Red Celica ST205 GT4
Discussion
After entering mid-life I decided to take any thoughts of a crisis head on and start buying reasonably fast cars. Five years back I bought a Nissan 350z, then moved onto a Vauxhall VX220 and then into R33 GTST ownership - I sold the R33 and was wondering where to go next, I was seriously looking around at various Nissan 300zx TTs but after a number of viewings of awful rusting heaps I was feeling somewhat despondent and found myself browsing the Pistonheads classifieds and by chance clicked upon this:
It looked decent enough and the spec list was quite impressive, its not the WRC version but had some nice options like sunroof and ABS - I had heard about the pitfalls of Gen 6 GT4s but this guy had clearly spent a small fortune on the car. Completely refitted suspension including the Fig 8s. Retrimmed the interior in leather. TRD goodies adorning the interior. Genuine TRD spats and side skirts. Aussie exhaust and downpipe with a nice HKS BOV. Shiny bits from eBay in the engine bay. Sacco hose kit. Braided brake hoses. Calipers refurbed including seals and pistons. Clutch and Flywheel replaced. HID lights. Alpine head unit and speakers all round fitted. It really did read well as an advert where the guy had spent time and money on the car.
Anyway, I went to look and it was stunning, blew me away. I made an offer an hour later and the following weekend was back at his place exchanging cash and documentation.
A week or so later, the car parked outside my house received and unwanted visit by some builders working on next doors roof. 3 slate tiles flew off and landed on the bonnet. Initially I went mental but then realised I was out there seconds before, it could have been my head.
Anyway short of the long was that they forked out for my visit to TGM in Fleet to have a top class repair, an inconvenience but not the end of the world. As always a great repair from Will at TGM.
So now could really go out and enjoy the car and get some photos, didn't have time for a proper detail but a decent wash, polish and wax got her looking good and ready to strut her stuff.
After spending a few weeks just enjoying the car got in a few more serious detailing products. Some GTechnique Trim Rejuvenator along with some Victoria Concours wax.
The interior plastics do wear but this stuff is pretty impressive at bringing it back up. I do intend to do either some carbon fibre wrapping (using actual carbon fibre not vinyl) or hydro dip some of the panels soon but this will suffice for now. The Victoria Concours wax is a revelation, fantastic piece of kit.
Next up was the ride height, ordered a set of Teins Springs and had those fitted by the helpful chaps down at the South Coast Workshop.
Whilst up in the air took the chance to look underneath, looks pretty clean.
The outcome I thought gave the car a much better stance, handling wise was much better for road driving (clearly won't be doing any rallying any time soon though!)
Whilst in there the guys removed the engine insulation and the bonnet strut and installed the hydraulic bonnet lifters - with the insulation gone suddenly I could hear the turbo and BOV in all their glory, it was a great drive home.
Also added some bonnet vent bling, just in case anyone was in any doubt as to what model of Celica it is.
I managed to source some under trays off a breaker on eBay which I discovered were missing when the car had the springs fitted. There are a few delicate parts under there so got these installed as soon as they arrived.
Apparently quite common for them to be missing, as over the years they get removed for servicing and never put back again.
Whilst on a Celica forum was chatting with a member who agreed to sell me their chrome kick plates, these were an optional extra on the very late JDM models only and rare as the proverbial hens teeth, so snapped them up and installed them, certainly an improvement over the black plastics.
Getting back to the interior, the dash was looking decidedly sad and dim at night, so went a bit off piste and got some red LEDs. The photo doesn't really do them justice as it makes the centre points look very light when in fact it does have a nice even spread of red across the dash to the naked eye.
[url]
I also had a bit of luck on eBay, won a nearly new set of Rota GTR wheels for a very reasonable price. I also invested in some Vredestein Vorti's and on they went.
So seemed like a good time to run her on the dyno. JDM imports roll out the factory at 255bhp so was pleasantly surprised to see her rack up nearly 281bhp on the rollers.
In between all this I have serviced the car (NGK sparks, Millers Oil etc) and installed an Alpine 10 inch bass speaker.
And thats how far I have got, so far. Car is lovely, a nice mix of performance and practicality. I am tempted by an EBC next but lets wait and see...
It looked decent enough and the spec list was quite impressive, its not the WRC version but had some nice options like sunroof and ABS - I had heard about the pitfalls of Gen 6 GT4s but this guy had clearly spent a small fortune on the car. Completely refitted suspension including the Fig 8s. Retrimmed the interior in leather. TRD goodies adorning the interior. Genuine TRD spats and side skirts. Aussie exhaust and downpipe with a nice HKS BOV. Shiny bits from eBay in the engine bay. Sacco hose kit. Braided brake hoses. Calipers refurbed including seals and pistons. Clutch and Flywheel replaced. HID lights. Alpine head unit and speakers all round fitted. It really did read well as an advert where the guy had spent time and money on the car.
