1987 GT 5 Speed Vert

Bought her on March 8th 2013 with 229k on the body. Got it for $1098 from an old man in the north georgia mountains. From the beginning I felt good about the car and the owner because the second I saw the craigslist ad I called the guy, and not even 5 minutes after we hung up and had scheduled a test drive he had already taken the ad down. I desperately needed a toy, my 3g eclipse automatic wasnt cutting it, so this came along.

I drove 120 miles to pick it up, the previous owner drove it nearly 200 miles a day to and from work. As such, it has gone through plenty of OEM replacements in regards to the engine components internal and external, including radiators, water pumps, ps pumps, steering racks and more. The car came with a file full of carfax reports and maintenance receipts dating back to 1988. Literally EVERYTHING is there. He said he was getting rid of it because he "found something more reliable". Me being mechanically inclined I jumped for joy after the test drive because mechanically it was perfect. 100k on the motor, 40k on clutch/master cyl.....only major issue was a few rust spots and AC not working. Roof leaked but since has been fixed, dash isn't amazing but not falling off, exhaust was an old 1990s flowmaster which sounded cool.

NGK Sparks + Wires.
Tuneup+ oilchange + alignment on March 30th.

Pics are progressive from date of purchase until May 6th 2013.

The Ad


Pics from the Ad


Someone used an old school dent puller obviously......Never fixed the holes.

Not very visible but the stock trunk was cracked underneath at the right hand side bracket so when you lifted it it would bend and snap. It looked as if someone tried to WELD it back together and failed.



Following pics are what has been done since date of purchase. Mainly all this was done strictly to make the car look pretty for Import Alliance last month. So performance took a back seat for a short while.

First time Sleepy-eyed


Temporary "mask" for the dent puller holes = Paint.


Rims Blackened


Wink Mirror + Shift Knob + Mp3/CD Radio install ( all speakers and FM/AM work! )


I knew nothing about celicas before this one, so had no idea my front bumper was missing a lip valence. I searched for a few weeks at every Pullapart around me until finally i found one last celica 1988 that had it on, I ripped her off and put her on mine.

Painted over the huge CELICA badge and removed the toyota one. Used the thread on this forum for vixing broking valence ties.

Installed the home depot garage door sealer, I DO NOT RECOMMEND 3M ADHESIVE SPRAY

Tinted Tails ( Bad idea, knew it would happen but i let me ego get in the way, so I got pulled over, its since been removed and I replaced them with stock tails in perfect condition I found at pullapart. Damn Georgia boys) Also partially debadged and taped until I find the time to mesh bondo the holes.

Replaced the busted up, rusted trunk. New one was bright gray when it came in, i painted it matte black real quick and tossed it on. Had to pull and twist and hammer the old trunk literally for 30 minutes before it tore off the hinges. Had to do it because the failwelds had tied the bracket bolts in with the trunk itself. DAFUQ?\

After much inspection we discovered the old Flowmaster had some SERIOUS holes in it. It was so old and rusted we broke the tip off with our barehands with little more than a baby push. Then we cut the whole thing off. An Apexi + longtube header is on the way but for now the straight pipe makes it sound ridiculous.


(VIDEO)



I thought about the home depot lip I had done on my eclipse....

And figured i'd try it on the celica...

Next to my buddys mr2-T and other buddys rx8

Shift knob was borrowed by a friend but kept falling off due to fail universal fitment, so I swapped it out with somethin cheap. Oh and short shift. Radio and bracket are in dummy positions until I find a bracket to make it all flush.


A wheel, and some smell goods.


Stickerbombed for more HP on the day of Import Alliance


Good mornin.

Good afternoon.


Found 4 good BMW e30 wheels at Pullapart, all still sitting on the car with all lugs. Took some time without proper tools but after having builty a contraption of stacked tires under the wheels, i finally got the lug wrench on and hammered away at the wrench till each lug came loose. $85 for all four. They were silver and scuffed to hell so I painted them black + polished the outside lip.
4x100 14" Bottlecaps, now the car just needs moar low and possibly some spacers for the rear end.






Now that Import Alliance has passed, I've got some MOAR LOW's (koni' Y's+springs), Apexi + longtube header,custom CAI, replacement sway bar, and a few other minor replacements all on the way. I've had to fix some roof leaks with weatherstripping. All joints and bolts/brackets have been WD40'd. The body will remain unchanged aside from a drop.
I've taken it to Road Atlanta for a few fun, light runs with some buddies and I must say the car is amazing. The body roll is enough to convince you you're floating on a plank in the middle of the Pacific due to blown shocks, but the mileage and low end "torque" is enough to put a little smile on your face, when you remind yourself how old the car is. I drive her very cautiously and patiently, like shes an old fragile hag, as I'm not in the business of chasing civics. But this old hag has still got some pep in her step so I do have some fun on the highway once in a blue moon.

Thanks for checking it out.

 

Sorry for some of the ridiculous grammar errors rofl.