Sooner the better build '79 Te51

ItsaCorolla · **Posted:** Mon Jan 07, 2013 2:33 pm

Haha get it, sooner...because I'm stuckk in Oklahoma... seriously everyone here tried mud trucks and chevies :sigh:

Anyways I recently purchased my first "Japanese nostalgia car". It's a 1979 2TC powered Corolla sport coupe SR5. When I got the car the interior was in rough shape. It was missing numerous pieces and the seats were two passenger seats rigged to fit and each was a different color. The body was in good shape aside from the color and a tiny bit of damage to the bottom of the driver front fender. Previous owner said they tagged a curb. It also came with a brand new Weber, a vintage set of Enkei Compe8's and a folding rag top. Not a bad deal for $1800 I think. Oh and the best part was it only had 83k original miles. I plan to slowly build the car in a sort of "restomod" fashion. I've been aimlessly wondering the forums for ideas as well as browsing Craigslist for some deals. A 1uz-fe would be fun but the 5spd swaps are so expensive for that engine. Anyways here's some pics from the pic day after only a wash and vacuum. The interior was completely taken out afterwards including the trunk and this thing is nearly rust free. All I could find was some surface rust on the damage fender and the exhaust :mrgreen:

ItsaCorolla · **Posted:** Mon Jan 07, 2013 2:41 pm

Here's a few pics from a weekend project a week or two after driving it back and forth to school. I decided I was sick of driving with the ugly mismatched seats and missing panels. I couldn't find a parts car locally so I went to the local pick-n-pull salvage yard and scored two 1G DSM seats for $26. A light steel, angle grinder and cursing later I had two matching seats in the car. Next up was the missing panels. I framed up a storage area behind the seats and stenciled out some replacement panels with poster board. I then cut them out of 1/4 inch sheet wood and covered each with black leather to match. Since I don't have a back seat now, does that mean it's a Roadster? lol

ItsaCorolla · **Posted:** Mon Jan 07, 2013 2:59 pm

The weather's been pretty crappy the past few days so I've been stuck inside. All the trim, bumpers, badges etc are off of the car at the moment so I thought I'd refinish some of them.

ItsaCorolla · **Posted:** Mon Jan 07, 2013 3:10 pm

That brings everything up to date as to what I've been doing this week. Here's a few teasers for everyone to look forward to / prepare to hate on

Front 15x8 +0 Rear 16x9 +0

Datsun Z arches

VW mk1 chin spoiler

modified fiberglass Te27 rear deck wing

Oh and the reason the car is apart

That's it for now until she's finished and back together :mrgreen:

Camshaft · **Posted:** Mon Jan 07, 2013 5:48 pm

Car looks great, I actually really like the colour - the gold Enkeis really make it pop, too.

Is that a factory shade? I feel like I checked out an A40 Celica recently that was originally that colour.

ItsaCorolla · **Posted:** Mon Jan 07, 2013 6:47 pm

Camshaft wrote:

Car looks great, I actually really like the colour - the gold Enkeis really make it pop, too.

Is that a factory shade? I feel like I checked out an A40 Celica recently that was originally that colour.

That was the original color I've seen it on a few different models from the era, it wasn't to my taste though. I hope the new color will update the look and bring this neglected model some deserved attention

UtahSleeper · **Posted:** Mon Jan 07, 2013 9:22 pm

I was never a fan of that gen of corolla, but that body style has grown on my. Love the car and curious where its going to end up.

JDMwhiteboy · **Posted:** Mon Jan 07, 2013 9:48 pm

Loving it man! The wheels are a good choice

ItsaCorolla · **Posted:** Tue Jan 08, 2013 5:03 pm

Should I color match the fender flares to the body or match them in satin black to my bumpers and trim?

bennyd · **Posted:** Tue Jan 08, 2013 11:39 pm

Leave 'em carbon, looks cool and will sort of match your bumpers and trim.

ItsaCorolla · **Posted:** Thu Jan 17, 2013 7:13 pm

Starting to get parts in and it should be warm enough this weekend to finish up the paint so I'll be taing picks and updating soon.

I have a request for other Te51 owners though. My car came without a trunk latch and I've ordered three seperate locks now, none of which attach to the rod. Can someone with s coupe take a picture of the coplete lock/rod/latch system in their trunk and post it here please?

OkieRA29 · **Posted:** Fri Jan 18, 2013 9:27 am

Man, you missed it by a month. There was one of these at Pull-a-Part in december. I grabbed the front seat for my RA29. I knew the guy that sold it to PAP, could have beat him for doing it.
I saw this car first in Edmond and stopped to talk to the owner then. Surprised to see it on Craiglist a few weeks later. Glad to see it got saved and went to somebody who appreciates it. There isn't much of a JNC scene here mostly honda and drifters. The 76 Celica is still off the road for suspension work, but hope to be back on the road soon. I do drive the 85 celica around quite a bit. So if you see a white Celica with a red hood, wave.
As to your lock situation, can you get a pic? Believe it or not, Toyota did a lot of cross pollination of parts back in the day. The seats and rails from your car, fit right into my 76 Celica. I am thinking, that your lock set up is probably the same that is in the hatch of my Celica. If so, I should have one or two laying around that you can have.
Just found this, does it look right?
http://www.michaelhyde.com/Toyota-Rear- ... p_391.html

If so, believe it or not, those little plastic clips are still available from Toyota. Best Toyota dealer to ask for old parts is Momentum out at NW Exp and Council. They have found and gotten plenty of parts for my 76 Celica. We will have to meet sometime. I do head out to cars and coffee quite often. 1st sunday of every month at Penn and Memorial behind the Texas Roadhouse.

