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> Project Red Dragon, from DD to ...
post Apr 1, 2014 - 9:54 AM
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sandusky1977

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Well, figured it's time to start the build thread, as the parts are starting to show up and I'm planning on picking up the motor in the next few days. To begin lets start with background on the car.

94 Toyota Celica GT
114,000 Miles at time of purchase
5-Speed Manual
Fully Stock


Back in 2009 I purchased my 94 Celica for $1600, ABS Light on, needing brakes and tires, and a few other things,. I bought this car for my commute as a daily driver, at the time I was averaging around 100 miles a day 5 days a week.



Step 1) New Stereo, and Speakers,... well after the maintenance was done
Alpine Media Player with 30 GB Ipod
Polk DB Series 3-Way with Tweeters for the doors
Polk DB Series 2-Way 6.5" for the Rear
Polk DB Series 12" Subs in Bassworx Ported Box
Directed Audio 1200 watt amp for subs

Well,. after the stereo upgrade I decided it was good enough for now, and drove and drove and drove it.

Along the way, around 150k I broke a timing belt, this was fun,. Initially I had it towed to a shop that I have done business in the past with, however, they aren't very well versed in Toyota, so there were issues. I picked up the car and it was missing, and backfiring. The guys are like, wasn't it doing that before? So I said, F*** it, and drove it home,. it got worse.

Well, I decided that if they could mess up the timing, then maybe I could just fix it, so I disassembled everything, and noticed that there were still chunks of the old timing belt on the crank shaft, and guess what, when you start the car, the belt slips on those chunks when it hits them. So, I cleaned all the pulleys and made sure all old belt chunks were gone. Re-indexed the timing to plus 2 degrees, reinstalled the belt and ran like a top. Better than ever actually.

This is when I decided that I should probably do a little more maintenance.

Step 2) New Plugs, Wires, Distributor, Air Cleaner, Brake Rotors, Pads, and shoes for the parking brake.

Step 2A) Got a good deal on a Cold Air Intake, so installed rather than the new air cleaner.

Things were really good for a long time, I watched as the odometer kept climbing, 160, 170, 180k and now it's looking like the 200 mark is going to be hard to get to at all. Then one day as I was driving to work I started to feel a wobble in the front right corner. By the time I got to the side of the road, 4 lugs had sheered off, the fifth was bent and cracked but barely hanging on. Apparently a few lug nuts had worked loose.

Step 3) New knuckle,. well not new,... So I went to the pull and save and pulled one off a donor car, a Toyota Corolla,. everything looked exactly the same, though heck I'm saving a ton... until I installed it and noticed that the steering connect differently. Ok so,.
Step 3a) New knuckle,. well not exactly,. so I found a member parting out a car, and paid and had it shipped over, installed and everyone is happy.

Things seemed great, I drove it another 5-7k miles, I'm now sitting around 190-195k miles, and this happens,.


It was a fun few seconds getting to the side of the road on that one,. so of course it ruined the newly installed steering knuckle. So,. back to the forums.
Step 3b) Used Knuckle from Texas thanks to another member and back on the road.

This was the straw that broke the camels back, and when I decided it was a little to unreliable to be my daily driver. Along the way, at around 140k miles, I actually bought a 7th gen Celica for $1000, and ended up selling it for $1800, then I got a GS 300 that had been abandoned at my buddies tow yard for $300. It got plastidipped and sold for $1500.

At this point, I decided that I might as well look for a 5-Speed V6 Solara, and so I did, I found one for $1600 with a bad clutch. I was thinking that I would probably drive this for a while, and if something happened to it stuff the motor and trans in the Celica.

That was the plan, then I saw this,.


I called on it, and they were asking $4200,. for a 99 GT with 95k miles that has been kept showroom clean. So I showed up with a wad of cash and drove her home after coming to a better arrangement on price.

So,. now that the 99 is my daily driver, it was time to sell the Solara to make back some of the money I just blew on the new ride, but of course my sister had told me she wanted it if I sold it. So, off it went, sold the Solara for $2500 and my sister and her boys love it.

