Hopefully a soon to be new owner of a Gen 1 Celica

[dsc201knoc]

So, Im damon... I have commonly been referred to as JDMIAM for the last 16 years or so. As in 'I AM JDM' I grew up on Japanese cars (it was the only thing i could afford at the time).

I went through a few different, Hondas and Acuras in my younger years and used to rock an old 280zx as trade for repair work i did on the car. I have had a few other odds and ends in the JDM cars before moving to italy.

I moved to italy and got my first BMW and Mercedes. Some old 80s cars with a 1984 316i and a 1988 Merc 300ce. I really started loving some euros.. Well from 2007-2012 it was 98% euros from there on. 10 BMWs, 2 Mercs, 2 Fitas, and a porsche. Some new some old, varying from 1980-2013MYs..

Well, In december i was moved to the west coast and I started realizing that my heart will probably be little 4 cyl JDM cars. So I decided all my toys must go to make room for a JDM classic.

I mean who doesnt want an old school 70s KGC10 oe KPG10 Skyline... I dont have money like that, I never have... Where can I find a happy alternative? The Gen 1 Celica.

So over the last few weeks, I have been selling cars off that i hav had in storage. I decided to sell my 1991 318iS e30 Coupe that i built from the ground up, a 1982 Volvo 244 Turbo Custom, a 1987 Honda CRX Si, a 1979 Fiat x1/9 Bertone 1.5L 5 Spd (Still available) and two motorcycles for funds to build a gen 1 celica. The motorcycles are a 1974 Yamaha Enduro Tracker build, and a 1982 Yamaha 920cc Chopper.

Dont get it twisted, I dont have that much money, I just dont go out ever, cars are really my life besides work and my family. I dont drink or smoke, or even go out unless it has something to do 'automotive related' I serve in the military in special operations in healthcare. I really feel in the end I will be doing something more in the automotive aspect. I have designed parts for BMW, and also have worked on 33 of my own vehicles in the last 15 years, not to include a relatively long list of BMWs I worked on after I would get out of work doring normal duty days and the weekend.

I consider myself one of the true community based vehicle enthusiasts left floating around. I watch the video of the Jap Performance Parts Celica and I know how that guy feels, I know he gets it. I have had my ups and downs in the automotive community. Literally refusing to help anyone in the BMW community because of how people were treating my kindness and how much people will take and god forbid you need a ride to get a new car and its the end of the world.

For my automotive skills? Well I have no formal automotive skills other than 15 years of experience in just about whatever I want to be done. My brother is a senior tech over at Merchant Tire in Raleigh, NC.. My best friend has a degree in Automotive Technology and really all the people around me always have liked cars. Funny story.... I was born in the back seat of a car in route to the hospital in San Antonio Texas.. I wish i could find my BC that actually said "In route to hospital" under hospital name.

So I specialize in electronics and automotive wiring, its something that just comes to me and makes sense. I just started welding and fabrication with my last e30 project and I love it. With welding the sky is the limit, anything can be made or done. that makes me super I have done work with fiberglass inside and outside creating panels and other parts, basic stero installation to advanced wireing, engine swaps to transmission swaps. Custom pieced together parts, you name it, ill try it.

So, how does this fit me into celicas? Well Im looking for a coupe or a liftback gen 1, I have found a few on the west coast but i dont want a finished car.. What am i supposed to do with a finished car? When all is said and done i have accumulated around 8800-9800 dollars to get a celica, get some enkei wheels and tires, smiley bumpers (cant do the big us style bumpers), spoiler, T3 suspension upgrades, Interior upgrades, dual carb side draft kit (I guess for the price i could just consider purchasing the beams motor and trans for later) and then some odds and ends.

Later, maybe a 3sge swap with the 6 speed... I have been trolling this page and the classic celica page for a few weeks now while im on deployment attempting to figure out what would be the perfect fit for me. I found an 81 in my area; however, im concerned that the 81 will not do it for me and in a few months ill be wishing i got a gen 1.

I found one about 700 miles away in cali that seems to be a good fit for where i want to be. I look forward to being a part of another passionate community, and I hope when I get back August 1 from this deployment my search for the perfect coupe or liftback will be successful.

Damon Wilson

Some Previous projects:

2010 MINI Cooper S Laurel 1/1000 (240hp)


2008 BMW 135i (330hp 330tq)


2004 Subie WRX (294hp, 310tq)


1998 BMW M3


1997 BMW M3 and 1995 BMW M3


1988 BMW 325e


1997 BMW 328is


1988 Merc 300CE


The list continues feel free to check out other cars and projects at my flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/auto_courant/

My Facebook side company page, auto_COURANT:
https://www.facebook.com/autocourant/photos_albums

or even my personal facebook that has all the photos of my different vehicles over the years:
https://www.facebook.com/jdmiam4901/photos_albums

Have a great day!

(PS: this is a clone into as the same one i posted on classic celics forum)

[RafRA25]

Great story! Great cars too! Good luck in finding your celica sir!

[dsc201knoc]

Great story! Great cars too! Good luck in finding your celica sir!

Thanks, I really am excited about this.. I really feel like i have been missing something driving euros that I havent got since my old CRX days. These older cars are cool, they have character. I dont need speed, all it does is get me in trouble.. Low and Slow is how all my buddies ride now..

[Im jhun_hapi]

welcome... couple of Qs for we can help u better. can u pls put ur loc on ur avatar. whats ur budget? jst the shell? im pretty sure ur lookin for as much rust/bondo free and complete car. good luck..

Rocky

[acacg]

Nice cars. welcome.

[dsc201knoc]

welcome... couple of Qs for we can help u better. can u pls put ur loc on ur avatar. whats ur budget? jst the shell? im pretty sure ur lookin for as much rust/bondo free and complete car. good luck..

Rocky

Updating time now... I have a budget of around 6800 right now... I have some people making payments for some of the cars i have sold so total budget will be around 8800. I dont want a complete car per say just a nice running one overall. Half the fun is building the car.

I found one in Cali for 3950 with a rebuild trans and engine, i think it is the original owner. Its a coupe, MY77. I spotted one in Portland, but the guy said he cant find the title, i told him if he gets the title im interested, he claimed his also had a rebuilt motor, he was asking 2500. After i started talking about the title he kind of stopped responding. So i dont know about that.

I feel like 3950 is a little high for a car that needs some love; however, i dont know these cars very well. I have seen some nice ones previously for sale in the 2500-4000 range.

I already know if i get a later model i will need to upgrade some bumpers from the safety bumpers. Im a low guy and i have been peeking this set of enkei mesh 15x8 wheels... I have been reading up on the suspension upgrades and T3 seems to have a lot for the TA22, i have been looking around and reading that the later models have some differences; however, im having trouble finding information on the differences between the TA22 and the RA24 suspension wise. I read that the hood length was longer on some models.

Rust and bondo limited would be good but im really not apposed to fixing stuff if it is right. Im not looking to restore a car 100 percent, im looking to make a car that has character. I love what Jap Perf Parts did. I also saw a really nice video of one on youtube that i thought was pretty cool.. I think his login is sandwichman83..

I really never had the opportunity to even think about these cars on the east coast, its few and far between i have seen them for sale. Being on the west coast really has just changed my mentality on what i want.

Nice cars. welcome.

Thanks.

[vervepipes]

If you want to build one from ground up, keep an eye out and you'll see some much lower than that. I got mine for $200, needs one of everything but like you said, thats the fun part.

[dsc201knoc]

This is the one they are asking 3950 for...



Peep of the enkei wheels.. My bad they are 15x8.5 -26 et



Some photos of my baby that i sold to start funding this project

[dsc201knoc]

If you want to build one from ground up, keep an eye out and you'll see some much lower than that. I got mine for $200, needs one of everything but like you said, thats the fun part.

I found a 81 also but i just dont know about the gen 2...

It would be nice having a running one since i live in an apt, so i can go back and forth to the auto skills center on post. I really miss having a shop, like i did in NC... I had to leave all my tools behind when i left.. I feel lost without my tools...

Its one of those things, do i ship them and pay a fortune or just use that money to buy a whole new set of tools i already have.

I feel like 2500 is a reasonable price for a running one. I already know what I want, so i would just prefer not to pay for other peoples stuff they liked. Some people like those wheels on the 77 i posted, i am more of a meshie guy..

[dsc201knoc]

Like would this be worth the rust??

I dont know how these cars are with rust... i know datsun zs really suck once they get rusty.. Im not even apposed to the rust if it is a solid body..

http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/cto/3894784585.html

[dsc201knoc]

I mean for 750... I could probably swing a beams engine right off the bat.. Im still finding it hard to find a definitive list for the swap.. Im so spoiled from working with bmws i feel like an idiot now that im learning a new car again.. Im going to keep searching because if i pick one up for 750, i should probably do the big work before i start driving it.. aka a swap if thats what is going to happen.

