Whatthe's Celica Progress Thread, A bucket full of rice right next door to a paddy field. Be warned. Options

[whatthe]

Well here it is, i bought the 1998 2.2L Celica sx-r (i think its GT) probably 3 months ago with 58,000km and the 3rd owner. It was a stock mofo car, my first car and i intend to keep her for life with many presents to spoil her.

Background
Was looking for my first car back in 08, was never sure what to buy. Wanted a NA white supra, god they were beasty looking things. But was always told left, right and centre they were too expensive to maintain and for petrol too. Looked into ftos (baby supra) but too many tiptronics not enough manuals around. That and my dad was like "GET A TOYOTA".

Out of the blue, saw a bargain of a white 98 celica with very low ks. Went out to wollongong that night with my parents with a large sum of cash to look at this celica. Who knew on the spot i would buy it that night and drive it back in the heavy rain. It was a hit or miss, he was leaving back overseas in 2 days and if he didnt sell it it would go to the dealers. Was in head over heels even tho i didnt really like the look or shape of this generation celica. This is my first car, and i plan to keep it for a life.

This post has been edited by whatthe: Sep 28, 2010 - 1:27 AM

[whatthe]

And this thread would not be complete without some photos, i must say it has changed vastly through its 3 months with me

When I First Got Her:


Car is starting to take shape (this was a week ago)
Just after bodykit got fitted sitting in my driveway


End Result:



This post has been edited by whatthe: Nov 22, 2008 - 10:01 AM

[stetsonaw]

can't wait to see more progress looks good man.

[Lil-Joe101]

Looks awesome dude. Keep us updated.

[RickJamesBish]

It does look good. Some rims are necessary to offset that body kit though.

[samir0189]

haha, whatthe, i always thought your car was yellow cause of the lighting of the sig. silly me.

Good job though! Clean white celi!

[slick_celica]

very tidy motor Looking well, when you lower her a bit she'll look excellent! Keep up the good work

[CelicaZR]

Good work so far
It was nice to meet you!

[Rusty]

projectors and rims for the win

[whatthe]

Dont worry ive invested in a tripod and it should be coming in the next two weeks
and after semester exams going to start learning how to take proper photos

This post has been edited by whatthe: Nov 11, 2008 - 9:55 AM

[whatthe]

**UPDATE 11/11/2008**

Recived my TRD Seat Belt Pads today, feels good to pimp to interior abit




This post has been edited by whatthe: Nov 11, 2008 - 9:51 AM

[Euphoria]

nice! where did you get them and how much? also where did you get your side skirts and splitters?

[NGHTKD]

all u ss-iii guys keep your parts up-data-way,
yet to see another celica in vic with ss-iii parts woohooo.

This post has been edited by NGHTKD: Nov 14, 2008 - 11:20 PM

[Cutrara]

Very clean looking car... you may want to do the s2k antenna to get rid of that lightning rod! Great job so far though

[RickJamesBish]

Who needs radio...

[whatthe]

**UPDATE 19/11/08**
Now what could this be?



Front bumper projector style indicators !


This post has been edited by whatthe: Nov 19, 2008 - 12:46 AM

[Rusty]

sweet, get me some

[RickJamesBish]

Wow, those are nasty...JDM tails and projector headlights are probably the best mods to do on our cars.

[99GT]

Whats your interior? The only think I don't like is my tan interior.

If your is all black that'll be even more sexy.

[CelicaZR]

Black and red interior (just like the SS-III)

[Lil-Joe101]

Dude ur celica is coming out great. U deff need tp post up some more pics dude.

[Rusty]

Those Front bumper projector style indicators would look nice on my celica with the projectors ive got, too bad I cant find any of them here in NZ where'd you get them ebay?

[Defect]

put an exaust on next man not a canon lol

[NGHTKD]

whatthe - the indicators look fantastic.

where did you get them? - my car is dying for some!!!

cheers,
cal.

[whatthe]

I bought my indicators from here. For everyone thats interested

[Rusty]

damn, I hate living in NZ I cant get them (shipping, lack of credit card ).. unless someone buys them for me??

[richee3]

I'm digging those indicators! Your car is coming together very nicely! Everyone else is telling you to get rims, but I like how your factory wheels look in your signature. I've actually been admiring that in other threads Keep up the good work!

