2005 celica t sport (saved from certain death) pic heavy

[Dee]

Hi guys been missing in action on here for a very very long time, between work and family time it's hard to get a minute.

This is the latest car on the drive, it was traded in to my work, a one lady owner from new and full toyota history (the full history is laughable to be honest, pics to show)

After selling my last gen 7 celica in 2013 I really missed it and promised myself another, they drive brilliant even in standard guise.

I don't have many befores as the car needed so much work I just wanted it all done and dusted and to start driving it. First glance I thought it wil just need a bit of light paint, wheel refurb and a good service........ How wrong was I

Th car is storm blue and has quite a rare factoy option of blue leather which was in excellent condition, about the only thing that was excellent

The first picture was the day I took ownership and if you squint at it it looks spot on but what was soon to unfold was absolutely ridiculous for a car so apparently we'll looked after

I drove it home saying to myself a few quid here and there and some tlc it will be grand, this started to change as I started using the brakes more and more and decided they were absolutely shot even tho a glance through the wheel they looked fairly decent. The exhaust was blowing aswell but the interior was a nice place to be and fairly clean so that was a bonus.

I got it home and decided to empty it out and give the storm blue paint a good polish to assess what actually needed painted and what didnt

As you can see the paint was in terrible condition, just faded and worn out also note the wheel condition and the weathered and now discontinued center caps

I gave it a two stage polish and it actually really helped but soon showed what was needing done which was a lot

I removed the spoiler and side skirts to make sure I got most bits covered, It was at this stage I realised the nsf sill had a clump of damp muck wedged in it which rotted part of the sill, I was now ready to just write the car off as I detest rot and welding, but I did buy the car after begging the wife to let me as iv still got the gsi in storage so it just had to be fixed. It wasn't the worst in the world but my good friend luke cut out the rot and patched it up beautifully and treated it accordingly. I don't have any pics of this that I can find but will update when I do.

Anything that was easily removed was taken off and cleaned out, I literally replaced every nut and bolt that was take out with a new one from my mass collection of working in toyota all my life

The boot was actually like new with original unused wheel and pirelli tyre etc and no water leaks thankfully. I did strip all the trims out and clean and applied rust preventer around all important places for good measure

The bodywork needed basically a full respray bar roof and boot lid, otherwise it would look like a patchwork quilt, the stone chips were so bad it looked sandblasted, there was light rust on one wing and poor repairs to the off side. Pics to follow later on of the paintwork

In the meantime I wanted the mechanicals sorted so I knew the engine and clutch was good so on to brakes and suspension.

The backing plates are missing below asi ripped them off in bad temper due to the corrosion being so bad and I knew these where around 200 each to replace from toyota I did manage to trace a set brand new else where (tcb) genuine with parts labels attached. Obviously the usual seized calipers and rusty bits everywhere. I did end up rebuilding all the calipers and renewing the backing plates, shoes, shoe fittings, handbrake cables, discs and pads, and as said New bolts etc where needed

7
After

 

[Coog]

Good to see you back again

Celica looks great!!

 

[Dee]

I also took liberty of rubbing down the underside as it was fairly scabby but was also happy to see the rear subframe in good condition. Once it was rubbed down It was rust treaded, painted then undesealed to make it last a few years yet. At this point I added some 35mm springs and new droplinks, I also discovered the fuel filler neck was rotted so a genuine item from tcb was sourced and fitted you can see it starting to look fresher already

Next was the scabby wheels which where powder coated by ic powder coaters which I have always used and are fantastic. I also had some t sport centers made up as these are dealer discontinued now

Once all the brakes where sorted and the car was serviced it was onto the paint. I had a friend sort out all the dents some of which were horrendous but soon sorted, the guys amazing at what he does, then off to the painter for an 80 percent respray, I was blown away by the job done, coupled with the refreshed wheels which are now in Michelin pilot sports courtesy of Mosgrove and sons, the cars is looking amazing

 

[jc7891]

Love the attention to detail Dee!!

 

[Dee]

Love the attention to detail Dee!!

Thanks bud have a fair few more pics to go too
With the exterior well. On its way I gave the interior a full clean and treated all the surfaces, fitted a nice double din and some genuine new mats, I also fitted a jap speed induction kit along with a cat back 2.5 cobra sport exhaust, its loud but does sound amazing when you give it some throttle

I'm currently working on the front brakes I'm refurbishing some bigger calipers and changing the discs from 255mm to 295mm. I have currently also fitted some hel braided hoses

 

[rupertfinch]

I genuinely love a gen7 Celica. Enjoy.

 

[Dee]

I genuinely love a gen7 Celica. Enjoy.

