TA22 Celica Resto and Upgrade

[OlberJ]

Thought i should post this up on behalf of my mate who took on this 1970's Celica for a complete rebuild.

It's an ST 1600, 70k miles and very solid chassis. Body work needs attention but that's the easy bit

Some pictures :











Here's the ickle original engine, won't be here for long.



So much space in that bay it would be a shame let it go to waste. So what's the answer? a 1UZ-FE, Supra turbo gearbox and a rear axle still to be decided on.

The engine etc will be out in a couple of weeks then it's off to get media blasted to see exactly how much work it needs. Then we'll get in and about the body welding, transmission tunnel remodelling and designing the cage.

Car will be stripped out in the rear, buckets in the front and minimal interior.

Will be painted black with some dished wheels and once we're up and running then we can start looking at S/C's

Should be a long build this one but cannot wait until it's on the road.


Cheers,
Olie

[OlberJ]

Everything is now stripped off the car, just engine and box and prop shaft to come out now.

[LandingSpot]

That looks like a big project! I wish you all the luck in the world and will be following it closely! Looking forward to the day it rolls out looking pristine!

Approximately how many man-hours goes in to a resto project like this?

[Marf]

Excellent project, can't wait to see the finished results

[OlberJ]

LandingSpot said:

Approximately how many man-hours goes in to a resto project like this?

Don't like to contemplate it i'm afraid. But if i must.

6 hours stripping the car,
Say another 3 for the engine and box etc.
5 hours media blasting
10 hours bodywork welding roughly
5 hours transmission tunnel and engine mounts
5 hours on cage building
10 hours on the engine rebuild, clean and prep, attaching flywheels and gearboxes etc
Painting will probably be done by body shop
5 hours wiring
10 hours on the manifolds and exhaust system
5 hours re-fitting all the rest of the wiring and random parts

Plus god knows how many hours tinkering and swearing and faffing about with it.

Will be done in spare time/weekends so don't expect it ready too quickly.

[RB26DETT]

That is fantastic

More pictures please.

[jsg612]

What a brilliant project. Please keep the thread updated with progress.

[150bhp]

Looks a big project, look forward to the updates.

[Diesel Meister]

This project is over-flowing with full-fat Awesome Sauce - make it so

[OlberJ]

Ha, cheers DM. Managed to get some time in the hot seat with yer beasty yet?

[JFReturns]

OlberJ said:

That scares me!

Good luck with the project, I'll keep an eye out on this thread. There is something very cool about retro jap cars restored with a massive / powerful engine (and Rota wheels...?)

[Diesel Meister]

OlberJ said:

Ha, cheers DM. Managed to get some time in the hot seat with yer beasty yet?

V8s are the shizzle.

No time with my car yet to due to work - currently done about 350 miles, most of that on the way back from WS. Car now has a flat battery. It's a tragic tale. Determined to get it running by month end!

Good luck with the Celica mate - lovely cars

[OlberJ]

JFReturns said:

OlberJ said:

That scares me!

Good luck with the project, I'll keep an eye out on this thread. There is something very cool about retro jap cars restored with a massive / powerful engine (and Rota wheels...?)

Ach it's no that bad, you just copy the shape then cut it all out and weld in the new metal.

It's actually quite solid, we've really battered the rusty bits and the holes are as big as they're getting so once they're blasted we can cut and weld with complete satisfaction

[emicen]

10hrs welding? You seem to have missed a zero.

[gary71]

Good to see an old motor making a comeback

emicen said:

10hrs welding? You seem to have missed a zero.

Maybe 10 hours for the actual welding, but that's like the 5 minutes of glory at the end of countless hours cutting, shaping, cutting a bit more (repeat until bored), grinding, linishing and cleaning up.

I've just spent a happy 30+ hours replacing the rear longit/spring pan/floor on my brother in law's Stag. Just got to do the other side now!

[OlberJ]

There's really not THAT much rust (that i can see) it's really just at the front and rear of the window frames as you can see above.

The floor pan is near mint, engine bay solid as you like, bottom of the body work also good.

Rear light surrounds do need some work and there's the modifications to do but not really a pile of welding.

Looking forward to getting it blasted and then getting stuck into it.

[gary71]

Getting it blasted is the right way of doing it, makes prep so much easier as you can see what your are doing!

I look forward to the gory blow by blow repair updates!

[OlberJ]

Was looking at a soda blaster last night with the idea of doing it at home but it's not been recommended for the bodywork, too much chance of heat warping.

Any recommendations for blasting media? Wall nut shells? Sand? Glass?

[gary71]

Hi, Cleaning Consultants in Billingshurst, West Sussex come recommended from those that restore old 911s for a living (not used them myself). As far as I know they use a combination of walnut (for aggresive blasting) and a lightweight plastic media for the fine stuff.

01403 752247 if you wanted to give them a shout

[OlberJ]

Cheers for that, shame they are at the opposite end of the country to us here in Glasgow

No point scrimping here and trying it at home mind you, may as well get someone with more experience in to do it once and do it right. Rotisserie will help too.