Leeky1

Trying to find spare parts for them is annoying. I'm tempted to import a wreck from oz to help restore mine. Either that or I learn how to fabricate patch panels...

Great work there Sheepers!

I need some "peter" or equivalent in my life...

Time and money would be nice too.

Nice build thread. And I'd have to say the best looking Celeste i've seen.

Loving this build thread.

Looking forward to see your progress.

Spotted in Marahau a few days ago, Hopefully we see him signed up on here. Turns out he had broken down and I had to call on my inner maori to get it purring again

I drove past this today on QEII drive, and instantly thought I'd love to post a pic of this on oldschool.

F**k I'm jealous. I have shitloads of work to get my 28 even close to where this is at. Hope it get's the love it deserves at some stage.

Since the last update a lot has happened. I had the car shipped back down to chch last Dec.
It had a lot of patches and structural stuff done to it while up in Feilding. None of it makes for exciting project updates.

I've since bought myself a Mig and various resto toolery. So am still in the process of patching panels and plug welding back on to the car.

If anyone is interested I'll take a few pics of the car as it is and of my attempts at fabrication/welding.

^^^
Video was posted 2 pages back. It's on marshlands rd in chch.

I got a link to the google satalite pic, but can't seem to post it.

Pretty sure you'd need a dash and firewall to do it properly.

Also the RA35 has hideous bumpers and licence plate surround.

Stick with the 28. 

Can I have his number?
I need a second opinion on saving my Celica's roof.

So I finally have my Celica back in chch. It's had a few patches put in it, but still needs a lot more.

Here's the link to the project   //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/27963-leeky1s-1976-ra28-celica-gt/?hl=leeky1

Anyone know someone who has the skills I need to get this project back on track?

I'd need someone capable to rebuilding front corners & rear part of the roof (incl gutters).

Sills, bottoms of guards etc etc

Also just generally getting everything ready for paint eventually.

I'd be looking at someone who can work on the car for cash or trade swap. I'd be willing to help out with anything that would help keep costs down.

Also I'm a plumber so can offer trade swap, or just any general plumbing incl supplying showers/ vanities and toilets etc.

Anyway, if you can help or know someone in chch who can, please get in touch 021 222 9775

I love pulling cars apart. It's like a lucky dip! Always got my fingers crossed for bags of weed, eccies or cash.

I found some 80's sunglasses. They were dark green tint and thick glass. An 35yo map of chch and fold out temp windscreen in my '80 Silvia.

Also found the usual money, chips etc in various cars.

i found some weird large insect eggs inside the celica. I pulled them out and cut them open with scalpel and found some dried up grubs inside. I think I saved them, might have to take a pic.

Quick update.

Apparently jacking up the car to take wheels off wasn't a good idea.

This last pic is quite epic for me. I'd say it's 20% going back together. Should be finished in another 6 yrs or so!

Wow, impressive car there. It's certainly had some $$$ thrown at it along the way. I've been restoring an RA28 for last couple years and seeing beautiful Celica's like yours keeps me motivated to get it finished one day.

Nice work Sheepers.

I'll be picking that issue of pcar up to give me motivation (just so you know, I always read car mags while taking morning dump).

On another note; is the right rear guard a replacement? Or did you fill in petrol flap and convert to TA25 filler?

Nice car. I'm surprised I never saw your car on trademe when you got it. I've looked at every Ta/Ra Celica on trademe for the last 6 years. What kind of mirrors are you gonna get?

I'm a big Honda fan from way back. Loving that CRX, man I really want one of those for a track toy one day.(Yes I know you had a race car for sale, but I'm broke ass)/too much on the go).

Any reason there's no B16A's in any of these? They must be pretty cheap these days?

That is looking sweeeet!

Simmons on Rx's are nice. 21million aussies can't be wrong. joke.

I don't mind the chrome either, but if you drive around with the bonnet off your gonna blind other motorists and cause an accident.

Loving the seats too.

Ok, you win. Your Celica is clearly rustier than mine. Not by much.

Starting to take shape though, not much room for the radiator from the looks.

Not sure who does it, but it's called vac-metallizing.

Here's a long explanation. Might help you track someone who does it. Good luck.

Plastic pieces are coated with a special paint that dries to a slightly sticky finish. They're then loaded into a chamber which contains two large vertical tungsten electrodes and aluminum rods are hung between them. The air in the chamber is pumped out to create a vacuum as a tremendous electrical current is pumped through the tungsten electrodes. The combination causes the aluminum rods to instantly vaporize and spray outwards, coating everything within their spray pattern. The aluminum spray sticks to the special paint on the plastic, giving them that shiney, chromed look.

