[5S-FE] Syaoran's Build, Update August 14! Options

[Syaoran]

So I've bought myself a 1994 GT, black, with NONE of the extra cool stuff (sunroof, foglights, cruise control, automatic climate, 8-speaker etc)...... but who needs that? It's all just extra weight! Here's the background:

The car was bought from a fellow University Student who sold it because there was an issue with the car he couldn't solve. The issue apparently was both a bad (brand new) distributor and a bad ECU that was losing sync every 5 or less seconds.

It is in pretty bad cosmetic shape and had some massive 18 inch wheels running 225/40/18 way-oversized tires. The brakes are bad, and it seems the wheel bearings on it are going. It has a pretty bad oil leak (it's not burning it however) right around the cam cover. Seems like the timing belt is wet in oil, and so is the axle boot below, and part of the engine around there. The other side of the engine is completely fine, bone-dry, however.

With that said, it's got a working A/C, good-shape Transmission (it's an upgrade from my previous S53!), overall-good shape engine, turns on fine, the hatch struts work fine, has no interior rust holes, etc. It's pretty good.

I bought it for $1300!

-----

With that said, I started working on a list of priorities and started tackling all the issues to get it up and running. First up was the issue of losing sync. Got rid of it by getting a new alternator from Advance Auto under warranty (saved $145! let's hope it lasts a bit) and I also got a MegaSquirt-II EMS installed. The car is no longer losing sync and idled like a purring kitten.

Next up was the brakes. I might need to get new brake lines because the rear passenger side brake line didn't pour out any brake fluid when I removed the calipers. All others poured at least a little. Might have to check what's going on... Maybe it's air trapped in the lines.

I removed the rotors to get the turned, and the calipers to get them cleaned and painted. I chose a copper-orange metallic color for them.

Once that's done, I'm putting the wheels back and getting it to my mechanic to have the oil leak fixed and likely giving it a cam-side tune up (waterpump, tensioner, idler, cam seal, crank seal and timing belt) and I will change the valve-cover gasket with plug tube seals.

Next up is getting new wheels because those 18s are WAY too damn big. Getting BBS RX 16x7" +42 in 5x114.3. I'm buying a set of 20mm front and 25mm rear spacer adapters which are double hub-centric. (54.1mm to 67.1mm). Tires will be 205/50/16 stock size. After that, I'm taking it in to the bodyshop to get the exterior quoted for fixes.

Then comes a turbo

I'll keep this thread updated. I will upload some pictures soon enough!

This post has been edited by Syaoran: Aug 14, 2014 - 1:27 PM

[Xander_X]

If you had a break in your lines you'd notice it when you tried to stop. Check your proportioning valve.

[Ehrgeiz]

Our Celi's can easily take 18's!

[RabidTRD]

Any pics?

[Syaoran]

If you had a break in your lines you'd notice it when you tried to stop. Check your proportioning valve.

Proportioning Valve? Sorry there's some stuff I don't know what they are when given the names in English lol.

Our Celi's can easily take 18's!

These seem to be TOO big for it. It LOOKS like they are right under the strut housing bottom hat when jacked up. Is that normal? I think the tires are TOO wide at 225/40/18.

Any pics?

I took some today. Only two, of the car on jack stands lol. Celica No-Trac! Uploading them from the phone soon. I'm going to do a small photoshoot today of everything I have done so far. I'm going to be painting the calipers a "burnt copper" (copper/orange) color today so I'll also take pics of that.

[Xander_X]

Wouldn't know what language to translate it to ... probably couldn't if I did know. Um ... it's a small valve that all the break lines go to, shortly after they leave the brake master cylinder. The proportioning valve reduces the pressure to the rear brakes. Idk, I'm a mechanic, but I've only owned this car for about a month and looked under the hood maybe twice now I haven't had a lot of time to mess with it yet. I don't know exactly where it is but it's usually on the engine side firewall in between the passenger and driver seats. Again, I haven't looked, 6 gens might even have a combination valve instead .... now I gotta go look.

