Charger's 1988 Celica GTS

Hello.
My Celica is a 1988 GTS with 176k miles on it. I first learned how to drive a manual with this car, and was always excited when I was able to drive it (even though 2nd pops out). :mrgreen: As much as I love this car, I do wish Toyota had made them rwd. Soon this Celica will be my first car and it will "teach" me many things. The past year has been bad for the poor Celica, being left outside in the elements to rust and an SUV hit the front of it while it was parked. Now it is inside the garage, safe from the rain and snow.

I know little about cars, but I am a fast learner and have I taught myself many things before. Also, I am taking an auto maintenance class at school soon. I hope for this site to be a good resource for me and provide help when I am stuck on something. I will make a "log" for my Celica and be sure to post many pictures.

Starting...now.

A few years back when the Celica was able to be taken good care of:

Now:






The hood can be latched down to the safety latch by bending it a little, I plan to loosen the bolts to the hood and move a little so it can be securely latched down the way it was meant to be. Right now, the brakes need done, the engine leaks oil, the rust, and then theres the damage. My dad is going to help me replace the brakes soon. The oil leaks until theres only 5 mm on the end of the dipstick, then it stops. It's a slow leak, so I will just keep checking it and filling it until I have the money to fix it. I was thinking about putting some type of rust sealer on the rust to keep it from getting worse and then fix it the right way when I can paint it. I am going to repair the damage as soon as I get the money to, using the parts from my dad's old coupe that is sitting at a local junkyard.

 

Haha, no, but the speed limit was 45 mph if I recall correctly.

And hopefully the frame isn't out of shape. My dad will be bringing me the shop repair manual and I will check the references to make sure.

 

Careful what you wish for... I just want it to look stock, at most I might use an alltrac front bumper and fogs, but I probably won't. And I'm looking forward to this, can't wait to drive it again.

EDIT: Does anyone know if the fenders, hood, bumper, bumper absorber, and whole headlight assemblies are different on the pre- and post-facelift models?

 

Replaced the brakes today. The right rear, only one pad, the inner-most one, was down to the metal. Put a new pad on, tried to get the other pad on too but the caliper wouldn't move over, so we just used the old one (which still had about half life on it). We will need to take that apart and clean it when we can and have the right tools. Also made the hood latch-able. Unbolted the hood and moved it a little, then got some longer bolts and some washers to move the latching system out some. I removed the grill, since it was broken and in the way. Still hits the passenger (right) headlight (because it was pushed back in the collision) and the driver (left) a little so it needs some "motivation" to close, but at least it does now. Also got the shop repair manual, found out it's for an 87 (I have an 88) and the front and back cover have been ripped off, but it will still help. Didn't take any pictures because it was too cold.

EDIT: Also, when I took the grill off I found a sensor like thing. My dad was unsure what it was, do any of you know what it is? It was in front of the hood latching system and above the horn.

 

Small update...

I attempted to fix the dent behind the driver's door from when a Dodge Ram backed up into it... The name implies it all.

Before:





After:
Not as good as I hoped, It'll have to be done professionally or just replace the whole quarter panel if I ever paint it. The metal is still damaged, so if I put a small amount of pressure on it, it'll show it's ugly face again, probably on the first hard bump I hit.









I think the Celica could star in Christine: Part 2



Found some stuff under the seat when I removed it, I think one of the rear windows were broken at some point.



I thought I should ask if this is important.. since it was next to the seat belt retractor



Also this is the sensor that I was wondering about before.



I don't think there is any oil in the pan now... there is none on the dipstick. I'm hoping it's something simple like the drain plug gasket needs replaced or tightened. I'll take a look at it when I change the oil when I can drive it again... whenever that will be.

 

Unfortunately there were no skittles left So much for trying 20 year old skittles. There is a lot of oil where it is now and it hasn't run in the spot (it was pushed there).

Thanks for the quick reply stig! I'll find this information useful.

Also, that plug is on both the left and right rear seats.

 

1) Yeah... that needs to be done
2-3) Exactly what I was going to do if it wasn't something obvious
4) I'll try lol

 

I mean obvious like there being a fresh spot of wet oil near a seal (for finding the location). The engine was rebuilt a few months before it was put into the car, I forget how long ago but it was in the past 8 or so years. The bottom end was rebuilt a year and a half ago, when it started to knock. I'm not sure what seals they replaced though.