St162 Convertible Hood

[storm99]

hi,

i own one of the increasingly rare 2.0 ST162 convertible celicas from 1987, its a left hooker but as i live in denmark thats not a problem

Now as its winter ive put her to bed...well almost..i want to return her to former glory but i'm having trouble sourcing a new hood for her, especially the rubber seals along the top of the windscreen that the targa roof sits on. Anyone out there have any ideas? I have tried contacting the german company that did these hoods but they appear to be very busy eating sausage and don't appear reliable at all. Is there a uk firm that can help?

And just out of interest shes using a litre of oil for every 1000km (600 miles) always has in the 3 years ive owned her, slight white smoke on acceleration, heard this could be the valve stem seals (??). Is this an easy repair or should i be looking at an engine overhaul as its done 170,000 miles now?

I'm no mechanic so any ideas suggestions gratefully recieved..i'd hate for the old bucket to go bang as she's a real head turner.

Thanks, Mark

[Steven7393]

Hi, I just bought one of these too - suffice to say im over the moon!

I understand there are extremely few of these in the UK? Lets have a show of hands please!

Im having similar concerns though - I have all my rubber seals still, though they were in the glove compartment and the car has been sat for a year or so and the carpets are sodden with water.. :S Im wondering what the best option is - im considering using a rubber glue to pop them back on and squirting black silcone around them to give it extra water tightness.

Oh and the oil is usual as far as I know, and the white smoke is because of condensation in the system apparantly

Im loving this car though, its got a huge exhaust on, oz alloys, avi injectors - it is going to look lovely next to my red gen 4 st162 hard top :D

[Steven7393]

quick update

I sorted the seals out so theres no water getting inside now, but found out theres welds that need doing and my garage says its got blue smoke on acceleration (though I cant see any and ive really looked for it!) Plus it drives well - only problems ive found is that the oil gauge fluctuates up and down, and the power steering is leaking fluid - but ive isolated the problem so that should be easy to fix

Im apprehensive about the blue smoke verdict though - its running fine, the turbo kicks in, no unusual noises and all I get is a burning oil smell when I drive it for a while, but no huge smoke or anything. Im considering dropping a new engine into it though as the garage claims it will need a complete rebuild to fix the rings - estimated at £1500!! (is that a usual price??)

If the bluesmoke and rings verdict is true though, ill just drop a recon engine into it - ive got a red 89 st162 with an engine with 130k on it, so might drop that into the convertible (they are both in the garage together anyway) and then get a 3sgte engine dropped into the red hard top one.

All in all im so very proud of the yellow convertible one - it seems rare in the UK (though my brother spotted one in south devon) and its going to be a true labour of love to keep it on the road

Heres a photo