[vervepipes]

That one really doesn't seem that bad. Look around at some of the threads bringing these cars back from the dead and you'll understand. Incidentally, I had an '87 CRX as well and it was one of my favorite cars. Not very fast at all but the very short wheelbase made it fun.

[dsc201knoc]

That one really doesn't seem that bad. Look around at some of the threads bringing these cars back from the dead and you'll understand. Incidentally, I had an '87 CRX as well and it was one of my favorite cars. Not very fast at all but the very short wheelbase made it fun.

I have been reading quite a bit, it gets me a little excited.. you know car porn... I want to start building like right now...

I have been looking about the beams swap and i see some people say use different cross members, make a custom one, What is the optimal engine to put in these cars or is the 20r 22r just good to keep?

I only question because the beams motor can be had for around 1500-2000 with 6 speed. that is an incredibly low price when i see like a 20r dual carb kit costing 1500 dollars. Not looking for overall speed more of a good reliability with some fun. This carb thing is new for me so im going back and forth with my brother learning. It sucks being younger and not having the experience with anything than efi.

The crx i bought because it is so small, i was going to dd it.. 40-50 mpg... and its a cool little car. I had nothing but gen 2 crxs growing up.. 2 dx 2 si, I was really broke growing up so thats when i learned to start modding on my own.. I couldnt afford anyones help...

So the rust isnt that bad... I havent seen too many threads on rust repair, ill go look and see what i can find. I always question rust because those datsuns would rust through the frame and it was hard to make repairs on them. where a honda rusts but its easy to cut out and re patch with a welder...

Thanks for all the info though

[vervepipes]

Probably the worst spot for rust I've seen in people's builds has been under the wiper cowl, other than that the rest is typical areas to look for. My build is going to involve motorcycle carbs. I still haven't built my manifold yet because I seem to be moving every 6 months lately and haven't settled in anywhere. 7MGE is another swap worth looking at as late 80's, early 90's Supras can go very cheap (I've seen several rotten ones go for about 500 each in the last year). If you have the welding skills, the sky's the limit really, an awesome swap I've seen is the V8 from a lexus SC400 I think it was?...

[dsc201knoc]

Probably the worst spot for rust I've seen in people's builds has been under the wiper cowl, other than that the rest is typical areas to look for. My build is going to involve motorcycle carbs. I still haven't built my manifold yet because I seem to be moving every 6 months lately and haven't settled in anywhere. 7MGE is another swap worth looking at as late 80's, early 90's Supras can go very cheap (I've seen several rotten ones go for about 500 each in the last year). If you have the welding skills, the sky's the limit really, an awesome swap I've seen is the V8 from a lexus SC400 I think it was?...

1UZ is it? the 400 series dual vvti lexus vehicles. I was checking that out too. Some guy did a whole build thread on one. The GS400 motor i think slings 300hp/300tq, that brings the vehicle to a whole different level though, now we are talking frame stiffining, stronger rear end, and i think the manual trans for that motor is rare and expensive.

Wiper cowl always sucks to replace also. its just a horribly awkward repair. I had an issue with rust in an old mk1 rabbit i had, the hole went through to the inside, i didnt realize until i was like, i feel like something is missing here

I was looking at the parts to rebuild and make a 20r motor nice, i feel like with the parts alone needed for a cool motor set up, I was looking at around 3500 dollars, im sure with a little local support in washington, i can sink a 3sge in for that type of money.

Just got the first payment in for my e30. $2200, the guy still owes me 800 for it.

My brother is putting the rear suspension back together on my 87 CRX to sell it to a woman. (We had to reweld the panhard bar mount so we dropped the rear suspension and the fuel tank) Frees up $1100.

My buddy for the volvo should be coming to pick it up soon, got some new mirrors and a BOV for it to help him out. Frees up $1100 from that car.

I have some wheels for sale XXR 002s 16x8 +0 with new tires 205/45/16 square and a set of M3 Vader seats (front and rear) from an e36 that should bring $1200-1300 $600 for wheels and tires and $700 for seats (In NC)

Sold a couch, see if i can get away with using that $600 on my car... Have to check with the wife...

Same thing with the washer and dryer, see if i can convince her to let me use that $600 for my car escapades. (In NC)

I also still have a 1979 Fiat Bertone x1/9 for sale for 2200 dollars. Its in wa if anyone knows any interested parties. Its a 1.5 5 Sped. With a whole brand new clutch system, the only thing that wasnt replaced was the hard line and the reservoir. I also have extra parts for it to include a new air cleaner performance style and poly control arm bushings (they said they were bad when my wife brought the car to the shop) going to mecanics,, sheeh... 'mo deployments, mo mechanic problems'