Hi All, Just Got My New Baby :)

[JamesA]

Hi everyone, recently joined up as ive just got my first Celica. Wanted one for ages after seeing a friends dad get one when i was about 11. 20 years later i finally get round to buying one :D

Its a 1993 ST-202. Here she is, all nice and standard at the moment.

Already fitted my Kenwood and she will be going into my local garage shortly to have a couple of bits of bodywork sorted, but nothing serious. Once thats done i want to do some other stuff, here's what i have in mind.

Nice set of alloys, cant decide on size or if i want black or silver yet tho.

Smoked side repeaters and rear light clusters as its all a bit orange at the moment.

Rear spoiler, something low and smart as i dont like the huge fin things ;)

Black back windows.

Induction kit.

Stainless steel exhaust.

What can ya do with front light?

Now ive no idea about this car stuff, never had a car i wanted to do anything to before, so any hints, tips or comments welcome

Also, my speedo seems to be miles out. Its got a mph face on it with the 2 clocks on Km still so it must have been changed on import. At the low end of things, 20 or 30 mph, its about 10mph out. As i get up to the 70 to 80 mph end its about 15 mph out, checked against my GPS system which i know is pretty spot on. It also sticks in places. I guess someone has done a crap job changing the face and buggered it up, so i think im just going to get a new head for it unless anyone can think of other reasons for any for this.

Cheers,

James

[daktari]

Hi James. Welcome to TOC. Hope you enjoy your stay with us, and congratulations on your purchase. Wise choice.

I`ll leave all the techy stuff to the gen 6 boys. Pretty well anything you want to know then someone here will doubtless know the answer.

[edamduke]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Celica ownership mate. Hope she brings you lots of happiness. Looks like it's in pretty good nick from that piccy.

Alloys: I don't know who's idea it was to fit steels/hubcaps to a Celica, no matter which model in the range it is. They should be shot ! Get some alloys quickly please. Personally I would get black with a black car but everone is different. 17" is always a safe bet if you don't want to compromise the handling too much but I've heard that you can fit 18s with no trouble at all.

Lights: What's wrong with the front lights? They have to be some of the best looking lights ever fitted to a car. If you want to be a little different and have money to burn you can buy some "projector" headlamps for about £450. These were fitted to some of the newer JDM cars and are basically the same but crystal clear. Clear front indicators for your car are near impossible to find. You can buy a set of lenses alone for about £70 which require gluing. (I'm currently giving it a go to make them myself). Side repeaters are a bit easier to get hold of and are normally between £15-30 with bulbs. As for the rears, very little again can be done here. A few people prefer the late spec JDMs which are £125 I think.

Spoiler: If I were you I'd keep it simple and get a Celica spoiler. Designed to fit and look good, doubt you'll get much better.

Induction Kit: There has been much debate about whether these are worth it for our cars as some tests have shown little or no improvement over a good replacement panel filter. I think they suffer alot for hot air ingestion and therefore give dissapointing results. However, you will get the noise. Again, my personal opinion is get a good panel filter which will save you alot of hassle and money on insurance and gives similar gains. TRD, Blitz and Ram Air seem to be easy enough to get hold of £30-60.

Exhaust: I know nothing about these

Oh and the speedo sounds like it may have been a bit bodged. You can get electronic convertors which will lift the speed limitor at the same time. May need a new face too. Not so sure about import stuff.

If you want anymore detail about anything I've mentioned, we have the links etc. There are loads of import owners with good advice who I'm sure will be along shortly.

Enjoy!

Ben

[chris202]

I thought the Gen 6 was 94 and on ?

Is it a 2.0 or 1.8 ?

Best colour i see too ;) ! Get some nice 17's , a quality panel filter , full ss custom exhaust and your laughing mate !

The rear lights can be up-dated to the late spec JDM ones (less orange)

[JamesA]

Heh yep it should be a crime to put wheels like that on such a nice car. Oh i like the front lights fine, just wondering if there was anything funky you could do with them. Seen the projector ones which look nice, but a little pricey at the moment. Some of the xenon kits look nice too. Will look into the panel filter, sounds just the job, what make does anyone else use?

Its a 2.0 and from what ive seen on the paperwork its sept 93 so very early gen 6 right after the licence place changed i guess.

Ive seen some clear repeaters and newer style rear light clusters on cheaptoyotaparts.co.uk and very tempted to go for them. Going to try and pick up a 2nd had celica spoiler as well i think. Cheers for the input so far :)

[martin_longbow]

Welcome, and hope you like your gen 6

[GT4 BOOSTER]

I thought the Gen 6 was 94 and on ?

Is it a 2.0 or 1.8 ?

Best colour i see too ;) ! Get some nice 17's , a quality panel filter , full ss custom exhaust and your laughing mate !

The rear lights can be up-dated to the late spec JDM ones (less orange)

gen 6 began production in japan in 1993 , 1994 was the uk versions introduction.

good choice , enjoy the celica.PLEASE check the chassis number if its like st202-0005178 its an import if its like jt164stl200035274 its built for the uk market and needs to be insured correctly if it is an import its either a ss1 with 3sfe engine and less powerful can be ran on 95 ron , or its a ss2 with a 3sge engine and needs to be ran on optimax or any 98 ron fuels , this may answer why the speedo is out , if shopping for parts most for a uk model will be the same as an import apart from brake pads and discs usually

get yourself a kn panel filter or a trd filter ( if you can find 1 ) , drill holes in the bottom of the air box you'll get an induction roar without the heat soak

[JamesA]

Thanks for the info on the filter Booster, will track one down!

