haha hell yea man, I would have done the 3sgte a long time ago if i was moochin too. I did all the bolt ups but yea, Never work at Best Buy its a modern day sweat shop.

yeah hopefully when i graduate i'll be able to afford to do something, i've almost got the wife talked in to letting me import a GT-4, no swap, no worries. We'll see if it ever happens though, ahh but what a lovely dream.

Ray, after looking at your pics, i can say only one thing... im jealous.. your car will look incredible good. And from the guys like YOU i get whole inspiration to move on forward with my project. I can say honistly, i almost droped everything that i was planed till summer, but after your post, im up again, and ready for MORE changes just to get to the place like you are >> Actually thanks for inspiration.

-doGGy+Dec 16, 2003 - 4:36 AM

hey can you post some pics of the completed project?

Project Diary update:

December 17, 2003 So I received a call from my friend yesterday about a photoshoot opportunity. I contacted the person and found out that the shoot was going to bed help in LA on the 21st and 22nd for the upcoming 2004 Celica brochure. So I contacted M1 to see if they could finish my car by Friday or Saturday, and they said yes!

So as stoked I was, I expected my car to be done and ready by Saturday. I rarely get excited, but I certainly was excited, UP UNTIL I received a call about 5 minutes ago. M1 called me to inform me that they were having trouble fitting my front bumper on my car due to frame damage. I was already aware of the (minor) damage and brought this to their attention a long time ago. They told me that there would be no way that my car would be finished in time for the shoot and that they would need to charge me an additional $500 just to fix the damage. So now I'm really bummed and pissed because the last body shop that worked on my car was aware of this problem and didn't fix it. I wasn't aware that the problem still existed until the motor swap.

So yeah... I really pissed about this whole situation >> and depressed!!! >>

December 18, 2003 I'm still in shock that the shop is going to charge me $500!!! From what I can tell, the only REAL damage that would affect the bumper from being mounted properly is highlighted in the picture below. I just don't understand! These ****ers are trying to leech off me! I know I don't have problems with tire wear or anything of that nature... so the damage IS NOT that serious and I don't know what would justify a $500 charge!! They told me that the bumper lines up except there's a noticable gap between the bumper and the hood along the passenger side. I'm telling you, it should not cost $500 to pull out the area highlighted below:

doesnt even look all that bent up.

have them put on the bumper and see the "gap" for yourself.

u sure that the bumper support isint just getting in the way?

the stock bumper support is to thick for the gt4 bumper. you have to cut it or order the gt4 support to make the front bumper fit.

-lagos+Dec 18, 2003 - 9:37 PM

Sorry to hear about the delay / extra costs Ray but after almost two years now comes the patience bro >>

Props to both your car and your detailed photos/journal man, I'd say by far the best/coolest on the site!

One question - I've been overworked lately so haven't been able to dig through all your posts, but are you staying with that rear skirt? Seems kinda too short for teh sideskirts / front. Can you try to get a rear 3/4 shot including a rear corner, wheel and back of the skirts? Cheers!

-kuya1284+Dec 18, 2003 - 11:16 PM

-Coomer+Dec 19, 2003 - 12:43 AM

-KAMiX+Dec 19, 2003 - 12:28 AM

w00t more pics!!

-kuya1284+Dec 19, 2003 - 12:16 AM

Update from Project Diary:

December 19, 2003 Well, I just got back from the body shop, M1, and I must say that I'm really satisfied with the work. I'm just disappointed that I'm gonna have to blow an extra $500 for the frame repairs. But overall, I'm very happy. The front lip was molded PERFECTLY to the GT-FOUR bumper and the fit is excellent. The antenna that they sold me is going to look better, IMO, than my last antenna. It supposed to be 10 times stronger than a Fuba antenna. The owner of the shop told me that his single is still clear when driving through tunnels.

Well, the car is either going to get painted tomorrow night or early Monday morning. If the car gets painted tomorrow, I'll be picking it up Monday evening. If the car gets painted Monday, I'll be picking it up Tuesday. If I had gotten to the shop 3 hours earlier, my car would have been painted. They didn't start shooting my car because they were waiting for my approval on the body work.

Anyway, here are the pictures:

Also, in case you're wondering why my car is primered on certain areas, it's because I asked them to clean up the parts that weren't done correctly before.

And yeah.. um... I'm sorta freakin out cuz the kit is HELLA low. I debating if I should put my stock springs (in the front) back on temporarily until I get my coilovers... If not, I'm just gonna have to granny this bad boy...

This post has been edited by kuya1284: Dec 19, 2003 - 10:39 PM

ur car is mack! why is ur one window busted?

-Andason+Dec 19, 2003 - 8:41 PM

what size tires and rims do you have on in that pic?

-lagos+Dec 19, 2003 - 8:54 PM

-kuya1284+Dec 19, 2003 - 8:57 PM

oh, ok...they looked kind of thick, now i know why.


what about the springs, what type do you have on the car now?


the reason why im asking is because im trying to figure out the best tire\spring combo to kill the wheel gap.

-lagos+Dec 19, 2003 - 9:05 PM

-kuya1284+Dec 19, 2003 - 9:08 PM

ok one more question >>


the kit...is that just a normal kit for a 94-95 celica or did you have to get a special one for the gt4 front?

i want som type of front lip for mine, but i was always thinking that i would have to import a kit if i wanted one.

-Andason+Dec 19, 2003 - 9:12 PM

-lagos+Dec 19, 2003 - 9:15 PM

thanks for letting me know. it would have sucked to get one of those and not have it fit.

Ray, in those photos you don't have a spoiler. Do you plan to keep it spoiler-less, or do you have other plans for it?