Here, read this ... http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/b...ster-brake2.htm

[Syaoran]

Wouldn't know what language to translate it to ... probably couldn't if I did know. Um ... it's a small valve that all the break lines go to, shortly after they leave the brake master cylinder. The proportioning valve reduces the pressure to the rear brakes. Idk, I'm a mechanic, but I've only owned this car for about a month and looked under the hood maybe twice now I haven't had a lot of time to mess with it yet. I don't know exactly where it is but it's usually on the engine side firewall in between the passenger and driver seats. Again, I haven't looked, 6 gens might even have a combination valve instead .... now I gotta go look.

Here, read this ... http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/b...ster-brake2.htm

Thanks. If that goes bad, what might happen?

Here's some pics of what I did today. I cleaned the calipers and sprayed them burnt copper. I like the result. It took a while even with help, but I was making double sure that it had a clean surface before spraying... I didn't like the final result of the cleaning, but I hope the paint holds.

Here's what I'm working with:



Rust hole in the hatch near the glass and wiper base:



You can see some of the dents and the big scratch here:



Bad side (looking for a bumper and lows for the right price):



Good side:



Here you can see the faded paint on the hood and some of the roof:



Front Pads:



Front Calipers. As you can see I focused mainly on the visible parts to save paint. In the end, I almost didn't have enough the way I did this. Had I taken those spots, it would've come out not as good:



Brake Pad brand... They seem to be about the same build quality as OEM pads:



Front ones again:



Bracket:



Before Cleaning:



After cleaning, before paint:



Love a girl who's willing to get dirty:



She compressed the front calipers on her own, with her own invention:




Tomorrow: Pics of the MegaSquirt-II in the car, and the brakes installed. Gotta put everything back on and bleed them. I might get a new tire for the busted tire on the 18" rim and put those on for now.

[Box]

Damn, that's rough. Makes me sick, someone has neglected that poor car all these years. But at least it's in good hands now! I agree, I don't like 18's on the Celica. 17's is pushing it. 16's look good though.

[Syaoran]

Damn, that's rough. Makes me sick, someone has neglected that poor car all these years. But at least it's in good hands now! I agree, I don't like 18's on the Celica. 17's is pushing it. 16's look good though.

Yeah... I'm going to be slowly working on it. My priority is that rust hole. It seems to have no other issues otherwise, rust-wise.

I hope on putting on these 16's with 20mm front and 25mm rear spacer adapters. Sadly these aren't 5x100. They came off a Camry so they are 5x114.3 ... they are some kind of limited edition TRD option wheels for the post 96 Camrys.

I was wondering if they would fit with no issues, even when lowered on TRD/Sportline Springs? They should be +42 offset and are x7... there's a thread on "flush" fitment on here that the OP said +17 was needed to be flush when lowered on a x7 rim for the front, and -2 or something in the rear... I hope that's correct because that will enable me to put on the adapters no problem. They will be hubcentric and wheelcentric as well. Hub bore on these was enlarged from Camry stock size to Mazda size since they were initially going into my Mazda. That's 67.1mm.



I forgot to mention full wheel specs in a sentence, they are BBS RX 16"x7" et42 iirc

This post has been edited by Syaoran: May 11, 2012 - 2:59 AM

[Box]

Nice looking rims, should look great on the Celica.

[Syaoran]

Nice looking rims, should look great on the Celica.

Thank you. Picking them up on saturday/sunday. 125 for the wheels when I got them. Powdercoated them for 200 and 80 for the hub bore (which is now a waste of money lol)

I hope to have them on next week on stock height.

[Xander_X]

Symptoms of a bad valve are what your showing, one or more of your rear brakes not getting fluid. And it's really not a good idea to paint ANYWHERE on brake pads. You don't want the paint to get between the pad and the rotor and you want a nice contact point between the pad shim and caliper piston. You SHOULD be alright, but I would't do it again if I were you.

Poor Celi! Makes me glad I picked up a southern car owned by a woman my mom age!

