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It's not a stock rideheight, just like any other T23 this one originally came with a 4x4 setup

It's a TTE (Toyota Tuning Europe) lowering spring set. with a 30mm drop.
http://www.tte.de/cm_celica.htm
The set is basicly just a Eibach set but with a other badge on it, so if a TTE set is not available in Australia (which I think it won't be) you can just as easily get a Eibach set.

The Blitz set does indeed sound a bit deeper then the stock, especially when it's warmed up.
But performance wise there is basicly no difference.
The Celica went on the Dyno in Februari, but because it had a broken/leaking waterpump the power dropped to 180 HP instead of the 192. which costed me over 700 euro to replace
So I couldn't check if it had a small gain or not. but I can't say I feel a difference with the Blitz on or not.

TheStig wrote:which costed me over 700 euro to replace

Changing the water pump on a 2ZZ is very easy and the part is not that expensive . . . sorry man but you got raped!

Running an exhaust alone will never give you more power anyway unless it's a full manifold-back jobbie, and you remap the engine afterwards.

£650+ to replace a water pump is mental, I agree with Bogan, that's hugely overpriced. It doesn't even cost that to change the water pump on Audi S4/RS4/Allroad 2.7T's, and you have to crane out the entire engine to do that!

I know it's bloody expensive but it wasn't only the pump, the pump itself was 150, belt was changed, coolant was replaced.

I was shocked at the price myself I expected it to be around 500, knowing that dealer prices are high, but didn't expect it to be that high cause I would have done it myself.

But overall you must not forget that you can't compare labour prices from an other country, let alone the other side of the world, labour prices over here aren't cheap, especially at a dealer, but like said if know I would have done it myself.

Ooh and I didn't expect any gain in power from the exaust, since it's just the back section, but plans are to replace the manifold, cat (race cat) and midsection.
So it will still be road legal and can still be used on a daily basis.

TheStig wrote:But overall you must not forget that you can't compare labour prices from an other country, let alone the other side of the world, labour prices over here aren't cheap, especially at a dealer, but like said if know I would have done it myself.

If you snapped some good photos of the engine bay, I could have showed you how to do it at home. It's a 30-60 min job and you only need basic hand tools. Replacing the belt and coolant adds 5-10mins.

Anyway, next time don't go to the dealership. They will always sting you.

Thanks for the info, Stiggy. Not that I'm in any rush to get the suspension done... but at least I know what I want when I eventually get round to it. As far as I can see, you're the only other person on the net who modifies their Celica without ruining it. I'll try and take a few leaves out of your book, without being a complete copycat.

After spending a few weeks in the UK, I noticed that nearly every Celica I saw was a facelift version with leather interior. Made me a bit jealous, so I might plan on getting leather, too. And those awesome facelift tailights. Goddamn... I still can't find any of those .

Do you have any further plans on improving the performance?

jacoja06 wrote:And those awesome facelift tailights. Goddamn... I still can't find any of those .

Print out the page in this link and take it to your local Toyota dealer. They will be able to order the lights for you.

http://www.toyodiy.com/parts/p_E_2000_T ... 111.2.html

Might be pricey though.

Yeah, I’ve checked out the dealer and the price is far beyond my budget. Really looking for a good set of second-hand lights. Best price I’ve seen for new ones is about $160 each, which don’t even ship to Australia. They are nearly impossible to find otherwise. A few people on the ozCelica forums have bought used ones for less than $200 a pair.

In the UK there are a lot of Japanese cars, and thus a lot of Celicas, in the rest of Europe they are not as common, the Facelift here in The Netherlands is pretty rare, the majority of them are 99-00 models, and most of them are in grey. after 2002 the sales of the Celica dropped and even the Facelift couldn't prevent that. if I'm not mistaken in 2005 there where only 100 or so Celicas sold over here.

The good thing about the Interior is that you can easily change the seatcovers and replace them with leather version.
Same goes for the rear seats (which isn't real leather btw, but he how often do you sit there )
So shipping the leather parts isn't that much of a problem so buying them oversees doesn't have to be very expensive.

Check the UK ebay (http://www.ebay.co.uk) they often have Celica stuff for sale including facelift parts and leather etc.
The facelift leather is also different from the pre-facelift, facelift is perforated leather where the pre-facelift is not.

There where also several different versions of leather seats sold in Europe and in the UK specific, like 2 tone versions like a special T-sport version (see below) and Alcantara/leather version.

I'm thinking of replacing mine with the T-sport version like this one:


I found a new set on Ebay a while back but missed it

ooh as for plans, there are some plans, basicly the exhaust system upgrade with a new manifold and race cat and smoother midsection, and I can get a Blitz intake from a mate, who is stipping all modified and performance parts of his track prepared Celica and returning it to stock., he btw has a set of facelift lights that will be sold also, but they often go for 150 euro here also.

Ahh, yes... I forgot there were zippers at the side of the seats to remove the cover (I assume you can actually remove the entire lot). Makes the changeover to leather much easier. I might get a quote from an interior trimming place in Perth before I buy any genuine ones.
I think I’d personally prefer the covers you already own, rather than the ones pictured above. They look a little more stylish to me... the way the material looks more firmly stretched. I’d gladly take yours if you’re no longer using them.

http://images.compucars.co.uk/104348/la ... 644640.jpg

The planned modifications sound epic. I love the sound of the air intake. It’ll be interesting to know how much the performance will improve, even if it’s only a few horsepower. Are you also planning on getting a new intercooler?
Ooh, and I’m interested in those facelift lights you mentioned. If it’s 150 Euro’s for the pair, it sounds like quite a good price (about AUD$220)!

The material is indeed more firmly stretched and the ones in the picture are also not the best condition cause it's clearly worn, but it's the best picture I could find for now.
The ones I saw where new and looked very tidy and a tad different from what you see regularly.
But I am still happy with my leather set, and if I would decide to change them there are a few people who would want to take them of my hands...

But if you have stuff your interested in and they can't/won't ship it for you or you can't find it.... let me know maybe I can help.

Cheers for that. Sounds like you’re surrounded be vultures… waiting on parts from your car.
I'm sure I'll come across a nice set of leather covers online though. I've only so far done a couple of hours research.

Those tail lights you previously mentioned though. Was 150 Euros for the set, or for each? And is it possible to send to Australia?

It's 150 for the set, and I doubt it would be a problem to send them to Austalia, If it was a problem I could arrange the shipping, i've done it before so. I'll ask.

TheStig wrote:It's 150 for the set, and I doubt it would be a problem to send them to Austalia, If it was a problem I could arrange the shipping, i've done it before so. I'll ask.

Awesome… thanks for finding that out. 150 Euros is definitely a good price for me… hopefully shipping won’t be much of a problem either. I’m guessing they’re in good condition, without any real scratches/marks to report?

Edit: Found a pair here!. Though it's five days until the bidding ends. I'll try and get it if it's below $250 or so.

Well you never know, you might get a set cheap!

Aagh. The guy selling the tail lights just decided to stop the bidding and cancelled the sale a few days ago. I've asked him if they were still available, but he never got back to me. He didn't seem like a very bright chap anyway, with the amount of spelling errors he used. I know I won't be seeing a pair of those on ebay again for quite some time... so my attention has turned back to your mates tail lights. :p Any extra info would be much appreciated!

Well I'm afraid I have to disappoint you.... it wasn't a problem to ship them, but they are pretty much sold... waiting for payment, it seems that 150 was a nice price.

There is a UK store that sells the facelift lights, they are brand new, they thus are more expensive at £92 (£79.05 excl VAT) but they will ship globally (and if I'm not mistaken you pay the excl VAT price because you don't have to pay UK taxes... but will most likely have to pay in Australia based on their taxes, but that's with all stuff bought oversees

http://www.fensport.co.uk/Parts/Model_16/Category_13/

They were snapped-up pretty quickly. Damn... wish I didn't waste my time on the set on ebay. Thanks for the opportunity though.

I spotted those ones in the UK earlier. Looks like they're now the best option. $130 each, instead of $270 at the Toyota dealer. I've sent them an email though, because Australia isn't in their selection of shipping destinations.

I bought some small upgrades and installed 1 part of it yesterday with a friend.
While doing that I found out that my car has wheelspacers, never noticed that before, they are 10mm in front and 15mm at the back.

Well the upgrade installed is the rear swaybar, the front will be installed some other time cause the front will take a lot of time and we didn't have that much time, we did 2 rear swaybars and a complete brake upgrade in the other Celica.
The front sways on both cars will be done in a few weeks.
The swaybars btw are Hotchkis swaybars

The way it was:


the stock and new Hotchkis swaybar:


New situation:





The brake upgrade kit:
Like said on the other car we also did a brake upgrade
We where pretty pleased with the result, the other Celica is a silver 1ZZ-FE (140hp) version which originally had smaller front discs and a smaller calliper. now it has the T-Sport front Callipers, all round Stoptech grooved discs (with bigger front discs to fit the TS callipers) and Stoptech sports brakepads, it already had steel breaded brakelines and the callipers allround got a revision with new seals etc

Old setup front:


New setup front: (calliper not fitted, forgot to take a pic of it fitted)


New setup rear:

Looking good!
But damn those brake calipers are tiny !

Don't forget that the standard Celica weights just over 1000 kg and doesn't really need big rear brakes.
The only problem with it's stock brakes was that they began to fade pretty fast, and that was basicly the front brakes, so they are now bigger and better ventilated and have better pads, and chances are that it won't fade as easy, other people who did the similar conversion had hardly any problems with fading on the track.

Dude I like your car and it sounds really great

car look good Stiggy. Wanted one of those some years ago, the 200hp or 190hp version but ended up with bimmers after a while (ignore my username, what was i thinking!).

Thank's guys

Past winter busy cleaning up my engine bay, I wanted to make it a bit nicer, by adding some new parts and polishing the valve cover and the intake manifold runners
I added a C-One Carbon enginecover and a Blitz Advance Power Air Cleaner

It was time to unveal the parts at the first big meeting in the country, but thought I should share it here also









It's not completely done yet, some small details are yet to be added.

Aawwoow... these upgrades look superb! Thanks for sharing those pictures.
I'm loving the polished engine parts, and the real CF.