1stGenCelica.com

Hello all, im glad and proud to say that i am a new father to a 73 celica st! really, she's my baby. my baby was healthy and running when i first laid eyes on her. i'll post up pics asap (it's night time), and man she's sweeeeeeeet.

i first fell in love with nostagic cars, since my neighbor (old phillipino man) decided to sell me his 74 corolla 4dr. i got so much recognition i dropped all love for everything, and planned on owning a bad @$$ classic toyota. i had then sold my 74 rolla, and planned on getting a ra21 celica. i has seen a bad @$$ one at toytafest long beach ca queen mary.

so i found another phillipino man with a very stock and clean 73 celica st. color is gold, but i can tell it was painted years ago. i can really say that the car was 100% complete. hey even a/c worked. the seller just went through the process of reupholstering the interior seats, installed single weber car, new piping, and complete tune-up. oh and body was 9 out of ten. very minor rust bubbles, but luckily its all surface and paint. very little though. it came with smiley bumpers, and original st trunk luggage rack. the man wanted 4000 for the celica. we then came to an agreement, and i purchased the car.

i drove the celica back home (1 hour away) with no probs or overheating. hey i drove 80mph. except for the normal 37 year old squeaks and squeels, my baby ran fine.

since i'm new to these older celicas, i hope i can meet a lot of enthusiast just like me, and learn a lot. i'll be all over this site reading and posting. hope to hear you opinions and advices. thanks 1GC! PEACE

congratulation with your baby
you will have a lot of fun with it so take good care of here
(do you have some pics?)
faffi

73celi562 wrote: i has seen a bad @$$ one at toytafest long beach ca queen mary.

Whos did you see? Are they in here?

Welcome aboard by the way!

Phillipino and classic Toyotas seems to be a popular combination. I wonder why the Phillipino girl I used to hang out with (just friends) always made fun of my RA29? Hmm.. I wonder if I'm allowed to tease my half-Mexican wife 'cause she drives a Chebby truck? 'Course with a Sicilian grandmother you're not going to see me driving a Fiat.

Congrats on finally getting the car you want, treat it right, fix it up, and show us pictures!

yes filipinos and toyota goes together espcially in PI. nice find pls send pics quickly. and welcome.

1jz, i think i saw your car at toyota fest, correct me if i'm wrong. but the ra21 i saw was in the parkinglot and not in the show. it was two toned, black and silver. i did catch pictures goong through toyota fest pics online.

thanks all for welcoming. i am actually taking some pics of my baby right now. i just picked up some konig rewinds 15x7 and threw them on. my baby is growing so fast. she has a more aggressive look, especially taking off the pimp my ride rims that came with the car. but my front tires are rubbing the fenders. i sort of rushed it, i didnt lower the front yet. i'm hoping once i lower her, the tires won't rub anymore.

i'll give you guys updates soon, with pics. if i figure out how to upload the pics. any advice?

1jz, actually, i went through my pictures of toyotafest, and i have a couple pics of your car.

Two tone I guess you could call it that. I talked to hundreds of people that day so sorry if I dont recall you. I will be there this year but not with the car.....Bummer. Waiting for pictures of your baby though.

testing...

Wow, Grats

A nice clean looking car for sure.

You mentioned the tires rubbing:

73celi562 wrote:i just picked up some konig rewinds 15x7 and threw them on, but my front tires are rubbing the fenders. i sort of rushed it, i didnt lower the front yet. i'm hoping once i lower her, the tires won't rub anymore.

Are they rubbing on the top inside lip of the fenders, at the top of the tire?
> If so it maybe the offset of the rims, and if it is only a little (eg: not slicing up the sidewall of your tires) then a little fender rolling will easily fix it.
> If somewhere else, let us know, pic of location would be good to help solve the issue.

Usually lowering a car won't help stop tires rubbing, if anything it can make it worse or make it rub when it didn't before lowering.


Pete

75celicagt, thanks for the advice. i'll take some pics asap and post. i believe it is rubbing on the lower outside of the fender. when i turn left, it rubs on the passenger side. its not as bad when i turn right, but it still rubs on hard turns.

That may be an easy fix too, you may just need to adjust the steering stops. They are screw type bump stops on the steering knuckle arm that can be adjusted so it limits the maximum turn when it hits on the lower control arm.

You may be getting more rubbing on one side than the other because they are set individually for each side. Again it is a symptom of either wheel offset, rim and/or tire width or a combination of those; compared to the stock tires/wheels.

Pete

i will look into the steering knuckle first thing tomorrow morning, and upload some pics. the wheels are 15x7 0 offset on 195/50/15. so i'll just have to adjust it, so it will minimize how far you can turn?

Pete, nice gt by the way. i went through your pictures, and see the work you went through with your car. very nice. i'm hoping i can do the same and step by step learn more about these older celicas. and replace and repair this car myself, instead of relying on shops and others. did you get the retro radio by the way? i seen your picture, and would love to get more details on it.

hopefully i'm not making this posting more then what it should have. i apologize if i'm sort of going off on random subjects. its just that i cant eat or sleep since my baby. lol.

73celi562 wrote:i will look into the steering knuckle first thing tomorrow morning, and upload some pics. the wheels are 15x7 0 offset on 195/50/15. so i'll just have to adjust it, so it will minimize how far you can turn?

Yes, but not by much, it is just meant to keep the tires from rubbing on the body, mostly on the frame side, but depending on fitment it may help on the fender side as well. I doubt you will notice much difference in turning radius if that is your concern.

73celi562 wrote:Pete, nice gt by the way. i went through your pictures, and see the work you went through with your car. very nice. i'm hoping i can do the same and step by step learn more about these older celicas. and replace and repair this car myself, instead of relying on shops and others. did you get the retro radio by the way? i seen your picture, and would love to get more details on it.

Thanks , and Yes I got the radio, I just need time to put it in. Hopefully this month, depending on work / family / and other projects. A lot of people have been asking so I may do this sooner than later on my project list.

73celi562 wrote:hopefully i'm not making this posting more then what it should have. i apologize if i'm sort of going off on random subjects. its just that i cant eat or sleep since my baby. lol.

You can always start a new Project thread


Pete