Page 1 : Intro
Page 2 : Updates Page
Page 3 : Exterior
Page 4 : Interior
Page 5 : Audio
Page 6 : Engine
Page 7 : Drivetrain
Page 8 : Chassis/Suspension
Page 9 : Videos
Page 10 : Summary Info
Page XX : My other car, an 86 Crown Vic Sleeper!

11/23/09
Another auto-x at ACU-4 with Tidewater Sports Car Club.  Was pretty fun, and the car did really well.  It's a shame that the LSD is broken, I swear it works better now that it's broken than it did when it was in one piece (yeah, the LSD in the car now is broken more on that later).  A friend of mine took a lot of pictures, so it took some time to narrow it down to just a few.

11/19/09
A while back I replaced my door mirrors with some Talbot style mirrors.  When I ordered them I chose the aluminum version because I thought they would match the aged stainless trim on the car better (and they did), but it turns out the base of the mirrors was chrome anyways, and the aluminum also turned out to be a little too thin to withstand high speeds and the vibration of the solid engine mounts.  After a while there were fatigue cracks on the base of the mirror housing.  So I ordered some stainless replacements.  I had planned on just swapping the housing, but after I got the replacements there was a significant difference in quality.  So I ended up swapping the whole thing.  They look good either way though, and once I get the trim on the windshield again it'll look a lot better.

11/05/09
Since I've had the Celica, the driver door has ever so slightly been rubbing the front fender when I open and close it because of the wore out door hinges.  So I finally got around to making some shims to push the door back to the correct placement so that it doesn't touch the fender and the clearance is better.  It's nothing that's really visible from pictures, but while I was doing the work I had the front fender off and decided to take some pictures for reference in the future.  You can see the tire just barely touching the firewall at the back in the second picture.  The 4th is showcasing how the Battle Version negative roll center adjusters are installed.  And the ruler is measuring the clearance of the wheels to the strut casing (the wheels are 15X7 +15mm offset, with 195/50 tires).

10/14/09
So I went to an SCCA auto-x a couple weekends ago.  Went pretty good, but I made a mistake in setup.  I changed out my rear springs for some stiffer ones predicting that the car would understeer.  Well, I think the softer springs would have been a ton better.  I was pretty much drifting through every turn.  So my times weren't the best they could be, but it was still a blast.  I was placed 10th out of 39 by raw times, and 16th out of 39 by PAX times.  Friend of mine was there taking pics so I got a good few.  I think these are some of the best.

08/22/09
I know it's not a very significant update, but I thoroughly enjoy the Grassroots Motorsports Magazine, and I thought it was about time I showed my appreciation!

08/09/09
I got some pictures from the last drift/grip event that I went to.  I ran with 200lb rear springs, and adjust the shocks accordingly, and the car is finally setup great!  It's spot on for handling, and it's really easy to drive now.  Enjoy!

06/25/09
I've done some exterior updates over the past few months.  I got some number decals for the track weekends, and some new wheels and tires for the street.  The tires are Bridgstone Potenza RE-11, 195/50/R15 front and 205/50/R15 rear.  Wheels are XXR 513, 15X7 wheels.  The new tires feel awesome!  The grip is very impressive, but at the same time the ride comfort is really good.  Much improved in every way over the Falken Azenis tires. 

03/31/09
I got tired of not being able to see my blind spots so well, and of my mirror being right in the middle of my camera mount view. So I installed a Wink 5 panel 36" mirror. Came out nice, fits better than I thought it would. I had to add a center support bracket as it was vibrating a lot at idle (since I have solid engine mounts). After the 3rd bracket it works great, and it's so nice to see everywhere all the time.

Page 1 : Intro
Page 2 : Updates Page
Page 3 : Exterior
Page 4 : Interior
Page 5 : Audio
Page 6 : Engine
Page 7 : Drivetrain
Page 8 : Chassis/Suspension
Page 9 : Videos
Page 10 : Summary Info
Page XX : My other car, an 86 Crown Vic Sleeper!