Kurt's RA61 All-In-One Restomod Thread!

[RA61Kurt]

On that whistle, I would also think it's a vacuum leak... did you take the opportunity to replace all your vacuum lines?

Hah, I wish! There's a few I need to get at, one day I'll go and buy a ton of hose and get in there.

For exhaust, I bought a friend's mild steel, crush bent, 2.25" cat-back with a small Magnaflow muffler.

Thanks for that info, i wrote it down in my Celica-Bible-In-Progress. The info on sound/sizing and the v-band tidbit are super helpful as well. I will get to my exhaust sooner or later - my current plan is to chuck a better header on it first, then do custom under the car to be capped off with an off the shelf muffler/tip combo that looks nice and (hopefully) sounds good.

All plans are subject to change though

Thanks for the vote of confidence on the progress, btw!

[twotone_ra64]

Do it! I bet you there's some hoses that have cracked or dried out in there.

I'd say stick with doing the exhaust first, that'll give you the noizz, then the headers will give you tha powah.

[RA61Kurt]

Minor update!

I've been doing some free things to the car ot make things a bit nicer.

for the first time during my ownership (due to constantly being worked on) I washed the car, cleaning out a ton of cobwebs and built up gunk. It looks quite a bit better, pics to follow when I have some free time.

The SSRs scrub up awesome, I couldn't have asked for a better looking wheel.

I'll have to get around to cleaning up my interior soon, the seats are fairly dirty and so is the carpet, but it's all in good nick so it should come up nice.

In other news, I got my radio working... kind of.
- My motorized antenna is busted, and I'm thinking of just deleting it and filling the hole, due to rust around the mount.
- Cassette player is confused with both actual tapes and a cassette-to-aux cable adapter in it, constantly trying to rewind/fast forward itself. I know nothing about cassette decks so I'm not sure what that problem is.
- sound quality is suprisingly good! For a 35yo car that is, but my front passenger speaker is cactus and pops constantly. drivers side is fine.

If anyone has any recommendations on retro looking head units and speakers that fit (i think they're 4in?) with decent bass I'm all ears! haha.

ALSO: I work in spare parts, and just trying to find pricing on a dash mat for the Celica led me to find we had one in stock from a stock order in 1997, so I scooped that shit up pronto. Fits pretty well considering the age and being pressed between 200 other dash mats at my work. Pretty chuffed with that, no more sunbathing for my uncracked blue dash!

Will be back with pics of clean car and clean interior when I get to it, also trying to get myself motivated to get my exhaust done.

[RA61Kurt]

Been a minute!

I've recently acquired this:


And yes, I'm aware the first gen 3S-GE isn't as good as the ones that superceded it, but I like it, and 140hp is a lot more than 80.
Got it for 600AUD with an S-engine-to-W-series-box bellhousing. Even if I am unhappy with this set-up, it should be relatively easy to go from this to a BEAMS providing all S engine blocks share engine mount points and bell mounts.

Had to get a photo of it in front of the car to make it official.



miscellaneous photos of the motor



So, the current plan is, as it stands:
- Get the motor rebuilt professionally with surfaces machined, perhaps throw in some goodies (looking at July/August, my preferred shop supposedly has a great builder coming into town)
   -- side note: the engine turns over freely and nothing seems loose or broken! motor does have 350,000km on it though, probably in full need of a freshen up.
- get my rear quarter glass trim replaced and rust repaired
- track down a W series gearbox, looking into W58s but I'm not going for a lot of power so I am not concrete
- new stereo setup soon
- IMSA RA60 #98/#99 livery + general respray
- limslip diff
- rear disc conversion

[RA61Kurt]

Forgot to attach:

The inspiration for this swap is this, an AA60 coupe in Japan with what appears to be the exact same swap. I am also planning to run itb's, but whether or not I'm going to go EFI or sidedraft carb, I'm not sure. Yet.