[whatthe]

An exhaust that i picked up from TRDboy



Exhaust clip here

This post has been edited by whatthe: Feb 18, 2009 - 9:39 PM

[Rusty]

looks nice what size 2.5"?

[Lil-Joe101]

Finally got hunh? Looks great.

[whatthe]

Are you feeling em? i am slightly

[malpaso]

simply amazing work... I just still love pure SS-III look in white... really beautiful!

[NGHTKD]

they'll look amazing cnt wait to c!

cal.

[whatthe]

I would of had them on today...BUT i remembered the tyre specs wrong that i needed, and the guy wasnt very helpful and told me 225/45/17 wouldnt work. So Round 2, off i go again tomorrow after work...

[95CelicaST]

225/45R-17 is exactly what you need.

[BonzaiCelica]

225/45R-17 is exactly what you need.

ya thats exactly what an employee told me when i told him that i wanted the tire size 225/50r16. and he said thats an awfuly wide tire u know. I was kinda iffy about it at first. but i was confident since ive read so many times people talking about that size being just perfect and the largest you could go with.

the wide tires makes the celi look mean and aggressive. :-D

[whatthe]

They are on now, i have mixed feeling about them... (a quick snap)



Full wheels thread car shoot here

This post has been edited by whatthe: Feb 18, 2009 - 9:39 PM

[Promasta]

looks good
so you went with 225/45/17?
wow that does make it sit high, you need like a 2" drop
any rubbing whatsover?

[whatthe]

no rubbing what so ever, yeh i know it needs to get slamed down hard...

Flush wise, the fronts are perfect if not +33 but +35 is perfect too. The rears maybe needs +30 something close, atm mine are abit tucked.

This post has been edited by whatthe: Jan 28, 2009 - 3:35 AM

[whatthe]

Vincent_doggys interior stuff installed. Looking mint as

[trdproven]

U def need the trd knob.

[whatthe]

Yeh im going to buy one now, after i just broke my steel metal round one..grrr. *waits for a good deal*

[Euphoria]

you have the modding bug worse than celicazr haha, but your car is looking better and better.

[trdproven]

I recall someone selling theirs here for 50 bucks only, cheap since I got mine for 80.

[whatthe]

Yeh its sold already....

[trdproven]

EBAYYY

[stetsonaw]

yeah, that was an extra i came across...

looks good man, you get the armrest cover too? now you need a beams to go with the seats and the ss-iii stuffs! sadly, i watched one sell for $400 today, harness, manifolds and all. luckily it went to a buddy for his mr2.

[whatthe]

Cusco Rear Strut Bar Type OS Fitted, thank to the guy above me aka stetsonaw

[trdproven]

what much difference did it make?

[ImportChick95]

So far, I love everything you've done to your car. Keep it up. Can't wait to see what's next.
I have those same shoulder pads too!

[relyks95gt]

you are in dire need of a drop!!!

[Skinerp89]

**UPDATE 19/11/08**
Now what could this be?



Front bumper projector style indicators !

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Parts-Acces...%3A1|240%3A1318

are these the same ones? awesome progress btw looks amazing!

[CelicaZR]

Nice rear strut brace
I think I've the same one.
Copy-cat

[whatthe]

are these the same ones? awesome progress btw looks amazing!

they arnt the exact same ebay seller i bought from, but yes they do look like the same product. But these dont include bulbs and i dont believe you can use your existing bulbs since they wont be amber coloured.

Thanks for everyone comments, working hard for my baby And yes ZR im copyying youu

This post has been edited by whatthe: Feb 25, 2009 - 10:07 AM

[NGHTKD]

you selling the rims you just bought?!?!?!?

[Rusty]

I got bulbs with mine whatthe (i followed your link a while back and bought some, thanks), but it had 2 filament's, and 2 bumbs on the bottom so it didn't fit anyway, US bulbs i guess

[whatthe]

I got bulbs with mine whatthe (i followed your link a while back and bought some, thanks), but it had 2 filament's, and 2 bumbs on the bottom so it didn't fit anyway, US bulbs i guess

yeh, but on his ebay link it said it didnt supply bulbs. Yeh those two lumps lol...i got a pair of wire clippers and cut them down and then they fitted on lol DIY FTW

[delusionz]

White Celica FTW.

