Jesse's 95 ST Project, ST with some JDM and other parts Options

[jesse09]

Little background info..

I bought the car sometime around turning 18 and it was all stock with 185,XXX miles. As strange as it may sound, it was the only car I had been wanting for well over a year. Celica's aren't very common in my area so had to be patient while waiting for one to turn up.

(I had originally ran into a 99' fully loaded celica GT with 55,XXX original miles for $5,000!! .. I wanted it so bad but could not afford it)
So I settled for a 95 ST automatic for half the price. Yes, I know a lot of people don't like autos, but it was my only realistic choice at the time.

Since then, it has been my pride and joy.. literally almost everytime I look at it.

I've been inspired by many cars on this sight and while my car may not be to everyone's taste it is to me.

Here's how it looked when I bought it..



First 2-3 years with the car
After about a year of just enjoying the classic looks I ran into 2 small trees that really damaged the fenders and damaged my bumper beyond repair
So I decided to start chasing my dream of the gt4 look. I bought the gt4 bumper for $450 and had a local body shop "fix" the fenders, fit the new bumper and do a full car (but lower quality) paint job for $600.

During this time I also added
Entry Level Sound system (Dual subs, SPL amp, power acoustic speakers, Pioneer Deck)
Car Alarm
Window Tint
Neon Dials

From this


To This


Installing Indiglo Face Dials with a buddy


Years 3-4
By this time I had become attached to my celica and was sure that I would never want to sell it, so figured might as well just keep adding and modding
These years I added..
17" Katana Wheels
Mud Flaps
GT4 hood
Sun Visor
7th gen steering wheel
Upgraded sound system to (kenwood speakers, Kenwood amp and sub)





Most Recently

Now my car means as much to me as a machine could to a person.. well maybe with the exception of young john conner and the terminator in part 2.
I get complements about my car all the time and turns a lot of heads when I'm driving. Everytime we go somewhere my friends always wanna go in my car and for also take some pride in it cause they have helped me out a lot with repairs. Not gonna lie I feel like I'm driving my dream car. I know its probably the slowest 6gc ever but it is awfully dependable. I may not even bother racing when a new mustang or corvette try to test my car at a light, but i think it's funny that $60,000 cars feel the need to impress my $2500 car. I have been saving up and sometime this year I really want to venture into the v6 swap or even give it a go at the rare 4agze but only time will tell on that..

Things I've done
Upgraded system (infinity kappa speakers, alpine amps, audiobahn to image dynamics sub)
Enkei Rims
Falken Tires
Eibach Springs
KYB shocks struts and mounts
Limited Edition Floor mats
JDM Tails









I have been upgrading parts as my budget allows.. I know some people say if your not gonna do it right don't do it at all but i've been learning mostly through trial and error. I'm a 23 yr old mex-american, still trying to finish up on my bachelors degree and so I can only work part time. I usually only buy the goodies when I get a really good deal.

Deals I've gotten include...

Set of JDM Tails- $80 picked up from local member
GT4 Hood- $145 shipped
Brand new Enkei rims, Falken tires- $575
Limited Edition floor mats- $50
TRD front and rear splitters- $95 shipped
Oem side skirts- $80 picked up

Body Kit is awaiting paint at the moment


Well that's about it for now, super tired from all this typing and uploading
Tomorrow or the next few days I will be posting of some stuff I have lined up to do and seek some advice about some stuff.

Thanks for reading and hope to hear from some of you guys
-Jesse

[jordisonjr]

How the HECK did you get an ST sway bar for 37 dollars?!
Also, waaaay back in the journal, how did you manage to get the gtfour bumper fit with the stock hood without a gap?

I have no clue why it was so cheap. I bought it at $37 on amazon and checked on it the next morning to give 6gc a heads up and it had jumped back up to normal price.

About the bumper. I didn't do the work, a local body shop installed it. But i believe he had to mold/flex the bumper about an inch for it to work. Sorry not much help lol

No Worries, I was just curious what made it fit, whether it was the bumper that was modded or the hood, cause neither appeared to have been modded.
I also thought it may just have been the angle of the photo, but it looked great.

