1993 Camry Project Complete - many pics

[71Corolla]

Bought this car in Vancouver, has 150,000km (90,000 miles). Things I've done so far:

• Timing belt (including water pump, bearings, crank and cam seals)
• Valve cover gaskets, plug seals, EGR valve and grommet
• Drive belts
• Spark Plugs - Denso
• Air filter
• Airflow meter mod (3 clicks, timing@15 degrees)
• New Radiator, new OEM thermostat, upper and lower OEM hoses, Toyota RED coolant
• Drivers side axle
• Replaced dented oil pan
• Seafoamed tranny and engine, running Castrol synthetic, OEM filter
• Transmission flush dropped pan and cleaned. New strainer, Royal Purple ATF
• Cleaned EGR, IACV
• Power steering flush
• New tires, Hankook Optimo h727
• DEPO black "euro style" headlamps and corners (will be doing a projector retrofit soon)
• Replaced right side fender (wrecker part, already painted)
• Replaced front and back bumper support, padding and other pieces (was hit from behind, pushed car into person in front of me)
• New suspension. OEM springs, mounts, rubber insulators. New ball joints, new tie rod ends (Sankei 555). Monroe Sena-trac all round. Wheel alignment
• Replaced foot brake with handbrake including center console
• 2000 Lexus ES300 leather steering wheel, airbag from a 1997 Camry (fits the wheel, connector matches)
• Cleaned carpets, removed seats front and back and cleaned. Door panels removed, disassembled and cleaned
• New front rotors (brake pads all round were replaced recently by previous owner with OEM parts)
• Stereo/CD upgrade from a 2001 Camry
• Paint correction, applied two coats of Autoglym HD wax
• Engine bay cleaned and detailed

Still to do, as mentioned projector retrofit. Front and back bumpers need to be painted, there is spider web paint on both from the accident. A few other scuffs and scratches need to be taken care of. There is minor rust at the top of the windshield, likely from someone scraping off the old sealant during replacement, they dug into the paint and exposed the metal. Will be doing a custom walnut wood interior trimming (have the wood stock now) at some point. Need proper floor mats, the originals are fine but the drivers side mat moves around too much. Gen4 drivers mat works well here, a small spot needs to be cut out around the trunk and fuel release handles, otherwise fits nice.

This project took me about 8-9 months, the car turned out pretty nice actually. I wish I would have taken a few "before" pics but my camera died back then and didn't have one for a couple months. I'll take some interior shots later. This is absolutely the last time I'm doing this kind of mini restore on a Gen3. I had a generation3 previously but the car was destroyed by hail, AFTER I had done basically the same mini restore as I did with this car.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to restore my wheels? They have some scratches, scuffs, and the finish is dirty in some places or the the finish itself is wearing off. Basically they never really come clean.

[pmesfun]

Holy...so clean. May I suggest black floor mats, that would help contrast the tan interior. I HATE my tan interior with a passion.

[71Corolla]

Originally Posted by pmesfun

I HATE my tan interior with a passion.

Can I ask why? I rather like the colour myself. Black mats are a good idea, just need to find some. I don't think the Gen4 Camry ever had black floor mats, or a black interior for that matter, I've never seen one.

[pmesfun]

Originally Posted by 71Corolla

Can I ask why? I rather like the colour myself. Black mats are a good idea, just need to find some. I don't think the Gen4 Camry ever had black floor mats, or a black interior for that matter, I've never seen one.

It makes my car seem so old, if I had a parts car I would do a swap. Gen4 has dark gray I think, but you have a Gen3.

[71Corolla]

A Gen4 drivers side floor mat works really well in a Gen3, you just cut a bit around where the trunk/fuel release handles are and it works great, doesn't move around like the ones I have now (I did this in my other car).

If you want to do an interior swap, should have no trouble finding a gray interior, probably the most common one.

[pmesfun]

I see, your Camry doesn't have the clip that keeps the mat in place? On the swap, I will just make sure my next car has gray or black interior.

[71Corolla]

No clip to hold the mat from moving, no. If you ignore the mat long enough, it will bunch up under the gas pedal and brake. Sounds familiar huh. The Gen4 mat has better rubber grippy things it doesn't move at all even without a clip.

[pmesfun]

lol. Do you have keyless entry? That would another neat accessory to install.

[71Corolla]

No keyless entry, and I need it in the worst way.

[pmesfun]

AutoPage makes good car security, you want just keyless entry and no alarm?

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...-RF-225-A.html



OEM look remotes as well.

[71Corolla]

That looks like a really nice unit. I like the ability to have a remote trunk release, definitely going to do that as well. Not sure if I want an alarm or not, I doubt I will ever put in a high end sound system or anything like that, but I might.

...looking at their alarm systems, neat stuff.

[bigbird]

really nice man, youve done a lot to restore that car. she looks good.

[a94autoCamry]

^ x2....looking very clean

[pmesfun]

Originally Posted by 71Corolla

That looks like a really nice unit. I like the ability to have a remote trunk release, definitely going to do that as well. Not sure if I want an alarm or not, I doubt I will ever put in a high end sound system or anything like that, but I might.

...looking at their alarm systems, neat stuff.

Yeah, and the other neat thing is you can use the horn/siren output and hook that up to a Toyota/Lexus buzzer and get that neat little beep beep noise all the newer Toyota/Lexus have.

[fenixus]

great looking car!

you've put lots of work into restoring it

the minor paint scratches and hood chips are exactly same (only mine a tad worse in both cases) as I have on V6

I learned to ignore them hehe

Today finally de-greased and pressure washed the engine bay! only forgot about the MC, brake and vacuum lines over there and firewall area!
anyways, need to repeat as some oil & dirt particles stayed in some spots on engine (front, where I had a serious leak from valve cover above).

... and yeah I haven't done the interior yet, need carpet & leather cleaning to make it look & feel right