Silverra23's Silver 1976 Ra23 Celica

[silverra23]

4th February 2010 update

 

Car is back a day early.. can't complain about the service. Looks good though its hard to take a good photo!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the plastic trim that I thought was in good nick now looks shabby :P

[silverra23]

Another 4th of February update.. this time about the dash top done by the Dashboard Doctor

 

Grrr.... Top of the dash top looks good.. but they didn't fix one of the mounting studs, which unfortunately is the one right on the end in front of the driver... so it pulls out and the top of the dash lifts.

 

Going to take it to work tomorrow and see if someone can glue it in with some resin or something.. pissed off.

 

Also can't find where the panel beater put the window chrome clips so have to source some of them.

 

Tonight I did get the chrome back on around the passenger side window and the rubber around the window opening and the pinch weld back on. It looks nice and neat with the new headlining.

 

I also got the sunvisors in. Will have to buy a few little things tomorrow and then get into it over the weekend.

 

Here is the dashtop before I tried putting it in the car

 

 

[silverra23]

5th February 2010 update

 

Well my window clip drama seems to be solved which is good. One less stress.

 

Got the stud glued down on the dash top. It worked so well that when installing it, not only did the stuff pull out, but the foam it was glued to did as well. Pissed off still.. have glued it all in again and will have a think about how else I can get it in without stressing it. Maybe I need to elongate the hole and then put a big washer underneath. Dodgy.....

 

I got some of the interior plastics painted and they look soooo much better

 

 

 

Tomorrow I will put the C-pillar covers in, then the seats, and have another crack at the dash top. If it fails again I guess its back to the Dashboard Doctor.

[silverra23]

6th February update

 

ohhh i hurt....but man my car is looking good. got a lot done today! i am not used to that much bending and contortioning!!

 

Back seat went in with the seat belts

 

 

 

As Pac from Toymods helpfully suggested the dash wouldn't go in without some elongation of the existing hole. Now its in and looks pretty good. Not perfect fit, but better than super cracked like before

 

 

 

 

Then started putting the dash back together

 

 

Put the console in along with my GT handbrake console..it needs some more work to fit

 

 

And then the front seats..mm they look good

 

 

 

 

So I have to put the door trims on the front doors, but I am holding out hoping my new lock set arrives from toyheadauto.. same for the steering column surrounds..

 

Still have to put the radiator overflow bottle in...new battery... see if it starts... put my new suspension in... fit new wheels and tyres...fit windscreens

 

So a bit to do, but if the gods are smiling we might have a shot at Hanging Rock still.

 

I think the panel beater might have bent the fark out of the exhaust too... its on a weird angle and missing almost all of its rubbers... anyways will deal with that as I have to.

 

Stay tuned!

[silverra23]

8th February update

 

So I gave her a kick in the guts last night.

 

Had fuel but accelerator pump did not appear to be pumping any fuel into the carby.

 

With the help of my house mate I pulled the top off the carby and had a peer inside. Float bowl was full of gunk so we cleaned that out. Gave everything a little bit of a spray and clean.

 

I think the seal around the accelerator pump plunger is the major cause, but I put it back together to see if we made a difference. Definitely did, as it would run, but won't idle, quite possibly cause i stuffed the top gasket when taking the top of the carby off.

 

So I will get a rebuild kit and do a dodgy rebuild and see if I can get it to run properly. Poor thing hasn't run in three or four years, so no wonder its not happy :P

[silverra23]

8th February update

 

Not that far from being finished... but far enough that hanging rock is still 50/50 :P I did a quick list and it looks like this

 

fit battery tray

fit battery (got to go collect that shortly)

partly rebuild carby (carby rebuild kit also to be collected shortly)

fit front springs and shocks

fit rear springs and shocks

fit brake booster and master

replace brake hoses

bleed brakes

purchase/fit mirrors (vitaloni's)

fit wheels and tyres (should be ready today I hope!)

get screens fitted (booked for saturday which is rather too close to sunday for my liking but such is life)

fit coolant overflow bottle

fit rear number plate holder

fit number plates

replace missing exhaust rubbers

fit door locks

fit door trims

detail and fit badges when they return from being rechromed

degrease engine bay

 

and probably a few other things i have forgotten!

[silverra23]

Another 8th February update

 

My lock set arrived from toyheadauto too which is awesome, saves me pulling the car apart later to put them in.

 

Also got my wheels and tyres today. Oh boy they look good. Oh boy the car needs some lowerage.. and some negative camber!

 

 

 

Realised I have plans this evening, and the club meeting tomorrow night, so I am two nights down already to maake Hanging Rock :P . I will contemplate having Friday off... but that will depend on work... the guys are packing for their races in the middle east and friday is their last day... its bound to be nutso.

[silverra23]

10th February update

 

Hmm the Celica didn't want to play tonight... thought I would bang the springs in and then have a go at the carby... what do they say about grand plans?