This post has been edited by Xander_X: May 11, 2012 - 9:51 AM

[Syaoran]

Symptoms of a bad valve are what your showing, one or more of your rear brakes not getting fluid. And it's really not a good idea to paint ANYWHERE on brake pads. You don't want the paint to get between the pad and the rotor and you want a nice contact point between the pad shim and caliper piston. You SHOULD be alright, but I would't do it again if I were you.

Poor Celi! Makes me glad I picked up a southern car owned by a woman my mom age!

I don't think the paint will do anything bad. It was a single, light coat and it's been drying since yesterday. It was also only on the side that goes outward, not where the piston makes contact.

The caliper had fluid in it, just that the line didn't drip almost at all. I'll see when I bleed them today.

[Xander_X]

Well the caliper is going to have fluid in it either way as long as you don't have a leak. Because there was fluid going to it at one point, it's not going to just disappear. But you won't have pressure there. You might also want to check your caliper cylinder, but it's most likely the valve.

[Syaoran]

I'll check everything when I start working on them... thanks!

[Syaoran]

For those of you who may have stuff to sell, here is my wtb thread. I'm also looking for good condition low beams (all tabs and the rubber rings on them). Maybe a set of projector lows, anyone?...


I'm also looking for 25mm spacer adapters 5x100 to 5x114.3 preferrably hub and wheel centric at stock bore (54.1mm) or 67.1mm

http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=83731

[Syaoran]

Update: I might have a change of mind and get some 17's I saw on the local ads. They're universal 17x7 apparently, with tires with about 30% life left (enough to get me around for a month or two to get the car buttoned up) and they look pretty good.

Also, here's the color I'm looking for to paint the car with:



And here are the wheels.

[richee3]

Just for reference, in case you need it later, here's a pic of my empty engine bay. The proportioning valve is right where Edy described it earlier. You can see the brake lines all connecting to it.



I think my phone posts small pictures so I'll try to post the bigger version when I get home tonight.

[Syaoran]

Just for reference, in case you need it later, here's a pic of my empty engine bay. The proportioning valve is right where Edy described it earlier. You can see the brake lines all connecting to it.



I think my phone posts small pictures so I'll try to post the bigger version when I get home tonight.

Yes, it posted a small picture. I'll be thankful if you do

[Syaoran]

Got the wheels above. Will get some pics hopefully tomorrow or Sunday.

[Syaoran]

As promised:

[SwissFerdi]

Nice. Those are good-looking wheels.

[Syaoran]

Thanks! Now Im in search of some center caps to hide the hub... i have some TRD ones but they are 5mm too large i think.

[Arsaces]

Should consider plasti-dipping the rims

[Syaoran]

Should consider plasti-dipping the rims

Im going to paint them after I get the exterior how I want to.

Most likely doing a gloss white color, since I plan on doing a satin black on the car.

[Syaoran]

Oh I also forgot to add, the brakes /seem/ to be fine. May have been bled wrong, it seems. lines had a ton of air in them and the rear right one (the one mentioned before) took two tries until it bled fluid.

[richee3]

I just got around to editing that post with the properly sized picture too Glad you got it all sorted out.

This post has been edited by richee3: May 13, 2012 - 11:47 AM

[Syaoran]

So I finally moved the car, and it seems there is either way too much air in the lines still or the brake master cylinder went bad. I held the brake pedal as soon as I turned on the car and it sank down all the way. Also, I had to pump the brakes before they did anything as I moved the car.

I'm going to try and bleed them again to see what happens.

[Syaoran]

Performed all tests to try and rule out the brake master cylinder but no cigar...
Its gone. I bled the lines correctly and had nothing but clean fluid come out and the brakes still sink.

Same thing happened on my previous one and I had to replace it so I have and idea on how to do it!

Let's see if I can find one for cheap with a warranty around here.

[6gcpr]

Your car is coming out good man, love the wheels you installed, they look good, keep it up!

[Syaoran]

Thanks! I bought the brake master cylinder, going to be installing it today. Hope that fixes the problem. Also looking forward to installing a crank trigger wheel on the crank balancer ("damper", "crank pulley")

hope to do something like this (courtesy of all-trac.net)





This is on a 3sgte.

