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6G Celicas Forums _ My Project _ Old Cecil Restoration : 96 GT gen4 3s-gte swap

Posted by: OldCecil Jul 9, 2020 - 12:00 PM

I should have started this thread when the project began, but I'll catch everyone who is interested up in a flash. I decided to compile my experience into this forum to keep track of progress and have a place to go to collect my thoughts and stay organized. I'm no pro, but consider myself to be mechanically inclined. I hope this write up can potentially help people with their projects, maybe answer some questions about this particular swap, and be somewhat entertaining and not too boring of a read. I'm sure there is no shortage of more experienced mechanics and garage wrenchers on this site, so any suggestions are, of course, welcome.

Four years ago I bought this car because its rust free, the underneath looks great and the mileage isn't too hateful at 160k ish. That, and these cars are becoming more and more difficult to find in a GT manual trans format. I initially had zero intention of swapping it or doing any sort of restoration work. I just wanted a clean and reliable daily driver that was somewhat fun to drive... This car was just that.

https://flic.kr/p/2jmAg44https://flic.kr/p/2jmAg44 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

I drove this car for a few months until it developed a bad vibration at idle... and was hit in a parking lot on St. Patricks Day 2016... big bummer. After this, The car sat around for years until one day I decided I wanted something fun to drive again. I decided I was going to breath some new life into good Old Cecil.

https://flic.kr/p/2jmDbKXhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmDbKX by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

First step was to pressure wash the thick layer of grime that had developed on crusty old Cecil.

https://flic.kr/p/2jmEmm9https://flic.kr/p/2jmEmm9 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

The next step obviously was the easy part, tearing **** apart. Remove the beat up body panels, pull the engine and trans, get covered in goop and grime, turn some wrenches, and drink some beers.

https://flic.kr/p/2jmAfVohttps://flic.kr/p/2jmAfVo by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

OK, now the old 5sfe and s54 are out and I'm waiting on something to replace it with... I ordered a "low mileage" JDM gen4 3sgte caldina motor and it'll be here soon. Ordered from Dallas JDM Imports in case anybody is curious. They were reasonably priced at $1350 shipped. I put "low mileage" in quotations because everybody says that, but who the hell knows really how many miles are on these things. (after I got the motor and opened it up, it sure didn't seem super low mileage). Anyways, I took the down time to clean things up and coat brackets and what not with POR15 or powdercoat.


https://flic.kr/p/2jmDdfFhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmDdfF by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmEmcXhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmEmcX by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmAhiZhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmAhiZ by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

Will continue this post soon. I've got to figure out how to upload photos from google drive or something... The cool stuff is coming I promise!

Posted by: BonzaiCelica Jul 12, 2020 - 2:22 PM

wow great work so far. you went all out on the paint like i did. engine bay and removed all windows.

honestly kinda of a let down for me. the car just looks so naked without sideskirts a lip and rear spats.

Posted by: bloodMoney Jul 13, 2020 - 6:15 AM

Very cool.

Can't wait to see more!

Posted by: OldCecil Jul 15, 2020 - 1:53 PM

It's been a fun project so far, I'm hoping to be wrapped up in a couple months... I've made more progress than what's posted so far... will get caught up in the next couple days on this thread.

Posted by: OldCecil Jul 15, 2020 - 1:56 PM

QUOTE (BonzaiCelica @ Jul 12, 2020 - 3:22 PM) *
wow great work so far. you went all out on the paint like i did. engine bay and removed all windows.

honestly kinda of a let down for me. the car just looks so naked without sideskirts a lip and rear spats.



Yeah I'm a little nervous about how it's all going to come together without the ground effects... I think it'll look alright, but I may regret being so conservative on the body add-ons.. we'll see!

Posted by: OldCecil Jul 16, 2020 - 1:08 PM

So the next step for me was definitely to freshen up the motor.... new timing belt, tensioner, water pump, cam seals, front and rear main seals, vc gasket, plugs, idler pulley etc....