Anyway, I went to look and it was stunning, blew me away. I made an offer an hour later and the following weekend was back at his place exchanging cash and documentation.
A week or so later, the car parked outside my house received and unwanted visit by some builders working on next doors roof. 3 slate tiles flew off and landed on the bonnet. Initially I went mental but then realised I was out there seconds before, it could have been my head.
Anyway short of the long was that they forked out for my visit to TGM in Fleet to have a top class repair, an inconvenience but not the end of the world. As always a great repair from Will at TGM.
So now could really go out and enjoy the car and get some photos, didn't have time for a proper detail but a decent wash, polish and wax got her looking good and ready to strut her stuff.
After spending a few weeks just enjoying the car got in a few more serious detailing products. Some GTechnique Trim Rejuvenator along with some Victoria Concours wax.
The interior plastics do wear but this stuff is pretty impressive at bringing it back up. I do intend to do either some carbon fibre wrapping (using actual carbon fibre not vinyl) or hydro dip some of the panels soon but this will suffice for now. The Victoria Concours wax is a revelation, fantastic piece of kit.
Next up was the ride height, ordered a set of Teins Springs and had those fitted by the helpful chaps down at the South Coast Workshop.
Whilst up in the air took the chance to look underneath, looks pretty clean.
The outcome I thought gave the car a much better stance, handling wise was much better for road driving (clearly won't be doing any rallying any time soon though!)
Whilst in there the guys removed the engine insulation and the bonnet strut and installed the hydraulic bonnet lifters - with the insulation gone suddenly I could hear the turbo and BOV in all their glory, it was a great drive home.
Also added some bonnet vent bling, just in case anyone was in any doubt as to what model of Celica it is.
I managed to source some under trays off a breaker on eBay which I discovered were missing when the car had the springs fitted. There are a few delicate parts under there so got these installed as soon as they arrived.
Apparently quite common for them to be missing, as over the years they get removed for servicing and never put back again.
Whilst on a Celica forum was chatting with a member who agreed to sell me their chrome kick plates, these were an optional extra on the very late JDM models only and rare as the proverbial hens teeth, so snapped them up and installed them, certainly an improvement over the black plastics.
Getting back to the interior, the dash was looking decidedly sad and dim at night, so went a bit off piste and got some red LEDs. The photo doesn't really do them justice as it makes the centre points look very light when in fact it does have a nice even spread of red across the dash to the naked eye.
[url]I also had a bit of luck on eBay, won a nearly new set of Rota GTR wheels for a very reasonable price. I also invested in some Vredestein Vorti's and on they went.
So seemed like a good time to run her on the dyno. JDM imports roll out the factory at 255bhp so was pleasantly surprised to see her rack up nearly 281bhp on the rollers.
In between all this I have serviced the car (NGK sparks, Millers Oil etc) and installed an Alpine 10 inch bass speaker.
And thats how far I have got, so far. Car is lovely, a nice mix of performance and practicality. I am tempted by an EBC next but lets wait and see...
Lovely car. I have always loved the 205's. I did have an ST185 but that was the most unreliable bucket of s
t I have ever owned. That said, I would have another one tomorrow as it was brilliant when it was working.
Glad you changed the wheels, looks much better now. Good power too. What has been done to the motor?
t I have ever owned. That said, I would have another one tomorrow as it was brilliant when it was working.Glad you changed the wheels, looks much better now. Good power too. What has been done to the motor?
Yes I was never a fan of the alloys on the car, but the rest of it is in such good shape it was something to tolerate until I saw something I liked come up - didn't want to pay out full price for wheels and tyres so was looking for used wheels with minimal markings on them. Took a few months of trawling but turned those up eventually, very pleased.
coldel said:
They are very capable cars, much better performance than I gave them credit for. Might sit on this one for a while as they seem to be creeping up in value if they are kept relatively stock.
yeah they are well sorted sports cars. Hopefully the value goes up a bit which will make sure some people at least will look after them. Ive been living in hope that would happen to my corolla one day but i think its destine to be a track car as its worth nothing anymore lol Apexi ECU was excellent on mine, easy to map. I had the blitz ebc as well, 1 bar was what it ran on a stock engine and then 1.4bar on forged pistons. TRD pads were fab for trackdays as well. whiteline adjustable rear ARB made it much more pointy into bends, and it would drift nicely. I had a 3" downpipe but the boost crept a lot with that and the Blitz Nur exhaust, but boy did it sound nice.
i'd have another tomorrow tbh. enjoy your lovely example.
i'd have another tomorrow tbh. enjoy your lovely example.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff