oem257

Arctic white Celica SX hatch (4uto)
She started life as an unwanted company car and I took her over in 1987.
Part of my salary was automatically deducted to pay the $33K (I think) debt.
The pop up headlights and sporty curves were a hit with the girlies.
The engine already had some factory and alternative mods. It was a grey top motor. I always serviced her at Toyota until one day a young mechanic changed some settings and the flat spot in the rev range was gone.
I had a company car for weekdays, but I used to drive her from Sydney to Melbourne or to Brisbane for fun.
One day the timing belt broke and that is when l found out about the after market pistons. The car was parked in a garage for 3 years.
When l got fired l realised it was time to get the engine fixed. A Jap engine import place in Meadowbank, NSW had a look at the engine and eagerly offered to exchange it and fit a working stock GS3GE st162sx motor. Compression tested and bench started and fitted with new seals for $600. I asked for a new timing belt, but whoops they forgot.
The car was handed back to me with a roadworthy, so l had new brake pads and tyres fitted. The mechanic assured me the timing belt had 50,000km left on it. I loaded the car up to the max, with clothes and my pc and stereo and drove 1,000k to Brisbane. I unpacked the car and drove one km and the timing belt snapped
This time there was no problem replacing it and the new mechanic also fixed the missing 4th gear by changing the thermostat .
I used the car every day while I attended university and then driving to and fro to work, until l parked her last August and her rego ran out. She still exists, under a cover, never driven