[Syaoran]

So I've stumbled upon a couple of issues going on with the car.

Number one and easiest to solve (technically speaking, because the work involved isn't "easy") is that the car is starting backwards sometimes. After wiring up the Megasquirt 2 it's been doing that but it's normal thanks to the ****ty 4 tooth wheel on the distributor. A 36-1 wheel is going to solve that (like the one above).

Second and most annoying is the brakes aren't working. The calipers seem to be sticking (I haven't been able to pinpoint which in particular but I could move the car) Whenever you let off the throttle the car jerks forward as if braking suddenly, and it doesn't roll back on a very slight elevation with the clutch depressed.

The brake booster seems to be noisy as well, so that might be bad as well. It squeals like a pig when you reach almost full brake depressing.

It's also knocking a ton. Even when revving while in idle. We set the timing pretty good with a timing gun (and put the right settings on the MS-II) and it's still knocking.

This post has been edited by Syaoran: May 23, 2012 - 10:24 PM

[Syaoran]

I think I'm due for an update, so here goes.

I replaced the master cyl... turns out it was bad too, badly rebuilt probably since it was reman.

Brake booster was showing signs of its last minutes. It finally gave way so now I am looking for one. Mechanic quoted $70 for replacing the booster (labor).

Car seems to be running fine, minus a really high idle which I will solve once I get my hands on a backup TB. IACV is stuck open, like on my previous Celi.

Parking brake needs adjustment at the shoes, so I am also going to be doing that.

I had the timing belt replaced, along with the tensioner, idler, water pump, cam seal, crank seal and oil pump seal, a header I bought locally, and the new brake master cyl and brakes bled, all for $294 with everything but the header and brake master included.

Megasquirt needs a tune with the Innovate LC-1 I got. Once thats done, I'm going to be looking into installing a 36-1 trigger wheel on the balancer witha VR sensor dedicated for the MS-2.

We'll see how it all goes.

[Syaoran]

I had run into more issues. The MS-II really hates stock REV2 5S-FE ignition. (VR sensor with a 4-tooth trigger wheel really doesn't give it much resolution to work properly)

Currently the car turns on and runs. Brake Booster has arrived and will be changing it sometime this week. I hope I can get some stuff solved by the end of the week. Hopefully next weekend I will be dealing with the ignition.

1. 90-92 5S-FE Rev1 Distributor with a 24-tooth trigger wheel. Will be tapping into its VR sensor for ignition trigger input.
2. Chrysler/Dodge 420a wasted-spark coil

More info when I get stuff done.

[taibones]

i first saw the pic of your car with those wheels i thougt it was my car i pick up the same rims about 2 weeks ago

[Syaoran]

i first saw the pic of your car with those wheels i thougt it was my car i pick up the same rims about 2 weeks ago

Haha that's cool. I'm going to invest in them... I know they're probably a cheap wheel but I really like how they look. I need hubcentric rings. I don't know the measurement of the hub on the wheels...

[taibones]

the center bore of the rim should be 57.1mm the celica rim center bore is 54.1mm hope that helps

This post has been edited by taibones: Jun 19, 2012 - 3:59 PM

[Syaoran]

the center bore of the rim should be 57.1mm the celica rim center bore is 54.1mm hope that helps

Where did you find that out?

[taibones]

im pretty sure they are vw rims, which have a 57.1 center bore i have been meaning to measure mine for a while now but have been to busy to.
there should be a gap of 1.5mm all around the center bore

[Syaoran]

im pretty sure they are vw rims, which have a 57.1 center bore i have been meaning to measure mine for a while now but have been to busy to.
there should be a gap of 1.5mm all around the center bore

They're not Volkswagen rims, though...

[kurt95gt]

Think he means their specs are for a aftermarket rim for a vw
Not an actual vw rim

[Syaoran]

Think he means their specs are for a aftermarket rim for a vw
Not an actual vw rim

Oh. If that's the case then it could be possible.

