89' Toyota GT-Four Lightweight

[squareflops]

Hello all,

If this post seems a little disjointed at all I've pulled it off the alltrac.net page that I posted on recently. Hopefully I've made it coherent.

I've been meaning to post up here for a while. I've got a 19 page thread on the GT4OC from day 1 on the LW; nothing too revolutionary but it's all there. This is what it currently looks like









89' Lightweight version with E152F gearbox. Box for everyday driving is pretty terrible imo. I'd never get rid of it as it keeps the car authentic, I'm having it rebuilt soon by wolfiehere. It does just about 80mph in 4th @ around 6000rpm. I don't like revving on too much but 80 is simply too slow for pressing on; even in lanes. The jump to 5th is bizarre as 5th is the standard E150F ratio; therefore it goes from all the revs to bogging down and coming off boost.

I pitted the LW against an E30 touring with a 328i M52 conversion and we we're equal until 80mph. I went into 5th - he sailed past and I gave up. A weird Toyota choice on ratios.

The Lightweight also differs from the standard model with

manual windows
no elec aeriel
no telescopic on steering adjust
grey cloth interior-lighter (replaced with sr3 recaros)
thinner headlining
no abs
no elec fold mirrors
no led rear spoiler

It has the following mods

Mines p&p ECU
CT20 turbo from a 205 WRC with manual boost controller running a few psi over standard
Golpher rad with twin Spals
Late spec single pot front callipers with Pagid pads and grooved discs
7X17 ET47 OZ Roulettes. These will soon have 25mm H&R hubcentric spacers fitted
Momo Competition Steering wheel
Excel G suspension
custom 2.5" turbo back stainless system
new 205 rear subframe and diff + arms and 205 hubs

It spends most of its time sat in the garage and normally comes out during good weather (assuming we have any in a given year)

Plans in the next 3 months are

BC coilovers
bespoke uprated braking system front and rear
rebuilt E152F box
the above mentioned roof scoops

lots of service items replacing on the engine such as leads, distributor etc

orignal post edited with a bit more info.

and a few pics relating to the above

firstly my old ata (air to air)





as I found the LW



The N/S rear bearing had seized in the hub so the car was off the road due to excess play. The hub was removed, put into a bucket of diesel for a week then put in a 40 tonne press, it mullered the end of the shaft. Solution was to replaced the entire back end after freshening it up a little









getting ready to strip the rear end





old subframe dropped



notice the ratchet strap onto the rear towing eye. I was undoing a nut with a power bar and lifted the back end of the car off the lift



wrapped decat



how it looked a while ago



can't remember what was being done here



2.5" stainless being fitted





Rad going in, the air con rad was removed at this point



The Recaro(s) before fitting



wheels going on



and how it looks now



and dyno print out

[squareflops]

Cheers rumple - the seats are apparently out of an Evo 4

BF - got to love the 18x shape, still looks good today

Edited by squareflops on Tuesday 4th December 20:44

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Thanks Maty, totally agree, still a very pretty car. My only quibble is it's a narrow body. If it was a wide body version it would be perfect but I'm more than happy with it.

All the pictures I have of the interior



didn't notice my thumb when I took this









older pics with standard wheel and seats

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Mr MXT said:

Looks nice. Wierd Toyota went with thinner headlining, but kept the air con!

Cheers!

This is the biggest irony of all. The LW version was roughly 40kg lighter than the standard GT-Four. Aircon is roughly - 40kg

I believe it was an option when new so someone thought it was a good idea to fit it. I'm in the process of removing it

[squareflops]

Thanks guys always nice when someone takes the time to comment.

Agree with the wheels to some extent Paul, tbh I shouldn't have given away sold the 15" roulettes quite so easily but the 17" are kind of the holy grail so I had to have them (even if thy do have a weak et47 offset) and my forthcoming brake setup won't fit under 15s anyway so hey ho..