But I'll drop the build inspiration in here so you guys know where I'm going with it.

[RA61Kurt]

Stereo!

I've picked up a Sony XAV-AX205DB, as it's the only modern stereo I could get my hands on that I thought would look good in the car. Sorta looks retro-ish. Has digital radio, android auto, all the bells and whistles while retaining the sound knob and CD player without having goofy looking neon dickery making it look shit.

I'm not going to be throwing away my factory tape deck, it's not the desirable EQ board one from the Supra, but I have grown attached to it and I'm going to send it off to be restored.

My speakers are well rooted, so I have bought some Kicker KS series 4x6 for the rears, and I'll be ordering some 3.5in round speakers from the same line for the front. Hopefully they fit, as I've heard most 3.5in/4in speakers don't fit into the dash well.

[ozzie]

The 3SGE has a known issue in RWD platforms with oil not draining back into the oil pan from the head. The FWD position has it leaning back at like a 25 degree angle, and when upright the oil doesn't drain like it's supposed to. That leads to all the oil ending up in the top end of the motor, none in the pan, oil pump starves/cavitates, bearings go dry, and blocks get windowed. There are fixes for it, which I'm sure you can find with a bit of googling.

[RA61Kurt]

The 3SGE has a known issue in RWD platforms with oil not draining back into the oil pan from the head. The FWD position has it leaning back at like a 25 degree angle, and when upright the oil doesn't drain like it's supposed to. That leads to all the oil ending up in the top end of the motor, none in the pan, oil pump starves/cavitates, bearings go dry, and blocks get windowed. There are fixes for it, which I'm sure you can find with a bit of googling.

Yes! I have heard about that, iirc all 3S' except the BEAMS from the Altezza/RS200 have that issue. I'm not sure on whether or not the MR2 versions of the 3S-GE have it also, but rest assured I have done my research on that one! 

[twotone_ra64]

Wow!! You've got some awesome plans lined up! I so cannot wait to see the build progress. Are you going to put ITBs on the 3S like the inspo vehicle?

all the bells and whistles while retaining the sound knob and CD player without having goofy looking neon dickery making it look shit.

This is very important when selecting a stereo. :D I found that a '98 Camry single-DIN cassette deck fits pretty well in the interior and are super common, so a working tape player can be easily had should the current one crap out.

[RA61Kurt]

Are you going to put ITBs on the 3S like the inspo vehicle?

You can bet on it!

[RA61Kurt]

Been tossing up some ideas, I know the mechanical plan (3S-GE + W5X + LSD + rear disc conversion and minor lowering) but what's got me stumped is the aesthetics.

I'm kind of considering a facelift swap, as I do like the black masks better than the fold-back headlights (Yeah, I know, it'd be cheaper and easier to buy that model as is, but I'm attached to this one)
- but I'm not really that keen. I like the idea of using the facelift headlights but leaving the rest as is, just to solve my "slightly less interested in preface headlights" issue.

Another thing is colour. I keep seeing black over gold Celicas online, and I love that look. At the moment I'm thinking of keeping it white, at the very least so I can wrap this livery onto it:


Wheels I feel like I'll probably change at some point, if for no other reason, so I can get something wider, and maybe step up to 15in for bigger brakes and better tyre choice.

Spoliers! At the moment I'm super keen on the roof spoiler/sun visor thing, so I'm trying to get a hold of that. IMO these cars need something to break up the hatch slope.


.

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No other updates at this time, just figured I'd let you guys where I was at while I wait to hear if my preferred shop is able to rebuild my 3S-GE.

[RA61Kurt]

Long time no post!

Been chipping away at minor stuff just to make the car nicer to live with and more noticeable in dodgy weather.

Went LEDs (almost) all around, just need an LED flasher for my indicators, since I'm not keen on a resistor at all 4 corners.

(Also did my park lamps on the front but didn't get photos)

Changed out the battery for something the same size with more juice, as I was upgrading the sound system from the standard cassette/2 speaker combo.


