new to the forum with potential project 73-74 (ra21) *PICS*

[taman86]

hey everyone, signed up recently and been browsing around. i feel that with many nostalgic cars, a background story is in order.

I am 24 with a family and for a very long have wanted to restore a 1st gen celica. My dad had a 75, and for as long as i can remember in my childhood it was there until i was about 10 years old then there is a time gap there which i dont remember too well. then when i was about 14 he gave it to me and my brother. i tinkered on it but didnt know the an intake manifold from an exhaust manifold. when i was 17 i joined the army for 5 years and returned home in 2009. well now when i have the knowledge, time, and most importantly money i was wanting to get it running again and restore it. when i go back to the property, its gone and no-one knows what happened to it. well recently i was driving into town and and looked out the passenger window randomly and spotted that ever so noticeable 4 round light front end back behind a couple houses. so i thought a couple days ago i would go inspect it and see what kind of condition it is in. after walking up to it, its in very rough shape.

it has the original wheels on it with hub caps, smiley bumpers, and tail lights that looks to be either a 73 or 74. it appears that it has been sitting for at least a decade. the windows have been left down and the entire interior is weather rotted, the front seats are rotted to the frames, and the inside panel on the driver side passenger 1/4 window is rusted to the point of being ate away. that is just what i have looked at and walked off, but i imagine the engine would be in rough shape if it has been parked for this long.

so i am wondering what kind of $$$ some of you have spent on a project like this just to get the car driveable, with decently restored interior to be functional. this would be a project that i will tackle myself with a budget of 5000 including the price of the car if anything, who knows maybe they will just hand over the title. i am still not sure if it will be a resto or resto mod with more of a sport interior with racing seats and such. any input will be greatly appreciated.

[Kylehugo]

Cool story! Too bad about the 75 just disappearing though (I too hate it when my cars do that) but lucky finding one in your own town.
Depending on we're you are, rusty is pretty much all you are going to find if your not in California, but it's still hard to tell if it could be a good buy but without pics it's pretty hard for us to tell.
Unless you're good with a welder, sewing machine, and a paint gun, 5k may not get you too far, but then again that all depends on the initial level of the car and the state you want it finished in. And if you need any parts, contacting member groupb would be the way to go.

Good luck and welcome

[taman86]

Well as far as pics go I'm not too sure. The town where the car is located and where I live is in southern az. Its mostly rusted from just being exposed. The outside is straight and intact with surface rust from what I can remember. The interior is what has been hurt the most being openly exposed to the weather with the windows down. I think for right now, I would want to get the interior functional, not completely restored and get the car driving again.

[slowmo]

If your goal is to restore the car for the sake of saving that particular car or for the enjoyment, then that may be a good candidate. Like was said earlier, if you've got resources and ability to weld (or learn to) and access to body work tools and supplies, you MAY be able to pull it off for $5,000 ish. If you go that route, a resto--mod would be the way to go. It gets REALLY expensive when you start buying all of the original pieces, especially the rare ones like emblems and interior pieces.

That being said, you would be FAR better off starting off with a car in good shape, especially the body and interior. The drivetrain is easy to source. Those interior parts and some of the body panels are hard to find unless you find someone parting out one.

An option might be to get the car if you can for free or REALLY cheap and start tinkering/practicing on it. If it turns out to be too much work, then you can use it as a parts car and purchase another one in better condition or part it out and sell bits to other people.

Good luck. Picks would be helpful. It may not be as bad as it looks. Some could be cosmetic.

Welcome aboard the crazy train!

[taman86]

thank you guys for the advise. ill try and get some pics, may be a few days and see what the owner wants to do with it.

[taman86]

k, i got some pics today and looked over the car a lil bit better. i tried finding the owner but i ended up leaving a note on the door of the house where the car is located behind. with my first quick look over from a distance i guessed a 73-74 and i think i was dead on. i looked at the vin plate and could make out ra21. my guess is that it has been sitting for around 10 years give or take a couple years. the car is 100% intact and straight but in very rough shape on the inside. outside appears just to be surface rust.

[taman86]

so what do you guys think, be driving with a $5000 budget. i think i will pull the 18r in it and swap it unless theres a good reason to keep it, and rebuild the tranny and rear end and rebuild the suspension. i don't want to restore it for the sake of 100% original nastalgia value. in my opinion i dont think it would be that much fun. i do however want it to be solid and safe inside and out. if the guages are shot ide replace em with aftermarkets and the front seats for sure with aftermarkets. so that leaves the dash pad, door internals, headliner, carpet, rear seat, side panels and the rear deck behind the backseat since the fiber board is completely toast.

[taman86]

what do you guys think? project car to be driveable with a 5k budget or move onto something else. there are a few 77 LB's for sale within a few hours of my place in decent condition with the highest price of 2500. i know it would make more sense to buy one that is driving for less money then it would take to get this ra21 running, but i'm not a fan of the lift backs for some reason. i like the exterior but i dont care for the color of the interiors and i think they are all autos that are for sale and i dont want to do alot of fabrication work to swap tranny's. also, i feel that i cant justify tearing apart 35 year old original interior in decent condition. i prefer to start with a blank page and make it how i want and not feel guilty about it.

[faffi]

I think you have to follow your heart,
but if you want to it thoroughly a 5k budget is gonna be narrow
maybe look for a coupé thats is a better condition

[exodus]

my

with a $5000 budget, you can find a decent shaped, running celica for that much....

keep looking on the forums here and contact santos.. he always have running ones for around your price range...

that one is complete yes, but might be surprises later on....

[taman86]

Valid points. Thanx for the response and advice guys. Maybe ill use this one for parts

[TA28Dutch]

Valid points. Thanx for the response and advice guys. Maybe ill use this one for parts

Smart move! It looks like it does have some salvagable smileys though. Not many of those around in your part of the world.