It's quite poorly at the moment, a hot start problem plagues it and it's now running on 3 cylinders. All will be sorted soon when it gets trailored away for some much needed tlc and aforementioned upgrades

Can't believe I almost sold it a few months ago

[squareflops]

bottom end failure is very rare especially on cars that have had regular maintenance. Head gaskets on the other hand! they're the ones to worry about..

[squareflops]

cheers again..

Bar - head gasket can run into many £100s still if head work needs to be done but yes slightly less imposing. You're right with pricing, Celicas tend to be the runt of the litter when it comes to 4x4 rally bred hatchbacks, I find it odd how an escort cosworth commands so much more for example. Prices I would say are rock bottom at the moment for the celicas and have been for some time. high mile example 185s with tatty paint work and a 'yo' stereo go for sub 1k all day but they're the money pits. The cheapest part of these cars; as I'm sure is true with many others is the purchase price. You can expect to change

clutch
timing belt and tensioner
suspension
wheel bearings
turbo
arb bushes

for starters to freshen things up. Then the modifications start if you're so inclined and then things get expensive

It's the relative youngsters who see that they can have a 'rally car' for 1k and purchase only to find the horrendous 'to do' list/running costs and sell at a loss to get rid, driving prices down even further. I believe the Celica marque suffers more so than some others in this regard.

I advertised the LW a few moths ago (I had designs on an E46 330Ci Sport) and priced it at £3500. No bids. £3200 was the reduced price and had one interesting but ultimately fruitless enquiry. Any less than 3k and I'd have been mad to let it go; it 'owes' me 5 (It doesn't owe me anything as I never intended to spend money with a view to getting it back on a sale)

In summary yes; cheap to buy and if you're lucky there are some great examples out there, pay 3k and you'd find a lovely one, pay 1k and take your chance but expect to spend double that on bringing it up to a decent (standard) level.

thank you wayne, nawt wrong with a gti, I hear they go very well, and it'll be lighter than mine, cheaper to run and just as much fun I'm sure

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james yea I see these in plenty of cars, very comfy they are too..

Bar - Monster didn't last long with me, didn't give me energy so much as made me twitch and feel mild paranoia

epom I agree, it's on the list of things to do, quite far down but still there. I had custom decals made up for the 15" roulettes and need to do the same with these. Should set them off nicely. They've recently been refurbed hence the missing decals

edit: epom - let's see the RC then

Edited by squareflops on Friday 7th December 19:29

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Bar it's an interesting point and that would have sorted things. I believe the limiting factor is space inside the box and around the engine bay. Quaife developed a 6 speed box for these and they had to 'tag' on 6th outside the box itself (this is my very rudimentary understanding of the Quaife box) and therefore it was very susceptible to sloppy shifting, one bad shift and it scuppered the box.

I'm sure Toyota could have come up with a better design themselves at inception though.

Lewis have to agree, should look more purposeful when I fit the wheel spacers (longer 63mm studs received today). Infuriatingly Interesting the splines on the longer studs are finer (and taller) than the standard studs. This means the longer studs won't pull through the hub without machining. I'm going to need to have the studs splines machined down so they physically pull through whilst still providing an interference fit. Nothings ever simple..

Some random pics

on Vixpys rollers in Surrey









Having a compression test done @ South Wales Tuning in Caerphilly



190 across all 4 cylinders. Most importantly the readings were consistent however 190 is too high a ratio, should be around 160 which leads me to believe the heads been skimmed in the past and a standard head gasket used. Not ideal but hey ho.

pulling out the AC gubbins



exhaust being fitted @ Prospeed in Cardiff







ST205 rear brake setup that I never got around to fitting and sold on. They would have been handy to have now.

Few pics from a while ago









Having alignment done @ A&A Tyres on Hadfield Road Cardiff





Things were pretty out before hand



changing the rear arb drop links

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very nice BF, looks brand new! you happy with it?

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bit of an update.

Cars been languishing in the garage for a few months. It's been collected today by Warner @ Lewis Rally Sport and is going to get some much needed maintenance and fettling.