I decided to do a little cleaning in the top end (mostly because my OCD kicked in)... and of course i drop a Q-tip down an oil passage..... which leads to popping off the two piece oil pan and cleaning what I can get to in the bottom end... I felt like such a dumb ass for dropping that.. but is what it is..

https://flic.kr/p/2jmDcgghttps://flic.kr/p/2jmDcgg by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmAh9Whttps://flic.kr/p/2jmAh9W by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmEkZ2https://flic.kr/p/2jmEkZ2 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmEkSPhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmEkSP by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

anddddd the cleaning took forever and was pretty unnecessary more than likely, but I did manage to get a good bit of gunk out of the engine...

https://flic.kr/p/2jmEm4ahttps://flic.kr/p/2jmEm4a by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmEkEphttps://flic.kr/p/2jmEkEp by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

This is where I realized I had a problem and needed to quit with the cleaning nonsense.... i pulled the camshafts and soaked them in degreaser... Then almosttttt split the short block.... but reeled it in and decided that was far enough...

https://flic.kr/p/2jmEk5whttps://flic.kr/p/2jmEk5w by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmAgjzhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmAgjz by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

Next up was to do something with the disgusting old s54 trans..... this thing shifted great and never gave me any issues.. I had to decide whether to do an e153 swap or just go with the s54... Since I don't really expect to make more power than the s54 should be able to reasonably handle... that's what I went with.. I do have an LSD e153 and the mounts necessary laying around to do that... but I decided to save that trans for the next project... 77k mile california mr2 sitting in my other garage... Anyways... the s54 needed some major cleaning..

https://flic.kr/p/2jmEjoBhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmEjoB by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmDbebhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmDbeb by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmAfkWhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmAfkW by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmEj2zhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmEj2z by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

more coming soon!

Posted by: OldCecil Jul 17, 2020 - 9:35 AM

At this point, I'm going deep enough down the rabbit hole that I might as well get to the bottom..... So I get online and start looking for parts cars.. I figure if I can find a couple cheap ones, any inadequate part that I come across on my car I can replace with something better.. any broken clips, bent brackets etc. I end up buying two other cars for cheap... (if anyone needs any parts please let me know... I have a ton.)

https://flic.kr/p/2jmEf3Nhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmEf3N by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

Then I went ahead and got to the bottom of that rabbit hole I'm talking about.... stripped out the interior, all the glass, every panel, tore the doors down, cleaned the engine bay... basically just starting from the ground up... ordered some new nut and bolt kits so I didn't even have to use the old hardware.... I've done this sort of thing with quads and tractors and stuff.. but never a car. It can be pretty intimidating after the tear down.. it's a lot of parts and pieces to remember how to put back together, but it's a learning process... and I'll be able to say I truly built this car when it's all said and done.

https://flic.kr/p/2jmEhjXhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmEhjX by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmD8S7https://flic.kr/p/2jmD8S7 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmAcSphttps://flic.kr/p/2jmAcSp by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmD7jhhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmD7jh by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmAbe9https://flic.kr/p/2jmAbe9 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

My family and neighbors would stop by in the evenings to see what the hell I was working on at midnight every night and every one of them decided I was crazy.. there were nights I couldn't disagree, but at this point you just have to keep your eye on the prize... Finally the car was stripped to my satisfaction and I threw it on the trailer for paint... I decided to go with a factory dodge color called destroyer grey. I think the color will turn out pretty good.. it will still need cut and buffed after it's all assembled, but my initial impression is that I love it.. pretty cool color, and having stripped the car down like I did, I think it'll call come together quite nicely. I made some subtle changes to the body just to clean it up. I welded up the side marker lights on the fenders, welded shut the rear antenna, rear wiper and sprayer, and debadged the whole thing.... small changes, but I think it'll end up being a cleaner look.

https://flic.kr/p/2jmD8jDhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmD8jD by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmAcruhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmAcru by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmEfSyhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmEfSy by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmA9dLhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmA9dL by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmA8Yshttps://flic.kr/p/2jmA8Ys by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

More soon!

Posted by: bloodMoney Jul 22, 2020 - 6:42 AM

I should have painted more stuff while mine was apart....

Things are looking good! Keep it up!

