New here with a few questions. (JDM Parts/Community questions) Options

[Espo]

Hey everybody, I've been lurking the site a bit and just kinda scoping things out, so I have a few questions I'd like to ask and see if I can get some answers. I'm not sure if this is the correct place for an introduction, so please excuse me if it's not, but I didn't see a section dedicated to it so here I go.
I'm not going to be a stranger, so a little about myself.

My name's Cory, Espo is my high school nickname, I'm 19 and a full time college student living near Buffalo, NY. I hope to play collegiate hockey this September, and I usually do pretty well with my grades - I'm by no means an underachiever. I'm also a perfectionist of sorts, especially if my work is involved. It's all on my facebook, which I'll update my profile for later. In any case, enough about me and more about what we all want to know about, my car.

My first car was a 2002 Pontiac Sunfire, I got it a couple weeks after my license at 18, and owned it for two months (early July-late September). In September, I was driving home from work one night after it had rained, about midnightish and a few blocks from my house, coming around a curve on the road bordering an old factory that had been abandoned for years when I see a pair of headlights halfway in my lane just around the corner. I was inexperienced at the time (I'm still inexperienced by legal standards, but I had only been driving regularly for two months) and panicked as the driver came towards me. I hit the brakes hard, the ABS misfired and sent me spinning, missing the other driver but putting me sideways through a metal rsuty fence at about 35 mph. The other driver kept going, I assume he/she was drunk, and I wasn't able to get a license plate number, so insurance called it my fault and totalled the car. This is where I start with Celicas.
I looked hard through my local craigslist, my Dad having a 2000 Tundra recommended I look into Toyota for reliability purposes until I can get something better. So, I've owned a 6th gen celi since last October, I found a 1994 ST in really rough shape body wise, mechanically sound other than a hanging front passenger caliper and a leaky gas tank (only when filled to the brim however). It was so bad, I'll have to find pictures of it when I can, that a restoration option seemed really out of the question. It was a nice teal color (kind of like a Cavalier teal) but the paint work was so faded and there was so much clear coat bubbling, it had lost almost all of its brilliance. I ended up selling that car to my Dad's soon to be step son to be his first car, and my Dad has since fixed the caliper and is looking into the gas tank. (He was a major gearhead when he was younger and still loves cars - maybe that's where I get it from.)

In any case, the previous owner of my current celica, recommended this site to me about a week ago - I have no idea if he ever posted here or not, but he recommended the site to me. I bought the car with money I had saved and the 3,000 my Dad bought my 94 for. It's (as explained in my details, which I'll also update more thoroughly later) a 96, 25th anniversary edition (No. 27) with all the original documentation from every owner, including the original Maryland title. I bought the car as is, it's an ST as well, manual instead of auto like my 94 was, and a brilliant black color. It's been taken very good care of and I would love to continue that, and plan to do so - as well as add my own flare to it, which is why I'm here, and it leads to my questions that I can't seem to find answers to.

Firstly, I was looking through the parts catalog at the JDM tail lights for our cars and everybody's raving about them, but I can't seem to find a single picture of them. Google failed me, sadly ):

Secondly, are snapshotgt's headlights JDM? I was looking through his V6 swap thread earlier today and his headlights seemed oddly clear, and I remember the description of the JDM headlights as being "crystal clear".

Thirdly, what's the community's view on "showy" elements such as underglow? And I'm assuming ricey stuff is looked down upon here - not that I was intending to go that route.

Lastly, I'd like to thank anyone for reading through this - I don't want to be that guy that just registers, comes in and starts asking questions, hence the long introduction. Also, thanks in advance for any answers provided - I'll be sure to be back, seems like a great community and has already proved to be a great resource to me (I was wondering how hard it was to change my gauge cluster/climate control lights from green to red (:).

Edit: Disabled smileys, my end bit turned into a yellow smiley face haha

This post has been edited by Espo: Aug 11, 2009 - 11:17 PM

[Espo]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome, I appreciate it - good to know I'm with a true group of enthusiasts here.

Welcome to the site! It's a great place to learn.

Snapshot does have the JDM headlights in his car. Notice the projectors in the low beams and the clear high beams. They'll set you back quite a bit, but they are a nice addition to the car. You're right about the rice. I can't think of a nice way to put it, but it's frowned upon. As far as underglows go, I'm not telling you what to do, but there's nowhere to hide the light tubes on a Celica. Trust me. It'll look cheap. Been there, done that. Just my opinion though. Otherwise, make sure you take care of your Celica, and get us some pictures!

I noticed that you can't hide the tubes anywhere, I'm going to remove the front/rear bumpers tomorrow and see if there's anywhere I can clip them to hide them better until I get the body kit - the parts listing on the main part of the site was also an incredible help, I had no idea there were so many options available.

I need to get projectors, the car came with 14000k HIDs (a deep purple color) and thus I've been wondering how to lower the angle of my headlights (low beams only) so as not to blind other drivers until I can get projectors.

Welcome.
Changing the gauge cluster from green to red is easy and looks great. Use Red 194 type 5way LEDs with a red bulb condom over it and it will look great. There is a sticky for that.
Snapshot and many other members here have the 96+ projectors. There are several ways to obtain these including your local dealer. Expect to pay between $600 [Used] to $100 [Brand new from the dealer with shipping and tax etc.]

BTW - who was the previous owner who recommended 6GC.net?

His name was Jeremy, I have no idea what his user was here - I didn't really deal with him much when it came to the car, more his father. Nice kid in any case though, he was polite to me when I spoke to him with a few questions regarding the car afterwards. I did notice the guide on the climate/cluster lights, I intend to print it out and follow it tomorrow. I bought some bulbs from Autozone two days ago, I have no idea where to get those LEDs.

I agree with the underglow.. better keep it plain, decent, simple, clean and sweet. As long as you keep it in its top condition + light mods it'll be fine.

Just keep in mind that this is not like generic honda civic which you could find parts anywhere for a dozen a dime.

Welcome to the site!

Oh trust me, my buddy has a Civic and I bash on him for it all the time . I'm coming in with my plans knowing it'll cost me a fortune, but it'll be worth it in the end.

Like I said above, I am going with a body kit and I'll probably switch out the 25th anniversary side skirts in order to try and hide the neons better, I like the black and red look - yeah it may be more of a kid thing, but if it's done properly (I.E. wiring showing, tubes showing/easy to see without being underneath the car) I think it looks great.

Speaking of wiring showing, mine is at the moment - easier access to insert that last neon (also being done tomorrow) that was cracked when I bought it off my buddy. Does anyone know where/how to get through the firewall to the fusebox, or which fuse would be a good one to wire it to? My Dad said the cig&rad fuse in the dash might work but I want to be sure just in case.

As for pics: I'll take what I can tomorrow, maybe show some of the work we're doing - I have a Kodak Easyshare C310 that's not exactly the greatest resolution wise. I'll be using my paycheck friday to upgrade to a better point-and-shoot camera - no need for any DSLR overkill (: