Hi, I'm Rob, good friends with Keegan (azrael), and I just happened to buy his hold rust-bucket of a Celica.
I'm not new to Toyotas. I currently own a 1.5JZ 91 Supra, and a 22R-TE 86 Toyota pickup, and have also owned an 83 Celica GT, and 82 Pickup. My latest purchase, as seen above, a rusty 77 GT Liftback. The car really isn't THAT bad. The rear fenders are rusted out, but the wheel wells are solid. The rockers are also rusted out, but other than that, the car's fairly solid. Fortunately, I'm somewhat experienced with a TIG welder, and should be able to get something somewhat reasonable.
My first experiences with rust being my truck, which looked like this:
But with a grinder, rust inhibitor, paint, metal, and a riveter, I made something a little bit better:
It's not the prettiest, but it's rust-free both on the surface, and underneath. Plans for the RA29 will be much more ambitious, making it look nice, as well as being rust-free. The rockers are easy to cut out and re-weld, but the fenders are going to take a lot of work to look nice. Immediate plans are to locate a carb for the motor, and get it running.
Wish me luck
My ra29 has been sitting in a field for like 10 years and it has almost no rust - Alberta prairies FTW. Seriously though, good luck - my project is the exact same Celica!