I'm looking at purchasing a 77 Celica GT tommorow night. The price seems a little high for a project car that is not running and has been sitting in a garage for 10 years but it looks like its in amazing condition.
is there anything I should be looking out for that would cause me to not make the purchase? I know my basic way around cars but I want to get more into a project and I just love the way these cars look when done up.
any advice or pointing me in the rite direction would be much appreciated.
Look for rust. Floor pans, wheel arches, trunk area under the carpet... Look for signs of a major wreck. Panels that fit or don't fit right, original spot welds under the hood, uniform gap where panels/hood/hatch meet. Look for missing parts or parts that need replaced. Hunting down various interior bits can be a hassle or get expensive. If the body is solid and the interior is in good shape, the mechanicals can be worked out without too much trouble. Personally, I'd rather deal with a trashed engine than a trashed interior.
Also, where are you from? Please fill it out in your profile. If you are from somewhere where smog is strict, you need to take that into consideration. No need on buying the car, then spending the next few months trying to get it to pass smog.
Also, what's your budget and plans for the car. Is it going to be a daily driver, a track car, a show car, a weekend driver? Each of these has different requirements for the car.
By the way, SKeptic is dead on....interior and body work will kick your butt--mechanical is easy. Check out underneath the car to make sure you don't have any chassis rust through.
77 Celica Liftback GT -- 20r engine with weber 38dges, LC Engineering header, electronic ignition retrofit, 14x7 supra wheels.
ok so I spent a good amount of time looking over the car.
There is rust on just about every edge of the car, not a lot but enough..some of the paint is bubbling in a couple spots. Everything was in the interior of the car and the chassis is strong looking. The hatch back seal had been letting in a good amount of water for some time because the wheel well is quite rusted out, but not all the way through, it looks like the top layer is toast but there is a second layer of steel that wasn't rusted out to much.
All the panels fit smooth and didn't show any sign of a accident.
The engine has not run for about 13 years it sounded like from what the guy told me, he has had it for a year from his uncle, the fluids are all new but he couldn't get it running, he said the fuel pump wasn't working and that when he drained out the gas from after the car had been sitting for the extended period it was pretty nasty and jellied.
My plans for the car would consist of using it as a tool to teach my kids about cars and to have it as a weekend/pleasure ride and eventually a show car.
If the car had the tires shined up and the engine running it would look good now, just not it the rain. The engine wasn't that dirty, looked pretty good and not much oil on any hoses. The tranny looked like it was leaking fluid, and it had been wiped clean before I showed up so I know somethings a problem there.
its a nice looken car and I wan't it, but something is telling me its going to be a lot more work than I'm expecting.
Whether it's worth it depends on how hard a car like this is to come by in your area. I know the pacific NW in the US has a ton of them. That would possibly help you with needed parts. If you feel good about it and you can get a good deal on it, I say go for it. You have spotted enough things that if you ask some questions about them and point them out, you should be able to get the seller to come down on the price if it is a little pricey.
Just my two cents.
77 Celica Liftback GT -- 20r engine with weber 38dges, LC Engineering header, electronic ignition retrofit, 14x7 supra wheels.
I have an irrational fear of rust. I came close to buying an absolutely beautiful dark metallic red RA29 with perfect interior that ran great. Problem was the hatch area was rusted out and there were signs of other rust similar to what you describe. If you are willing to take it to a competent shop and have them fix all the rust the right way, or want to take the time to do it yourself it might be worth it. Fortunately, these cars, while not always easy to find what you are looking for, are still not terribly difficult to track down. In your position I would, and did, pass and keep looking. If the price is reasonable and you know how to do body work yourself it might be worth it.
I've never done an ounce of body work...so yah the rust freeks me out a bit, but I do like learning...hmm...still think his price is double what its worth to me...guess I'll see what he does when I let him know its overpriced
Crazy_Tycoon wrote:I've never done an ounce of body work...so yah the rust freeks me out a bit, but I do like learning...hmm...still think his price is double what its worth to me...guess I'll see what he does when I let him know its overpriced
well he dropped the price and I think I'll be picking it up this week. I'll post some photos...1st problem is getting the engine running, fuel pump isn't working aparently. time to start getting dirty
