed it so that has been fixed. The petrol flap has never been quite right - it sits too far in on one corner, is misaligned causing the paint to rub and barely pops out when you pull the lever. As he pointed out if he was to leave it like that when he sprays it the fresh paint will rub/chip off when I use it. Using an extra spring and various bits and bobs it now sits flush, true and springs open correctly .

Front wing...just to show how much pitting it has (not that anyone has ever noticed!):



And the bonnet...ahhh my poor car hehe!:



It has also become apparent now that the rear spoiler has been taken off that it has been rubbing on the boot and has actually rubbed down to bare metal and created small rust patches. Bugger. I can't ignore that so that will be fixed as well. Sort out the rusty bits and perhaps instead of the spoiler being bolted directly to the boot was thinking perhaps some rubber sheet as a gasket - you will barely be able to see the gasket it but will stop it rubbing (and also the slight vibration that you get on idle).

It had been a while so I called him up! Issues :\ It is becoming clear that at some point in it's life it has been resprayed...and not very well.

He got a paint match from one of the doors assuming it was correct and used that to start spraying the front bits and skirts. Colour is noticeably different from other parts of the car. Took sample from inside of door (where it is assumed it has not been touched) and yup it's quite a different colour. Nooo! So who knows what paint they used but it's not right. In fact looking back through photos of the car you can see in certain light that it has two different shades...I always suspected this but thought it was my eyes playing tricks on me. Different paint now ordered.

In various places paint has been sprayed on top of dust. Some parts have lacquer some do not. The most noticeable place is the roof (which is also the wrong shade of silver). I had an inkling when I was trying to polish the roof it simply does not shine...that will be why then! So the roof will be cut back and painted as well.

It has had a few bits and bobs repaired and to make it 'look right' it has been blown over with the second (wrong shade) of paint in some places but not all. Not prepped well and not much thought put into it. So now it is time to undo all that and make it right...will cost a few quid but oh well. So yeah it's basically having a full respray. Actually I think the only thing that is not getting painted, because it is unmarked and the original colour, is the rear bumper. Once the whole car is sprayed it will be obvious if that also needs paint.


Front bumper fixed and painted. Unfortunately in the wrong colour; There are over quite a few different shades of silver using the correct paint code. Lots of hours went into this - pics do not do it justice...there were bits hanging off, cracks, dents etc etc:





Dents taken out of roof:



And general body pics. As you can see it is now at the stage where it is getting a guide coat to find any high or low points:







Mid October at this point so I popped over to see how it was going. After conversations about what we would do when the computers take over and Margaret Thatcher we moved onto the car. It has had it's first light spray of colour. And then naturally mostly sanded back again. I'm not sure if the pictures do anything really but it really is looking smooth.



No more dents on the bonnet:



Rusty door bottoms? No more. The lips have been cut and re-created to near as damnit to the original. I can't even see it to be honest.





He noticed that the boot struts were a bit rusty. They have now been sanded, filled and sprayed because he could not let them "tarnish his work":



These...much prettier than they were before



So that is how it stands at the moment. I also got hold of a set of NOS wheels - exactly the same as mine but I thought it better to respray a perfect set than to mess about with mine which are a little untidy. I think I have decided on Peugeot Cossack Metallich Grey - it is a tad darker than what I had before and glossier.

[JoshuaM]

Wow, that's a lot of work! Have you given up and just ordered a full respray yet?

I wish I could afford to do mine - we don't rust over here but I have massive sun damage to the paint on the roof and small parking rings covering the rest of the car from the previous owner. Not to mention at least half a dozen partial resprays it would seem

That air duct looks very neat now also

[alex1981]

That must be irritating!

Yeah not much is being left untouched now. Ah well at least it will look good in the end.

[alex1981]

Got 6 new wheels (yes, 6, don't ask!) which only have delivery miles. Better to respray a decent set of wheels than a slightly battered set is my theory. Exactly the same wheels, but just new.



Paint is on! It is currently being polished and then it's re-assembly time. Only the bonnet and roof had been polished at this point.









I am really happy with it so far. There are a few little blemishes...but when you consider that there were, literally, hundreds of dents, pitting, rust, bumps etc. I think he has done a superb job. Really superb - I was actually quite taken back by it to see my car in one colour and so smooth to the touch - nice to actually have some lacquer on it too! Looks much "deeper" if that's a word for it.

[alex1981]

Oh I should have said I have also put an order in with Tim @ TBD for a forged build .

CP Forged Pistons TBDev Spec
Eagle Conrods
ARP Head Studs
ARP Main Studs TBDev Spec
King Race Bearings TBDev Spec (Mains, Rod and Thrust)
Ferrea +1mm Oversized Valves
Vernier Pulleys £100-160
264 Duration Cams - not sure what brand I am going for yet.
SPEC Stage 3+ Clutch
Metal head gasket

Standard stuff I suppose. Of course will be built with Genuine Toyota parts when it comes to water pump, oil pump etc. Using one of the JDM warranty replacement later blocks