Happy New Years everyone! I've been using this site for quite a while but never thought of joining it. Recently, I have been doing a lot of work on my first car, my 1989 Celica. I didn't really want to join the site until I had her in good condition. Before I get to the car, a little backstory . So there I was, 15 years old, with a learner's permit. I thought I was king of the world when I drove, despite my mom being in the passenger seat. I was always thinking about how cool it would be to have my own car and drive where I wanted to once I got my license. My dad told me I could have his 89 celica, which was sitting on the street for four years gathering dust and cobwebs. The paint was faded, muffler rusted out, the "rings" of the rims were faded pink, I didn't like it. In fact, I hated it. So the search began to find myself a little Honda on craigslist. Everyday I would find one and show my dad, but he'd just say "Nah". This past summer when I showed him a Honda, he said "Why don't we use the money for a paintjob and fix up the Celica?" I thought to myself "Great, I'm going to be the laughing stock of the school!" Boy was I wrong, haha. After a few weeks of leaving the car at the shop, we dropped by to see how it was doing. I immediately fell in love with the car in its newer glory, and couldn't wait to drive it! Now that I have my license, I'm riding to school in style everyday, and I know that all of the haters hating on my Celica are mad just because they drive a Honda Here is the car, before the paintjob We found this spoiler at a junkyard, it was in great condition too! The "Pink" on the rims as I mentioned Now as she sits today
looking good....i also inheirted my first celica...from my grandma..........it was in better shape i admit but i didnt fall in love with it till after i killed her. i really want another coupe for some odd reason
much better looking than hondas. im surprised you thought you would get laughed at with a celica but not a honda? either way, that paintjob really turned the car into a great classic example. it's amazing that the bottom lip/air vents are in the right places. you could invest in a GT/GT-S strut bar and power windows/locks. as well as GT-S seats. little things like that that turn an 80s car to modern standards with OEM parts. that's what i've been trying to do with mine, everything in my car is power, even the seats and the rear antenna. remote locks and heated side mirrors that last part makes my dad jealous when it's snowing/below freezing in the morning...and he drives a 2002 bmw
Sorry for such a late response! I've been busy with school and such, but today I was able to snap a few more pictures of my car. I'm a newbie with cars, so as far as mods go I've got: NRG Steering Wheel and Shift Knob Magnaflow Muffler (to replace the rusted one) Everything else is pretty much stock, even the clutch was the original from when the car rolled off the dealership lot back in '89. Nearing 180,000 miles and still counting!:auto I do plan to do more in the future, and my current project right now is to install these foglights That isn't rust on the tip, by the by, the muffler shop had to shorten the tip and some of the chrome paint burnt off If there are any other mods that a newbie like me could do, please, let me know!
Wow, what a difference a coat of paint makes. The car looks great, I really love that pimp interior too, lol... Mods - theres not a lot you can do to the FE motor, you'd be better off saving up for a GE or GTE swap. Or spend your money on the suspension, even if its not that quick in a straight line you can still have a ball in the corners.
Wow the car looks great! My GTS started life that same color, but being that I wanted the TRD old-school look it's been painted white. It really does look good and I also like the rear spoiler addition. racerb :hurray
looks like the muffler's chrome was burnt off and since then it's rusted since the metals exposed. i'd have a closer look and see if you need to sand/repaint some rattle can chrome. as for mods, the FE really doesn't support more power, but what you can do is take out restrictions on it. such as the boat anchor exhaust manifold. it's really restrictive as it's a short 4-1 manifold and the cat is right after it. the only viable way to fix that is to grab a st202 3s-ge manifold, but that's not available in usdm, so might be difficult. don't bother changing the intake because the stock intake is already a CAI. don't listen to the honda guys changing their intake for less hp. just to let you know, my old FE could keep up with a d16 vtec stock for stock. suspension work would be much better, lowering springs, swaybar bushings, a strut bar (st's don't come with them i think and they make a BIG difference), rear thicker whiteline sway bar, maybe front adjustable struts, then you pretty much have a decent go-kart.
Yeah, doesn't look like I can do anything to my engine, especially since I live in California, where you fail smog for anything, and I'm just a teenager who has no money. :sad5 But I think I can live with these for now
i agree on not spending money to mod up this car. i was also a teenager when i got my first celica. i just tried to make it comfortable and it was awesome, i didn't even lower it. perhaps, you'd want to swap to a black interior, with GT-S seats. i think red exterior and black interior would look damn sick, esp with the steering wheel. and maybe white LED lights for the interior lights? would look nice and modern. the fogs look good! looks like an alltrac from where you installed it.
So crazy, it's EXACTLY how my car looked when I first got my hands on it... long ways from then Keep it up man, you're in the right place
