Alright, I might need your help.

"Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder" (pabuuu4)
03/05/2014 at 15:58 • Filed to: oppo, help, advice, toyota, celica. 1986

So I bought this car a few weeks back, my first:

I have some questions about it, and it would be great if you could answer these.

It is a 1986 Toyota Celica ST Coupe with a 1.6 liter engine.

I have a problem: I do not know where to go for information on this car.

All the 86' Celicas I find on the internet are hatchbacks. Are parts the same for this car?

No mods, no build threads, no restorations, nothing on the ST Coupe with the 1.6.

If I wanted to start ''modding'' this car, where do I go to for parts?

Also, there is one thing I'm curious about. The body kit.

It is a widebody that was installed even before the previous owner (he had this car since the 90's) and I can't seem to find any info on this kit. It has a small, unreadable thing under the rear spoiler that says: 'FOHC' and ''Made in Austria''.

Any of you guys know anything about that?

One more thing, is this the Celica ST-161?

Also, I have no mechanical skills, I will probably come here for advice. A lot.

DISCUSSION (21)

Desu-San-Desu > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/05/2014 at 16:01

Find another Toyota with the same engine. If it's more common or popular, buy engine upgrades for that car instead, since it's the same engine. Except for anything to do with induction, since piping may not match up.

As for chassis and suspension? I dunno what to tell you man. Find a forum of other Celica owners.

puddler > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/05/2014 at 16:05

4a-ge? celica bits are celica bits.

Casper > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/05/2014 at 16:07

What parts are you buying that are body specific? Are you just bolting poser parts on or trying to get mechanical upgrades like brakes, suspension, etc? A lot of those parts will tell you if they have something specific about them, but it's rare they are different between hatch and coupe on most of those cars.

As for the current kit, good luck. I don't recognize it. It doesn't look wide body to me, can you get some pics from other angles? It looks like it's just a lower rear panel that was oddly blended in from that angle... almost like it was pulled from another car and blended on. I haven't seen anything like that.

Run the VIN and see what comes back.

KnowsAboutCars > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/05/2014 at 16:09

According to wikipedia your car is AT160 as ST161 was only made with 2 liter engine.

Wikipedia and car specs sites such as Carfolio can be good sources for information. You could maybe ask Dutch Toyota club (if there is such thing) info about it. They just might to recognize that bodykit as well.

What kind of modifications are you planning?

davedave1111 > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/05/2014 at 16:15

Nice find. First place to go when 'modding' is the tyre shop. Buy it some really nice new shoes and you'll feel an immediate difference. Then make sure it's had a really good service and everything's as it should be.

If that's a 4A-GE engine under the bonnet, you've got pretty much endless options for tuning. It's been in any number of cars.

No idea about the model code, but according to Wikipedia only the AT160 had a 1.6 engine option.

Oh, and the coupe and liftback/hatchback are almost certainly going to have almost all parts in common, at least at the front end, and probably everything under the bodywork.

Dukie - Jalopnik Emergency Management Asshole > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/05/2014 at 16:17

It's an AT160, the way Toyota "numbers" their platforms is the engine+platform+model. A = A series motor (your 4A-GE), T= Celica, 160 = Platform (4th Gen Celica). Another example would be my Celica: RA43 (22R motor, Celica, 2nd Gen). They swapped to a T designation after the 3rd Gen Celicas.

As far as builds, try Toymods or other Toyota forums. 4th Gens spanned from 86-89 so you should be able to put parts from any of those years on your car. Also the 4A-GE is a well modded motor, so you shouldn't be without options on that either.

Good luck!

RazoE > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/05/2014 at 16:19

The S in "ST-161" stands for the S series engines (Such as the 3SGE, 3SGTE, 5SFE, etc etc). If yours is A, then it has an A series, such as a 4AGE or 4AFE. Show us a picture of the engine and we can help further.

MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/05/2014 at 16:25

Are you in Europe? The ST had a 4A-C engine which is a carburated, single cam lame engine. A 4A-GE is the twin cam fuel injected 7500 rpm fun version that should bolt in, but if you are not mechanically inclined it will be out of your realm of ability.

