ST162 Corona GTR

Shinjiro n

New member
i know sometimes people start discussing head light modification so i thought id share a project of mine that i just started working on again after letting it collect dust in the garage for about a year and a half.

st162corona.jpg


85Corona.jpg


As with most Celica the T16 had a sibling car in the form of the Corona which much like the AE86 Levin/Trueno relationaship is the Fixed headlight derivative of the Celica.

Now this conversion is actually a bit of a downgrade as at the time the Celica was a far more desireable and expensive vehicle in Japan but out of uniquenes si pursued this conversion anyway.

The ST162 Corona GTR is mechanically exactly the same as the ST162 Celica GTR. and the conversion itself is very easy as well as you only need to change the hood, headlights, grille and bumper (im using a St165 Celica GT-Four bumpe ri had in my back yard until my Corona Bumper arrives from japan, also my Hood as you notice is quite "ghetto" im alsao waiting on the hood to arrive)

I will post more later on availability of parts, a step by step of the ocnversion itself and other little bits of information.

I know this sort of thing isnt everyones cup of tea but i hope you all enjoy it anyway!
 

RIalltrac

Active member
Definately changes the look of the car, but for me I dont like the grill and I wouldnt dump the gt four bumper for the corona one. Unless it doesnt fit right. The corona hood will make it look a lot cleaner though.
 

CMS-GT4

Active member
I do not like the grill either. Reminds me of an old cresseda (sp).

I think mix and match, and maybe a custom hood and bumper may look pretty good.
 

Shinjiro n

New member
the grille definitely has that 80's japanese "Hi-So" car feel to it not unlike MZ11/MZ21 series Soarer. I dont mind it so much.

The bumper htough does have noticable gaps underneath the headlights as the nose of the corona come smore to a point. Most people tell me its nothing but i know its there!
 

Kyoto

New member
Ill second that, leave the bumper.

But more importantly, has anyone noticed this is the same (if not same then VERY similar) model to the early "ST165" rally cars? I can't see from that picture but if the Corona GTR is a hatch and not coupe then it is. I have heaps of pics, google and ye shall find.
 

muneo

New member
I think it would look tight if you replaced the center with a sleeker fiberglass or carbon fiber center. Some kind of cover piece over the top of the lights to make the shape look more slanty and less boxy might ad some flare (I know some poeple think these things make a car look ricey but I think they enhance the shape of a headlight if done right)
Making the hood one complete piece would be the cherry on top of this conversion.
 

killer_siller

New member
the rally 165 had custom lights. they fit the shape/size of the pop-up lights, so they just drop in and bolt up. same grille and all.
 

Mafix

New member
i would love a rally style headlight and those corners but that would be the only way i would get away from the stock flips.
 

killer_siller

New member
the rally lights are unique, i'll give them that, but i love having pop-up headlights. don't ask me why, i don't know. almost all the cars i love are equipped with them:

fc3s rx-7
2000 trans am ws-6
st16x
st18x
ma70 supra

anywho. i wouldn't trade my lights in for ANYTHING. but that's my car and my opinion. i have a goal for it: to be completely stock on the outside, and NOT on the inside.
replacing my lights would affect that goal.

either way i think this is an awesome project. what are you putting under the hood? i would go for something crazy like a 3sge beams or a 4agze or 4age 20 valve.
 

GT4times2

Moderator
I actually think it does look nice with the GT4 bumper. Nice project. I'd love to see the end result. Nice to see something different yet tasteful.
 

Shinjiro n

New member
Right Now looks like I will be changin the Bumper and Tailights along with the hood, I also managed to nab all the badging for the Corona GT-R as well. Still trying to locate an actualy GT-R Grille, the one I have is the GT Grille.

My car is a Coupe and the Corona GT-R was only offered in coupe form. So for right now i've decided to keep this car mostly stock (seeing as the interior is still immaculate) and probably be repainting it white. I have a Brand new GT-S front lip in the garage waiting as well.

The engine will stay stock for now but i'll probably make another hi-comp 3S-GE like I had before (Blew it up after putting somehting like 30k miles on it per year for 3 years including Drift Day and Speedtrial USA events).

Also I will be probably picking up anothe Celica GT-S (a hatchback this time) after New Years and still waiting for a ST165 to find it's way into my garage. I figure I have enough 3S and ST16 Celica parts laying around I may as well keep buying more of them!
 

Shinjiro n

New member
The project kind of stalled after I started working at Signal Auto USA since I was workign there about 10-12 hours a day 6 days a week. But now that I am at Toysport and with more reasonable hours I can start it up again. I will be probably selling off all my GT-Four body pieces since I should be recieved my Corona bumper and hood sometime next month.
 

Shinjiro n

New member
The tailights aren't that much different from the stock US ST162 lights, the only instantly noticable difference are the two black lines running horizontally across the lights. I'll try to find some picture of them later.
 

Mafix

New member
i'm very glad you work there now. it'll be nice to have a good contact, since they burned me on a couple things.
 

Shinjiro n

New member
Yeah sorry to hear that, I will do my best to keep things under control here haha. But I have no control over what they do just my own sales :shoots:
 

white88mr2

New member
ok sorry to dig this up from the grave...but i need to know where to get the corona parts to do this,it's a matter of life or death for my buddy alltrac,lol
 
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