The aluminum coating is very fragile at this point, so a clear sealer coat is sprayed over it for protection (transparent dyes can be added to produce other metallic colors). The pieces are then generally run through this process again using different vac-chamber racks so surfaces that weren't coated during the first blast are exposed for vac-metallizing. While it does give us the look of metal pieces without the associated production costs, the thin layer of metal has a tendency to flake off over time, and the pieces show fingerprints very easily.

Sounds very specialised.

Yup. Looks like it's got some convex(outey) and concave(inney) curves to it. Would need to be shrunk just right, too much and it'll be a pain in the arse to get to sit down properly. If it's an immaculate show car then you should take the window out if you want as good a job as possible. Othwerwise you gonna have to expect some little specs or the odd small crease.

The only spare rear guard i had went to BigA for his RA25 liftback V8, and the roof on the one i wrecked had more holes than roof. Panels i have very few of, but all other trim/interior etc i do have a fair bit of.

Actually I was going through all the boxes of parts and realised the 4 pieces of trim that go from head liner down along rear of hatch are pretty poked. Wouldn't have some spares would you?

Hey I was reading an old copy of 4&rotaries at work today and yhey mentioned a guy called sleeektoy from toymod.com who reproduced his celica GT badges. Was that you??

I was round at a friends yesterday and he's got at least one 28 rear quarter sitting around, I'll check condition and whether he wants to sell. Its in Perth though, are you up for shipping?

Cheers

Matt

Hmm sounds promising, but I think the price to ship from Perth would be astronomical. I think my gaurds aren't beyond saving.

working on cars that have been sandblasted is the best

Cheers for those mock ups!! Pink doesn't look too bad aye. Maybe with purple sparkle?

This has probably been posted before

'70s Celica retrieved from depths of Cocheco River in Rochester

Thursday, September 23, 2010

A Toyota Celica with its last inspection sticker being from 1980 rests on a Cocheco River bank in Rochester Wednesday after it was pulled from the river.

ROCHESTER — Police suspect a '70s-era Toyota Celica pulled from the Cocheco River Tuesday afternoon had been sitting at the bottom of the river for upward for 30 years.

Rochester Police, Fire and Frisbie EMS responded to an initial call of a vehicle that was found by a passerby in the water on the Cocheco River near Hanson Pines, approximately 100 yards south of the footbridge that connects the end of Dewey Street with Hanson Pines.

Officials quickly realized the vehicle was older and had likely been in the river for some time. While some responding apparatus left the scene, many stayed on hand as personnel from Doug's Towing in Rochester pulled the car from the water.

Caked in mud, it took the crew upward of an hour to pull the car out of the murky water and hoist it on the bed of their truck. A license plate on the car out of Maine was sporting a February 1980 inspection sticker.

Gas and oil seeped from the rusted-out car into the river. Several eels also escaped from the back of the car as it was extracted from the water. Fire Captain Willie Hoyt and other firefighters set down oil-collecting towels in the river and on the river bank to help catch some of the fluids from dumping in the river.

Once the car was out of the river, Hoyt and other fire personnel used tools to bust open the doors and trunk of the car. Both the interior and of the car and the trunk were filled with mud. The driver's side windows of the car were open, but the passenger side was closed.

The passerby, whose identity was not obtained by Foster's before he left the area, assisted the towing crew by donning scuba gear and hooking the towing cables to the car.

Callaghan said it's likely the car had been at the bottom of the river for 30 years.

"I think it's safe to say that based on the condition," Callaghan said. "There's rocks fused to the roof and it's filled with years of sediment."

Callaghan said there are "lots of possibilities" as to how the car ended up in the river. He said the river has been a popular city hangout at times in its history, and said it's possible someone might have tried to take the car out on the iced-over Cocheco one winter and had it fall in the water.

Crews took the car to behind the Department of Public Works to be cleaned with a fire hose. Callaghan said no items were recovered from the car after it was cleaned out.

Not as easy as it looks getting these panels off.

Had to do this both sides. Basically opened up sides were the door hinges are located.

Bad design. This is where fresh air enters in to the heater box.

So once I got the sills off I could see this area completely blocked with dirt. It had rusted right thru into the car, where the belts bolt to car body.

After blasting. Will cut all this out.

The floor.

Sorry for all the pics! Won't post again untill I start making some real progress with the patching, re-building process.