New Dude in TX

[Astro]

New guy here from Texas. I don't have a Celica, but am looking to buy one. I build hot rods and do custom metal fabrication for a living and own my own fab shop, so I will be looking for a '75 Celica GT to build/restore myself. I don't know much about the early Toyotas, or anything else old and Japanese. Back in the 90's I had an FC3S TII, and a Civic, both were heavily modified and fun, but the old American stuff dragged me back in. I was importing parts from Japan for my own benefit on my cars, and selling some things to folks on ebay. I had a contact in Japan and a guy in SoCal that would arrange all the shipping. It was fun while it lasted, but the import 'scene' was getting out of hand and I wasn't clicking with the new breed of 'tuners'. So I went back to building old hot rod and customs from the 20's-60's. Anyway, on to the point of my being here...

My dad bought a '75 Celica GT brand new and he had it when I was a kid. It was yellow with brown interior. After a minor wreck on an iced bridge, he had it repainted factory metallic brown and added Panasport wheels to replace one of the bent stockers. The motor gave out in about '82-ish so he got a complete low mileage JDM front clip from the dealership since they didn't offer replacement engines through the parts dept back then. He installed the motor, and added a Thrush muffler from the local speed shop. He drove the car til around '84 or os when my youngest brother was born and he needed a bigger family car.

I'm looking to eventually buy a '75 Celica GT (maybe an ST) and paint it brown like my dads old car was, basically a clone, but then take it a few steps further.

Based on the minimal research I've done on these cars, I have a pretty good idea of what I want to build, but as any build goes, plans change along the way. And since I don't know $#!+ about these cars right now, I'll gather as much info as I can so when the time comes I'll be educated on them. I don't know anything about the engines, or the common swaps for these cars, but I plan to learn as much as I can. I'd like to get an adjustable suspension setup and build a full rollcage for it. I'll gut the interior to the basics, no carpet, no extra stuff that isn't needed. I'll paint everything inside either white or body color, install some nice racing seats, good steering wheel, some aftermarket gauges, etc. I'll do all the chassis stiffening components and lighter/adjustable suspension components, put it down on some fat 13" or 14" wheels with offset and good wide rubber. I still need to learn more about the bumper swaps and all that stuff, but I like the earlier style bumpers/valances, and the fender mounted mirrors, etc. I'd like to make this car light, so I'll swap the hood/decklid/doors/fenders for fiberglass replacements. All in the name of speed and function over form.

All in all I'd like to build a very clean and simple track car that will be driven regularly on the streets as well as the track. I haven't raced autocross in years and have always been an avid drag strip patron, but I miss the hard cornering and thrill of winding around a course, rowing through the gears and feeling the car go through it's motions.

Anyhow, that's me, and that's my plan. I intend to check in here often and learn as much as I can about these cars as possible and hopefully be an active member on here in the future. Once I finally find a Celica (gotta sell off most of the hot rod projects I have first) I'll start a build thread and I'll try to be as informative and descriptive as I can be on the process of restoring/building the car.

One quick question...I'm lost on the chassis codes on these cars. I see TA22, RA24, and many similar variants, but I haven't come across a list that tells me what is what. So what would a '75 GT Coupe be? Hoping it will help my research process.

Glad to be here....

-Astro

[Froggy]

Hi Astro,

I'm new here as well but this thread, started by Toyotareference lists all the chasis and color codes by year and model. It was incredibly helpful to me.

forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=687

Hope it helps!

[Astro]

Thanks for the link! I hadnt come across that one in my searching.

Looks like it'll be an RA22, and my dad's old car was Yellow #522, and later Dark Brown Metallic #455. Cool!