Posted by: OldCecil Jul 22, 2020 - 11:06 AM

So while the car was at paint, I spent some time cleaning and prepping more parts to go back on the car. Pretty much went through everything. I cleaned up and put a new o-ring kit on the a/c system.. got a new condenser and expansion tank, took off all the brake lines and flushed them out and painted them, rebuilt a spare steering rack, put new wheel bearings in and put a coat of hi temp caliper paint on dust guards, spindles, coated the sub frame and control arms in por-15, got new bushings for the control arms.. I even got new horns for God's sake. I also sent the wiring harnesses out to WireGap. That $540 is worth every penny if you ask me. I see on this forum that a lot of guys are building their own harnesses.... You guys are the real crazy ones.

https://flic.kr/p/2jmEcFZhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmEcFZ by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmA7Tghttps://flic.kr/p/2jmA7Tg by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmD94Khttps://flic.kr/p/2jmD94K by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmEhqthttps://flic.kr/p/2jmEhqt by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmAdJehttps://flic.kr/p/2jmAdJe by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmD5n6https://flic.kr/p/2jmD5n6 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

Posted by: cheela Jul 22, 2020 - 9:30 PM

LOL just read up on this thread. Seems like the celica bug bit you pretty hard again. We all end up with a parts car or two or three at some point. The build looks amazing. can't wait to see it finished!

Posted by: BonzaiCelica Jul 23, 2020 - 1:26 AM

haha good luck getting engine in from top without scratching your nice paint in the bay.

Posted by: bloodMoney Jul 23, 2020 - 8:01 AM

I'm super jelly of the painted engine bay.

I spent two hours cleaning mine when the engine came out, and now that it's back in, the bay is back to looking like ****.

Yours is going to look like new when you're done!

Posted by: OldCecil Jul 23, 2020 - 9:13 AM

QUOTE (BonzaiCelica @ Jul 23, 2020 - 1:26 AM) *
haha good luck getting engine in from top without scratching your nice paint in the bay.



haha Those were my thoughts exactly... which is why I put it in from the bottom. I've made a lot more progress than what is shown so far.. I'm still catching this thread up to speed. For some reason, after I post a reply to this thread, it takes anywhere from 1 to 3 days to actually show up.. but I'll keep on chugging and update the thread as I can.

Posted by: OldCecil Jul 23, 2020 - 9:16 AM

QUOTE (cheela @ Jul 22, 2020 - 9:30 PM) *
LOL just read up on this thread. Seems like the celica bug bit you pretty hard again. We all end up with a parts car or two or three at some point. The build looks amazing. can't wait to see it finished!



definitely got bit hard.. but hey if you're gonna do something...

Posted by: bryanf Jul 23, 2020 - 7:18 PM

Very nice work! Love the attention to detail. Can't wait to see more.

Posted by: OldCecil Jul 24, 2020 - 2:47 PM

We're getting to the good stuff soon, but here's another update on what I've done so far...

I decided to put at least a little bit of love in to the interior of this car. It came with tan leather, but the seats were really rough and I'm not a big fan of the tan anyways. I want all black. Almost unbelievably, I found a mint black cloth interior at a junk yard and pulled it on half price day... that'll never happen again, most things are trashed at the junk yards around here. Anyways, i managed to get the front and rear seats out, and the 98 convertible parts car I've got had some really nice black leather door panels and steering wheel. After I cleaned the grime off the door panels and painted the speaker mesh, they came out pretty slick. The last piece to the puzzle is the headliner... tan headliner wasn't going to fly, so I decided to try my hand at upholstering. I ordered some foam-backed black and gray camo fabric and went to down. It was actually pretty easy to do. The headliner may be a little weird for some people... but it works for me and beats the crap out of tan with an all black interior.

