FS: '94 Celica GT Hatchback, 116k/mi, Moving on to a new project - 2.5rs - UPDATED on 3/13 with pictures Options

[razor7]

Hey Guys,
So I've finally gotten a second to where I can sit down and give you the full story behind my baby.

History
The car was originally purchased by a 30 year old woman back in 1994. She bought it with every available package at the time (leather interior, ABS, cruise control, etc. The only thing missing were the fogs). She used it as her weekend car, and only put on 99k from '94-2008. She also got every bit of maintenance done to it on schedule or before. Her mother died in 2008 and left her car for her daughter (I want to say it was a Land Rover, but I'm not sure) and as such, she decided to trade in the Celica in order to get some extra cash while keeping the car she inherited. Before she traded it in/sold it to the dealership, she got EVERY MAJOR SERVICE done to it. She got the valves re-timed, throttle bodies re-synced, did an oil change, tranny fluid flush, new pads installed, possibly even new rotors, and basically anything else she could throw at it.

When the dealership got it in (Sunnyvale Toyota for those who are local) they were so shocked by how pristine it was that they initially were asking $13,000 for it. After some months passed and they had a bunch of people flake, they dropped it to $8,500. And this is where I came in. I was driving a '91 4runner for the past 2 years and loved it, but at 12mpg it was killing me to own (and a failing auto transmission). So I ended up selling that car and found the Celica while browsing local used cars online. After a little help from my parents, I bought the car for $6,800 and walked away paying $7500 with tax and licensing (I know.... I should've haggled more). Toyota Sunnyvale also replaced the Catalytic Converter and the ABS module before selling it (the only things they could find that were even close to needing to be replaced).

We then immediately took it to a local shop called Yarnell who gave the car a once over, looking for anything they could possibly find wrong with her. The mechanic who did all of the work came back and told us that if we didn't buy this car, he would. They mostly work on Toyotas and get a few Celicas in here and there, and he said that he hadn't seen one in that pristine of condition since they were first released. It was evident that she didn't put any stress on the engine, more than likely shifting under 3,000RPMs.

So from there I entered this forum and started reading up on it, planning out what I wanted to do to her, but here's where the story starts to get a little sad. Within the first 2 months of owning her, a 19 year old girl who was really drunk plowed into the back of my Dad's 8500lb utility van and pushed it over 65ft into the back of her. Now the damage wasn't bad, his car barely tapped mine, but it was enough to break the rear tail-light and do some small scrapes to the bumper. Since price was not a concern (since her insurance covered it) we took it over to a shop called Cal-West. If any of you have done business with them, you know that they are the highest rated car repair shop in California.

So they replaced the tail light, repainted the whole rear end, the trunk door card, and re-checked the quarter panels and frame. She didn't drive any differently taking her over there, and no differently on the way back either, the damage was purely cosmetic.

From there, I drove her for a few more months, adding small things as I went along (Injen SRI, plugs, etc.) until I made a decision that I regret to this day. There is an off-ramp from FWY 85 onto Shoreline (going towards the mountains) which was recently re-done. Essentially it's a 90 degree turn that's banked, but completely not set up for taking over 45mph. I had the genius decision to take this turn at 80mph on the inside lane (before I knew how to apex, and it was my first time on this turn) and spun the car out and into a guard rail. Luckily, I had the wheel cocked all the way to the left (car hit on the right side) which made 80-90% of the damage go strait into the front right tire. The tire was replaced the next day, with all alignment work and everything checked out by Firestone and I have not had a single steering/driving/pulling/any type of issue out of that side to this day. Bear in mind that this happened well over a year ago, and I haven't had any issues. I've also replaced the wheels with 7th gen GTS wheels, so there are no fractures/bends/anything to worry about on the wheels themselves.

Now I took it back to Cal-West the same day to get an estimate, and they quoted me at $3,200 (this included a new fender and the whole side of my car being re-painted along with "re-aligning" body panels, which it didn't and doesn't need). I'm just a starving college kid, so that's well out of my price range to fix, and considering what the car is worth, I decided not to go through with any repairs on it. The only damage left is in the front right fender (there's a crease, I'll show pictures of all of the damage) and the back right quarter panel is scuffed from driving away from the barrier that I went into. There was no damage to the passenger door or anywhere else on the body. I truly was extremely lucky in the lack of damage to the car. In fact, I've had to point out the crease in the fender to my friends who I tell the story to, as they can't tell immediately that there was any damage done to it.

From there I drove the speed limit everywhere. I learned my lesson, and I've never done anything as reckless and careless since (unless it's on a motorcycle, but that's another story). I literally wept for the fact that I just damaged my baby, and could do nothing to fix her. I've talked to some guys who work on Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and BMWs (all they do is body repair/paint work) and they quoted the fender and scrape on the quarter panel to cost under $400.

From then on I focused on modifying/styling the car to my own liking. Now keep in mind that I'm incredibly OCD about the work I do (I'm a Hardware Technician as my job, so everything has to be absolutely perfect once I'm through with it) so while a majority of the work was done by myself, I not only researched how to do it beforehand, but was also extremely thorough in how I went about doing it. I don't cut corners, and I don't "ghettoize" things I work on.