I really need a digital caliper...

[taibones]

Think he means their specs are for a aftermarket rim for a vw
Not an actual vw rim

what he said. i do believe the center bore is for vw, the only way to know for sure is to measure.

by the way where did you find the picture of the rim and center cap that you posted

[Syaoran]

Think he means their specs are for a aftermarket rim for a vw
Not an actual vw rim

what he said. i do believe the center bore is for vw, the only way to know for sure is to measure.

by the way where did you find the picture of the rim and center cap that you posted

That one?

It's from the ad that I bought it from. Seller put it up but wasn't clear/good quality. I threw away the centercaps, don't like them at all... Two of them were yellowed/cracked.

[taibones]

yeah i have been looking for a center cap to use as a mold to make some out of carbon fiber, or maybe fiberglass

[Edser]

So I've bought myself a 1994 GT, black, with NONE of the extra cool stuff (sunroof, foglights, cruise control, automatic climate, 8-speaker etc)...... but who needs that? It's all just extra weight! Here's the background:

The car was bought from a fellow University Student who sold it because there was an issue with the car he couldn't solve.

Nice to see a fellow student here with a car in a similar condition to mine! Mine cost me 1300euros! I'm lucky in that it's got no mechanical issues of great importance other than needing new drive shaft. Here's a pic:

I'm enjoying watching your progress! Keep up the good work!

[Syaoran]

Euro-specs come with so many cool things like the skirts and splitters... yours looks a lot better than mine haha. Thanks!

[6gcpr]

any new pics to see how its coming? you fix your brake problem? how bad is your front bumper? iv'e looked all over puerto rico for celica parts but nothing.....como dicen por ahi, solo quedan dos de estos carros, el tuyo y el del diablo!!!

This post has been edited by 6gcpr: Jul 11, 2012 - 1:46 PM

[Syaoran]

Update:

New struts are in for all four corners. Had to use two different pairs because the fronts that I bought were cartridges, and apparently the previous owner had replaced the fronts with sealed units (Monroe OESpectrum).

The car rides very nice now, pretty stiff. There's two new OESpectrums in the front and two Stagg SHS in the rear. No top mounts as they were still in usable condition, and reused basically everything else. Trying to keep this as cheap as possible because later on I'm going the coilover route, possibly.

New swaybar endlinks as well. Went to get an alignment and couldn't due to the tires not being the same front and rear. (225/45 front 215/45 rear). Noticed the left side has more negative camber than the right side, up front. Gonna have to get that checked out.

[ricochet1490]

Sounds like you've had one problem after another with this thing!
Hope you getting it ironed out.
Ever figure out the knocking?

[Syaoran]

Sounds like you've had one problem after another with this thing!
Hope you getting it ironed out.
Ever figure out the knocking?

Yes, and I'm now reconsidering keeping it or selling it, but the thing is that, as is, nobody will give me what I think it's worth so I'm just going to keep it and keep throwing money at it bit by bit. That's what happens when you enter the world of used cars, I guess.

The knocking seems to be a combination of high timing and the car still being only partially un-tuned. It is currently only tuned to run decently in cruising speeds. It has base map values for everything else.

Most of the knocking was cured using 91 octane which is why I say it's got too much timing down low. I didn't tune it (a friend who also installed the MegaSquirt-II did), but I'll start getting my hands on it once I get some income. For now, the car runs and can take me to nearby places.

There's also an ignition swap pending which will also get done once I've got more money.

[ricochet1490]

Why not get a stock ecu that functions?

[Syaoran]

Why not get a stock ecu that functions?

I'm going to go EMS sooner or later. This is not going to be just a DD, so... might as well do it now and kill two birds with one stone.

[Syaoran]

Wideband installed (Innovate LC-1), now to do some road tuning later tonight. Still don't have the gauge affixed to where I want it, but the temp. location will have to do for a while until I get a fiberglass pod done at my local car audio shop.


Idle was 14.7, and some cruising around town got to as low as 11.5... so some tuning will definitely wake the car up (and save some gas!)

