Ugly Duckling - 90 ST185 Resurrection

FlannelFairlady

New member
Awhile back I helped a friend out with his very rough 1990 Celica All-Trac that had definitely seen a hard life. The car looks like someone was getting ready to paint it but had no idea what they were doing, and been in an accident on top of that. My friend got it back in 2013 and since then has replaced and rebuilt the engine, and replaced the turbo. He also installed a poorly fitting 3" cat back exhaust and a Mishimoto radiator. My friend decided to sell the car as he didn't have time to work on it, naturally I jumped at the opportunity as I have wanted an All-Trac for a long time now and the price was waaaaay too good to pass up. ($1500) It had sat in storage for about 6 months, but it fired right up and ran like a dream. I drove it back to my place with little drama other than a water leak. I am mainly a Datsun person so this a new experience for me, but my Datsun project is a 78 280z with a turbo 1UZ running megasquirt and should make around 550whp.

Since I have gotten the car home I have gone through it a bit and found out what I need to do with the car before I can use it as my daily for the winter which is the immediate goal and the plan is to do some extensive work next summer on the car. So far I have mostly mended the core support which had been pushed in and up in an accident. For that I pretty much just pulled it back out with a come along hooked up to my GF's Datsun 620 pickup, it still needs to be tweaked but I am not too worried since the plan is to replace the lower core support next summer. A lot of the little bits on the car are missing or not correct so the plan is to replace what I can. Unfortunately someone drilled holes in the hood for hood pins and the hood is kinked from an accident so I will need to track down a replacement at some point. I also want to put some actual paint on it since it I am not fond of the mismatched primer look. Also the initial plan is to remove the stock antiquated ecu setup and go to megasquirt like most of my cars as of late. I will likely spray paint the car for the winter so I don't have to drive a mismatched car, since my Z is presently occupying the shop.

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That steering wheel really really bugs me so that will likely be one of the first things to go.

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This is after I pulled out the core support a bit still pretty tweaked.

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And this is where I ended up with it, the passenger side is still a bit too high but the north south crossmember fits like it supposed to so good enough for now.
 

mx6er2587

New member
wow that steering wheel is special...not sure why someone thought that was ever a good idea. Looks like a pretty solid project though. Looking forward to see it turn into a swan
 

FlannelFairlady

New member
I am thinking there was no steering wheel when my friend got the car and he grabbed that just to have something on there while it's getting moved around. The car is totally solid, almost no rust speak of and the rust that is there is just surface stuff. Not to mention the fact the rebuilt engine has break in miles on it and that's it. It runs like a dream.
 

underscore

Well-known member
That certainly looks like a bit of a basket case but with solid bones underneath. If it runs so well why mess with the engine management system? I know it's hardly cutting edge but if it ain't broke...
 

FlannelFairlady

New member
I am watching to replace it to stave off future issues with the factory ems and all it's accessories. Also The plan is to get this car to around 300whp. I have dealt with a lot of wiring gremlins in old electronics and I would like to know what my car is doing in a more accurate fashion which helps with troubleshooting greatly when it is required. Also I just like soldering projects. :p
 

FlannelFairlady

New member
This past weekend I picked up a Carlos Sainz front bumper locally with new corner grills, and a pair of vented rear corners. The cool part is the bumper still has the water sprayers on it which I may hook up when I get a front mount IC
and go megasquirt then have them pulse when the charge temp goes above a certain point. I may not paint the car for the winter and just drive it as is until I can get my Z going so I can spray the car in the shop.

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FlannelFairlady

New member
The steering wheel is definitely tragic.

Update: I just picked up a 93 Celica gt-s parts car to steal the interior, fenders, stereo, short shifter, and a lot of other parts from. It also has a factory alarm system that I am wondering if I can steal depending on how they are wired in. The car itself is pretty solid and clean which makes me really sad for what I'm about to do to it. My friend offered to purchase the running shell from me after I was done for $500 as he is going to cut off the hatch and make a hatchback 2nd gen MR2. I spent $1000 on it and I had to buy a battery after it died halfway home which sucks but the All Trac needed a new battery anyways so I will just reuse the battery in that. I had the option of getting a damaged st185 hood with the parts car but I opted against it for the reasoning that I will be ordering one of those carbon fiber st185rc hoods in the near future unless I come across a metal one first. I have a MOMO steering wheel on order from Japan that should be here by the end of the wheel so I will be able to ditch the horrible brown wheel on there now.

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On another note I was doing some digging and I found an article autoweek did on my car before my friend bought it which is absolutely hilarious. What's better is the original photo album from the ad still works.

http://autoweek.com/article/car-lif...es-edition-mazda-323-gtx-or-toyota-celica-all

http://s1150.photobucket.com/user/brentsgarage/library/?sort=3&page=1
 

8BitBrody

New member
Hey, man, if you end up with a spare set of floor mats, center console lid, or factory radio form either of those cars, shoot me a PM. Those are the last pieces I need to complete the interior of mine. =]
 

FlannelFairlady

New member
I haven't forgotten about the Celica, between having to move suddenly and the holidays it's sometimes challenging to keep these things up to date. On top of all of that my camera is broken so no pictures for now. I have gotten some stuff done as of late as well as receiving some goodies. I recently bought a standalone ecu setup (Megasquirt PnP) for the Celica to deal with my lean condition. The parts car was stripped for body panels and interior then sold. I also picked up a full water to air ic setup and I am working on converting a rear pair of struts to use AGXs. Expect pictures as soon as I replace my phone.

8bitbrody - Sorry the only piece that car has was the center console lid which I need as well.
 

8BitBrody

New member
FlannelFairlady":22zchtq9 said:
8bitbrody - Sorry the only piece that car has was the center console lid which I need as well.

Actually, I just realized I lost the trim for my exterior driver's side door panel while working on my restoration. If you're willing to let that go for a cheap price, shoot me a message.

Also, still looking forward to see where this goes. :D
 

FlannelFairlady

New member
I got the car running and after dealing with some ignition issues it's running amazingly. I had to modify the boost map as it was meant for a car with a restrictive cat. After I address it that small issue it is now limiting the boost to around 12lbs which is great for now. I also picked up a few parts that are waiting to go on including a Garrett Gt28rs and a tial 38 mm external wastegate.


Unfortunately I did run into an issue after driving it for a few weeks the front wheel bearings decided they weren't happy. This is likely due to failing seals and the wet weather. Either way now I need to replace both front hubs and bearing in addition to replacing the rear wheel bearings just to be safe. While the car is in the air I will be doing the struts and anything else I find that needs attention. I just need to get this thing back on the road so I can finish my Z so I can drive that while I fix the front of the Celica and paint it. Literally a game of musical cars.

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