New to Me 1981 Celica GT Coupe(22R)"Project:Hentai"

[jmiller_1974]

Hey All, I'm not by any means new to forums, but am very much the n00b when it comes to Toyotas, even though these were the cars I grew up around in Hawai'i.

My name is Jason, I live in Austin, TX and currently drive an 07 Ford Focus ST that I absolutely love.

Ac couple pics for Your perusal:




A friend happens to have a small piece of land and the ability to buy cars at auction, and one day not too long ago, He called and told Me about this "old celica something" with some front QP damage and a P/S door wrinkle and asked if I wanted it. So long story short, I paid $300 for this 1981 Celica GT, and have every intention of selling the Focus to finance this project. Of course in the Focus Community this is tantamount to high treason(it doesn't help that I am a Moderator on a Focus enthusiast site!), but I have the distinct feeling there is a significant amount of pointless and misdirected loyalty towards the Ford brand. I hold loyalty only to Myself and what I wanna drive, so brands mean nothing to Me.

I'm not sure what all needs to be done to get the Celica drivable(it runs, just not well), but I'm sure I can pull it off with the money I make selling the Focus, so that's what I'm doing. All said, this will still be something of a budget build, so as much as I would love to do a 2jzgtte swap, I just don't see that happening. I would like to know if it will be worth the effort to refurbish the 22R, or just do like a 4A-GE(or similar) swap and save Myself some blood, sweat and tears. Again, I know next to nothing about these cars other than wanting one as a kid, so be gentile, lol.

The basic plan(in this order) is:
1)Get her mechanically sound(running right)
2) brakes/wheels/tires/suspension
3)interior(stripped, flocked, caged, seats waiting for install)
4)body/paint/tint

Here are a couple of pics, as if Y'all have never seen a bone stock 81 Celica before:






Anywho, any tips, tricks suggestions or points in the right direction would be much appreciated! Hope to learn a lot here, and to someday share what I have learned.

Peace,

Jason

[MR2Jedi]

Hey Jason,
I moved your thread to the Celica section where you'll get better responses.
I think your plan is a good one for the Celica. Getting her up and running soundly and safely is paramount before any moddifying.
The 22Re is a great motor, but not sure about the availability of performance parts for them. Though, alot of the truck guys with the 22re have gone turbo, reliably.
I'm sure the others will chime in with some helpfull info.

Looks like you were doing some donuts with your focus?
I'm from Ewa Beach , Hawaii on Oahu, BTW.
Welcome to TNation.

[jmiller_1974]

Thanks for moving this, I noticed this forum after I posted, big surprise, lol.

I'm not really looking for big HP(yet), and from what little research I did the 22R(what I have) is less than suitable for performance apps, mainly because of the lack of high end power. But I'm coming from a fairly torquey low rev engine already(roughly 165whp/160wtq@4300rpm butt dyno, not gonna pay to dyno a Focus), so I'm used to being slow. I have found a few things to do to improve things a bit, but My big thing is gonna be suspension. I wanna be able to carve twisties like I do now, but in a real icon car, not something that might someday be appreciated for what it was by a very, very small group of people, but doubtfully ever an icon.

Ewa Beach, huh? I grew up in Pauoa Valley, but have lived all over the island. Mom still lives in Kaneohe.

Nice hardtop 2, by the way. There's a lot next to where I'm hiding My Celica that has two of those, but He has no interest in selling.

[jmiller_1974]

bump...?

[stepho]

The front end of the 78-81 Celica is interchangeable with the 76-77 Celica.
They use the same front suspension, steering, brakes, roll bars, etc - I have swapped parts between them myself.
You can get upgrade parts from Dobsons, Kings Springs and Whiteline.
If you can find an MX73 Cressida (85-87) then you can use the front struts and vented brakes.