I also ordered all new Rockford fosgate speakers for the car, a nice benefit to the new door panels is that I can upgrade to the premium sound option.

https://flic.kr/p/2jmD6kPhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmD6kP by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmEebThttps://flic.kr/p/2jmEebT by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmD6bFhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmD6bF by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmEdVHhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmEdVH by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmEdKshttps://flic.kr/p/2jmEdKs by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmEdBBhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmEdBB by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmEdxZhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmEdxZ by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmD5L2https://flic.kr/p/2jmD5L2 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmA9Enhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmA9En by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmA9rmhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmA9rm by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

The next step before beginning the long, arduous process of reassembly was to mate the motor and trans. I put on a new rear main seal and got some arp flywheel bolts and a lightweight flywheel and an exedy clutch. went ahead and put the wiring harness on and a few other little odds and ends... and bingo, next post should get me to the powerplant install!

https://flic.kr/p/2jmD4sqhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmD4sq by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmD4oshttps://flic.kr/p/2jmD4os by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmD4hahttps://flic.kr/p/2jmD4ha by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmD4dchttps://flic.kr/p/2jmD4dc by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

This is the point where it really started getting exciting for me... can finally start putting things together instead of taking things apart, cleaning, painting, prepping etc. All the hours of part restoration and **** can finally begin to pay off.


Posted by: Box Jul 27, 2020 - 6:59 AM

Welcome!

I wish I had a quarter of the energy that you do, I could get so much done!

Posted by: OldCecil Jul 27, 2020 - 11:27 AM

QUOTE (Box @ Jul 27, 2020 - 7:59 AM) *
Welcome!

I wish I had a quarter of the energy that you do, I could get so much done!



Thanks!

I don't feel so energetic sometimes but I'm a man determined. I want to be driving this thing by fall if I can

Posted by: cheela Jul 27, 2020 - 7:57 PM

man that looks so nice and clean! part of me wishes I would've spent the time to clean up my engine that well when it was out, other part of me realizes OCD will never let me finish cleaning it so just let it be.

Posted by: OldCecil Jul 27, 2020 - 8:08 PM

QUOTE (cheela @ Jul 27, 2020 - 7:57 PM) *
man that looks so nice and clean! part of me wishes I would've spent the time to clean up my engine that well when it was out, other part of me realizes OCD will never let me finish cleaning it so just let it be.


Yeah man I totally get it. It's hard to know when to stop... So basically I just haven't stopped.... I literally brush coated the underside of the engine bay and front of the unibody with por15 this week... This is some majorly tedious stuff, but eye on the prize.

Posted by: OldCecil Jul 28, 2020 - 9:58 AM

Alrightttt time for the motor and trans to go in, This was actually really easy.. put the car pretty high up on jack stands, drop the subframe and steering rack out of the car (the damn steering rack was the biggest pain in the ass of the whole things, but it finally popped loose).... Then put the motor and trans on a dolly and wheel it under the engine bay... then took my cherry picker and slowly lowered the car down over top of the engine until the car was sitting on stands at their lowest setting.... thennn hook the cherry picker up to the engine and lift it the rest of the way up into the engine bay. Just make sure you take your time and have a friend watching to make sure you're not scratching up the other side of the engine bay.

This thing fit like a glove, not one scratch or blemish on the new paint, got the two side mounts hooked up then began connecting the dots. shifter cables, wiring, heater hoses, fuel lines etc etc.


WOOHOO! the motor and trans are in.

https://flic.kr/p/2jmA7wjhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmA7wj by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jmD3w7https://flic.kr/p/2jmD3w7 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

After spending some time checking and double checking that I had everything necessary to run the car hooked up... I retrofitted some grounds and decided I was ready for a test start. No dice, wouldn't turn over or anything... Luckily I had a good buddy over who recommended it was a grounding problem to the starter... DUH. I painted the face of the trans and the face of the starter that supply the ground. I removed the starter, sanded down the grounding face on the trans and starter and bingo. Old Cecil fired up and sounded sweet. Hopefully the video link works.. but click the image below for the video!

https://flic.kr/p/2jmA78thttps://flic.kr/p/2jmA78t by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

^^ click for start up video!

Posted by: bloodMoney Jul 29, 2020 - 6:51 AM

YUSS!

IMO, there's nothing more satisfying than watching the engine slip in and out of the bay, knowing there's less than an inch on the right side to the frame rail.

Congrats!

Posted by: OldCecil Jul 29, 2020 - 10:44 AM

QUOTE (bloodMoney @ Jul 29, 2020 - 6:51 AM) *
YUSS!

IMO, there's nothing more satisfying than watching the engine slip in and out of the bay, knowing there's less than an inch on the right side to the frame rail.

Congrats!