I wish I coudl find a sway bar for that cheap. Where abouts on amazon were you looking? I didn't even realize they sold parts there.

[jesse09]

How the HECK did you get an ST sway bar for 37 dollars?!
Also, waaaay back in the journal, how did you manage to get the gtfour bumper fit with the stock hood without a gap?

I have no clue why it was so cheap. I bought it at $37 on amazon and checked on it the next morning to give 6gc a heads up and it had jumped back up to normal price.

About the bumper. I didn't do the work, a local body shop installed it. But i believe he had to mold/flex the bumper about an inch for it to work. Sorry not much help lol

No Worries, I was just curious what made it fit, whether it was the bumper that was modded or the hood, cause neither appeared to have been modded.
I also thought it may just have been the angle of the photo, but it looked great.

I wish I coudl find a sway bar for that cheap. Where abouts on amazon were you looking? I didn't even realize they sold parts there.

I just searched the model: ST Suspension 51200. I ended up selling it for a little more then what I paid for it tho.

You can find all kinds of stuff on amazon. I've found some hard to find parts by going to the manufacturers sites and getting the model numbers. Search by the model cause search by description is garbage on amazon.

The bumper looked good without the hood and it flowed great. I've had several people ask me how it was done but the guy who did it for me was no longer at that shop.

[jesse09]

Have everything I need (i think) to tackle the front and rear brake upgrade tomorrow minus brake fluid.

Also, the 4 smaller boxes against the wall are the motor and transmission mounts, hoping to get those done by the end of the month.

[BonzaiCelica]

Oo rotors for the track

[jesse09]

Oo rotors for the track

I do eventually want to track it, though that's many months away. I found a good deal on them so I figured why not.

[LtSolid]

did you get the calipers and brackets powder coated? they look awsome

[jesse09]

did you get the calipers and brackets powder coated? they look awsome

Thanks!

Nope, I just cleaned them up really good with a wire brush and brake part cleaner, then painted them with caliper paint and threw on a TTE decal. Turned out a little better than I expected tbh.

[LtSolid]

did you get the calipers and brackets powder coated? they look awsome

Thanks!

Nope, I just cleaned them up really good with a wire brush and brake part cleaner, then painted them with caliper paint and threw on a TTE decal. Turned out a little better than I expected tbh.

the brake upgrade is gonna make your car look so much better. but one thing tho, you just have to swap out t
he GT backing plate, plus bracket, caliper and brake lines? i was thinking just getting the whole spindles from a yard and putting those in with lines.

This post has been edited by LtSolid: Oct 13, 2015 - 2:15 PM

[jesse09]

did you get the calipers and brackets powder coated? they look awsome

Thanks!

Nope, I just cleaned them up really good with a wire brush and brake part cleaner, then painted them with caliper paint and threw on a TTE decal. Turned out a little better than I expected tbh.

the brake upgrade is gonna make your car look so much better. but one thing tho, you just have to swap out t
he GT backing plate, plus bracket, caliper and brake lines? i was thinking just getting the whole spindles from a yard and putting those in with lines.

You will also need the parking brake cables attached to the backing plate. You have to get underneath the car and disconnect them behind the exhaust cover. For some reason this was hardly mentioned so it took me a while to figure out before I found it. This is for the rears.

You can just swap the spindles as well but it seemed harder that way, at least for me since i didn't have tools to remove those really have bolts and I want to say the control arm is usually seized, which involves having to cut it. I found it much easier to take off parts individually since I was gonna clean, paint and swap the hardware anyway.

This post has been edited by jesse09: Oct 13, 2015 - 3:58 PM

[Malek]

Those calipers came out really nice! Brake upgrades ftw!

[jesse09]

So I didn't expect the EBC green stuff pads to be THIS GREEN. Ya i know that sounds crazy. It doesn't look bad just personally not about the colorful look. I'm gonna dump them and pick up a set of TRD pads for the front and OEM Toyota pads for the rear. Unfortunately cars going to have to sit for about a week until they arrive




Here's a comparison photo of the old cheapo ST rotor vs the slotted EBC GT rotor.