Rear wheel bearing has been ordered, and I'm in the process of waiting on a bumper.

I have issues with my rear struts which I'm looking to have taken care of soon.

So:

1. Wideband: done
2. Front bumper and low beams: pending
3. Wheel Bearing: pending

Next up: Spring Lowering Springs. Bought used OEM to get the car running properly. Now it is, so I want better springs for it. Bought a set of Sprint Springs for my previous celica and they worked great.

Also ordered a couple of turbo goodies, nothing big yet, and a pair of Ingalls camber bolts for the rear wheels.

This post has been edited by Syaoran: Aug 20, 2012 - 11:21 AM

[Syaoran]

Wish I could upload pics from my HTC Wildfire...

Anyways bought some Castrol (castor oil lol) GTX High Mileage 10w-30 with a purolator pureone filter, 4 qts of Pennzoil Synchromesh, valve cover gasket, and two new struts for the rear and I hope the struts are the one at fault for the camber.

Got a light clunk in the back that sound s like loose end links. We'll see how it goes, I'll take pics.

[Syaoran]

what he said. i do believe the center bore is for vw, the only way to know for sure is to measure.

by the way where did you find the picture of the rim and center cap that you posted

Here's a closer pic of the center cap for the wheels, I found another car in campus with the same wheels but 15".





================


So as far as an update: I was having problems with rear camber. Replaced the rear eBay struts with Monroes and the camber is fixed. Could be fixed with Ingalls Camber Bolts, however.


Here's some pics:

My baby's pretty side



This is how -3.4degrees of camber looks like on 215/45/17 tires.



The "pirate eye"


Random things you see at Home Depot....


Wideband Install (Temp Location, but it works for now) NOTE: For those who know, they'll know the car isn't that lean lol. Those who don't, the car is turned off.


Getting chores done before working on the car (laundry... I'm a college student living alone, after all...)


Carlos and Argenis helping out (doing most of the work actually, they don't even let me work on my car XD)


Me (Right), Carlos (Rear) and Argenis (Left)... Argenis was preloading the struts and I was checking that the rear ones were good (they were).


The new front bumper that's coming home



This post has been edited by Syaoran: Aug 25, 2012 - 4:57 PM

[Syaoran]

Compression tested the engine, here are the results:


Needs new Spark Plugs, though. Will be getting those soon.

Changed the bad wheel bearing, no more mud-tire noise.

[Syaoran]

Changed oil today... decided to take this pic (unrelated)

[6gcpr]

That's one fanta orange looking bumper you got there my friend

[Syaoran]

no longer orange and now on the car! pics soon...

[Edser]

Still waiting for those pics!

[Syaoran]

Still waiting for those pics!

I forgot I had promised pics! I'll try and get them later today when I get back home. The car is down for a little while because the radiator fans gave out. I'm still contemplating getting a Honda-style double core half-radiator with a single, high-speed fan, mainly for my soon-to-come-to-life turbo build.

Since I'm going to be using the OEM 3sgte manifold with a T3 adapter and most likely getting a GT3071 (which is pretty big), I think I'd want the space for the turbo and other stuff there.

[Syaoran]

Here's one I took a couple hours ago. Car is still rough but it's slowly taking shape.

[Edser]

Hey that bumper looks good! Face lift version! It's like a huge splash of rejuvenating face cream, takes at least three years off! Now you too can look like a 16 year-old!
Are you gonna put some fog lights in there?
Me likey!

[Syaoran]

Hey that bumper looks good! Face lift version! It's like a huge splash of rejuvenating face cream, takes at least three years off! Now you too can look like a 16 year-old!
Are you gonna put some fog lights in there?
Me likey!

Nope, no fog lights. Their place is going to be taken by 2.5" intercooler piping soon enough. I really want to restore the car's exterior too. It gives the car like an extra 10 years of age.

[Edser]

Yup! The younger the better! I'm aiming for that young and fresh look!
You keeping the black? I hope so, it looks great!