The rear chassis rail is the same as the 82-85 Celica and Supra.
The IRS from the later models can be put into your Celica but verify the measurement yourself first because it can't be restored to factory if it doesn't work.
Cut off the panhard rod mount - the point of no return.
Drill mounting holes in the chassis rail (measure their position very carefully - must be central and square to the chassis centre line).
Bolt in the later model K-frame.
If you get the disc brakes from the later model then also use the later model bias valve in the engine bay.
The Supra will also have the stronger 7.5" F series diff instead of the weaker 6.7" T series diff.
The Supra will also probably (but not always) have LSD, which is nearly impossible to find for the T series diff.
If the Supra F series diff is not LSD then you can buy an LSD centre from a decent 4WD shop (was also used on the front of the 4WD pickup).

Here is how Mick put a Lexus V8 into an RA28.
http://members.iinet.net.au/~stepho/mick.htm
The engine bay of the RA28 is the same as the engine bay of your 78-81 Celica so this is doable for you.

Or you might want to do up the 22R by putting a 20R head on it to raise the compression.
120-180HP is not that hard to get depending on how much cash is used.
Needless to say, a new free-flow exhaust does wonders.
Details of 20R head swap here:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~stepho/eng20r.htm
You can get more details and the parts at:
www.lcengineering.com
They can do the work for $$$ or you can haunt the junk yards and do the work yourself quite cheap.

There is a turbo 22R-TE used in late mode Toyota pickups but it is more of a farm vehicle with lots of low down torque but it doesn't rev well.
Might be good for drifting though.

More ideas here;
http://members.iinet.net.au/~stepho/celfaq.txt

More Celica details, manuals and brochures on my website:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~stepho/celprod.htm
http://members.iinet.net.au/~stepho/history.htm
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~stepho/brochures/Celica/

Lastly, the guys at Classic-Celica can help with parts and suggestions:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Classic-Celica/

- Stepho

[MR2Jedi]

Lots of good, usefull info there.
Unfortunately, due to copyright infringement laws, we have this rule that we strictly enforce. Toyota came down on us a few years ago about this.
15. There will be no posts or threads containing a direct link to Toyota Factory Service Manuals. All threads about any copyrighted Toyota material will be deleted. First offense will result in a warning, second a temporary ban, third a permanent ban.

Thanks for your understanding.

[stepho]

Oops, forgot about that.

- Stepho

[jmiller_1974]

Awesome, thanks for all that info, Stepho! You saved Me a ton of time asking n00b questions about generation compatibility. Ask Me what body/drivetrain parts work with other Foci and I can rattle em off, so I'm glad to have this post as a resource. I had read up a little on the 20R head swap and will most likely do it. Most of My rebuild cost will be in beer and pizza, which I'm happy about, body paint and storage is set, too. Oh, and it's looking more and more like bags will be in My future, just gotta find the right set of wheels/tires...

[stepho]

I think you lost me.
By 'bags' do you mean drag tyres?
I thought you wanted to do drifting, which normally requires low profile tyres.
Either way is fine though, just me getting confused

Anyway, if you want drag tyres and still want to keep the period look then you might want to keep an eye out for 14x7 mags from an 82-85 Supra. You'll have to roll the lips and probably pump the fenders out a bit but that comes as a matter of coarse with big tyres. On my '77 lliftback I put in an rear end from a Japanese spec 1980 Celica (disc brakes and LSD) but its extra width and 225 tyres required me to lip and flare the fenders. Gained a much needed 30mm per side and I have no fear of the body slicing up my tyres.
Or you can just get some modern 17/18/19 rims suitable for a 4 stud Skyline or SX (4x114.3mm).

- Stepho

[jmiller_1974]

Originally Posted by stepho

I think you lost me.
By 'bags' do you mean drag tyres?
I thought you wanted to do drifting, which normally requires low profile tyres.
Either way is fine though, just me getting confused

Anyway, if you want drag tyres and still want to keep the period look then you might want to keep an eye out for 14x7 mags from an 82-85 Supra. You'll have to roll the lips and probably pump the fenders out a bit but that comes as a matter of coarse with big tyres. On my '77 lliftback I put in an rear end from a Japanese spec 1980 Celica (disc brakes and LSD) but its extra width and 225 tyres required me to lip and flare the fenders. Gained a much needed 30mm per side and I have no fear of the body slicing up my tyres.
Or you can just get some modern 17/18/19 rims suitable for a 4 stud Skyline or SX (4x114.3mm).

