Hi everyone, this is an attempt to convert a Toyota Celica '96 GT into the Rally Castrol Celica GT-Four we all know and love. This project will only concentrate in the exterior appearance as I live in California and pretty much cannot get a 3S-GTE engine installed. I will get it to look as much as I possibly can and will be basing most design as seen in the video game GT5, with a few modifications. I will much appreciate input and suggestions as time goes by. This will take some time as I don't have much money available to throw into the project, but I expect it to go in a steady peace.
I should start by stating that I fell in love with the car since I saw it in the video game. I really didn't pay much attention to cars as I only saw them as simple machines to take you from one place to another, but the Celica is so stylish and sleek that it changed everything. I see other cars and none match this one car. As a tribute to the car that got me into this, I decided to buy the car and make it look as close as I possibly can to the Castrol Celica. This will have to be my everyday car here in So. Cal. so it has to be street legal and comfortable, but also look like that awesome car.
To start, back in November I bought a Celica GT '96 automatic for this project. I know, it should've been stick, but I just could not find one that I really liked, plus this was an opportunity that I could not let get away. The car is pictured in my profile and it was mostly stock; it had HID low beam lights, and a custom thief alarm with remote start and seat covers in red-black. The car's paint is not original as it was painted from the original white to a creamy pearl color, which has a lot of imperfections. I must say that there are some imperfections all throughout the car that need to be fixed first.
What I've done so far (this will be updated as progression goes on):
Welcome to the boards! You might check this thread out:
http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=69764&hl=
Good luck with the build
Hell yeah dude. The first time I saw my 6gc thats exactly what I saw , the Castrol GT4 from just about every game to feature WRC cars. Its gonna be so badass when your finished, you'll steal looks from a ferrari parked next to you.
Should be sweet looking ive seen people with wrx's do the same thing an it looks sweet
Good luck
It depends on how accurate you want to be with it all?
Visit Mook at www.skewer.co.uk he does the most accurate castrol sticker kits for the Celica.
On the GT4OC you can buy replicas of the WRC wing mirrors which look awesome and finish the car off a treat,
The rally cars didnt use JDM rear light clusters they had euro spec lights...I think the standard US lights look more or less identical (saves you a few $ not having to buy them, thats up to you of course)
Most of the rally cars didnt use the rear number plate surround at all either, they just painted the metal behind it black and stuck the plate directly too it......for the sake of passing vehicle inspections you might need rear number pate lights so paint the number plate surround black...UK plate surrounds look the best but I dont think the US plates would fit into them?????
Fill in the standard aerial hole on the rear wing...two vertical aerials on the roof about 12" apart about 2/3s from the front.
wheels to use should be either Compomtive MO 6 spoke (expensive) or a better replica is the Revolution Millennium alloys which look spot on for the tarmac rally wheels that TTE used....18" of course.
I loaned a set of TTE lamp pods for the ST205 to the GT4OC to make replicas from, dont know f they have done them yet....they are damn ugly anyway...they also make replica roof scoops too.
Leave the raiser blocks black...look better for the rally replicas IMO although the rally cars had both black and white raiser blocks.
Cant think of anything elase helpful.
Awesome plan. I've always liked the WRC Celica too. How can you not?
Need the roof vent look here
http://www.launsport.com/
and the mirrors:
http://cart1.fc2.com/cart/miracle/?sort=&ca=4&rca=4&word=&page=&item=412 $700 USD
JDM Power Folding mirrors: 2.8kg
Autosport Iwase CF mirrors: 680grams
Ok everybody, at last I got around taking some pictures of the car and update what I've done.
The following pictures show the state of the car as of right now. I show a few imperfections in the hopes that I can show you the things I need to buy. I would appreciate if someone could name them and suggest where I can get them. Remember that I know nothing of car parts, where to get them and how they work. I am learning thanks to this forum, but it should be a long process.
Here they are:
We can see in the picture above that there are imperfections on this side of the fender by the turn signal light and just below the headlight
The sticker on this door was placed by the previous owner to cover some imperfections in paint.