This post has been edited by Edser: Oct 21, 2012 - 4:55 PM

[Syaoran]

Definitely keeping the black... It's such a universal color, kinda like white.

I had thought about changing the color mainly because black is hard to maintain and in this island black isn't the most heat-friendly color... but I dont want to go through the process of changing colors legally and everything. I'll repaint and perhaps change colors using plastidip later on.

[Edser]

I have been tempted by dark metallic brown. I don't think it'll win me over though. I love Batman you see. Always wanted a Batmobile!
I didn't know what Plasti Dip was! Saw some vids on Youtube, that's just crazy! Have whatever colour you want with no long term consequences. That's just genius!

[Syaoran]

I have been tempted by dark metallic brown. I don't think it'll win me over though. I love Batman you see. Always wanted a Batmobile!
I didn't know what Plasti Dip was! Saw some vids on Youtube, that's just crazy! Have whatever colour you want with no long term consequences. That's just genius!

Yeah it's awesome, it holds up incredibly well, too.

You know mazda3 from 2010+ have a dark and very metallic brown color option. It has gold sparkles and looks black in low light.

[Syaoran]

Ok, so as far as an update.

Car is down because the radiator fans went. Already ordered a slim fan from eBay. Hope it won't overheat on just 1 fan. My previous 5th gen didn't so I'm expecting it to be the same.

Got a set of Prothane front and rear sway bar bushings, 20mm and 17mm respectively. I measured my bars and the front is 20mm and the rear is 17mm, so I'm guessing that's the size of all GTs, at least pre-face.

Most likely ordering Speed Source polyurethane engine mounts, if I can find an application that'll fit the GT mounts. Thinking the MR2 NA ones will most likely fit.

Also ordering brass shifter cable bushings to replace my worn rubber ones, and aluminum shifter base bushings.

Waiting on a set of Tein S-techs to arrive, and those will go on with new strut mounts on the front, and perhaps the rear ones as well.

Thinking about buying poly swaybar endlinks (miata rear, GT4-Racing.eu fronts). That'd complete my suspension work for now, and hopefully will have the car tracking straight for a while. Having alignment issues and I'm betting it's due to the tired suspension components.

As for the engine, I got a set of OEM 3SGTE rods and I'm considering getting a set of 87.5mm CP 8.5:1 pistons and give the engine a rebuild and boost, and a new clutch. I have some of the turbo parts already so I might as well. I was considering doing a top end build as well, but I won't for now, I'll do that later on, but an engine rebuild is definitely due.

[Smaay]

i have a complete 3S-GTE head if you want to go that route.

[Syaoran]

I was considering that possibility. What gen is it? If you could send pics it'd be nice.

[Syaoran]

Teins arrived, changed the oil filter to OE Toyota. It's physically different, probably holds more oil than the Purolator PureONE I had in there which looked like it was 2/3 the size.


Ordered brass shifter cable bushings on eBay. Still trying to find the base shifter bushings. Supposedly all FWD Toyotas are the same (speed source's application is "Most FWD manual toyotas, and MR2 and MR2 spyder) as can be seen on the image here: http://twosrus.com/catalog/product_info.ph...products_id=132

Might try my luck with them.

Ordered front strut mounts as well, with new boots and bumpstops. Going to install springs, mounts and swaybar bushings all together.

[Syaoran]

Update:

From top->bottom and left->right

Tein S-techs, Strut Boots, Front Strut Mounts, Polyurethane Endlinks, F&R Polyurethane Swaybar Bushings.

[Syaoran]

So..... I'm scheduled to drop the car on Saturday to have it painted..............................................

[Syaoran]

Took out the marshmallows!

[Syaoran]

The Celi is under the scalpel!

[Fuzzyfo]

Your car is coming together real well mi hermano, keep it up!

[Syaoran]

Can't wait until I have it back... bodywork guy said ~5 days for:

1. Fixing dents
2. Cutting and patching a rust hole in the hatch
3. Deleting side markers
4. Fixing a light hit on the driver side low beam side
5. Sanding, priming and painting with 2K clear.

