My3awds Daily Driver: saving a 6g, Saving a 6g from the scraps... Options

[my3awds]

Hey ladies and gents.

Some of you know or recognize me from other forums via my other cars, or the video I made on Youtube (Garage Tuner). I'll keep the reference material as links instead of pic / video displays so you guys don't think I'm whoring.

Garage Tuner Act 01:
http://youtu.be/5FOrU-bTaJw?hd=1

My awd STI 6:
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu122/my3awds/01-4.jpg
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu122/my3awds/04-1.jpg

My awd Evo 5:
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu122/my3awds/a-2.jpg
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu122/my3awds/d-1.jpg

Anyway back on topic...I needed a daily driver. So I've decided to try and save this 6g from scrap yard heaven. It's a 1994 ST Hatchback 5 speed with a blown 7AFE. Oxidized paint with dings here and there and seems the airbags deployed. I picked it up for $500. Starting reference pics:





My Sti and Evo looked similar when I first picked them up (you can see the buildup on youtube). For this 6g, it won't be as spectacular as a lot of the members cars here, but I do plan on looking up to your previous posts for guidance. I have to keep the build simple because if I go to far with it, I end up not driving it like my current cars. So the end goal is just something decent to look at and enjoyable to drive while being fuel efficient. But I wanted something nice to add to my collection. So here's my modest list I'm gathering.

GT-Four Exterior
GT-Four Brakes
Swap to a working 7AFE
7G seats
7G steering wheel
Lowering Springs
CF muffler
Black BBS wheels

I've already started cleaning the interior. I've also started using compound on the oxidized areas, starting from the butt:





Picked up a set of 97 seat pans to install 7g seats. Probably picking up the Gt4 front brakes this week. I'm going back and forth to the yards picking up little things to recover the car as well. Looking to find a cheap 7afe locally. Will post again when I have something worthy. Thanks for reading. I look forward to meeting you guys.

Manny

This post has been edited by my3awds: Aug 1, 2011 - 2:34 AM

[RabidTRD]

I look forward to the restoration progress. It's good to see another person reviving these cars.

Awesome work on your other two cars too! Reminds me of my first car that I restored and turned into a sleeper BMW killer lmao.

[richee3]

Those GT4 brakes will be massive for a puny 7A. I'm interested to see the restoration.

[cheela]

the EVO and STI are HOT! can't wait to see the Celica.

[my3awds]

Thanks for the welcome guys. Got a polisher to work on the car a bit more today. Definitely a big difference from hand polishing. You can see the weird oxidization happening on the door. I tried hand polishing the door and couldn't get it out. But it's coming right off with the polisher. Not brand new looking, but enough to be proud to drive around now. Door isn't done, but you can see where I stopped the rubbing compound.
















This post has been edited by my3awds: Aug 2, 2011 - 12:02 AM

[RabidTRD]

I thought those were buff marks. I just realized it's a fence lmao. Looking great!

What products do you use?

This post has been edited by RabidTRD: Aug 2, 2011 - 12:02 AM

[my3awds]

Haha yeah sort of a bad example since it does have unpolished wax in some areas too. I'm using Meguire's Ultimate Compound and it seems to do a really nice job cutting even with just hand polishing. I then use Turtlewax polish to seal it.

Picked these up for $11 each at pick n pull:


I'm trying to decide on 7g leather seats vs cloth. I'm browsing through your guys' pictures, and hope to find a good example of what matches our black interior most. The black leather looks nice, but a portion of it is gray it looks like. Not liking the blue cloths either. We'll see. Still doing my research before I ask my stupid noob questions.

[RabidTRD]

I like the feel of the 6G seats too much to let them go. They wrap around you nicely, perfect for daily use, but enough to hug you in the corners. If I were to trade them, it'd have to be for 6G Recaro seats.

Leather was never my forte. It blends nice with the black interior, but I can't stand the feel on my skin. Not to mention it's a pain to take care of when you have friends in and out of your car quite often.

[BonzaiCelica]

Good to see another cali member. Keep up the progress

[my3awds]

I like the feel of the 6G seats too much to let them go.

Yeah I did notice the seats are quite 'buckety' for being standards. Unfortunately the cloth has gone to sht due to the previous owner not taking care of it (as with everything else on the car). I may have found a deal on 7g all black cloths locally so I may check that out this weekend.

Good to see another cali member. Keep up the progress

Thanks Bonzai.

Ok guys, I promise this will be the last of the boring polish pics! I'm just so amazed by the results. I've never really done body restoration to this extent. Finished the rear quarter and driver side door. Got shine back even in the dull side views!

[S8S8]

Awesome work on the paint restoration.

[my3awds]

Thanks S8S8.

Decided to pull the motor today. Easy to figure out. Not as easy as a Subi, but definetly easier than a Mitsu. Hoping to get her running by next weekend.

[enderswift]

damn dude, way to tackle this project head on. looking forward to seeing what you make this car into

[dudeofchaos]

Omg, the car looks already in a stunning shape! Keep up the good work man, I'll clearly be looking forward this 6g revival!

[my3awds]

Thanks enderswift & dudeofchaos. It's been going good and I was able to meet my hopeful deadline of getting it running by the weekend. Finished the engine drop in yesterday:





So now I can start with the toys finally

[richee3]

Nicely done! That was quick. Is it rolling under it's own power now or just started and running? You've done a great job on the body work. I'm truly impressed. I didn't think that paint could be brought back to life but you pulled it off.

[SupraKid]

Very nice, great to see someone saving a celica. I'm in plymouth, only about 30 minutes away, if you ever need any help feel free to ask me. You have a PM.

[my3awds]

Much appreciated richee3 and SupraKid. I appreciate the help. Thankfully Toyota designed the 6g easy enough for an average mechanic to figure things out, but I'm going through you're guys past posts for tips and things.

I test drove it today around the block and it seemed to drive well. A/C works (thank GAWD!), drives smooth. My only concern is I can hear what I believe to be the water pump pully slightly scrapping the timing cover. I checked under the hood and at idle it does slightly wobble. Under load it straightens out. Engine probably sat a while so I'll probably take the time in the near future to replace the water pump and timing belt. Hopefully this isn't as tricky and time consuming as the passanger airbag lol.

Cleaned her up to start polishing the rest of the car throughout the week. Too dark for pics, so my ISO was way up. Had to get something before I pause the updates (boring DMV processing next).

[nics]

My awd Evo 5:
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu122/my3awds/a-2.jpg
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu122/my3awds/d-1.jpg

Your Evo V look good! Did you import this or built from a Mirage??

[my3awds]

Your Evo V look good! Did you import this or built from a Mirage??

Thanks nic! It's both, technically. You can't legally (federally) drive an imported one in the states (unless you're military). Everyone has their own way of registering/insuring. I chose the route of importing then transferring everything over to keep my Vins. Thankfully the rear floor pan shares the same spot welds between the two. So I meticulously transferred everything over, to keep an oem build. I wouldn't do it if I had to fab something up like the pan, gas tank, mounting points, etc. It's just not the same, no matter how good an individual is at fabing I feel. You can see the summary of the build here:

http://youtu.be/G6MKjoi4t2I?hd=1

My STI started the same way, as the base model and building up after importing. This build was way easier (no floor transferring).

http://youtu.be/Ct4-C40AzOo?hd=1

Re-watching these makes me tempted to do the same with this 6g since it would be just as simple as the Evo. But I can't if I intend on still getting the R32. My wife would kill me no doubt.