- Stepho

Sorry. by "bags" I'm talking air ride suspension. Because I want stupid low, but not all the time, because roads around Austin aren't the best around, and I want to be able to adjust height on the fly and I know of no other way to do that than air bags.

I'm still on the fence about staying period, but it will definitely be period inspired. Definitely thinking about staying in the 14"-15" wheel diameter range, maybe a 14x8 in the rear(offset TBD) and a 14x7 with a max 50 series sidewall. No problem rolling or cutting and welding in flares on the fenders, was considering just that as it was. Beauty of all this is, I'm still in the "brainstorming" phase, so I'm really open to suggestions, and so far I'm liking what I'm hearing.

[golana]

im in the same boat haha! i just picked up a 81 celica gt with the 22r. i want something more from it... i want to turn it into something that can haul some serious @$$ haha!

i dont care about staying period though, i want it to make it strong, reliable and faster than stock haha!

[golana]

well, i just picked up a set of 85 cressida front struts and rotors and everything, and they dont fit... the ball joints on the cressida are all bigger... the TRE for the celica is sloppy and loose on the cressida steering arm, and the lower balljoint is sloppy too... the strut fit into the strut tower and bolted up just fine though... i tried swapping the steering arms from the celica strut onto the cressida strut, and they are like 1/4" too short... the holes on the cressida steering arms are spaced further apart...

i would really like to get these to work, as my celica's front left rotor is seized and busted anyways... might as well upgrade haha!

i was thinking about just cutting the celica steering arm and welding a piece to it so the holes line up, but welding to steering components is sketchy...

[golana]

well, i got the struts installed, but i think the coil springs are a bit wider, so they rub a bit when you slam the brakes... holy frig though, super difference between the solid rotors and the vented rotors! i can almost put myself through the windshield hahaha!

i had to modify the steering arm bolt holes... i just ovalized the holes to make them fit the cressida struts.

i had to also get 15" wheels. now i have another problem haha! i need wheel spacers.

[stepho]

Thankfully it worked out for you but I'm wondering where I measured wrong for the lower bolt holes.

I remember swapping the top half back and forth between my cars (77 Celica, 80 Carina/Celica, 87 Cressida), keeping the original top spring perch on each car and swapping only the strut and spring. So I was 100% spent sure of the top half.

But I was sure that I measured the bolt holes and found them compatible. I guess I must have found another steering knuckle that had the Cressida bolt hole spacing that fitted the Celica ball joint. That's what I get for having too many spare parts from multiple cars lying around in my garage
I will have to spend some time this weekend remeasuring and checking part numbers to see which part came from which car.

Please do make sure that the elongated holes are safe, I'd hate for them to come loose in a few years time.

- Stepho

[golana]

Originally Posted by stepho

Thankfully it worked out for you but I'm wondering where I measured wrong for the lower bolt holes.

I remember swapping the top half back and forth between my cars (77 Celica, 80 Carina/Celica, 87 Cressida), keeping the original top spring perch on each car and swapping only the strut and spring. So I was 100% spent sure of the top half.

But I was sure that I measured the bolt holes and found them compatible. I guess I must have found another steering knuckle that had the Cressida bolt hole spacing that fitted the Celica ball joint. That's what I get for having too many spare parts from multiple cars lying around in my garage
I will have to spend some time this weekend remeasuring and checking part numbers to see which part came from which car.

Please do make sure that the elongated holes are safe, I'd hate for them to come loose in a few years time.

- Stepho

what did you do about the coil springs? mine are rubbing on the inner fender lining and the edge of the strut tower... when i stomp the brakes, the front end dives down a bit, and you can hear the coil springs rubbing on the body...

im not worried about steering holes, there's plenty of meat left on em. i only took a little bit off. if i have any doubts about it, i can get some steel and bend a strap around the thinner side and weld it for strength.