Now skip forward a year to about November 2009 time. At this point I've done all of the styling things I've wanted to and have stopped and given myself some breathing room (also was rebuilding my GSX-R before selling it, so money was being spent on that instead). While at school, my car got keyed. I still don't know who did this or why, and it's something that I'll probably never know either. The person keyed it from the passenger fender to the passenger quarter panel. It was deep too, some of it going strait to metal. It killed me because it was something I had no control over, and again, would cost close to the amount of the car in order to fix (about $3k for a decent paintjob). I ended up using some color matched paint pens to fill it in, so at least the metal won't rust, but even that bothers me. The good news is that all of this damage occurred on the passenger side, so the drivers side looks absolutely perfect :-P

From then until now nothing has changed. I now park as far away from class as possible (in fact, in all parking lots I park as far away from the entrance as possible, it's good to walk anyways) and got an alarm installed (I know it won't stop anyone from hurting her anyways, but it's at least a helpful deterrent). Other than that, the car has just been a daily driver, something to get me from point A to point B when it's raining outside or when I'm servicing my bike.

General Info
1994 Celica GT with all packages (ABS, Leather, cruise control, etc.)
CLEAN title
Reg paid through July 2010
116k on the original car (engine, tranny, frame, sub-frame, body, suspension, etc.)
All original leather (including steering wheel which looks barely used, only exceptions are Vincent's white pieces)
All original floor mats
Fresh Oil & filter - Switched to Mobil 1 synthetic, changed every 10k (the recommended changing mileage) Has under 1k on it
Fresh Tranny Fluid
New Tires - Yokohama Avid H4s 205/40R16
New EBC Green Stuff pads (under 3k on them)
New Master and Slave clutch cylinders (replacing them in a week or two, will be done before it's sold)
Recently seafoamed the engine through the intake manifold and gas tank. Let it sit for 15 minutes, and got one tiny little puff out of the exhaust, no carbon build-ups :-D
NGK Laser Iridium plugs (changed 3k ago)
NO rust on any of the undercarriage (NEVER taken to the snow, and I've done my best to keep her out of any bad conditions)


Modifications (in my profile as well, but I'll re-list them for ya.

Performance
Injen SRI - Have stock air box
NGK Laser Iridium Plugs - Have original plugs
RIPPMODS header - Have original header
Greddy SP2 Muffler with 2.25" piping (full) - Have original exhaust, may need some welding/fabricating
EBC Green Stuff pads - Have original pads

Suspension
Front strut tower bar
ST205 rear strut tower bar
Vincent's Trunk Brace

Exterior
JDM Fogs
Roof Spoiler
Air deflector
Matched Lights
7th Gen GTS wheels
Smoked Fuel Door - Have original fuel door
Painted red calipers
NOT INSTALLED BUT INCLUDED IN THE SALE
- Wings west Supra Style Spoiler (did some fiberglass repair to some cracks, needs to be sanded. Already down to primer, just need to float out the fiberglass and paint it)
- 5th Gen Mirrors (stripped to primer, just need paint)

Interior
Insulated interior (behind the doors, 1/4 panel, under the seats, etc.)
Carpet padding on top of insulation
White shift boot - Have original shift boot
White E-brake boot - Have original E-brake boot
Gauges - Have original gauges
Changed carpet to black - Have original carpet
Removed all light condoms (green film)
TRD Short Shifter - Have original shifter assembly
ST202 Arm Rest - Have original armrest pad (The tall one)
T1808 (Scion) radio installed - Have original radio and all amplifiers and the stock (uncut) bezel/vents
Modded 6x9" Pioneer Type S in the rear
Pioneer Type S 4" speakers
Infinity Kappa 6.5" speakers (sized down from 8", haven't gone mid-bass yet)

Bad
Dent/crease in the passenger fender
Keying along the passenger side of the car from the fender to the quarter panel
Burn/scrape on the quarter panel (about 2.5" by 2.5" square)
2 rips in the drivers seat (absolutely NONE on the rest)
The cruise control indicator (light) doesn't turn on (either burnt out, or didn't seat properly after installing the gauges, I like it more without it lighting up)
Rear defrost doesn't work (can hear the regulator kick on, but nothing on it, probably a torn wire from the initial accident. Too old for me to take back to Cal-West to have repaired)
Rear washer doesn't work (typical on these cars, not sure why)
Struts are dying (with 116k on them, I don't blame 'em. Was going to do bilsteins, but haven't had the extra cash... still work fine though, don't need to be immediately replaced)

And that just about sums her up. I'm waiting on my buddy to come back from Texas (honoring my friend who's graduating from Boot Camp) in which case I'll give her a nice wax and get some decent (SLR) pictures put up on here. Until then, you'll have to make due with what I have in my profile, and whatever pictures I have in threads I started (try a search for Razor7 and see what it comes up with).

If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me or list them here.

THESE PICTURES WERE TAKEN ON 3/13/10. The car looks exactly as it does in these.





























These were all taken with an XSI. If you'd like the un-scaled versions, let me know.

-TC

This post has been edited by razor7: Mar 30, 2010 - 12:09 PM

[sunwukongg]

where in cali are you located?