Oppo, I need your opinions

"Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder" (pabuuu4)
03/22/2014 at 09:45 • Filed to: Celica, toyota, help

As you may know, I bought a car. I don't have my drivers license, but I'm working on it.

I want to do things to my car.

My plans are:

- When it is finally warm enough, I will clean it. every corner of this car will be clean.

- Find the hidden rust (There is some rust, a few bubbles on the fenders and on the trim)

- Remove rust (no idea how though)

- Find a radio and see if the aftermarket speakers in the back actually work.

Oppo, what can I do with this car in terms of modification?

I was thinking about making the rims gold.

Thanks to someone here on Oppo, I have found out that the front spoiler comes from a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , there is no info on that kit though..

The sideskirt comes from a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

Now I need to find out where the rear spoiler is from. It says on the bottom ' FOHC' and 'Made in Austria' And the wheels. I think they are stock.

Oppo, what can I mod about this car? give me your ideas!

DISCUSSION (24)

jkm7680 > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/22/2014 at 09:47

If you come up with some extra cash, some gold Bbs would look nice.

Kinja'd!!!

Tom McParland > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/22/2014 at 10:03

Agree on the wheels...but BBS rims are super pricey. However a wheel/tire upgrade should be the first step. As "defender of stance" perhaps a suspension upgrade should be next...but not too low. :)

Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/22/2014 at 10:03

four wheel disc in all corners maybe some bbs wheels and maybe fiberglass a new hood with a hood scoop

epidemike > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/22/2014 at 10:07

Maybe its just me but I dont like that front bumper kit at all. It weighs down the car.

I'd suggest replacing the air intake and maybe the exhaust.

Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder > Tom McParland
03/22/2014 at 10:08

I was thinking that too, but are suspension parts made for one car or are there universal parts? (I'm bad at this)

Is is a good idea to buy rims secondhand?

jkm7680 > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/22/2014 at 10:10

Beware of stolen wheels! If you look at used wheels, make sure you can clearly see the car that they came from.

Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder > epidemike
03/22/2014 at 10:16

I am not too sure on the front bumper myself.. But I think I'll keep it because it comes from a pretty rare kit and I can't find any other front bumper kits for this car.. What do you think of the front bumper on this Celica? it is the same bumper:

Kinja'd!!!

Why should I replace the air intake? (again, I ask because I don't know much about mechanical stuff)

Tom McParland > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/22/2014 at 10:16

There is usuay specific aftermarket support for your car. Check some forums. Pre-owned wheels are a gamble...sometimes good, sometimes garbage. I would go with some more reasonably priced ones. Do you have TireRack.com in your country.

Orange Exige > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/22/2014 at 10:18

Suspension is unique to the car. At the most you'll find when you search em that they might share parts with other Toyotas of a similar era.
I've always heard that you should get new shocks when lowering a car on springs (especially an older one) so just keep that in mind.

As for wheels, I would definitely look used - I don't think it's a bad idea at all.

Orange Exige > jkm7680
03/22/2014 at 10:18

Extra cash?... or extra organs to sell??

Montalvo > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/22/2014 at 10:19

There should be a great deal of aftermarket support for this car. I would recommend getting new tires and wheels, then move to an upgraded suspension then brakes before considering adding power. There are several ways to remove rust depending on condition. If there is only a very little amount you can sand or grind it out and take the time to coat it in paint to stop it from rusting again. If a piece is beyond saving though you would probably need to cut it out and replace the rust with new metal. If the rust is only on the panels and nothing structural you can always buy rust free replacement panels if you can find one of the same color that hasn't been too faded.

Orange Exige > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/22/2014 at 10:28

Cool car!

For rust, a decent idea (that I have tried myself decently successfully) is to make a mix of lemon juice and baking soda and apply that to the rust and let it sit for some time. Works better for minor rust. You can search online for more info but there's really not much more to it.
Other than that, I'd just say sand down the rust to the bare metal, prime the metal, and then paint it. That'll stop the rust. Hopefully it didn't eat through the metal and you won't need a body filler like Bondo (which I have but haven't yet tried out).

I'm not sure how I'd feel about gold wheels on your brown-ish car. Experiment with photoshop or the like - you would definitely not go wrong with black.