ItsaCorolla · **Posted:** Fri Jan 18, 2013 10:02 am

OkieRA29 wrote:

Man, you missed it by a month. There was one of these at Pull-a-Part in december. I grabbed the front seat for my RA29. I knew the guy that sold it to PAP, could have beat him for doing it.
I saw this car first in Edmond and stopped to talk to the owner then. Surprised to see it on Craiglist a few weeks later. Glad to see it got saved and went to somebody who appreciates it. There isn't much of a JNC scene here mostly honda and drifters. The 76 Celica is still off the road for suspension work, but hope to be back on the road soon. I do drive the 85 celica around quite a bit. So if you see a white Celica with a red hood, wave.
As to your lock situation, can you get a pic? Believe it or not, Toyota did a lot of cross pollination of parts back in the day. The seats and rails from your car, fit right into my 76 Celica. I am thinking, that your lock set up is probably the same that is in the hatch of my Celica. If so, I should have one or two laying around that you can have.
Just found this, does it look right?
http://www.michaelhyde.com/Toyota-Rear- ... p_391.html

If so, believe it or not, those little plastic clips are still available from Toyota. Best Toyota dealer to ask for old parts is Momentum out at NW Exp and Council. They have found and gotten plenty of parts for my 76 Celica. We will have to meet sometime. I do head out to cars and coffee quite often. 1st sunday of every month at Penn and Memorial behind the Texas Roadhouse.

glad to see another local! Man I was just there for seats I missed it by a few weeks.

That's the lock I need!!! I've tried two locks from locak stores and now I'm stuck with this one I ordered from RockAuto. One all three listed for teh Sr5 coupe this is what I've got. The arm has no hole in it for a clip and is much narrower. Like I said mie came with no lock at all so I can't get away with just the clip. If you have an extra one laying around I will gladly buy it.

http://www.rockauto.com/getimage/getima ... RIMARY.jpg

OkieRA29 · **Posted:** Fri Jan 18, 2013 10:13 am

I will try and scrounge one up. I have a ton of parts for the celicas, but they aren't very well organized. I will let you know if I can find it or not. The DSM seats look really nice in the car. Oh yeah, forgot to add, check 1/2 price books for manuals. I have found several of the Hanes manuals for both of my Celicas there. They usually run 10$ or less. I want to say the one in Edmond had a few factory corolla manuals, but I don't remember the years.

ItsaCorolla · **Posted:** Sat Jan 19, 2013 5:32 pm

Came home last night and opened the garage to unload some stuff. Looked like this sitting in the dark and thought it'd make a cool picture to share.

ItsaCorolla · **Posted:** Mon Jan 21, 2013 7:28 pm

More progress. Started the long process of buffing and polishing the car today. Got the right side done before my shoulder and back said it was time to call it a day. Being the stubborn jackass that I am I wasn't about to call it quits so I went ahead and got the badges and trim put back on as well. I'm really proud of my first paint job :mrgreen:

not perfect by any means but not bad either :tu:

Oh btw should I black out the headlight trim to match my black and white scheme or leave them chrome?

OkieRA29 · **Posted:** Mon Jan 21, 2013 8:00 pm

Holy Crap! did you paint that in the garage? Wanna teach me how? Looks super awesome, good job!

ItsaCorolla · **Posted:** Mon Jan 21, 2013 8:26 pm

OkieRA29 wrote:

Holy Crap! did you paint that in the garage? Wanna teach me how? Looks super awesome, good job!

I did, though if you're going to try it I'd recommend waiting until spring, temps really need to be above mid 50's to lay a coat down so it's taken me almost 3 weeks to do this since I've only been working on warm days. You can do it in the summer but there's more bugs and dust out.

Best part about this whole job was it only cost me about $150 for materials rather than the $2000 I was quoted. Granted the $2000 job would be much nicer than this but for a daily I'm happy with the results.

OkieRA29 · **Posted:** Tue Jan 22, 2013 1:04 pm

Yeah, definitely looking at one of those pop up garage tent-thingies when I do it. Did you get your stuff at a jobbers or just the stuff they sell at autozone? I have a big enough compressor and a couple of paint guns. I have done a bunch of rehabbed furniture with them and I am pretty comfortable using them. Thinking I might be able to get away with it in march or so.

ItsaCorolla · **Posted:** Tue Jan 22, 2013 1:15 pm

Actually I rolled it on. This is the "$50" paint job. You thin the hell out of rustoleum enamel and it self levels. The paints pretty tough once dries so it takes a ton of wet sanding and buffing the get it smooth but for the cost it's pretty slick and durable.

Sooner the better build '79 Te51

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