New Member from SF, Just Bought a '74 Celica Coupe

[TG888]

Early last year, I picked up an '89 E30 M3 which was a car I've wanted since being a teenager. I've finally gotten the E30 M3 to where I want and the search for a new project began a few months ago. Prior to joining this forum, I have been on JNC looking over the possibilities of owning a Japanese classic. I've considered early 70's Skylines, RX2-RX3, 240-260, etc. At the beginning of the month, I went to the Historic Japanese Bayline Gathering here in Norcal. I was finally able to see in person, all the different classics out there. When I came across 2 Celica coupes, a blue with F20, and a white parked next to it, I was hooked. I started looking on various forums, eBay, Craigslist, etc.

My travels took me to LA where I called up Joel from Toysport last minute and he was gracious enough to accept a visit. This place is the definitive Celica and Toyota toy store. There were easily 6-8 1st gens in various states of restoration/modification. There was probably over 15-20 rolling chassis stored in the rafters and in the lot, not to mention all the parts he has in stock. Joel was very kind and patient and his knowledge of these cars is undeniable. I left Toysport knowing for sure I wanted to build a pre-75 Celica coupe!

My search ended this past weekend when I found a 74 Celica coupe in excellent original condition with minimal rust. The mechanicals will have to be sorted, but otherwise she is a great foundation to start off of,

Thanks to Andy and the rest of the 1stGenCelica team for having this resource available to those of us that are enthusiasts of this platform.

[exodus]

welcome to the forum!!!

sounds like you have a solid platform to start the new project!! Good luck on your journey, we are all exctied and here to back you up!

Post some pictures of your ride.. we wanna see!!

[Im jhun_hapi]

Welcome. what part of the bay area u from?? theres a lot of bay area peeps here..

Yes pictures the more the better..

Rocky

[Santos]

thank u for joining and congrats on the purchase (i remember my first celi) , hope to see this in the project sect , again thanks for joining

[TG888]

Thanks for the welcome! I'm located in the San Jose area. Any suggestions on good specialist workshops around San Jose to give the car a thorough inspection and possible maintenance/repair?

i just got back into town this afternoon and finally had the chance to give her a first test drive. In the 15 minutes that I drove, I noticed a few things:

Brake pedal is sensitive, quick moderate pressure leads to calipers clamping down...almost as if its over boosted. Any adjustment for this?
Steering is sloppy,..about 15 degrees of play on either side off center. Definitely have to get all the front end bushings/tie-rods changed out.
Front suspension clunks. Shocks may be blown.

Other than that, at first glance rust in the important areas seems to be very superficial...however, I will need to remove all the panels and carpets to properly determine.

[TG888]

I took my Celica to Joey and Eddy over at Performance Options in Oakland today. I spoke with them for a bit and felt fully comfortable in their knowledge and expertise with these cars. They gave the car a complete inspection and stated how rare it is to find such a completely factory original car with little to no rust, especially in the critical areas.

The issues in the front end turned out to be incorrect wheel lugs used in the passenger side front wheel. They recommended changing all four tires and getting an alignment done to eliminate all my worries with driving safety.

The brake booster is working but somewhat faulty so we decided to upgrade to the AE86 brake master cylinder with Performance Options booster block off plate. This should give me the brake pedal feel that I'm looking for.

I definitely recommend Performance Options for Bay area owners!

[batosai]

Greetings and welcome to the site! Glad you talked to Joel from Toysport as well as other here within our little community. I also live in San Jose, and maybe I'll see you in one of the old school meets. You might want to check out the car event taking place this Saturday at EVHS. Again, welcome to the site and hope to see you on the road...peace!

[TG888]

Thanks!

When and where is the EVHS meet?

[batosai]

Thanks! When and where is the EVHS meet?

There's a thread I put up regarding it in the events and meets section here on the site. The thread's actually titled as "FAANADIX", kindly check it out when you have time...