Also, perhaps an exhaust mod? I don't like stock exhausts and there's almost always something you can do, even if you can't find a bolt-on cat-back made specifically for this car.

daender > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/22/2014 at 10:36

Those look like 14" wheels so I think 16" or 17" with some decent sidewall will certainly look good on it, especially after an inch or two of drop. Performance-wise maybe new intake filter, some springs and shocks (would do it the same time as wheels, tbh), and maybe a thicker sway bar in the rear to help give it some bite in the corners.

Luc - The Acadian Oppo > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/22/2014 at 10:48

first thing is to make sure that your car is in good shape mechanically make sure brakes,suspension and bushings are in good shape and on a car that old I would change all the fluids.

as for making it look better the very first thing I would do is put some decent wheels on it. Nothing will drastically change the look of a car more than a nice set of wheels.after that you can look at lowering,paint,tint,ect.

Performance wise unless you are to do a motor swap or add a turbo don't waste your money on bolt on stuff will not be worth it, you might add 10HP buy doing an exhaust and cold air intake but it will cost you way more money than it's worth.

Kinja'd!!!

Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder > daender
03/22/2014 at 10:49

I just ran outside, and these are 13'' wheels. can you just put any 16 '' wheels under there?

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/22/2014 at 10:55

I'd start with tires, brake pads, suspension bushes and any other little things that may be worn. Maybe look into the timing belt if it isn't reasonably fresh, they often kill older cars. That way you have a car in good mechanical condition to start with, basically a nice blank canvas that you can spend your time adding to instead of repairing it all the time.

Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
03/22/2014 at 11:10

Timing belt is brand new! it got replaced last inspection! not more than 250 km on that belt.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/22/2014 at 11:13

Nice, one job out of the way, seems like it should be a good car to make your own. Maybe consider some nice seats, can really improve the driving experience of the car, can sometimes get a good deal on some from a junk car at a breakers yard.

daender > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/22/2014 at 11:24

Not exactly, let's see...it's a 90's semi-economical Toyota so it'll likely have the 4x100mm lug pattern. If so, then there's a huge market for that bolt pattern since Miatas and Hondas (Civics especially) have them as well. You might want to find the offset of the current wheels (I'm guessing +40 to +45 mm) and go for a lower offset (between +30 to +25) so the wheels are flush with the fender.

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/22/2014 at 11:30

There's a lot you can do easily:

New tires/rims - be sure to have them all on the same bolt pattern and offset as your existing ones, as you do not want a car with wheels sticking out the sides, or having them too shallow. A good set of these tend to be expensive.

New air filter - won't really increase power, but will increase air induction noise.

Exhaust - A more free-flowing exhaust can increase power slightly, but noise will also increase by a lot.

Chip-tuning - Will change the powerband of the engine, can improve power, taking advantage of higher flowing air filters and exhaust.

Suspension - A lowering kit shouldn't be bad, just lowering the car by 2.5 cm should be fine.

Window tints - I feel they make the car look better in a way. Be sure to check your local laws, as some cites, or even countries don't allow tints.

This is what was on the top of my mind, feel free to ask for anything.

GoliathRex > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/22/2014 at 13:38

Maintenance items should be priority #1 (tires, suspension, rubber hoses, spark plugs, wires, flush fluids, brake flex lines, rotors, pads- whatever is worn out or unknown). After this I'd do whatever is needed to it a comfortable place to sit (interior). Fix broken trim, audio components, ripped seats.

Aftermarket performance enhancements would be at the bottom of my list. There is not much bang/buck.

Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder > GoliathRex
03/22/2014 at 13:59

Tires are done, brake lines are done, fuel pump is done, belt done.

broken trim needs to be done, seats are okay, I need a radio.

according to your list i'm doing pretty good.

I'll look into the things I don't have.

epidemike > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/22/2014 at 17:28

Air intake is an easy modification that is basically just a bolt on / relatively cheap upgrade. You'll get a few more ponies from it but nothing to turn your head.

It all depends on what you want to do. If you want to adjust the way the car looks or improve it's mechanical specs or both.

wiffleballtony > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/22/2014 at 17:39

Looks pretty clean. Great place to start