[whatthe]

And projectors

[Euphoria]

very nice, looks like im gonna be the only 6 gen on ozcelica without these now haha.

[Rusty]

projectors and rims for the win

good to see your following my advise

so now the next question... the motor 3SGE or the 3SGTE

[whatthe]

so now the next question... the motor 3SGE or the 3SGTE

Rusty, well its either 5SFTE or a nice supra with a big turbo.

[freddy121389]

after all that work on your celica, you'd just sell it for a poopra?

[whatthe]

Who said anything about selling my baby? Hehe keep both !! This is all a few years down the track tho.

[whatthe]

This isnt really an update, but since im bored heres whats on the shopping list,

-Door visors
-Tein or megan coilovers
-Red long extended Rays lock nuts
-Three point front strut brace
-Four point lower arm bar
-Rota DPT 18x9.5 ET35 Matte Bronze <- i cant afford,

Some goodies should be rocking in abit more than a week. So stay tuned
And i told myself i wasnt going to spend anymore money on my car and save for a gt4. Now im telling myself i can do both.
Also hunting down a RHS high beam projector, as that is what im missing from my set. Thinking of running 10,000K lows for more blueness. My 8,000k arnt cutting it anymore. I swear they have gotten more and more white and less and less blue...

ps. Picking up a set of 7gen rims tomorrow.

[garin]

you should buy some ksport coilovers i hear they are pretty nice... and a lot cheaper.

[Rusty]

pics of the projectors installed??

any chance of adding sway bars to your shopping list? you were talking about maybe getting some awhile ago?

[whatthe]

Yeh Rusty projectors wont be on as you will find out when you read my updated signature
Sway bars, i do have the intention on purchasing. Modding is an expensive hobby. Coilovers, im swaying towards megan or bc since ive heard so much good things from trdproven about the megan

And the 7gen rims.

[808celica]

nice stock tires

[Shigexile]

coming along great!

[whatthe]

And more goodies have arrived.


Thanks to darthripley for the door sills. Great seller.


Before


Off


After


The door sills are a great addition and very noticeable everytime i step in and out of the car.

A CAI with a k&n pod filter from chromeintakes.


Before


After




For the CAI i felt minimal to no performance upgrade. I couldnt hear much difference either. Could be due to the fact that my exhaust is loud already. Throttle response is only a tad better and i could only hear the pod filter at higher revs 4500+. But only minimal. I was hoping for abit more torque + throttle response. But that aside it is a nice addition to the car.

[Euphoria]

seriously does ALL your money just go straight to your car haha, the celica door sills look awsome and the CAI looks cooler than a short air intake but knew it would be minimal difference.

[Malek]

Agreed^ but the intake filter is right next to the header/downpipe. I don't think it's gonna be getting much COLD air which is probably why you aren't feeling any significant power gains. I piped my CAI to the fender and felt and heard a HUGE difference. I had a video of the sound but it got deleted on my camera. But since i'm scared of hydrolocking, (it has been known to rain pretty hard here) i've cut it and made it short ram.

Intake definitly looks cool tho..

[whatthe]

The pod filter is actually routed under the battery. I was going to get the accord cai, but i was too cbf taking off the fender for all the trouble to install the cai. Going to go for another hard drive around tomorrow.

[trdproven]

you should buy some ksport coilovers i hear they are pretty nice... and a lot cheaper.

Actually they are not cheaper, and Megans have better ride comfort.

[darthripley]

the door sills are a nice touch - glad you are pleased with them.

overall the car looks very nice and very clean. keep up the good work!

[Tigawoods]

you should buy some ksport coilovers i hear they are pretty nice... and a lot cheaper.

Actually they are not cheaper, and Megans have better ride comfort.

depends on what the use is.
i got them to handle. the stiffer the better
if you want adjustability and handling but not a stiff ride. megans n teins will provide

[whatthe]

More jdm parts on my car. A pair of window visors. I like them alot

[SwissFerdi]

Holy crap, where do you get all this crazy cash flow?

[whatthe]

Holy crap, where do you get all this crazy cash flow?