I just had this installed on Friday-Saturday. The guy also changed some blown dashboard lights so that they all turn on.
The visors need to be either reupholstered or replaced.
Here is a detail of the imperfection in paint. This one is rather large, but well covered.
These two pictures show the chipped tail-light that will be going soon.
Here we can see the stickers that I placed on the car. As a microbiologist, I've come to appreciate the biohazard logo.
These are missing. They hold the top of the car and are located in the rear end, where the hatchback door opens. I hope to replace them, but don't know how to find them. Any suggestions?
Here is an update of what I've done, nothing that important as I have to arrange a few things before I start the conversion of the car. I will be traveling soon as well, so that will delay things a bit.
Yesterday I got around installing a resistor in the place where the IAT sensor goes. It is expected to render me greater MPGs. As of now, I have logged my milages and gas consumption on the fueleconomy.gov website and have an average of 24.79 miles per gallon, where the highest is 26.4 and the lowest was 23.4. I am dying to know if this resistor will increase that and by how much. I have followed the steps of resetting the ECU on my celica to make sure of any changes.
Also, I have purchased the OEM interior rearview mirror because the one that I have is not solid enough. I should be getting it this coming week.
Likewise, I have ordered the JDM tail-lights which should arrive the following week. Even though Nial said that rally cars did not use JDM tail-lights, I will be installing them because I just love the way they look. They are different. I will do the swap in spite that I really love the stock tail-lights but as you could see, the driver's side tail-light is chipped so I was going to exchange it anyway.
I will be posting more pictures once I install the int. rearview mirror and the tail-lights. Any comments and suggestions would be much appreciated.
Will you be adding a roof scoop as well? Maybe go all out and make your own snorkel kit and front bumper grill...that would be awesome to see!!!
The resistor in place of the IAT does squat. Lol. Several of us have done that mod and got the same result. The JDM tails are a nice addition to the car I've always thought the USDM tails look a little dated and 80's-ish but the JDM tails bring the car into this decade
All things considered, that's a pretty clean shell. So you are just looking to do the outside appearance huh? there is going to be some body work for sure. For starters, start with the two post spoiler and gtfour raiser blocks..... When installing the two post, you'll have 3 post holes in the hatch that will need to be filled and hence painted. There is a guy in Cali on this forum selling a white hatch with two post spoiler. Might look into that. link: http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=77842&st=0
just for future reference, resize the pictures to about 600x400 because they will be a great size for the page and will not take so long to load.
as for the better mpg, the only thing that will actually help is if you get a fuel management system and then get it tuned. the whole resistor thing does not work nor will any other of those cheap things you can buy.
you should look into getting the GT4 bumper cover and hood, it will make it look a lot more like the rally car.
Just never open the hood at car shows lol
For real... I'm on some serious fast internet and these pics are killing my web browser like a champ. Some serious cache storage issues for real on my mac. people on cell phones are really gonna struggle.... but it's nice to get some real quality pics for a change.
Lol
im droids having zero trouble loading the pics
Ditto, my pc had no problems and it's a few years old.
Hmmm - interesting. My phone was dying like nothing else.... Loaded fine right now, maybe was just a weird thing last night. who knows. But that is a clean car to start with. I'll be enjoying the physical transformation for sure
Just a small update, I got the mirror yesterday and here is the picture. I will install it today.
I have a new update, I got the JDM tail lights this morning, so I installed them this afternoon. How do they look?
I don't know about you, but I love they way they look on the car.
They look great!!! Want to get a set myself one of these days.
i always thought best mod for the @$$ of the car. makes it look "clean" is the only thing i can call it.
I feel like every time I enter this thread your avatar is eye raping me.
Ok, so it is time for an update. While I get ready to buy the front conversion, two weeks ago I set to clean the actual seats so I took off the seat covers to see what the actual seats look like. They were very dirty, but in good shape overall. Here are some of the pictures to show how they looked before and after.
I had never seen these seats and although they are not the greatest, I am not disappointed.
I also cleaned the excess dirt and grease off the rims, especially in their inside. I am basically getting them ready for the deep cleansing as the tutorial seen here in this forum. This is the progress.
