91 Celica GT convertible. (Project)

i just bought a 91 celica gt convertible 5 speed which had been run into a fence and had some body damage. The guy originally had $1100 on it, but by the time i found the ad and called he had lowered it to $800. The car has 119,000 miles on it, a new clutch and distributer. I have to replace the driver side door, fender, hood, complete front bumper and convertible top. I have already replaced the door and hood and fender for around $550 with salvage yard parts of same color in good shape. I found a top replacement in vinyl for $180. I have a few smaller things to do but should get away with only putting $1000 to $1200 in total repairs into it for a total investment of $1800-$2000. I figure it should at least be worth $3000 when restored. I am not doing it to resell. I just wanted one of these and i love to work on cars. I did find this car easy to work on so far. just thought i would post and see if anyone thought this was a decent buy.

ps. if anyone has a complete white bumper assembly they want to sell and you live in indiana, ohio, or kentucky let me know.

Well being your in a Celica forum of course your going to hear all good remarks on your purchase :P.. Seriously though in my area the convertibles are hard to come by, and I wish I had what you have now.. The Celica's are one of the best sports cars to have if you like power and gas economy together.. Powerful little cars, light, and damn good on gas.. I myself have an 86 GTS liftback (hatchback) and am restoring it as a show car.. Definately something to play around with.. What model is yours? (ST, GT, GTS, or All-Trac)

It is a GT model. I sure can't wait to get it finished so i can drive it.
So the convertables are hard to come by where you are huh? where are you from? I just found another one a few hours away. It's a 92 GT conv. with a blown motor and they want $600. Man i sure might have to check into that one too. lol. Are the convertables worth more than the regular GT hardtops? Thanks for your post.

The GT models have the 5SFE engine, which is aluminum head and block, which are fairly nice engines but easy to blow if you force to much power into them.. you have 130 HP and 140 lbs of torque on a rather light car, very nice I must say.. they even make turbos for that model engine.. as far as the difference between the conver and the hardtops I do not know, which is worth more to you? :P

Good point. I guess it does not make much difference to me. I just like these cars. I don't plan on putting too much more power in it. I will probably just put a cold air filter in and exhaust, which should add a little to it. I will probably put alot of cosmetic assessories on, like a body kit, pedals, shifter knob, etc. I just need to figure out the best handling tires for those 14" rims.

Well doing only that to the engine will keep your fuel millage, which is always a good thing. Your engine being alum. block and head is like a time bomb on wheels when it's hooked up for too much power. Just make sure you have good rain tires cause being that the vehicle is light it wouldn't be hard to hydroplane. For the most part the Toyota cars are pretty durable. My first car was a 89 Toyota Turcel and I beat the hell out of the car, and never needed any maintenance other than the usual oil change and such. But if you push the Celica's hard enough you can blow the engine. Use the higher performance oil if possible cause you will get some good friction on those parts. I always went the next grade higher on my turcel and she stayed together fine. All I did was take the lower number and bring that up to the next grade (ex. from 5w30 to 10w30) that way it isn't too thin for safty sake. Or instead of changing the oil you could always get an additive for the oil to make it a little thicker also. Too many people blow the celica engines by not paying attention to the little things, or are just too power hungry.

I usually run 10w 40 in my vehicles. I know how the aluminum can be. I hate to say it but i used to own a Renault alliance which had an aluminum head and it got warped. Electric fan quit and i didn't notice it in time. Only takes once to get hot. Water flowing out the tailpipe isnt good. I think Renualt is french for "piece of crap on wheels." lol. Today i probably would not own a smaller car that wasn't a toyota. Track record, Track record, Track record !! I will probably post before and after pics of the celeca when i get it done. Just have to see how to do it here. Not sure what section to load the pics into.

I have the same problem with my 1988 Chevy Beretta.. The fan doesn't work and your right it only takes once.. I had to take my head off and have it milled down flat again and put all new gaskets on.. It wasn't warped too bad though, only 33/1000 of an inch, but apparently enough to let water past.. As far as the pictures I have never tried to do that yet.. What kind of goodies did your car come with?

The car did have a good cd player that the previous owner left in it, although i do have to replace both door 6x9 speakers. They dry rotted. The car has power windows and locks. Cruise control and tilt wheel. That is about it. I will be putting on more accessories as i go. The tires are shot except for one which will be a spare. There was no spare with the car, which I can't understand why not. What do people do with the spares? lol. I have a question for you. The car has 14" rims and I want wider tires than the 185 65r 14's that are factory. I don't really want to buy new rims yet so what tire would be good for those 14" rims?

With my cars I take out the spare cause my subwoofers usually don't fit in the trunk with the spare in there.. Or I wouldn't even be able to get to the spare with the speakers in either so I just take it out to get rid of some weight.. I am almost always local to my house so I never worry about getting a flat.. If I go long distances I will put it in and take out my speakers.. The next size tire to make them wider would be 195/65R14, just don't change the '65' cause then you will screw up your speedometer.. That changes the height of your tire and to do that you need to change your rim to keep your speedometer reeding acurately.. I always liked putting wider tires in the back that are one size bigger than the front, but by doing that there is no way of rotating your tires, you have to get new tires each time and always always make sure your alignmest stays true..