Thanks. They have certainly aged well in my opinion. Still look good today and drive lovely, really nice handling car out of the box too

 

[Dan.86]

Great read that! Glad to see your back. Cracking Celica, but tell me was it in better or worse shape than your last one lol?

 

[Dee]

Great read that! Glad to see your back. Cracking Celica, but tell me was it in better or worse shape than your last one lol?

Oh this was utterly horrendous,literally everything underneath has had to be replaced, repaired or overhauled. Engine out next too, found a drip of oil coming from the timing case seal, but that's for summer and may aswell do a few upgrades while it's out and make a good job of it

 

[Dan.86]

No better man for the job at least. It’ll be a concourse car before you know it

 

[andy9eleven]

Some transformation! Fair play to you, looks like a great job.

 

[Dee]

Here are the larger front brakes iv nearly finished. I will maybe get round to having them fitted by next week with some comparison pictures. The calipers were in serious need of tlc and really took some effort to get to this stage, wish I had them blasted but unfortunately just had to do it the old fashioned way with a wire wheel and drill along with some elbow grease

 

[nobby]

Good man for saving this. Cracker cars and still look really well.
Great read through, look forward to more updates

 

[Dee]

Good man for saving this. Cracker cars and still look really well.
Great read through, look forward to more updates

Thank you, it's been a labour of love and still has a bit to go. The main thing is it's driving well and looking decent

 

[roverspeed]

Looks great, good to see you doing your magic again Dave!

Were those first pictures over at Boucher?

I was tempted in getting a Corolla T Sport in the next few months, but I've gone the totally opposite direction and I'm searching for a clean LS400 :-D

 

[Dee]

Looks great, good to see you doing your magic again Dave!

Were those first pictures over at Boucher?

I was tempted in getting a Corolla T Sport in the next few months, but I've gone the totally opposite direction and I'm searching for a clean LS400 :-D

Yeah was in Boucher buddy. Corollas are hard to get now, they're all ragged to death and just abused, you'd need to pay the premium for a low miler somewhere. Ls400 is quite the difference still some car in todays terms, the engines are just built to go forever.

 

[roverspeed]

Yeah was in Boucher buddy. Corollas are hard to get now, they're all ragged to death and just abused, you'd need to pay the premium for a low miler somewhere. Ls400 is quite the difference still some car in todays terms, the engines are just built to go forever.

Yeah, I couldn't find any decent Corollas, I'd have loved a compressor but couldn't justify the premium.

I plan to lower the ls400 slightly, put 5 spoke ls430 wheels on and remove the rear silencers. I can put up with the 20ish mpg since I don't have to drive for work anymore.

Do you plan to keep this Celica long term?

Is big Dave still in Boucher?

 

[Dee]

Cool big motor, a friend of mine has one and also had another, was sitting on 19s coilovers and straight piped. Sounded class........ Compressors are the same aswell very few left worth having which is sad. No no big dave is away a very long time now. He still keeps in touch on Instagram now and again tho

 

[Big Pimp]

Wow. I hadn’t realised this was such a labour of love.

stunning work

 

[martybelfastsri]

that looks really well ,never been in a tsport always fancied the corolla never really even looked a the celica but thats lovely great colour too

 

[Dee]

 

[roverspeed]

Cool big motor, a friend of mine has one and also had another, was sitting on 19s coilovers and straight piped. Sounded class........ Compressors are the same aswell very few left worth having which is sad. No no big dave is away a very long time now. He still keeps in touch on Instagram now and again tho

I was doing a health a safety course a few months ago just outside Ballynahinch. I pulled into the wrong place because their directions were crap. Stopped at a car dealership to ask for directions and it was big Gary the dealer principal from Dundonald, Random!

Still in touch with Gary? (Wee Gary)

 

[Jonny]

That’s a real labour of love. Lovely car. Always liked those celica’s. Go well?

 

[Dee]

That’s a real labour of love. Lovely car. Always liked those celica’s. Go well?

Thanks, yes it goes well for what it is it's probably close to 200bhp and is fairly light. Similar to an ep3. Its got the 2zzge engine, revs all day long, you've got the big cam coming in about 6k to around 8200

I was doing a health a safety course a few months ago just outside Ballynahinch. I pulled into the wrong place because their directions were crap. Stopped at a car dealership to ask for directions and it was big Gary the dealer principal from Dundonald, Random!

Still in touch with Gary? (Wee Gary)

Yeah fitzy opened his place when Dundonald closed and he's done very well from it. His place looks well. As for Gary he is still in the workshop with me in Belfast. Don't think there's much else for us lol

 

[Mr.Mint]

Love it, it's my kinda attention to detail.

Fair play, great job!