Fribox's 1996 Celica GT, A used car that likes to suck money out of my pockets Options

[fribox]

5s-fe, 5 speed, 221000 miles. Second owner. (Now nearing 225000)
It looks shiny in this picture, but it has a lot of problems.




Engine refuses to rev past 4500-5000 RPM (not that I do this often), if anyone has a solution to this I'd be very grateful. I've read a bit on here its either the catalytic converter being clogged or timing is off.

This thread isn't really much of a project thread, more of a maintenance diary. I don't plan anything spectacular with this car, but I'd like to share my woes and experience with you guys.
Maybe I'll come across something and find out what is wrong and help someone who has the same problem, who knows.
I was first planning a 3S-GE swap, but figure its not worth the hassle on a car with 225000+ miles on it. I've seen good things about 294 grind cams though, which is what I might do for the little more umf at the high end that I want.
But I'll post whatever happens to my car here.

This post has been edited by fribox: Mar 18, 2014 - 10:38 PM

[fribox]

Update:
Turns out that miss-firing/wobbling/whatever was actually a completely broken motor mount, I was guessing since the car was shaking a lot. Since the motor mount was broken it snapped one of the clamps on my exhaust and threw my engine into a closed loop hence why I was losing so much power and gas mileage. Valve cover gasket also got replaced and stopped the leaking. Not bad, things are looking up for my crappy little commuter; now all my engine problems are fixed.

EDIT:
Drivetrain is still shaking a little, nowhere near as bad as it was. Needs a new front engine mount too probably, it'll get put in next weekend.
Next I'll probably be replacing the trim inside the car with new woodgrain trim if I can find it. One of the rims is bent very slightly, but while I'm getting the trim (hopefully from a scrapped celica) I'll grab a set of stock rims since the ones on it are ugly as sin itself. Hopefully the scrapped ones are in good shape so I can rip out a seat too and use it to build a racing rig for the new Gran Turismo game so I'll feel right at home.

This post has been edited by fribox: Nov 23, 2013 - 5:39 PM