1988 Celica GTI 16

Hi.

I’ve been lurking here for many years actually but until very recently I hadn’t posted anything. Since there has been the odd drop of interest I thought it was about time.

I’ve own a few Celica’s in the past and they’ve all been 4[SUP]th[/SUP] gens and each time I’ve sold them on I’ve always regretted it so hopefully I’ll keep this one. It’s an 1988 that I’ve owned for some 6 years now.
When I bought it, it was a 2 owner car which was honest but showing its years. Holes in the seats, broken trim and flat paint…the usual.




About the same time I bought myself a donor car also. A GT4 of the same year. This was very very far from worth saving what with blown engine, huge holes in the floors and a body kit that when removed, took most of the metal body with it. However, it had clean hole free electric seats, good wheels, and lots of trim and other parts I could use so I began swapping the good parts onto my black one.

I stripped out the interior and replaced or repaired as I went. Changing bits with new or recovered items such as gear knob, gaiter and newly covered steering wheel and fitted the donor car seats front and back.
I touched in some trim with black plastic paint to tidy areas and gave the carpets a good clean and removed tones of dog hair…at least I hope it was dog hair.






The body was then re-sprayed by a friend of mine and we fitted the GT4 bumper at the same time. The lettering was scanned and reprinted to finish it off and I painted and put on the GT4 wheels which I preferred to the originals.

New side skirts where fitted and I painted the grills using a Ford metallic grey which is near identical to the original colour. Also painted wipers, scuttle panel etc etc. The car began to look great again.





I've moved abroad but managed to keep the car at my long suffering parents so I can use it whenever I visit England again. It’s had some tidying here and there but overall it’s still looking clean.

More recently I bought some All-track fogs for it along with Rav 4 switch to match (identical to the Celica switches I found) and refurbished the fogs by painting the trims and brackets and polishing the lenses.





I’ve got myself some electric folding mirrors which I plan to fit when I get them painted black. Also just recently the underside was sanded and given a coat of paint before it got too scabby.

Future plans include fitted a period alpine stereo as the existing one isn’t good at all and probably paint the trim around the windows.

 

Thanks guys I think the photo's are flattering it a bit but its pretty good.

I'll not put on the Celica graphics just yet but may do in the future. Little undecided about it. :ugh

I didnt know anyone was selling JDM GT4 side skirts on here! I love a set!

 

Hi Guys
Thanks for the kind comments and yes, I have a few updates
Came back to the UK a couple of weeks ago and due to other commitments, I’ve not had as much time as I would have liked to work on the car but I did get a few things done so far.

First off some bad news. My Dad had a rather large operation 3 weeks ago and he did mention to me he’d taken my car out for a run shortly before he went to hospital...and I think nerves had gotten the best of him at that moment and he managed to back my car into a wall...I've never know him to do this to any car but there you go...it happens I guess.



I’ve painted it in to stop the rust etc but a trip to the painters is in order I think. There’s some other odds and sods that need doing so I’ll have them done at the same time. Silver lining and all that.

So knocks and bumps aside, I decided to work on the interior first. I changed a few bulbs in the dash which had blown such as the heater lights which had bugged me for a bit. It was quite allot of bother just for a bulb but with it all lighting up once again, I think its worth the hassle.



I had also decided a while back to ‘upgrade’ my stereo to something more period and now was the time to get it all fitted while the centre console was out.



Also bought a one quarter size din cubby hole to fill in the gap at the bottom in which I cut a hole at the back so I can feed through the input jack wired into the head unit for my IPOD.
Many wires later running up and down the car...



and it was up and running





Speakers need attention next tho as they let the side down.

Still, progress made!

 

@Steve – Hi Steve, many thanks. Yeah I could go raving on about it at my Dad but as he looks after the car while I’m in Finland it would look much worse if it weren’t for him. Just paintwork and I’ll get it sorted when I do some other bits. It will come back better than before And luckily, my Dad came out of the hospital in the same way.
Sadly, I leave England this week so there’s not much chance of meeting up. However, I intend to return before Christmas so I’ll drop you a PM and let’s see if we can’t sort something out.

@celica_gt-i – Thanks, it was a PITA. I got a little frustrated when a screw broke and I had to re-tap the hole and having to search hi and low for leads etc (that nobody had made in years)...but totally worth it with all its 80’sness.

@kevinkyang – Good to be back. I cant update too much due to living circumstances but I do visit the site often for hints, tips and inspiration.

@Stig – Good info there, thanks. When I fly back to England I don’t tend to haul cd’s about so having an input jack for my MP3 player is ideal for me.


In the meantime I’ve just been enjoying the car. Coming up to its 100,000 miles now and just run in nicely


Cheers

 

Hi Guys
Back in England...the adventure continues.
I’ve plenty of little projects planned while I’m here but thought I’d first make the old girl look presentable with a good wash and polish. Didnt come up too bad.





Painted a few little areas like towing eyes etc to keep it smart and decided to tidy up the exhaust. The old tips were looking particularly grotty so I bought some new cheapy ones to make the rear look more presentable.




Next, I’d bought myself some more “period” Alpine equipment which I’ve been attempting to fit. I test fitted it and had a couple of odd noises like the speakers are somehow discharged when I switch it off which held me up but the problem seems to have remedied itself...bad connection somewhere possibly but it all works now and even plays cdr’s



Overall, looking forward to actually getting it in there. It’s not quite as simple as it first seems as I’ve got to build the equaliser into the ash tray. So I grabbed a spare tray and trimmed and flattened it out then drilled some holes which are accessable from behind the centre console. (below left)



Match up some holes in the spare cover I have for the equaliser to bolt it into the ashtray compartment. I know it wont be seen but I gave it all a lick of paint to tidy it up.



Offered it up to a spare console...looks like this



Also have been tidying the interior plastics which a drop of paint just getting the worn areas and replacing screws/bolts with fresh new ones. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll will be able to put it all back together...

One question - to dim the lights in the head units when I put my headlights on, there is an illumination lead..wondering if anyone knew what to connect it to as its not immediately obvious?

 

I’d been made redundant the other week and thought to make the best of it and visit family in the UK. It gave me good opportunity to tidy up some areas on the Celica and try out some ideas I had.

First off I never did get my stereo to work. I’m actually taking it back to Finland to have a good poke around with and see whats wrong. In the meantime I’ve another to fit but while all the centre console etc is out I thought I’d fit a slightly shorter gear stick as the “throw” in Celica’s has always been a little long in my opinion.
I bought a second hand gear stick off the Bay and set about cutting it down no more than a couple of inches.
Then I had to grind down the shaft so I could re-thread the top to accept the gear knob. Coat of paint and its ready to fit.


(old one right)


(I did brush off all the surface rust and re-polish)

I got myself covered in grease and oil installing it and it all works fine. The “throw” is definitely better but I have noticed it does show up the gearbox’s rather balky nature...but I really need a good drive to see whats what.



Then I painted the screen/scuttle cover and wiper arms as the paint was starting to craze a little. Oddly, there was some reaction in the paint so I've had to start again but I think its these little details that make a car look great overall.





Will carry on with bits and keep you updated