Selling children over the border. Supply and demand. Yeh.

[Rusty]

what do the 2 seat adjusters do? (I only have one and it pushes the back/bottom of the seat up & pushes the back support out a bit)


so whats next from your list
rhs HB light<<< recommend by me to get first
coilovers
TRD 3point strutbrace
lock nuts
lower arm bar

This post has been edited by Rusty: Sep 26, 2009 - 11:50 PM

[delusionz]

The other adjuster tilts the backrest and remembers it's position, when you pull the lever and the seat comes forward, you can push the seat back and it will remember the exact spot you reclined it to, my 1995 SS-I had that, 1996 & 1997 JDM seats don't have it, unsure about 1998 (beams red.)

On our 1996 Jap imported Celicas, the seat only goes back to a default position. If you're anything like me and only find 1 position comfortable (all the way back, bucketed full and tilted 2 clicks past the seatbelt) then you'll hate 1996 seats and probably never try to get anything off the back seat from the driver side.

[delusionz]

The door sills are a very nice touch.. I got them on the gt4 but not the ss-iii, I wonder if all jdm gt4s got them since ss-iii didnt even get it until 1998.

That cold air intake is pretty nice, but you may want to reconsider the routing as it's awfully close to the exhaust headers.

You can pipe it through the factory cold air tunnel but it requires some haxxing...,

Pop off the passenger side wheel arch cover, unbolt and rip out the intake resonator box,

Unbolt the fuse box on the passenger side to get to the factory cold air intake pipe, pull that out...

That will give you two possible holes to shove your aluminum intake pipe through, you'll have to hammer the holes out to enlarge them enough to get a 3"+ diameter. Use 45deg & 90deg silicone couplings if you don't want to scratch your fancy pipe there.

The part I'm stumped on though is how the hell do people relocate that fuse box, some setups have it moved to make a straight path for a pipe to go through, but there is no plug you can disconnect that i can see to make an extension patch loom.

[whatthe]

Some touch up paint on the tyres, done one side atm ran out as i was doing the other side. The paint wasnt the best, it was sticky and thick. Up close its uneven. Going to try my luck tomorrow finding some tyre paint or some paint that works well on rubber. And starting over. It might not be everyones cup of tea, but hey i like it.

Pics for now.

[Nartanian]

Very very nice job I think. Now all you need is a drop.

[SwissFerdi]

It goes against some things in my head, but I LIKE that. Props.

[whatthe]

Bought this tyre pen specifically made for dressing up tyres lol. Worked a hell alot better. And alot easier to apply.

[Tigawoods]

i like the look! i might try that for a day or two right before i get new tires lol

it goes great with the car color

[delusionz]

Looks like a racing car

[whatthe]

Just won a bidding for this package. I really cant wait till they come !! Yes thats right its Toms Lip.
Everything else will pretty much be sold.




This post has been edited by whatthe: Sep 13, 2009 - 1:55 AM

[johnnehh]

I can't wait! That's going to look AMAZING!

How much did that run you?

[BonzaiCelica]

dang that bumper and everything that came along with it looks to be in perfect condition! nice find

[MrAyasli]

Woah ! Your celica's looking nice.

+ from Aus.

Should organise a meet up.

[NGHTKD]

i can get that lip for AU250 imported. but i guess u got the whole package, cant wait to c it on.

[Rusty]

Some local guy was selling the SS-III kit front rear sides spoiler (with the toms lip) for NZ200 which is about US100, they didn't know what they had lol

cool so you finally have the HB projector light, you can finally get those installed
so you have the toms lip and SS-III splitters, are you going to change them every couple of days

[whatthe]

so you have the toms lip and SS-III splitters, are you going to change them every couple of days

Haha thats the plan Rusty, Im too predictable.

[MaskedMan]

Wow it's looking really good!

[whatthe]

In progress, going to finish it off tomorrow !

[whatthe]

Bumpers back on, need to go out for lunch. Only need to put the undercovers and screws back on and can start cruising again. Tested my 10,000K last night. Looked like a scanner of light, blue light. I cant stress how good the cutoff is on projectors. And of course how awesome they look!

[delusionz]

Nice looking bits!!!

<3 your bonnet struts too