Plus a fresh ground and terminals just to make things a bit nicer for the future.

Old terminals were nasty, so they went into the bin, and the car starts a lot easier now. Is it because of better contact? or just a 800CCA Optima? Probably the battery but i feel good about the terminals anyway.

[RA61Kurt]

Secondary update:

New stereo is in and there's some useful info to be had here as well.

Stereo: Sony XAV-AX205DB
Rear Speakers: Kicker KS (redbox) series 5.25in round speakers (despite forums saying otherwise, 4x6 speakers are too small for the rear speaker holes, and 5x7s are too big to fit without modifying the housing.
Front Speakers: "PowerBass" 2.75in speakers from Amazon, replacement for modern Jeeps with "Infiniti" radio systems. Again, forums were wrong here -- forums claimed 4in speakers fit behind the grilles in the A60 dash -- not true. I had 3.5in Rockford Fosgates and even they were too big, the 2.75in PB's fit perfectly.

So if anyone tells you that 4x6 / 5x7 is perfect for the rear, and that 4in/3.5in rounds are what you need for the front. they are full of sh*t.

For anyone looking to replace the stereo in their A60, the FM/Cassette split double dins in the following image:
 
Harness behind that unit is Aerpro part number "APP0140" which should be a generice pre-2000 Toyota ISO harness. The XAV-AX series Sony ISO harnesses should be "APP8SP4" as that's what mine used. Unit is completely plug and play, ISO harnesses make it easy. 2 plugs matched on the car harness, two pairs of ISO plugs matched in the middle to the sony plug at the end. No splicing or tapping required.

Pic of Sony unit in the console:

[RA61Kurt]

So one final update for today where I include pretty much everything I can think of:

My engine:

My gen 1 3S-GE was sitting in limbo at the shop I go to, getting appraised on its condition after a teardown. Heard that most of it looks good. The shop's recommended machine shop has a month or two lead time, so hopefully that happens soon and I get to choose my pistons and cams based on the info i get about milling/boring/etc.

So far my leading cam candidate is this cam from TODA:
http://www.todaracingusa.com/catalog/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=377&idcategory=130
But I am waiting on the go ahead from the shop to see if that's too lumpy for daily use. I think it's pushing the limit, but if it's the biggest I can go before needing new lifter assemblies and shims, then I figure it's good enough to run.

(as a side note, my idea for this build is high RPM and a great noise, I'm not just going in aimlessly)

A few more parts I've gotten my hands on:

A (nearly) brand new 2S sump and oil pickup from an earlier A60 - I'm hoping I can follow this up with the SA63 crossmember and engine mounts to make this as "factory" as possible.


Box full of bits for a 2S-C powered A60. I only wanted the clutch, accessory mounts and little bits i thought might work, but I was sent almost an entire SA63 manual conversion!

Including....

A free T50 that I haven't even unwrapped. I was planning to go W5X behind the 3S, but a free gearbox and manual conversion "kit" is a free box and kit.

Failing that idea, I do still have this:

3S to W5X box bell. Supposedly brand new, but it was free with my 300 buck engine so I don't even care if it's used. It mounts up well with the 3S and that's good enough for me. Would still prefer to go W5X (preferably w58, but... w58 prices )

One last thing,

I also changed the interior a bit. The factory wheel (while in good condition!) was a bit too big, thin and smooth for my liking, so I went and found a boss kit and suede 340mm wheel instead, which I like more. I will have the old wheel lovingly stored away where it won't get damaged. 


That's all for now!

[twotone_ra64]

Looking good! And great information on the speakers, I was always curious as to what would more precisely fit in our funky speaker holes. I need to get a bangin' setup going like the factory setup in my stepdad's 2002 Porsche 911 turbo with its factory cassette player! Also had no idea they made a 3S-W58 bellhousing adapter!

BTW, those floor mats you have are AWESOME XD