1stGenCelica.com

Hey everyone, I'm Josh from Huntsville, AL. I'm 24 years old and am a HVAC Mechanic. I work on commercial and industrial heating and air conditioning equipment.

First off I have a 1977 RA24 Celica GT with the 20r and 5 speed transmission. . This car has had only one owner before me. My grandma bought this car new off the lot in 1977. This car was a daily driver for a long time until it became a car she drove every once in a while. In 2012 it got a major oil leak and was parked where it sat under a tree for two years. Now, I have always liked the car and my grandma wanted it out of her yard so I told her I would take it home. This car has a little rust now but looked real good on the exterior just two years ago. The interior is in the worst shape and needs totally redone. I was planning on just fixing the oil leak and getting it running and driving so it is not just sitting for now. This is going to be a project over several years and I don't want to let the car sit while I am doing most of the work to it. My plans for this car change the more I learn about these cars lol. But right now I am definitely going to get rid of those USDM bumpers and put some smileys on. I want to fix the interior to mostly stock and I was thinking that after I get the car to look and feel like I want then I would start worrying about what I want to do with the engine. Will post pictures when I have time.

Welcome Josh!

Nice car. Never have seen a hood scoop on a Celica, but it looks good.

Good luck!

Yeah I'm not sure if I like it or not.. probably end up taking it off.

I am looking to make this car a weekend driver. I'm not looking to make this a race car, but I would like enough power to be able to drift at low speeds out just get sideways real easy. How much horsepower would I need for that and would it be practical to do it with the 20r?

Grats on getting the car... good to see you kept it in the family.

The hood scoop, I'd loose it personally, but that's me.

Yeah a 20R can make more than enough HP for that.


Pete

I will take it off eventually when I get the time. Yeah I was happy that I could keep it in the family I think its cool that no one had owned this car besides us. I think I would just like to upgrade the 20r. My wants change all the time as I look at other builds but I'm really not trying to make a race car. . Just something that had enough power to do donuts burn outs and low speed drift. This is pretty light car so I think the 20r could do it. Pls I really like the look of the dual side drafts. This is unusual for me tho because I have always been a v8 guy so this is all new to me lol.

jwalkington wrote:I will take it off eventually when I get the time. Yeah I was happy that I could keep it in the family I think its cool that no one had owned this car besides us. I think I would just like to upgrade the 20r. My wants change all the time as I look at other builds but I'm really not trying to make a race car. . Just something that had enough power to do donuts burn outs and low speed drift. This is pretty light car so I think the 20r could do it. Pls I really like the look of the dual side drafts. This is unusual for me tho because I have always been a v8 guy so this is all new to me lol.

I totally understand... I keep dreaming about doing one of these major engine swaps... Beams or 1UZ, but in reality I'll probably keep it simple, and at the most do a 20R/22R Hybrid.

I am the same way. I think a v8 in the car would be so much fun but that is too much work for me at the moment. I will keep it simple for now. Maybe in the future when I have a full shop I will do a swap guess it depends on how happy I am with it at the time.