The Celica, in particular the Castrol rally car, was my dream car when I was young. The Prius is being passed on to my wife, and I finally purchased a "new" GT. While it won't be a perfect replication, it'll make me happy, and that's all that matters, right? The goal of my goal is to make sure the car DOESN'T become a ricer and stays classy as close to the GT-Four original as I can with my abilities (and my wallet )

The car, including the hood, will all be repainted white as the car is heavily oxidized. Many parts including the air intake hose, radiator, exhaust, ect were replaced. Lots of dry rot, but the car is rust free (except where she was hit a long time ago behind the tail light, which we'll fix). It's been shipped from Texas, so lots of sun damage, no rust. Tomorrow begins the last bit of the repair work (bondo door dings and fix rust) before we get it painted. All that, and then the removal of the ugly country blue pinstripes convinced me to dive head first into this project.

The mods so far:

Castrol decals custom made (a few Sega ones as well, in homage of Sega Rally )
VIS carbon fiber hood (installed)
OEM white allow wheels (refinished in front of the car.. the ones on the car now are horrible steel ones)
Cold air intake and cone filter (the original air intake hose was rotted, so why not upgrade for the health of the car)
New headers
New drilled rotors and brake pads
New spark plugs
New wires and clamps
New performance radiator
25th anniversary seats
DVD/GPS 4" screen player
New speakers
New side mirrors
New paint job
New exhaust
New antenna


Car when I got it for only $2800:












So far (the replacement spoiler came with the mounting holes for the spoiler blocks bondoed closed...yay. Now I'll have the refiberglass the crack in the old spoiler I wasn't planning on using). Most of the car's trim has been stripped.. which is why the doors and headlamps look funky :











I'll take more pics of the body work, and of the engine by Tuesday before it gets sent off to be painted. Of course, stripped, it's ugly right now.. but it'll be nice soon. The Castrol decals I had made will be installed 30 days after the paint job is done. Enjoy guys, updates soon.

This post has been edited by CastrolCelica: Jan 8, 2010 - 10:24 AM

i cant see the pics at work but if you are doing teh same thing, i say good luck. im actually having my All-Trac ST185 vynal wrapped in the Castrol scheme. i found a place that will wrap it for 2000.00 half what it would cost to paint it

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I actually got a great deal. I got my decals for a couple hundred bucks, and I know me and my friend can install them on our own, which saves a LOT of money. If they're charging you 2000 bucks, I'd say you're getting ripped off

off tha hook!!castrol celica!awsome project.yup,will be waiting for updates!!

This post has been edited by kavy: Sep 29, 2009 - 4:52 AM

Awesome man. Props on not going ricer, so then I'd advise you remove that hood. Why don't you go GT-4 front end if you're trying to make a replica?

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Thanks for the compliments guys.

To be honest, while I want it to be pretty close to the original rally car, I wasn't ever really going for exact. For the price the GT-4 look isn't really worth it to me, especially considering that 1. I like the hood I have on better 2. The GT-4 bumper requires mods that either I can't do (cutting the bar) or I'd be crazy to do (removing it). 3. Since I like the hood I have better (the design of the vent is better I think...) I can't really have a GT-4 bumper as the end of the hood isn't raised up an inch like the GT-4 one is. It would look funky, and having it smooth and level is very very important to me. Also, please remember that the hood will be painted white like the rest of the car. It won't look a ricer (like it does now thanks to the carbon fiber...eww)

There is good news in this though. I just found a white, facelift (96+) bumper which looks a lot better than the smiley 95 stock bumper I have, and a little bit closer to the GT-4 look, but won't have me compromising my safety. The bumper will be here in 3-5 days, pushing my paint job back to next week. Still, the car will be completed minus the decals by the end of next week , so I can't wait to show you guys when it's completed

Again, the car looks like a heap of crud right now as without most of the trim and without it's spoiler and lights, it looks quite boring. But I can guarantee you it's going to be amazing here in just a few weeks. It's a little embarrassing showing it in this stage, but I hope you all can look past it for now... especially my lovely (not) aftermarket steel "Walmart" rims . The poor bastard who put those on it should seriously be punished.



The decals will be put on approximately 30 days after the car is painted, so if I can have everyone stay awake for that long, you'll all be in for some eye candy. I'm really proud of the decals that were made, and I hope to do the car justice. Either way, the completely redone car should be back from the shop in just a week and a half to two weeks, so they'll be plenty of pictures to share.

Just to make sure, you're going for this look, right?

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Similar, yep.

no im doing a full vynal wrap...not just decals on a white car. basically the exact scheme but on a ST185

A full wrap will be a nightmare to put on...decals will be much much easier.

Even going to the expense of getting them painted on would be better & cheaper than a full wrap. Even Toyota just use decals.