Thanks man! Yeah I agree.. This was a super satisfying step of the project. I can't wait to have this thing on the road.

Posted by: cheela Jul 29, 2020 - 12:04 PM

Awesome!! looks great and sounds great!

Posted by: OldCecil Jul 30, 2020 - 12:29 PM

QUOTE (cheela @ Jul 29, 2020 - 12:04 PM) *
Awesome!! looks great and sounds great!



Thanks Cheela, Appreciate everyone's support thus far! Probably gonna throw up another post today, more good stuff coming!

Posted by: OldCecil Jul 31, 2020 - 8:52 AM

Alrightttt the motor and trans are in and it runs, that's a big step for sure. The rest of the hook ups were easy peasy except for the power steering pump. I wanted to use the Gen4 power steering pump with the celica rack, which proved to be a tad difficult. the feed line worked out fine, but the return was a little rough. I thought that if I swapped the inlet on the power steering pump itself, it would work.. but no luck. I had to gently bend the nipple on the return line to allow clearance for the line to fit without running into the feed line.. after that, it wall worked out fine.

https://flic.kr/p/2joNaQLhttps://flic.kr/p/2joNaQL by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2joKoThhttps://flic.kr/p/2joKoTh by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

With the inlet and outlets figured out, I was set for a pretty easy assembly... rebuilt the steering rack and replaced everything in the front, new bushings in the control arms, inner and outer tie rods, end links, ball joints, motor mounts, wheel bearings and COILOVERS YAYYYYY. I went with ksport, just because I've had good luck with them in the past. I think they'll work out pretty sweet.

https://flic.kr/p/2joKrZhhttps://flic.kr/p/2joKrZh by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2joKpEChttps://flic.kr/p/2joKpEC by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2joKpdvhttps://flic.kr/p/2joKpdv by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2joKpiRhttps://flic.kr/p/2joKpiR by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2joKptLhttps://flic.kr/p/2joKptL by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

Front subframe assembly was pretty easy... All moog everything.

https://flic.kr/p/2joKrxRhttps://flic.kr/p/2joKrxR by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2joNcajhttps://flic.kr/p/2joNcaj by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

I threw some kirkosaurus front and rear motor mount urethane inserts in there too. They seem to be good quality and the customer service is top notch. kudos to him!

https://flic.kr/p/2jmAdPuhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmAdPu by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

BINGO, got everything installed loosely and ready to torque things down to spec. I'm pretty damn pumped that the underside is as clean as everything else... definitely never had a car quite like this.

https://flic.kr/p/2joKrNRhttps://flic.kr/p/2joKrNR by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr


Posted by: missbakken Jul 31, 2020 - 8:38 PM

Damn dude. I'm impressed by all the work you're putting in. Can't wait to see it finished.

Posted by: Ted95 Aug 1, 2020 - 10:13 PM

Fantastic job so far! Reminds me of my old build. Attention to detail is spot on nicely done! Color looks great, did you wet sand and buff too? That really makes a great paint job! Keep it up man!

Posted by: Bitter Aug 2, 2020 - 8:25 PM

I need a lift at home, ****. That's amazing work you're doing because you have the time to do it with a lift available like that. I'm super jealous. I need a setup like this so I can do the same thing to my car some day.

Posted by: OldCecil Aug 2, 2020 - 8:52 PM

QUOTE (Bitter @ Aug 2, 2020 - 8:25 PM) *
I need a lift at home, ****. That's amazing work you're doing because you have the time to do it with a lift available like that. I'm super jealous. I need a setup like this so I can do the same thing to my car some day.


Haha brother I don't have a lift. Jack and Jack stands... That's me laying on the ground taking that last picture. You just gotta make the time my friend! I've worked 60 hours every week for the last 3 months... BUT, while I do have a wife at home, we don't have any kids yet... Which definitely helps with being able to spend time In the garage.

Thanks everyone for the support and kind comments! I'm having a blast working on this thing, can't wait to take old Cecil for his first drive.

Posted by: OldCecil Aug 4, 2020 - 11:03 AM

QUOTE (Ted95 @ Aug 1, 2020 - 11:13 PM) *
Fantastic job so far! Reminds me of my old build. Attention to detail is spot on nicely done! Color looks great, did you wet sand and buff too? That really makes a great paint job! Keep it up man!