 

Rear springs and a pair of KYB's I bought from twentyeight a while ago went in no dramas (was meant to be Koni's but I discovered the thread on one of them was butchered :P )

 

Front springs.. I was in two minds.. do I put my XT130 struts in or just bang the springs on the Celica struts for now.. had a quick look at the XT130's and realised I would need gland nuts for them, so just springs it was!

 

Left hand wasn't too bad aside from dropping the whole strut/brake on my foot. Fark that hurts!! Broken bone or three there me thinks given how its swollen up. Anyways I persevered and got it all together

 

Right hand side was a bitch and I couldn't undo the top nut on the strut. With weight on the car, weight off it, rattle gun, breaker bar, in a vice, freeze spray, nothing worked. So much swearing and cursing was had and its now in the back of the ute now to take to work tomorrow so I can hit it hard with a big rattle gun at work.

 

So my grand plans didn't quite make it. Maybe Thursday will be a better evening.

 

My mirrors arrived so I guess the day wasn't all bad!

[silverra23]

11th February update

 

I think I must have been having a bad night last night! Foot doesn't hurt too much so I got lucky there!

 

Other strut came apart and went back together easy as, and then went straight in.

 

here is the progress on the list...

 

fit battery tray - done

fit battery (got to go collect that shortly) - done

partly rebuild carby (carby rebuild kit also to be collected shortly) - done

fit front springs - done

fit rear springs and shocks - done

fit brake booster and master

replace brake hoses - partly done

bleed brakes

purchase/fit mirrors (vitaloni's)

fit wheels and tyres (should be ready today I hope!) - done

get screens fitted (booked for saturday which is rather too close to sunday for my liking but such is life)

fit coolant overflow bottle - done

fit rear number plate holder

fit number plates

replace missing exhaust rubbers

fit door locks

fit door trims

detail and fit badges when they return from being rechromed

degrease engine bay

 

so I am getting there but the engine won't idle. it starts, misses a lot, and stops as soon as you take foot off the throttle.

 

could timing chain have jumped through lack of oil pressure when it first started?

 

any one got a timing light I can borrow, or is a tuning guru that wants to come visit would be much appreciated at this point :P

[silverra23]

And more 11th Feb

 

So dick head here didn't think about the massive vacuum leak that having the brake booster disconnected would be causing.... wound the idle screw right in and it runs now, albeit at 1500 rpm. Still not happy when i wind it back, but since I fiddled with the dizzy, I will borrow a timing light from work tomorrow and have a go at getting it better.

 

The good news is the brake booster and master are all in and connected now! Can do a brake bleed tomorrow too... its starting to look promising again!

[silverra23]

13th February 2010

 

Sonofabitch.

 

Changed plugs, fuel filter, ballast resistor.. no real change :)

 

Windows went in. What a pain in the arse that is. I think the moulding retaining clips I got from Scotts that were a generic Japanese one were not quite right and a bit short, as we have ended up with some indentations in the mouldings where we have pressed so hard to get them to clip in. One day might have to put different ones in but I will leave it be for the moment.

 

Fitted my vitaloni mirrors and they look good :P

 

Wipers are on now, did that after the photos.

 

Fitted my new locks from toyheadauto. They are so much tighter!

 

Front door trims went back on, along with the final window belt rubbers which are attached to the door trims.

 

So aside from some badging that is still away in Sydney being rechromed, stage 1 is complete. If you ignore the fact that it won't drive!

 

18RG and 5 speed to come in Stage 2, along with rt132 struts and more suspension lowering, just as soon as my pistons arrive from Arias in the USA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[silverra23]

6th March update

 

Didn't make Hanging Rock, had to take my AE71 instead. An unexpected two week sojourn to the Middle East with work slowed up the final steps too!

 

Anyways when I got back my newly chromed badges were sitting on my desk waiting for me. They have come out really good. I now need to repaint the black backgrounds on them, which almost seems a crime given how shiny they look.

 

 

the backs lof them look pretty different now too

 

 

Still haven't got it running. Might just bite the bullet and pull the carby off and get it rebuilt.

[silverra23]

9th March

 

Carby rebuild is just about done by the Solex guru I came across through toymods.

 

[silverra23]

So that brings us up to date.

 

Tried to put a different carby on that a guy in the club lent me, but it was different and wouldn't fit.

 

My pistons have arrived from Atomic Speedware, so the engine block is off being honed for them and then it can all go back together. I have kind of resigned myself to waiting until the new 18rg is in before I drive it, unless I lash out and pay someone to rebuild my carby. Which I don't want to do since its money down the drain really.

 

Anyways hope you enjoyed the read, and I will try and keep this update along with the toymods thread.

[Doogs]

Clean Celica mate, you have done well with your rebuild. :P

Keep us posted as you progress.

Cheers,

Dougal