If you get a bit damaged / vandelised then you`d be gutted...the whol lot would need doing again...with decals you can just replace the effected part.

This post has been edited by Nial: Sep 29, 2009 - 3:33 PM

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I totally agree. Saying it's just "decals on a white car" is kinda looking past the fact that that's all the original really was (decoration wise). But hey, to each their own. I hope to wow you with my "simple" decal set.

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If you need any pictures of genuine TTE cars or kits that I know are 100% accurate for reference to make sure they are correct then I have enough to satisfy even the most ardent Castrol Celica enthusiast

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That would be good for reference, yea! Thanks man. Post them here or PM me for my email addy.

Got it back from the shop today!

It turned out really well. Not everything is back on the car yet of course. Lots of the rubber seals and trim ect are still gone as are the rear lights.

I'll take another video in the morning, but since it's night time and there's only one small light in the garage, you can't see how much this glistens. It's like a whole new car. The engine updates are coming along nicely, and I'll take some more pics and vids of that in a little bit. The carbon fiber hood turned out GREAT painted and really makes the car come together.

The new 96' bumper looks great on my 95'. I just need to find some Tom's lips for either side and I'm good (I wasn't going to, but there's a spot where the previous owner put them here, so I might as well fill in the space).

The new wheels have been powdercoated white and will be put on this weekends. But for now, it's all curing and will be drying for 30 days before the decals will be put in place. Plenty of other stuff I can do till then though, including putting this thing back together fully. I've had a full night, but here's what I have so far:



This post has been edited by CastrolCelica: Oct 13, 2009 - 9:33 PM

PS: this is a vid I forgot to post up when it was just bondoed and primed.

I was looking through GT4OC, specifically at custom cluster faces, I came across a guy named Mook who does all sorts of nice stuff for Celicas, including this!



His website is http://www.skewer.co.uk/

Here's the morning/daytime shot I promised:

Well I'm diving into this project head on. The wheels are powdercoated and ready to be installed tomorrow. I'll try to get some pics up tomorrow of the car. It's now completely put back together and it look beautiful (spoiler, blocks, trim, lights, ect). I have yet to put the emblems on it, but it's pretty much ready to show off minus the decals. This weekend the drilled rotors and new brake pads will be installed. Last night we put new spark plugs in after flooding the car the day before due to a bad battery. Everything is up and running now and shes purring like a kitten. New headers will be shown off soon as well.

Anywho, I think you guys will be amazed to see the transformation just on the body alone tomorrow. Kinda makes me hesitant to put the vinyl on, as it just plain white is absolutely gorgeous.

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Can't wait to see the pictures. It's looking pretty nice so far.

Pics ASAP!! This thing is coming along nicely. Keep it up

Had to get a new axle because it was leaking grease like nothing else. $400 later the axle is replaced and the wheels are installed. It's been an expensive trip, but I'm almost there. I need to install the headers that just came in today, but other than that and the decals, I'm pretty much done. These are shots of before and after the emblems being put on. The back one couldn't be put on atm because it was damaged and I need to get a new one.

Hopefully you enjoy them. Here you guys go:












This post has been edited by CastrolCelica: Oct 22, 2009 - 8:58 AM

I just fell in love

That red Toyota emblem is going to look great with your decals.

Loving the progress man, keep up the good work! :]

x2

love the paint job!

Looks incredible, best of the luck with the next stage

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are those the '00 to '05 Toyota Celica GTS rims painted White with no center cap? cuz they look really good.

Thanks for the compliments everyone . I think I'm in love too .

As far as the wheels, they do look very similar don't they.. but no, they were OEM wheels only sold in Japan and Europe for 6th generation Celicas. That's all I really know. I've looked at some 7th gen wheels and those spokes seem a bit more skinny and bowed than these. These are thicker.

Wish I knew more than that. But at the very least, they're beautiful and look a lot better than this, which is how they came to me. Loooots of work went into these haha:

ah yes, i remember seeing these pop up some where else b4. Good purchase.

Hey... If you get bored with this car and don't feel like putting the decals on... That thing is sexy enough as it sits! It's coming right along!

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Sadly I was thinking the same thing. It's beautiful in it's own right and doesn't need bright cheerful stickers on it to make it stand out.

Then again, just as I thought it was beautiful after coming back from the paint shop...without it's trim, spoiler, ect on it, I'm sure the car will go from absolutely beautiful to pretty much near mind blowing when it's all said and done, just as it did once I put all that extra crud back on it before.

I guess the good thing is that if the decals look ****ty, I can always pull them off and have a beautiful car waiting for me.

PS: Ah yes, thank you for the compliment kind sir

Wow is all I can say. I think this qualifies for one of my favorite white celicas on here. x2 on the stance, just pure awesome