In the last few weeks I replaced all of the ignition components from TCB in a hope to fix the miss-fire. I replaced the coil, all leads inc' HT, distributor cap and rotor arm, 4 plugs. It still miss-fired

So with the whole ignition system being new it's likely to be two things - injector or rings have gone in a cylinder. Number 3 plug was wet when I pulled it out so No 3 is the likely culprit. I'll find out soon after a compression test. I'm hoping it's an injector!

Maintenance list is

Fix the miss-fire
Fix the battery discharge problem
Sort the hot start problem
Change the fuel filter
remove air con pump (around 25kg on the front of the block)
anything else that comes up, gaskets, water pump etc

More interesting bits

Changing from air to air inter cooling to charge cooling (using fluid not air to cool the intake charge)
As I'm fitting the charge cooler I'm replacing the a2a bonnet with a FB CS unit with aerocatch bonnet catches which should save quite a few kilos also
Fitting a paddle clutch or OS Giken Super Single depending on costs
Fitting front and rear brakes from an ST205 with Lexus IS 200 front discs
H&R 25mm spacers front and rear
Suspension built to Group N spec
an exact replica TTE 4 pod lamp pod that sits between the standard lights
Set of mudflaps front and rear
replacing the slightly chavvy jap spec exhaust with a more functional rear section

Think that's about it.

So off the car goes





always nice to see naked ladies on service vehicles



When it's back it'll look and drive a little differently

[squareflops]

Thanks bud.

Few more pics that I took before she went because ... who doesn't like pics of stuff





and this is Warners/the Lewis Rally Sport TTE replica



Just got a call from, preliminary tests suggest injector rather than engine failure. phew, that frees up some more money for fun stuff

[squareflops]

Cheers guys, I'm hoping the plan I have for it will enhance the look and retain the original idea behind the Lightweight model built for rallying purposes.

Duncan the ST162 is a rare car nowadays, always easy to look back and think "wish i'd kept that!" thinking the same with my classic mini.

The boots certainly are huge, can fit two freeride (large) mountain bikes in there with lots of room to spare, although that might change if I decide to go for a cage in the future

Thanks Lee, any pics of ur CS, always like to see another 185. Yea when the Roulettes in 17" came up I had to have them, they're the only set I've seen for sale so shows how relatively rare they are.

Thanks again for the comments guys.

A very small update, the ST205 re-engineered brakes are being taken off the 600bhp time attack ST185 originally from Japan (if they stopped that they should stop mine) tomorrow and being sent to LRS so glad I could acquire those. I could have gone for Fiat Coupe Turbo calipers with bespoke discs and bells up front and AP calipers on rear but the Toyota setup keeps the promise of a balanced system and retains the manufacturer 'purity' so these two things appeal over a different setup.

[squareflops]

Right well..

Call from LRS and number 3 cylinder is very likely shot i.e. ring land failure not good news. Way forward is a basic rebuild with a 2nd hand known good bottom end, new bearings etc and a crank regrind / polish and fit to my head.

The up side is (forever the optimist I am) is that having this happen now means I have a little disposable cash to cope with this eventuality, and at least it's happened now when the car is in the perfect place to be worked on rather than a far more inconvenient time.

In addition while the engines out the head gasket can be replaced along with new water/oil pump etc so I'll have a good strong/refreshed base to work from.

Ahh well - just means a few things will have to come off the 'nice to have' list

Nothing will be done for the next week or so but there'll be lots of pictures once the rebuild starts so I'll update when things start rolling.

[squareflops]

cheers Duncan, It'll be reet.. Hopefully a little bit cooler soon.

Leo yea the DP did make quite a difference, allowed the turbo spool noise to be heard a bit more

[squareflops]

Little bit of an update.

