Intro/Hooked on the first drive

NickNelson

New member
New member here, got on originally looking for tech info and to possibly sell the 1991 Celica Alltrac that I acquired. Completely stock, 170K on it and been sitting in my driveway with an intermittent starting issue for the last year. Got a job transfer with a 40 mile twisty canyon drive both ways and realized I might have the perfect daily commuter in the driveway. Fixed the intermittent start issue this weekend and installed a new stereo. (clutch switch)Drove it this morning and it's no longer for sale just yet! Ive raced offroad for nearly thirty years, but I've never had such a fun commute to work as today. Gonna have to spend some money and get a little more HP out of it, but it handles like its on rails. Thinking to leave faded paint and stock wheels but upgrade everything underneath for a kind of sleeper build.
This thing is a blast as it sits but can't wait to add 50-75 HP.
Tehachapi, CA
1991 Celica Alltrac ST185
 

autojumbled

New member
Great to hear you put it back on the road and are using it! Jealous of your commute!

What was the fix for the intermittent starting?
 

transneptunian

New member
That’s awesome man. Love seeing these cars being saved from automotive oblivion. They are a real joy to drive. Just be aware if you’re using as a daily, they can be high maintenance but worth every penny. I’d recommend a downpipe and exhaust and a boost controller set to 12-14psi. This really makes the car come to life and lets you get full boost in 1st and 2nd gear. Good luck and keep us updated!
 

NickNelson

New member
The commute is fun! The fix was the clutch switch that lets it know you have the clutch engaged, I just bypassed it and its fine now. But as mentioned its pretty doggy especially first second gear? Also only seems to be getting 16 miles to the gallon on premium "but it is a twisty climb and on the gas most the time"
I bought a KO Racing downpipe and looking into boost/ exhaust. do you think the mid pipe catalytic converter needs to go as I live in California and it just smogged no problem. What programmer or boost controller? what exhaust? Thanks!
 

underscore

Well-known member
Since first and second run lower boost that's not surprising. If the cats are old and clogged up they'll kill power quite a bit, especially the stock downpipe one. Though if the rest of your exhaust is in the condition mine was the new downpipe with the old midpipe cat may make it blow itself to pieces now that the main source of backpressure has moved. :lol:
 

transneptunian

New member
I would look into a high flow cat as well if you have emission testing. The stock cat and Dow pipe are quite restrictive. I don’t have emissions where I live so I’m running a BRD downpipe into straight 3 inch exhaust into a straight muffler. It’s loud but free flowing. If you have the downpipe I would just hit up a local exhaust shop to fabricate the piping and buy aftermarket cat and muffler for them to install with the piping. As far as the boost controller, any will do. A manual will be cheaper, just get something quality. Electronic opens up more options but they are pricey. I use an hbc manual bc and it works fine. You’ll hit fuel cut at around 14 psi so you can look into a fuel cut defender but it’s not recommended to run beyond that with a stock engine anyways. The biggest upside is eliminating the factory boost controller and having full boost in the 1st two gears.
 
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