'88 L Street/Track Build- Coilovers • B6ZE • Weber DCOE's • Widebody • Chopped Top •

[theastronaut]

Mounted the new wheels and tires today. I can definitely tell that the sidewalls are shorter and stiffer- the steering is more responsive and it turns in quicker. They seem a bit greasy, which I expected from reading reviews that they need some miles put on them before they grip their best. I only have about 20 miles on them so far. They seem to communicate that they're reaching their limit of grip very well, both braking and cornering. Im even more impressed with the stock brakes now that the tires have more grip- the brakes still have plenty of power to slow the car at the limit of grip even at 70-75 mph. I need to raise the car back up about 1.25"-1.5" to get the suspension geometry back in its sweet spot so it'll corner without understeering like crazy, and then I can do a better comparison between these and the Achilles ATR-K's. I have a couple of different video apps with g-meter overlays, I'll try to get the camera mount out and take some vids at the autocross Saturday.

[theastronaut]

I used a red scuff pad with lacquer thinner to get all the dead/oxidized plastic and any road grime off. I used a Duplicolor or similar rattle can pant made for trim but it's starting to fade slightly and peel off of the side trim. Plus whatever I used has a slight bluish tint that I don't like, it's not a pure grey color.

I'd suggest SEM dye, I used it on the rubber running board covers for my '64 VW back in 2002-2003 and they still look great. Plenty of colors available and its durable, even out in the sun. I've had kids jump up on the running boards at shows and it doesn't scrape off.

[dliverance]

Yeah that sounds awesome. I have to look and see how you refinished your bumpers again. I got myself a new/used set to replace my janky bumpers.

[theastronaut]

I'm thinking a light/medium charcoal metallic with satin clearcoat, should tie in well with the grey trim on the car.

[dliverance]

Man that came out really good. What finish are you going to go with?

[theastronaut]

I never found Maxima wheels so my next choice was 15x5.5 Acura Legend wheels. I found a set on eBay but forgot to bid on them and they ended at only $95 shipped A few days later they were relisted so I sent a message asking if they'd set up a buy it now listing, so I was able to go ahead and buy them. They arrived today so I started working on them after work.




After about 45 minutes on the "lathe".






Dropped on wood blocks to check how they'll look at ride height. They're 45 offset so I bought a set of 33mm spacers to get them fitted like the Escort wheels.




Hub lettering smoothed off.




Before shot.

[theastronaut]

Yeah I was stupid for selling the Celica. I've really missed it and I don't want to mess up my chance to buy it back. The guy that owns it now finally put a price on it this week so the Miata is listed for sale. I'm working to finish up one of my '66 C10's in time to take it to Goodguys Charlotte next month. Hopefully they'll both have new homes soon.

I've been driving the Festiva more since the weather has cooled off a little, especially last week. Still haven't found 15's I like so the NS-2R's are sitting in a corner of the shop collecting dust.

[skeeters_keeper]

That celica is cool!

[Advancedynamix]

My uncle had several of those early celicas when I was really young. He had one that was pretty built up. I remember him drifting it when he would take me places in it. I've always wanted one too.

[dliverance]

Those first gen celicas are great. I had a 72, 74, 76 and 77 but never a liftback.

Here's my 74 before i sold it. I was the second owner. Got it in an estate sale.

[william]

Wow you found a first get celica! And did hold on to it.
Good luck on buying it back.

[theastronaut]

Got a set of Nankang NS-2R tires ordered, 165/50-15's in the 120 treadwear version. These have really good reviews so I'm really looking forward to seeing what it'll do with stickier tires. I still haven't found suitable wheels... Thought I had a set of Maxima wheels located and went to pick them up yesterday. I skipped the first Clemson Sports Car Club fall autocross to go pick them up since it was a bit of a drive and I needed to get there before the guy's shop closed. On the phone he said that they were "identical to the ones in your wanted ad". I get down there and they're 16" 5 lug twisted spoke wheels from a later Maxima... No apology from the guy, I just bit my tongue and left. Three hours almost wasted, but I did stop and get a ChickFilA ice cream while I was there- good stuff! Havne't found anything interesting on eBay or on craigslist within 150 miles, so I'll soon have tires that I can't use. I'm hoping to find something and have them mounted in time to scuff in the tires before next month's autocross.






I bought a new-to-me 20' aluminum car hauler on Friday so I loaded the Festiva on it to "test it out." Not that a 1,700 pound car is in anyway "testing out" a 7,000 pound GVWR trailer. :lol: Big differece between the old steel tilt trailer and this one, much less effort to stop or start off now. I like loading with the dovetail and 6' ramps better than the tilt bed too.




Today I picked up a 12,000# winch from Harbor Freight along with a hitch reciever mount and a receiver tube. I'll weld on a 3/16" plate on the reciever tube to bolt to the trailer floor. I can switch the winch between the trailer and the truck's hitch that way, plus it's not permantly mounted so it'll be easy to store it indoors out of the weather.




In other automotive news, the guy I sold my '77 Celica Liftback to last year has offered to sell it back to me. He didn't say what he wanted for it but if we can work out a deal it'll be a great replacement for the Miata. Last February a friend of mine wanted me to drop him off at a car lot to pick up a Stealth R/T he'd bought. On the way there he told me about a Celica that was around back of the car lot that he thought I'd be interested in. I'm thinking... I've never seen a Celica that I thought was cool so I wasn't even going to look at it but he kept pushing me to take a look. Said the owner used to circle track race Celicas and that it had some race parts on it... Still was thinking that it would be a boring fwd 80's Celica, so I wasn't really interested.

We go around to the back and there's this really cool looking miniature '69 Mustang sitting there under a shed. I didn't know first-gen Celicas existed before then, I thought they started making them in the 80's. Immediatly I was interested in checking it out. The guy that owned the lot started it up for us and it sounded wicked- choppy cam with a homemade 4-2-1 header back to a Flowmaster, with a side pipe right before the rear tire. We talked about it for a few minutes, he showed us some extra parts that went with it and priced it, and we left. I couldn't get the thing out of my mind so I started googling them and eventually went back to take a second look and test drove it. Ended up buying it and doing a 5 hour Krylon makeover the same day, then went out cruising in it that night. Motor started knocking two days later so I pulled the engine and parked it. I couldn't find another ready to go engine so I put it on craigslist and sold it within a day to a guy in NC. Bad decesion to sell it, I didn't realize how rare they are. Of the many cars I've sold it's only one of two that I wish I had back. The guy has rebuilt the engine and fixed some other issues it had so it's driveable again.


As found.






Krylon makeover.








The night before it blew up.

[theastronaut]

We haven't done anything that crazy yet... There are a few places around here with some good hills and curves, and the downtown parking garage is great since it has an elevator back to the top. Been wanting to go up to Paris Mountain State Park but I can't talk my friends into riding with me.

Our shop has been full the last few weekends so I haven't been able to get the blue car in the shop to work on the mounts. I still need to cut a 3/8" spacer then I'll be ready to get the other two mounts built.

[dliverance]

That trike is sex. I have been wanting one for a while. There's a 17 mile,0' to 5200' mountain right outside my door. Check out hurricane ridge when you get a minute. After seeing your mount I feel like a slob. I was just going to slap on my old rusty mount lol. Looks like you and I are very close on progress though.

[Advancedynamix]

This is getting better all the time!