As you can see, there is a clear coat that is falling apart. I really don't know if it is original or the previous owner added it but I will probably be sanding it off unless anyone can tell me how to remove it and clean just the aluminum alloy. I would appreciate any input on this.
Also, as you guys have much more knowledge than me about this car, could anyone tell me if this gap in the trunk is normal? I noticed more after I reinstalled the seats. It has always been there but it didn't bother me as much as after the re-installation of the seats.
If it is not normal, how do I go about getting rid of it? Do I have to readjust something or is it missing a part? Please let me know.
As for the future of this project, I am almost ready to buy a "front end conversion kit" or the whole "front clip" off eBay. I will not be using the 3S-GTE engine but since I plan to make the conversion from automatic to stick in the future, I would like to see if the rough difference of $ 1,300 is worth all the parts, assuming I can install the 3S-GTE stick transmission into a car with a 5S-FE engine. See, that front clip also has the projector headlights which, if I buy separately, would set me back another $ 500 plus shipping, so I would be getting the engine and transmission for roughly $800 which I can have standing by in case I go crazy and decide to place it in the car way far in the future.
Oh well, this is where I stand and I would like to see if I can get some help from you guys, which I consider experts on the matter. I've been reading a lot in this site and have learned so much, but being as I am, I never take things for granted. I say this because I don't want you to think I am lazy and don't search for information. I might ask something for which I might have a general answer but I ask anyway to make sure. These things are expensive and I must be cautious. For instance, I read somewhere that one can install the 3S-GTE transmission into the 5S-FE engine because they both were S series engine and that they bolt right in; in addition, I read that if one is to do the conversion from an automatic to a stick transmission, one must also change the car's computer to avoid having the check engine light permanently on. Since I think that those computers are engine specific, I don't know what would happen with the check engine light if I combine the 5S engine with the 3S transmission so then I am obligated to ask the question above, but I do read this website so that I bother you as little as possible. Anyway, I hope you guys can help me with this endeavor so that it can go as smooth as possible. I will be greatly indebted to you all.
For the gap in the trunk, the stock seats should have some slack, kind of like a flap, that have little button tabs which in turn button under the trunk carpet.
And to simply answer the trans question, no. Reason being the clip would include a stock gt-4 trans (e154f) which is AWD and (don't quote me but) pretty sure it wouldn't mate with the 5s.. but a more experienced member will probably chime in and divulge their knowledge
yeah, it's some ype of carpet item that buttons onto the seats...
and no, it wont mate.
I know you said you'd not want to use the 3sgte.... but if you are going to pull the 5s motor out to put in a manual transmission, then you might as well put back a 3sgte with either a manual s54(5sfe trans) or an e153 froma solara or something.... you can use the e154f that will come with the clip, but I believe that you'll need some sort of "cover plate" to cover the rear drive shaft output from the dif or something like that... i believe that conversion had something to do with an mr2 part as well... but I'd have to find it again.
You already have EVERYTHING you need with the clip, intercooler, and pumps, and sensors, and intakes and tubing.... and there are a ton of people on here who have done the wiring etc etc. I'm not much of a fan of boost, but by the time you tear out the 5s motor, you'll have a much better understanding of where stuff is and what people mean by things like the Ea1 plug.
Good luck
The AWD trans CANNOT be easily converted to FWD. The conversion to a manual trans would be easiest/quickest with the usual S54 transmission.
Yea id just find a s54 from a scrap yard an then use what you can from the clip
But if you buy a clip with a 3s SWAP IT IN. Lol what the fun of having a car that looks like a rally racer but has as much power as a moped
Well, I am still to buy either the clip or just the parts for the front conversion and I am trying to go the cheaper way, but If the front clip proved cheaper in the long run, I would wait so I can buy it. Now, if I cannot use that transmission, that means that I will need to still buy the s54 later, proving that buying the clip won't be the best idea unless I can locally sell the engine later and brake even.
Now, does it mean that everyone who installs a 3S-GTE engine, and does not convert to AWD, has to use that "cover plate" for the rear shaft output or use the stock transmission? I mean, it makes sense but it would seem to me that there are a lot of people with those transmissions plied up.