We'll see how it turns out. Car will stay black.

[Syaoran]

Progress Pics:

[Syaoran]

More pics!

Roof getting fixed... had to use generous amount of filler on it because of how bad it was:


Base coat on one side:

[Edser]

Gosh! I love when you can see how smooth and straight it is. Gives a real idea of how nice it's gonna be when finished.
I'll probably take my door handles off tho, even if its a bit of hassle.

This post has been edited by Edser: Nov 21, 2012 - 3:40 PM

[Syaoran]

Yeah my guy did a pretty good job. I can't wait for the end result... should be around tomorrow.

[Syaoran]

Couple coats of clear, prior to buffing:

















This post has been edited by Syaoran: Nov 23, 2012 - 1:45 AM

[Edser]

OH YEAH! Looking good!

[Syaoran]

Thanks!

I hate me and my obsession with wheels... but I'm getting a new set of wheels. 17x7.5 +43 are the specs, and they look like this:

[Syaoran]

It's done!

[JasonX]

You did a great job man. Looks great.

[Syaoran]

I don't like taking credit for work I didn't do I had it done by someone who is starting out his business here in the Island. Lives a couple of minutes from me, and I've seen his work. He does good stuff, IMO, so I took it to him because of of his crazy low price (he's trying to be very competitive to get a customer base first). This would've cost me near $1500 anywhere else, and he did it for $750.

It included getting the driver side low beam to sit properly, fixing all the dents and scratches, sanding, fixing a hole in the hatch, and priming, paint and clear.

The guy is so good he's bringing the car to me so I don't have to drive to his place. He's 30 mins away from me, which isn't far, but I don't know how to get there since it's mostly rural area, and he's not going to charge me anything for it. I, of course, offered to pay him a meal.

I'll keep posting pics of stuff I'm going to be doing (wheels, springs, suspension etc. and hope to get some engine work done soon) For now, I'm getting closer to where I want to be

[JasonX]

This will definately will be a thread I will enjoy following. Keep up the good work. And giving credit where it's due. That is a great price for a paint job including all the body repairs. I'm paying 1500 for mine, like you mentioned, lol. It will be primer, top coat, and clear as well. I have one bad fender, he said he is going to replace with new. He is also going to remold my body kit. He said he will do it with fiberglass filler, so hope it'll hold better than before. Anyways, I'll post those once I get the car back. Best of luck with everything.

[richee3]

The paint looks great.

[Syaoran]

This will definately will be a thread I will enjoy following. Keep up the good work. And giving credit where it's due. That is a great price for a paint job including all the body repairs. I'm paying 1500 for mine, like you mentioned, lol. It will be primer, top coat, and clear as well. I have one bad fender, he said he is going to replace with new. He is also going to remold my body kit. He said he will do it with fiberglass filler, so hope it'll hold better than before. Anyways, I'll post those once I get the car back. Best of luck with everything.

Remolding the kit isn't easy that's for sure. If he does a seamless job you'll be happy. My life motto goes like "I'd pay anything for everything, as long as I'm happy with it". I'm like that with food. I'd spend all my money eating.

The paint looks great.

Thanks!

[Syaoran]

So a small update: I finally mounted the Tein springs on, the front strut mounts and rear Miata endlinks. Have to finish up some stuff and wash the car before I take pics.

[Syaoran]

Small preview:

Still no wheels on.

[Syaoran]

Instagram'd pic (I need a real camera):



And another unedited:



How my living room looks like right now:

[rave2n]

Looking good! Love the paint.

[Syaoran]

Thanks!

[mindone]

Nice restoration job! Look forward to seeing it with the new wheels.

[Syaoran]

I want to see it soon with the wheels too haha! I just can't afford the spacers which I need to make them fit properly.

I'm also looking into buying a newer 5S-FE from a 98+ Camry or Solara. I want the crank sensor and wasted spark setup and some extra parts to play with (extra head and intake manifold, etc) Hopefully I'll buy it by the end of the month.

[jordisonjr]

Won't those new wheels be really sunk in?