Casper > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/05/2014 at 16:26

After my first post I kept looking for the kit. Looks like your front bumper maybe from a Postert kit that was made for a very short time out of Austria/Germany.

Kinja'd!!!

http://www.alltrac.net/phpBB2/viewtop…

I still don't think your car is wide body. It looks stock proportions. It looks like it's some kind of faux vented side skirt that molded into the rear.

Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder > davedave1111
03/05/2014 at 16:35

Lol the car had been sitting for 16 years, and the bottom pic is on those tyres. It has since gotten other tyres, a battery, fuel pump and belt. and it got a brand new inspection.

Casper > Casper
03/05/2014 at 16:44

Found your side skirts I think on a Supra. Is this what they look like?

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/120390/…

Kinja'd!!!

Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder > Casper
03/05/2014 at 16:44

I'm not 'bolting poser parts' on, I think the body kit isn't complete... I think the rear part is missing. I don't know, because i do not know what it is supposed to look like with the kit, but it seems a bit off in the rear.

It widens a bit by the rear wheels, it is hard to tell in the pictures, and these are the only good ones I have..

I was looking to maybe upgrade things when they break.

Good to hear there isn't much diffrence between the hatch and coupe..

Jobjoris > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig
03/05/2014 at 16:45

He is, it's a Dutch licenseplate. The ST in Europe had indeed the single-cam engine with nearly 90bhp. With no mechanical skills it will be very hard indeed to get more power out of it. For more info you could always check the guys of the Toyota Celica Club Nederland .

Casper > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/05/2014 at 16:46

I call anything not performance related poser parts, for example my spark plug cover is a poser part since it really doesn't help performance at all. Check my other post for what I found on your kit. It appears to be a mix and match of British and German body kits.

http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/after-my-first…

Most body parts will take some work to make fit... even car specific parts don't fit well right out of the box. They expect body work and messaging to fit them by a body shop.

Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder > KnowsAboutCars
03/05/2014 at 16:52

My plans for this car are to repair some small rust spots,

and I was thinking about maybe plasti-dipping the body kit, below the rubber thing on the side of the car.

I don't know what happened to the wheels, I think someone wanted them gold.. I'll either finish what they started and make the wheels gold or really clean them.

For modifications I was thinking to upgrade stuff when it breaks.

Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder > Casper
03/05/2014 at 17:44

Yes! they do! Good find!

I think my car is missing the backside..

thanks man!

Casper > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/05/2014 at 17:45

No problem. I knew I had seen them, couldn't stop until I found them again.

MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > Jobjoris
03/05/2014 at 18:32

I have seen people turbocharge a 4A-C, but it's fairly involved to turbo an engine. IF you could find all the necessary parts for a 4A-GE swap you could probably have a shop do the swap for you. However, if you have another car as a daily driver you could make this a project. No better way to learn than to get your hands dirty!

davedave1111 > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/06/2014 at 16:42

All good stuff. If you've already got new tyres, you're not going to replace them just now. I don't know how good the ones you got were, but in general spending a couple of hundred Euros extra on some really top notch tyres can make more difference to the performance of the car than any other way to spend it.

Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder > davedave1111
03/06/2014 at 18:04

Sounds great! however, reading this bit about Tiff Needel testing expensive performance tyres is not a great motivation.. But maybe some sport tyres will make a diffrence.

Jeremy Clarkson on modern tyres

davedave1111 > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
03/06/2014 at 18:18

That's quite true, in a Clarksonian hyperbolic sort of a way. The problem is that tyres are sold to consumers - as opposed to car companies - purely on hype and marketing bollocks, because no-one changes tyres often enough to do proper comparison shopping.

But still, even if there's little or no difference between different tyre companies' offerings at a given market level, there's a fairly obvious difference between totally different levels of tyre.

Cheap, hard, budget tyres - I've heard them called ditchfinders - are noticeably worse than ordinary mid-market tyres for grip and feel. Good premium sport tyres are noticeably better. Saying that, the ditchfinders can be hilariously good fun simply because they have no grip - like that Chris Harris video with a car on four spacesavers.