I would love to have the 3S-GTE in my car, but I live in California and I am aware that it is illegal. I know that people still install them and never get caught, but if I am going to be driving around with a car that looks like a rally car, I will be attracting a lot of attention from police; they might as well pull me over and check if the engine is legal. I know they do that so I would not like to take any chances.
The cover plate is often brought up, but it does not work. The E154F splits power 50/50 to the front and rear wheels, so you've already lost half your power. I can't remember the specifics right now but it seems like it also breaks the trans to only use the front wheels. I'll search and find the specific answer for you in a bit.
Buying the front cut and reselling the 3S-GTE seems like it could be cheaper, if you're willing to try to resell it. The problem comes with shipping or how long you might have it before it sells.
This are the prices:
Front clip: $2,799 and it includes projector lights and front Celica catapillars, plus I might get someone to deliver to be for nominal price.
Front conversion: $1,200 and it is located two miles away from home.
500 projector light
__350 Celica cantapillars
$2,050 total
So this is the situation. Not to mention that I can use other parts from the clip that I haven't considered yet like the parts for the conversion from automatic to manual such as extra pedals and shifter and so forth. I don't know how hard or expensive would be to get them on my own or how difficult would be to sell the engine without these parts.
I found both of our answers. The E154 CAN be converted to FWD, and if done incorrectly, it burns the center diff up. Here's the link:
http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=79161&mode=linear
Yea that's a lot if work for no real gain
Hey thanks for the information!!!
Oh yes, a lot of work for nothing really, even the power would be gone!!! I think I'll just stick to the 5s and do a manual transmission conversion. Well really have it done to the car as I think that a lot of skill and time is necessary and I think I have none. Even though I consider myself savvy, I think that making the conversion is a job for a professional.
engine swap is your best bet. its feasible anyone trying to learn the basics of how to do so.
I am proud to say that today I finally ordered the parts for the front end conversion out of a WRC GT-Four white celica and the GT-FOUR rear spoiler.
Here are the pictures
So, what do you guys think? The condition does not seem that bad although I still need to repaint them as my car is ivory and needs to be Super White. I will need to remove that paint that says GT-FOUR off the raiser block. I did not buy the engine.
Now, I've been reading the tutorial on how to do the conversion and I think that I can do it if I did not have to solder any parts. In any case, do you guys recommend that the body shop install them after they paint them separately or should I go ahead and install them and then take the car for some minor body work and painting? I need your help to see what's best.
I recommend prepping the panels for paint as well as you can, meaning sanding, sanding, and more sanding. Add wet-sanding to that equation too. Then test fit it, bring it to a paint shop of your choice, and voila...
I guess the decision whether to mount it it yourself lies on you.
Just an FYI, the auto to manual conversion is not that hard at all. I did it on my car without any prior knowledge, but I also was able to acquire a full parts car so I could swap the manual wiring into my car as well (engine harness, front body harness, and the dash harness).
Congrats! Getting even closer!
Even got the fenders! Nice!
The upper support bar for the bumper, if you choose to use it, will need to be spot welded into place. Other members have drilled out the spot welds and bolted it into place, and others who never got the bar have used nuts and bolts to hold the bumper up or made custom brackets.
I guess my point is that welding isn't absolutely necessary but it is optional. And $7,500?!?! Ouch, I definitely wouldn't go back to that body shop...
Just take your time with the prep, learn carefully and work slowly. You'll understand more about the process at the end, and you'll have done the bulk of the work, meaning you can spend less to have the professionals paint, which comprises maybe 10% of the whole process. Prepping the surface correctly for paint is the most time-consuming and most important part, so figure about ten hours with sanding blocks for all the panels, at least.
I recommend 3M, grab the rough, medium, and fine.
I got the parts this morning!!!! I have them in my possession and if I've time this Friday, I will start this afternoon on the conversion. Is there anything I should be careful about???
I succesfully finished the Front End Conversion!!!!! All seems good now. I did not install the spoiler as the body shop asked me to not do it because they need to solder the middle hole. Pics will come soon as I am exhausted.
