1982 celica - looking for a few things

[jp2weloveyou]

Well, I figured out I'm tired of trying to find 225/60/14s for the GT-S wheels on my '82 Celica, so I'd like to start looking into some 15" wheels, but I would like a safe way of converting to a 5 lug setup. I know it'll be easiest to replace the axle shafts in the rear, but for the front I need some sort of conversion kit, so if anyone has the information I need (what kind of axle shafts to get, and maybe a link to a site with conversion kits or something) please post it up.

[stepho]

Why change to 5 lug?
The Skyline and 200SX use the same lug pattern as the '82 Celica.
Plenty of aftermarket and second hand wheels are available for them.

I'm using 15x6" 1985 Soarer alloy wheels on my '77 Celica.
These were only available on Japanese market vehicles but you might be lucky enough to find some at an importer.

The MX73 Cressida ('84 to '87) also had 15x6" alloys of a different design that will fit.

If you are really stuck, I believe (but am not 100% sure) that MX83 struts (complete with springs, shocks, brakes, lugs, etc) make for an easy 5 lug conversion.

- Stepho

[jp2weloveyou]

The reason to change to a 5-lug is that there are not many wheels available for the 4x114.3 bolt pattern. Most are produced for the 4x100 bolt pattern. I don't want to go to the smaller bolt pattern, because for the time being I want to switch to steelies so I can get cheaper tires (my tire size is 225/60/14, which requires special order and $100 per tire), but no tires are available in the sizes I need for 13" wheels, and 14" and 15" steelies seem to all have a 5 lug pattern. Plus some of wheels that I like the most for style are only available to a 5 lug pattern.

[stepho]

Strange that 4x114.4 wheels are so hard to find since the Skyline and 200/240SX use the same pattern.

Most aftermarket wheels can be ordered brand new in any common stud pattern (including ours).
Many even come with 8 holes - 4 holes as 4x100 and another 4 between them in 4x114.3 .

And at worst you can always get some 4x100 wheels and have a machinist drill some new 114.3 holes between the original 4 holes (don't do it yourself because accuracy is vital).
The price of machining is bound to be less than the cost of converting to 5 lug.

- Stepho

[yogi B]

I have a brand new set of Ultra 282 custom rims with brand new Brigadier Touring XT 185 x 60 r14s that are universal 4 lug. These are mounted and balanced and have all the hardware with them. They have never been mounted on the car or see the road. I was originally putting them on a 87 Celica but project was abandoned. We are parting out the car including the 5spd trans that was rebuilt for it. Asking $500.00 for the rims and tires but open to reasonable offer. The rims will fit just about any front wheel drive unit. if interested let me know. I'm up near Everett.

[stepho]

Be careful of offset.
The '82 Celica is RWD and uses different offset than the FWD '87.
An offset of about 20 to 32mm is fine for a 6" wide rim. Closer to 20mm if you want 7". 0mm if you want 8"
Also, I think not sure) the '87 has 100mm PCD while the '82 has 114.3mm PCD.
The rims are universal (which means 2 sets of mounting holes for typically 100 and 114.3) but the offset must still be correct.

- Stepho

[leeherman]

I just bought a 1985 Celica GTS convertible and the only tire available in the correct size is the BF Goodrich Radial T/A.

I ordered the tires through a local place but they're also available from Tire Rack.

Good luck!

[stepho]

Hey, the 85 convertible is a rare beast.
Could you post a few pics?
I'd especially like to see the build plate from the engine bay (blur the serial number if that bothers you).

Thanks.

- Stepho