Just checked the plate and i have the following info.

Model: E-ST202-BLPVF

Engine: 3S-GE

Frame: ST202-0008506

Sounds like i need to switch to 98 ron fuel. This would throw the speedo out? Or do you think someone has fitted the wrong part?

Also sounds like i better speak to my insurer again, i just gave them the basic info that it was a Celica 2.0 L reg etc. Didnt know import made a diff, oops!

[GT4 BOOSTER]

if it clocks up in km it may have the wrong face fitted ,they can be a few mph out but yours is erratic , has it got the correct tyre size fitted.205/55r15

if the insurance is high goto norwich union or churchills they insure imports as uk models.

is it an automatic also ?? the sports mode is fun too

[JamesA]

MPH round the outside, KPH on the inside, trip meter and overall 'milage' meter both read Km's. I think its just screwed really, tho its reading distance accuratly against my GPS. Think i'll order a new one from cheaptoyotaparts.co.uk and pay them to set the milage correctly too.

Yep those are the tyres that are fitted at the moment, just run out and checked. If i stick some 17" alloys on, will that make the speedo better or worse?

And yes its an auto, im lazy ;) Sport mode is great, hard to fault that performance from an auto box. Friend of mine has a lotus elise and he was quite impressed by it.

Doh, just noticed the speedo cheaptoyotaparts have is for an ST205 GT4 which i guess is going to be different to what i need :(

[IanGT]

Welcome to Celica ownership!

Nice set of alloys, cant decide on size or if i want black or silver yet tho.

Smoked side repeaters and rear light clusters as its all a bit orange at the moment.

Rear spoiler, something low and smart as i dont like the huge fin things

Black back windows.

Induction kit.

Stainless steel exhaust.

What can ya do with front light?

Plenty of mods avaliable for the Celica... I'd go for black on black looks quality in the dark! I wanna get window tints next and smoke my side repeaters...

[JamesA]

That looks nice! Love those alloys, where ya get them? And how do you do that to your back light clusters? Just what i had in mind.

I really need to get one of those nice standard spoilers too, just emailed TCB to see if they have one.

[edamduke]

You don't hang about do you. Nice one With regards to panel filters, from all the research I have done it seems to be that the TRD is the best as it is designed for each car in particular, instead of the panel just shaped to fit. Prolex should be able to get you one for £60 delivered. e-mail Dave on daveellen@prolex-uk.com alternatively you can save money and buy the cool blue blitz panel from fensport I think for about £36. I can't say from personal experience yet, but I am saving up to buy the TRD now.

Ben

[JamesA]

Well its been a quiet morning so plenty of time to browse and plan what i wat to do :)

Will drop dave an email later about the TRD filter, got to head out now and see a customer about a new network.

Cheers!

[chris202]

;) Get some nice silver 17's

[celsteve]

Welcome

As far as wheels go I would have silver and not black on a black car. They look like someone's stole your hubcaps, IMO of course :D

Do use Optimax, I felt a definate improvement in idle and performance (i think!) when I started to use it.

I was pretty sure that st202s were only in production from October 93, yours is practically a prototype!

[JamesA]

Hmm got me thinking now, like the silver look too. Maybe i could do silver one side and black the other :D

Those front indicators look nice darkened like that, how do you do that to lights? Or are they bought like that? Would like the back clusters, side repeaters and front indicators like that i think.

[adamgt]

i used to own a balck GT. if i ever had another GT i would mod it exactly the same again as i loved it:

[Special Red]

Adam stop showing me that car - Its the ideal GT!!!!!! WHICH MEANS MINES NOT! LOL

[chris202]

Adam stop showing me that car - Its the ideal GT!!!!!! WHICH MEANS MINES NOT! LOL

Ghey spoiler though

Hmm got me thinking now, like the silver look too. Maybe i could do silver one side and black the other :D

Those front indicators look nice darkened like that, how do you do that to lights? Or are they bought like that? Would like the back clusters, side repeaters and front indicators like that i think.

Halfords spray tint , didnt come out too good though , needs re-done - i did the ginger parts on the rear clusters too .

[manphibian]

Hmm got me thinking now, like the silver look too. Maybe i could do silver one side and black the other :D

Those front indicators look nice darkened like that, how do you do that to lights? Or are they bought like that? Would like the back clusters, side repeaters and front indicators like that i think.

You can tint the lights with this spray

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TAIL-LIGHT-TINTING-T...1QQcmdZViewItem

i used the red, it was quite good but don't go mad, only a couple of coats or you're illegal and maybe not insured if someone goes into the back of you! :( need really to keep the red reflector, or add another one somewhere.

[JamesA]

Adam that looks the business! Really like the 5 spoke alloys.

TRD filter winging its way to my today from Prolex :D

Ta for the tint info, will have a look at the stuff in Halfords later as they are over the road from me.

[Special Red]

I would replace the lights but would not bother with spray tints as one, there illegal and two they look rubbish! Black is chav(thats what you get for callin my spoiler ghey! cris) but the red looks better but no where near as good as the jdm late spec.

[edamduke]

Adam that really is the best looking GT even if it does have a ghey spoiler. How did you photograph it so well? looks like it's from a mag. So shiney. I really need some decent photography tips. If I'm honest, I think it looks better than your four!

[daktari]

If I'm honest, I think it looks better than your four!

BLASPHEMY !!!!! ......... Get thee behind me Satan.

It does look the dogs tho don`t it.