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Si's New Toyota - ST215 Caldina


Taz_Rx

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With the need of something more practical (carting the kid's bikes around mainly) I decided to get myself a new daily. Always wanted one of these since I saw them in NZ about 12 years ago. Been keeping an eye out on Gumtree etc and one popped up recently close to me. 

1998 ST215. Manual.... Yes it's actually a manual!! About 200k km but still in really good condition. Couple of mods - HKS exhaust, HKS turbo timer (pre import mods), auto metre boost guage, Turbosmart BOV (which sounds a bit loose and fluffy for my liking) and genuine TRD front bumper. Which to be honest I don't really like that much. There's one little part of it that makes me think it looks like the bastard child of a VT clubsport and an Evo 3 hahaha. You work out what that is. 

No great plans. Maybe some wheels - Same stud pattern and offset as a WRX so I'll keep my eyes peaked in those circles. Maybe some BC coilovers if new shoes don't look quite right. Then maybe just some practical mods like roof racks and a tow bar if I can source. 

It's quite nice to drive and has plenty of poke. I didn't know these things ran around 13-14psi out of the box!!

And the good old $500 Camry that was bought to get me through when the corolla was defected (3.5 years later) will hopefully get moved on next week. Even though it looks like a piece of shit, it's been ever reliable and been very good to me. Basically haven't spend a cent on it since I've owned it. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

great car. somewhat of a sleeper.

fyi I have a 2000 update one of these sitting in the front yard. was my daily for years until I smashed it. will eventually be dismembering it. update has the black interior - if you get sick of that two tone blue and grey interior!

 

 

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Hmm could be interested in that! Keep me posted. 

I assume it's not the model with recaros?

Installed a new stereo today... so I can now actually tune past 90mhz lol got a Kenwood double din touch screen with reverse cam, Bluetooth etc. 

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no - n spec 246 had the recaros (next shape, auto only)

mine is a 1% of production model - manual, with factory sunroof. black interior. genuine 103k on in (we got it with genuine 36k on it 10 years ago) most of car will be available when i get around to wrecking it. (rh front damage)

stereo upgrade most important. aerial is not too good in these either. not a hell of a lot you can do about that though.

 

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I can get triple j fine now so I'll happy. Between the sub 90mhz tuner and a 6 stack in dash that would skip if you drove over a grain of sand I didn't muck around on replacing it all. Wiring kit arrived today so I'm currently half way through installing the reverse camera. 

This is what I got... https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Kenwood-DDX4019BT-Kenwood-CMOS-130-Reverse-camera-KENWOOD-WARR/123701247763?epid=18034415640&hash=item1ccd2b3f13:g:600AAOSwMs5drk8K Repco stock these. $462 for the head unit plus another $81 for the camera to that was a damn good price. I also got an eBay coupon that saved me another $30.

Can you maybe pm me some pics of your interior? And are you just talking seats, or plastics too?

Edited by Taz_Rx
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pretty sure we put a kenwood in ours many years ago. just single din one though.

will be wrecking out the whole car. initial plan is to keep some of the suspension, floorpan & rear diff assembly for ae92 awd corolla project.  so complete black interior will be available. even roof if you want it! very good condition but drivers seat does have a little wear on edge of seat not surprisingly on basically 20 year old car!. cars a bit hard to get to right now so may take a while to get pics - especially as its full of tr7 and mini parts as well! just got permit for big shed so early next year should be able to pull apart. 

this is what it basically looks like. sort of drivable.....

 

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What suspension is in it? Looks like you've got some lows happening. When I get some new wheels under mine I might need to correct the ride height a little. Had a quick look at kings website lady week and they didn't appear to do springs for these. Don't really know if I can justify BC's.

If you're wrecking the while thing I might also be interested in the windscreen add mine has a crack in it. 

I'm in no great hurry so just keep me updated as things happen 👍

Edited by Taz_Rx
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its got tein ha's in it - but i plan on keeping those for the corolla. try trade-me in nz for springs

its been sitting now for 16 months so no major hurry. still awaiting my big shed to put everything into. doubt you'd get the screen out and transport it to tas unbroken to be honest!

 

T

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  • 3 months later...

So I've been driving this thing flat out lately and loving it. Great practical car and I've got some roof racks for it that are quick to clamp onto the rails. It's had kayaks, pallets, ladders and dining tables thrown on top haha. 

Did have to replace the exhaust manifold gasket recently as it was a victim of the old #1 blow out that is a known problem on these models. I didn't realise but the exhaust manifold and turbine housing are all cast as 1 piece! Took me ages to work out how to get it all un bolted too... damn Toyota and there over-engineering with brackets on everything. 

Oh and now thinking coilovers could be back on the cards (funds dependant)... it drives well, but I have now bottomed out the suspension a few times with slightly more spirited driving. So it wouldn't just be cosmetic. 

Edited by Taz_Rx
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it is amazing how many things you find on top of your car once you install roof racks. Think "ill never really use them, but id better get them". nekminut every weekend something is on the roof!

Since the suspension is Gt4 there should be some good options around. 

 

Edited by ke70dave
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Haha so true. The ones I got were just cheap universal ones from Repco for $75 and they only take 5 minutes to put on. I do need to get some kind of bike rack to put on them though because of the lack of tow bar situation. Speaking of which, apparently an avensis bar fits but I need to investigate and confirm. 

Recent camping trip. Boot and half the back seat full. I did manage to also squeeze an 18" park bike in there with the front wheel out hahaha. Only problem with putting the kayaks (or something equally as long) on is the top wing flips up near vertical and tries to snap itself off on your load if you forget and try and open the boot 😏

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