This post has been edited by sandusky1977: Apr 2, 2014 - 9:11 AM

Posts in this topic
- sandusky1977   Project Red Dragon   Apr 1, 2014 - 9:54 AM
- - sandusky1977   On to the rebuild,. Oh this has to go in the thre...   Apr 1, 2014 - 10:00 AM
- - JoshuaM   Sounds exciting That side damage is pretty nast...   Apr 1, 2014 - 10:57 PM
|- - sandusky1977   QUOTE (JoshuaM @ Apr 1, 2014 - 11:57...   Apr 2, 2014 - 9:03 AM
- - sandusky1977   After a few pm's with Smaay,. I've modifie...   Apr 3, 2014 - 12:35 PM
- - sandusky1977   So it was a big day for project Red Dragon,. Con...   Apr 3, 2014 - 7:11 PM
- - sandusky1977   Alright,. so over the weekend,. I went and picked ...   Apr 7, 2014 - 8:29 AM
- - Smaay   are you converting this one to MT?   Apr 7, 2014 - 1:33 PM
|- - sandusky1977   QUOTE (Smaay @ Apr 7, 2014 - 1:33 PM...   Apr 7, 2014 - 1:54 PM
- - sandusky1977   Choices,. choices,. choices that is the hardest pa...   Apr 8, 2014 - 10:58 AM
- - sandusky1977   ECU on the way,. $45.00, score! Here i...   Apr 10, 2014 - 10:00 AM
- - sandusky1977   Alright., so after some more conversations., and f...   Apr 10, 2014 - 1:54 PM
|- - JoshuaM   QUOTE (sandusky1977 @ Apr 10, 2014 - 1...   Apr 11, 2014 - 12:31 AM
- - sandusky1977   Project Update,. Motor ordered today, getting de...   Apr 15, 2014 - 1:13 PM
- - sandusky1977   Manual V6 Solara Headers coming my way,. $65 ...   Apr 15, 2014 - 1:40 PM
- - sandusky1977   Well, It's been a little while since I updated...   Apr 24, 2014 - 8:41 AM
- - ClevelandGaint   I like the hood, im doing the same thing as well, ...   Apr 24, 2014 - 3:31 PM
- - sandusky1977   Time for an update,. 1st,. there is this,. the 3...   Apr 28, 2014 - 8:47 AM
- - sandusky1977   Today, projectors.... On the way... Last Saturday...   May 6, 2014 - 6:32 PM
- - sandusky1977   So, the "Red Dragon" is sold, after I go...   Oct 6, 2014 - 9:01 AM
- - sandusky1977   So,. I'm knee deep in wiring, as I turn an aut...   Oct 13, 2014 - 11:21 AM
- - JoshuaM   Okay.... I officially give up on keeping track of ...   Oct 13, 2014 - 11:29 AM
- - njccmd2002   way to many   Oct 13, 2014 - 12:54 PM
- - sandusky1977   It's simple, I change my mind all the time, an...   Oct 13, 2014 - 1:16 PM
|- - sandusky1977   Just an update before I start a new thread,.... ...   Jun 11, 2015 - 9:39 AM
- - NgoFcukinWay   Reminds me of the crazy cat lady from down the str...   Jun 28, 2015 - 5:01 PM
|- - sandusky1977   QUOTE (NgoFcukinWay @ Jun 28, 2015 - 6...   Jun 29, 2015 - 8:39 AM
- - sandusky1977   From Project Red Dragon, to the Red Devil. Last ...   Mar 26, 2018 - 9:28 AM
- - NgoFcukinWay   I wish I had a field to throw random extra cars in...   Mar 26, 2018 - 10:21 PM
- - sandusky1977   It just creates a problem when you have a field,.....   Mar 27, 2018 - 9:09 AM
- - CoolZeen   ahhh. that 88 all trac.Thats the one you have to g...   Mar 28, 2018 - 2:50 PM
|- - sandusky1977   QUOTE (CoolZeen @ Mar 28, 2018 - 2:5...   Mar 29, 2018 - 2:17 PM
- - ClevelandGaint   We gotta find a great donor car or at least a nice...   Apr 3, 2018 - 8:36 AM


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