Thank you Ted, nope it's not wet sanded and buffed yet. The paint looks great straight off the gun, but it'll go in for a wet sand and buff after it's all assembled again! I didn't paint the car myself, I have a buddy who builds and paints show bikes. He took on the paint job for me, he's good for sure!

Posted by: OldCecil Aug 4, 2020 - 11:40 AM

ANDDD the build continues. got some more goodies, Aluminum radiator, shroud and low profile fans installed, all new moog suspension components, front coilovers installed, braided brake lines, new brake rotors and pads, front spindles installed, etc.

https://flic.kr/p/2jmEbdDhttps://flic.kr/p/2jmEbdD by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2joPq5whttps://flic.kr/p/2joPq5w by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2joPnPjhttps://flic.kr/p/2joPnPj by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2joN8CEhttps://flic.kr/p/2joN8CE by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

Next was to figure out the battery relocation power cable... I decided to run it with the engine bay harness, easy enough. I may end up changing this up, but for now it seems to be my best option.

https://flic.kr/p/2joN9JThttps://flic.kr/p/2joN9JT by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2joPo1Shttps://flic.kr/p/2joPo1S by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2joN9p9https://flic.kr/p/2joN9p9 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

No, those stupid cheap spacers are not on there permanently. They're just there to hold the rotors on while installing the calipers... Things are looking good at this point! time to torque everything down to spec and potentially put the front end of this car on the ground for the first time in a long time!

https://flic.kr/p/2joN86Nhttps://flic.kr/p/2joN86N by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr


While torquing everything down, disaster struck. I had finished the subframe, power steering rack.... then while torquing the motor mount bolts..... SNAP. I broke a damn stud off the rear motor mount. At this point, I threw my piece of **** harbor freight torque wrench in the trash and decided I'd fork out some $ for something nice. Ordered a Proto half inch torque wrench and waited for the mailman to bring it to me. In the meantime, I tore everything down to get the motor mount out and have a mulligan. The key, I found, was to pop the steering rack off the subframe to squeeze the mount out.

https://flic.kr/p/2joKma1https://flic.kr/p/2joKma1 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2joN7N3https://flic.kr/p/2joN7N3 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2joN7G1https://flic.kr/p/2joN7G1 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

I love doing things twice, don't you? haha what can ya do.



Posted by: BonzaiCelica Aug 10, 2020 - 1:59 PM

lol you snapped it. i didnt torque that, just tightend it with a ratchet.

my friend accidentally sent me his E56 rear mount, and i shaved the poly mount down to fit that bracket thinking it was an s54. so i just ended up installing a factory rear mount. ughh he still owes me

Posted by: narly_charley Aug 11, 2020 - 11:35 AM

Beautiful build process. I always appreciate people who take their time and do things "right".

Posted by: chacha Nov 4, 2020 - 12:09 AM

You got to take pics of the oil spills, radiator fluid on the ground not to mention brake fluid, steering fluid, the swap how to was easy to read but when you actually do it..lots of cursing and parts not fitting in well...gremlins to come after you thought all is well. Good job...it takes time when you do it yourself...not having the right tools is the worst part of the project.

Posted by: OldCecil Oct 10, 2022 - 8:44 AM

So... it's been awhile... a long while. I've let this project sit for too long and now I'm finally back at it. I've got some catching up to do on the build thread, so I'm going to try and make a concerted effort to get this thread updated and wrap things up with the car..

I know it's been 2 years.. I've got no real excuse but to say that I moved on to other things.. until now.

Posted by: OldCecil Oct 10, 2022 - 9:34 AM

Wrapped up the front suspension and brakes next. Installed Avalon 2 pot calipers ( they fit on stock rotors and brackets, nice easy upgrade). ST sway bars, undercoated wheel wells etc.

https://flic.kr/p/2jsYVvuhttps://flic.kr/p/2jsYVvu by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jt42JChttps://flic.kr/p/2jt42JC by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr

https://flic.kr/p/2jsYUCThttps://flic.kr/p/2jsYUCT by https://www.flickr.com/photos/189323340@N02/, on Flickr


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