Well, just as I promised here are the pictures. Because I don't want to clog this post with just lots of crazy pictures that might be good for nothing, I've included only a few and then set up a gallery on my website. I hope you find it helpful and/or entertaining. I am open to answer any questions you might have if any.
Here are some pictures:
If you want to see the full gallery, go to:
http://johanfer.com/jf/celica/GT-FourFEC/
Looking great man
Looks fantastic! Totally jelly.
I'm selling a few items from the front end I got. Follow this http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=87186.
looks just like mine
Just a progress on what I did with the car mechanically and maybe some advise. I changed the radiator because I was noticing erratic changes in the engine temperature. I had previously changed the timing belt, thermostat, and water pump, but was still experiencing the same proble. Anyway, this change of thermostat two weeks ago improved things considerably as I no longer see the temperature gauge go up and down after driving for about 20 minutes. Nevertheless, after the change, in fact on the day of the change of radiator, at night I noticed that the gauge increased to about 70% after 15 min of street driving at night. Ever since, it has only happened about twice more all at night and never during the hot California weather we've been having. I've no idea what this could be due to but it happens. I know that the fans turn on, but I'm not sure if they do it in due time; in any case, that wouldn't explain why it only happens at night. Any input on this?
Also, when I took the car to the dealership for a minor service, they noticed that there was a lot of oil in the undercarriage and they thought that the problem might be due to a defective valve cover gasket. I told my mechanic if he could replace it, but he recommended instead to lift the head and change that gasket instead of just the valve cover gasket, asking this whole thing much more expensive. Is he trying to just make mo money off me or do you guys think he has a pint in wanting to do this? The car runs great and is very quiet with a nice idle. If it weren't for the mild overheating problem, I would say it's perfect. What do you guys think?
Thanks.
If the head gasket was bad you'd have water in your oil. As far as the temperature issue, have you checked your temperature sensor/sender?
Also, change the valve cover gasket yourself. Very easy to do, and is about $10 for the gasket from a parts house.
Should be able to find a test for the sensors, to determine if they're the problem or it's something else. The valve cover gasket is easy. Not sure about the 5S-FE, but the 7A-FE has 4 bolts, then 2 that hold a wiring harness down. There will be oil beneath the cover. I'm sure there's info on here, or somewhere else online about it. It's a fairly straight forward procedure though. May want to go ahead and replace the spark plug seals while you're at it.
It's super easy to do an only took me about 10 minutes to do
An if you let the celica set overnight then do it oil won't be that big a deal since most will be settled down in the pan
There's 4 big nuts under the spark plug wire boots an 1 small bolt holding the harness down to I do beleave
Grab a new Pcv valve too cuz they normally break when taking off the valve cover
Sound advice here. Your mechanic is definitely trying to take you for a whole lot more money, no doubt. Your oil and coolant would both be contaminated if you had a head gasket issue.
The valve cover gasket is pretty easy. The four nuts that hold the cover on are like 30 or 31 mm, then the one 10 mm nut. The cover might take some prying, but it will come free. You'll just need a new gasket and some RTV, and there are plenty of how-to's online.
Heres a video that may help you. The valve cover gasket is just pressed into the valve cover as soon as you get the cover off.
Time-
30min to an hour
You need a-
10mm socket or wrench
30mm socket from autozone( rent it)
1/2 drive ratchet for 30mm socket
Heres the how to video-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DFhHncL8l8
Off the top of my head I think it is 12 in/lbs. I just tighten mine down using only my thumb and one finger on the ratchet. Using only one finger limits your torque enough. And tighten the two inner ones first(cyl 2 and 3) and the outer cylinders second(1 and 4).
Hi you all,
I have updates to post as this is taking shape as times goes on. Last Friday-Saturday I changed the valve cover gasket and the plug seals. As I had the valve cover out, I painted it red with high temperature paint. Also, to complete the GT-Four look and now that I had the new two spoiler hatch, I replaced the hatch and installed the raised two post GT-Four hatch on it. I then proceeded to wash the car again and well, here are the pictures.