[jesse09]

Those calipers came out really nice! Brake upgrades ftw!

Thanks! I'd like to get on your level and do a GT4 updgrade lol

[LtSolid]

did you get the calipers and brackets powder coated? they look awsome

Thanks!

Nope, I just cleaned them up really good with a wire brush and brake part cleaner, then painted them with caliper paint and threw on a TTE decal. Turned out a little better than I expected tbh.

the brake upgrade is gonna make your car look so much better. but one thing tho, you just have to swap out t
he GT backing plate, plus bracket, caliper and brake lines? i was thinking just getting the whole spindles from a yard and putting those in with lines.

You will also need the parking brake cables attached to the backing plate. You have to get underneath the car and disconnect them behind the exhaust cover. For some reason this was hardly mentioned so it took me a while to figure out before I found it. This is for the rears.

You can just swap the spindles as well but it seemed harder that way, at least for me since i didn't have tools to remove those really have bolts and I want to say the control arm is usually seized, which involves having to cut it. I found it much easier to take off parts individually since I was gonna clean, paint and swap the hardware anyway.

thanks for the info! had no idea about the parking brake line. i assumed i could use my ST cable. show some pics of the TRD pads, never knew trd made and still sell pads for our celicas.

[jesse09]

did you get the calipers and brackets powder coated? they look awsome

Thanks!

Nope, I just cleaned them up really good with a wire brush and brake part cleaner, then painted them with caliper paint and threw on a TTE decal. Turned out a little better than I expected tbh.

the brake upgrade is gonna make your car look so much better. but one thing tho, you just have to swap out t
he GT backing plate, plus bracket, caliper and brake lines? i was thinking just getting the whole spindles from a yard and putting those in with lines.

You will also need the parking brake cables attached to the backing plate. You have to get underneath the car and disconnect them behind the exhaust cover. For some reason this was hardly mentioned so it took me a while to figure out before I found it. This is for the rears.

You can just swap the spindles as well but it seemed harder that way, at least for me since i didn't have tools to remove those really have bolts and I want to say the control arm is usually seized, which involves having to cut it. I found it much easier to take off parts individually since I was gonna clean, paint and swap the hardware anyway.

thanks for the info! had no idea about the parking brake line. i assumed i could use my ST cable. show some pics of the TRD pads, never knew trd made and still sell pads for our celicas.

I just ordered the pads so hopefully they come in next week. They're unavailable at the local dealer but I called another one and they had some in stock. I'll upload some when they come in, until then I'm gonna have to ride on some autozone pads

[BonzaiCelica]

But those vibrant colors really add flare and awe to your whip in the JDM, seem haven't you seen?

[msk59]

Added the fairing to complete the roof rack.



Got a few other things that I'm starting to gather parts for, mainly braking upgrade

Hi Jesse09. Nice upgrades. can you post some more pictures of the roof rack. I really like it and tell us what brand it is with the spoiler in the front.
Thanks

[jesse09]

But those vibrant colors really add flare and awe to your whip in the JDM, seem haven't you seen?

I don't think i've seen it. I wouldn't mind a little green cause I thought the shims would cover up most of it. But it turns out these don't come with shims and installing them isn't recommended. so the green is fully exposed

[jesse09]

Thanks msk59. Here's some pics of the roof rack

Parts I used are

Yakima Q towers
Yakima Q 11 clips
Yakima stretch kit
Yakima 48" crossbars
Yakima 38" 35 year anniversary fairing
Yakima locks and keys

It's pretty sturdy and sits nice. I bought the q towers, crossbars, locks and keys used. The rest new

[msk59]

Awesome. Yeh that does looks cool especially with the front spoiler! Thanks very much.

[jesse09]

So the TRD pads were discontinued as expected. I went ahead and kept the EBC green stuff pads on there and have now put about 200 miles on the new front brake upgrade.

Overall a very good improvement over my factory setup so far. It's not too much or too little. Smooth with hardly any noise but there is a moderate amount of dust that has accumulated.

Hopefully I'll have times for rears this week