Having decided to refresh the engine; Warners (Lewis Rally Sport) dropped a build spec that's being completed at the moment. Spec is as follows:

Helix organic clutch kit the Helix is £425 and with expected power goals of around 260chp an OEM organic clutch will cope just fine @ around £90 so money can be put aside for other things
ACL bottom end race bearing kit
Cometic HG
Crank grind and re polish and balance
Toyota pistons ring set
Toyota rocker cover gasket set
Oil filter
VR1 10 50 oil
Toyota head bolts
cam belt kit with idler
Toyota cam belt tensioner
re cut and lap valves
head skim
5 litres gearbox mineral oil - hopefully will make it a little smoother and last a little longer
New Toyota oil pump

Block is being re honed so will need to be run in - could be a tense first few 100 miles ensuring this is carried out correctly..

I'm having the 205 (well, Lexus IS200) discs from the Wasp (a 600ish hp Japanese imported time-attack ST185) skimmed and fitted front and rear to match the altered ST205 four pots up front and twin pot rears. Plus some new grp N spec suspension.

Given the decision to refresh the engine it hasn't left much for chargecooler etc at the moment so that will have to wait.

Not a bad little list though.

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Just found the thread I'll have to have a read. Should put this on there maybe..

Thanks for the comments bud, there's some very highly specced 205s for sale at the moment for low money but can't deny the Evo is another 'must have', always time for another 4

Off to read RR for a bit

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Update - ish time

Spent this morning/early afternoon at LRS today, didn't have anything too specific to go for but was curious to see Warners workshop and have a discussion about a few of the smaller changes to be made. Warner kindly took the time to show me around, his unit is a lot bigger than I first thought with some very tasty machinery inside. the tour continued to see a BDC drfit Volvo estate which has a BMW V8 in it which sounds amazing and a chat to the owner which was good.

I got a chance to see my engine ready and waiting to go in next week and a 4 paddle clutch which Warner is having refurbed with new paddle material. Also saw my brakes from the the donor 185 there, they look bloody huge, the thing should stop well.

Also saw some very business looking suspension that's being fitted and I'm having a whiteline arb put on too.

Was nice to see the LW again and looking forward to a possible delivery date of next Friday, not too far away

Given the engine rebuild; the CS bonnet, charge cooler setup and TTE lamp pod will have to wait but that's not the end of the world.

It should go, handle and stop nicely when it's done

[squareflops]

engine waiting to be run in



hard to get perspective on the discs/calipers (they're huuuge) but here we see a front 4 pot complete with rusty disc and a rear 2 pot to the left of the shot.

The discs are going to be skimmed to ensure they're smooth and straight and new pads are going in the rears. Notice the disc has been machined to accept a 5X100 pcd, will be a little bit of a potch when it comes to renew them but thankfully they won't have to be machined/replaced that often



and the paddle clutch which will be re surfaced before being fitted

Edited by squareflops on Tuesday 18th June 16:56

Edited by squareflops on Sunday 30th June 18:54

[squareflops]

Cheers Chunt - I have considered it. There's a few reasons why I don't think I'll go for it.

The more efficient charge cooler (or inter heater as you refer to it ) system is more in keeping with the period of the car as it will be when it's done; the CS/RC and TTE Celicas (making a very lose connection) all ran charge cooler setups rather than front mounts so the LW will be more 'period'

Front mounts are more suited (in my mind) to the bodykit/sound install/dropped to the ground clique. It's a bit yo for me.

It adds weight to forward of the front axle. Not a huge amount admittedly but these are known for their under-steer as it is so I'm reluctant add even more weight to the very front of the car.

This next point is an unlikely but I saw a rally (stage prepped and I've seen it over Epynt recently) Four whilst at Warners yesterday that made me think also. That car had a front mount and at some point it had taken a large hit to the front bumper that had crushed the core quite badly. Mine is unlikely to be ever be 'competitively' driven but the core will be the first solid thing that gets hit if I decide to stuff it into something immovable

The charge cooler setup sees consistently controlled temps up to around 300/350hp by all accounts from the research that has been done on them, I'll be over the moon if I'm running 280, plus mine won't get driven under high load for extended periods - almost ever.

The inter warmer moniker can really refer to the air to air top mount of the non CS/RC 185 GT-Fours. They really are worse than useless..