94 Camry LE 5S-FE A/T Project

[Nebbuchanezzar]

My GF has this car and will be getting a new car soon...as it is time for me to be needing a car, I was considering getting it from her and making it a project car...

The car has significant issues and approx ~240k miles on it. I do not know exact details of previous care, but I can tell it was not good.

I know that this may not make the most sense, but it is one of the options I am looking into. I am expecting to pay quite a bit to get this car where I want it to be at, so I am not expecting it to be cheap, or dreaming or anything...

As far as getting it to run well, I am wanting to basically replace everything slowly, over time. However I have a few questions...

What may I expect to pay for all of this? I will be doing basically all the labor except engine machining (if I go that route, vs a new engine.) however, I am looking at new wires, new hoses, new radiator, engine machined or new engine, car needs new suspension, etc. you get the idea...I am just wondering about performance for now, however I am not looking to race or anything, just a solid car that is quick enough and handles well...

Where should I be looking for parts for this car? and does anyone know of good machine shops near south la, or santa monica?

I am sorry for the noob questions, I have never gone this far under the hood of a car so to speak...actually, before this car I had never even changed spark plugs or anything...so it is my learning project I did however already buy myself a FSM and gotten dirty enough that I am comfy with this car so far.

TYIA for any help offered!

[bigbird]

well ya need to decide what ya want this car to be. hp monster with super tight suspension and mad body work. or a nice, lightly modded reliable street machine to get ya around in relative style and comfort. a project with an auto 5sfe can cost anywhere from a grand to 5 or 6 grand plus depending on your goals. so before we can really tell ya what ya may pay...figure out what ya want out of it first.

best places to look for parts are here and on solaraguy.com (as many solara parts fit the gen3). ebay also has a welth of stuff. other then that you are jsut gonna have to source things from different places. there are some places tha tmake performance engine part kits, others that make suspension comnponents. its hard to get stuff for these cars so patience is your friend.

[Nebbuchanezzar]

"however I am not looking to race or anything, just a solid car that is quick enough and handles well..."

I am not looking for, nor expecting much from this...just a little more than stock would be nice...heck, even if it is well-tuned, with stock numbers, I would be happy! I am MAINLY looking for a reliable DD to have fun working on and will give me many more miles and is "snappy" I guess...as far as "mad body work", etc. NO! lol...I like the body mostly as it is...this one needs some body work and paint, but I am mainly concerned with getting the car to basically better than "like new" performance and while I am at it I want to do a VERY thorough cleaning of the car...those really are my main goals with this, get it to a point I KNOW it will be reliable, have fun working on it, and clean it...

the MAIN issue though is I do not know the exact condition of anything in it other than overall condition of "poor" so I would rather be on the safe side and replace most everything to know where I stand...so assume everything is basically as bad as possible...LMAO!