This is how the engine looked like before painting.
Here I am wondering if the condition of the bottom gear is normal or if there is anything wrong with it.
Before prepping the cover
Is this coloring normal? I've no idea since this is the first time I look at the inside of a valve cover.
Painted cover and drying.
Finished work. I really liked the way it turned out.
The cover in place.
Before removing the hatch.
After removal of the hatch. It looks wired.
The way it now looks. It really is taking shape.
It seems that all it needs now is paint, the decals, and a rear hatch visor I plan to buy. For the paint I plan to leave the mirrors, the things used to open the doors, the raiser blocks, and the license plate plate on the back in matte black and the rest of the car in the original O40 white. Then get the car ready for the decals. What do you guys think? Do you have any suggestions for the Castrol GT-Four model?
Input is appreciated.
Next stop: Paint!!!!!
yes the discoloring is normal. and the other gear is supposed to be split like that. that helps reduce noise.
I told mine the same thing when I had my valve cover gasket replaced. Every 5s in the world has either replaced one or needs one replaced because it leaks. I told him "the valve cover gasket needs replaced while you are in there fixing that soft-plug" him "well could be the head gasket too, i haven't been under there to look" Me-"no no, head is fine, just replace the valve cover gasket and we'll be good" him "you sure? 190k miles can do a lot fo things to a car" Me - "every 5s in any camry or celica has leaked a valve cover gasket. My coolant looks fine, that's definitely all I want you to do."
Like pulling teeth. If I were you, I'd even question taking it back to that mechanic for anything whatsoever.... any mechanic who can't be straight up with you doesn't deserve your business...... in my guys defense they changed the valve cover gasket and the soft-plug parts and labor were 185$.... he's cheap, real cheap, and I think he just wanted to make sure the problem was fixed.... that being said, NICE WORK there.... keep it up!
^^ Weird... You said you've replaced the radiator? Fans functioning properly? New water pump and thermostat... That could very well be the issue. Where did the thermostat come from? I bought a brand new thermostat last summer that never opened up. New parts aren't always perfect, so it might be worth pulling your thermostat and doing the boil test to see if it opens all the way.
There's no sense at all in giving $1,000 to have the head gasket replaced when it's not leaking, only to have your car overheat next week and ruin the new gasket.
By the way, I took the car to the body shop just last Wednesday. I will be going today to see its progress and take pictures.
Hi you all,
Here are some of the pictures of how the car looks like at the moment. There are a few things left to do, but I will stop for now as I want to enjoy the car as it is now.
The things that I have left to do include:
1. O.Z. Racing rims in white (I am currently looking for a set)
2. Mud flaps in red
3. Castrol Celica vinyls from skewer.co.uk
4. Personalizing the plate to a Celica theme concept (accepting private messaged suggestions with a maximum of seven characters. I have one in mind though).
5. New leather upholstering.
6. Minor cosmetic details.
I think, unless you can add to the list, I will be done once these things are done. What do you guys think?
Oh, as a side note, some of you might remember that I was having occasional problems with mild overheating, well I replaced the radiator cap and that solved the problem. It is amazing how such small things make a difference.
Here are the pictures:
Oh, and thanks to Nial who suggested to paint the area surrounding the license plate black just like the rally car. I like it very much.
ooo nice lets organize a meet!
Hi everyone, I am reviving this old thread because I have an update. The car has changed since the last pictures above. It now has the OZ rims I wanted (since Feb. 2013) and I just received the decals from Mook the day before yesterday. As you might imagine, I am very excited because the project is close to completion. I will soon post pictures of the car with the rims, then post pictures of the car as I apply the decals to the post the final product. It is going to look amazing
post some pictures of the new setup please!
Looking forward to seeing it completed
Personally if you are going for the full on rally look, I would remove the side skirts as the rally cars didn't have them, and I think the GT4s look better without them.......I investigated this on the GT I purchased resently, and it's an easy task if they havnt been bonded on. Just depends on how much rust has built up behind the skirts.........I then pluged the mounting holes with rubber blanking grommets so at any time I could refit the skirts......just a suggestion
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