Meet Tom Celica

And the hits keep on rolling! Some buddies on a Celica forum just found me a manual steering set up. There are about, oh, four ever made I think. lol. A few more lbs off of ole' Tom Celica won't hurt a thing!

That Celica looks great and I'm envious of you being finished the broad strokes. Your enthusiasm is encouraging though.

Re: manual steering. Can you not just use a manual rack from an MR2 like the AE86 guys use?

sobe_death wrote: Re: manual steering. Can you not just use a manual rack from an MR2 like the AE86 guys use?

Not legally in FSP.

275s and armstrong steering? Hope you're up to date on your gym dues.

Are flares legal in FSP? ^^would be B.A. with those wheels

ST_ZX2 wrote: 275s and armstrong steering? Hope you're up to date on your gym dues.

Yeah, just guessing, I'm leaning toward p/s, but I'd sure like to give the manual a try before I write it off. I just didn't think I'd ever get the chance. Some guys out west ran across one in the junk yard and they're going to pull it for me. So it's inexpensive enough to justify giving it a shot. But I may go back to power. The power rack in the car is, meh, so it's getting pulled one way or another. Might as well give this a shot.

In reply to 4cylndrfury:

Yes! And those flares are on my radar. I have that very pic posted on all over the place. Maybe- we'll see. Sure would cover up my fender cutting skills!

ST_ZX2 wrote: 275s and armstrong steering? Hope you're up to date on your gym dues.

Heh, Gavin just pretty much told me the same thing.

I do know that Eddie and i have something in common, though.. the power steering system in our cars feels terrible. And by that i mean, "doesn't feel at all."

But just in case, i've been hitting the gym hard for the last 6 weeks and i don't plan on stopping.

Yeah, it is an old school power steering set up for sure. Would be just as at home in a Cressida as a Celica. But it is a quicker rack and those are some big tires. I really don't know which will be better at this point. I think power steering would win the day in a perfect world, but I'm really not sure in this case. I'm just happy that I'll have the opportunity to find out!

Tom Celica had some 80s Toyota goodness company today! That was fun! The Initial D car is a JDM import, right hand drive. Amazing condition! Has the original AM radio in it! What an awesome car!!

I got a better handle on the balance today. Still seconds behind the fast cars/drivers. But felt pretty good. There's just no grip at all- I'm going to go ahead and mount my new Hoosiers. I think I'm chasing my tail with these tires. I'm not really any faster than I was on my worn out 225 Kumhos. Noo Hoosiers FTW.

Another event today.

New Hoosiers on and I was ready to go. Took a few runs to get the "new" off of them. Very greasy at first. Really easy to see on the new rubber exactly how far I was rolling over. Wow, not enough. I kept dropping pressure and ended up at 25 front, 22 rear. Seems really low, but the rear looks like it wouldn't mind being even lower. Tire pyrometer didn't indicate any problems either. I think I'm in the ball park.

Great news is, the guy I was seconds behind, I'm now only a second behind. Actually, I dropped more pressure and did "fun runs" after the event and ended up just a few tents behind him. So I'm getting in the ball park. Still plenty to do, but very happy to finally be running decent times. 35th overall in a field of 118. Not where I want to be, but much closer to where I'd been running in my E Stock MR2, and still plenty of development to do on Tom Celica.

Getting there. One step at a time. And today, better than some thought the car could ever do.

Another event today. Another day of wishing it was doing better. But I think I'm expecting too much. Not like I was top pax in my MR2 either. 33rd out of 105 drivers isn't horrible. So, on the one hand, I built a car that kinda works okay. On the other hand... yeah. 33rd. Lots to do on the car, and the driver.

Man, a couple of set backs with poor Tom Celica.

I can't get rear springs figured out. The ones I had in there were the right length but progressive springs. I think I'm going to have to fabricate some adjustable mounts for regular 2.5" springs. So, there's that added to the list.

I'm really bummed about two of my Spinwerkes wheels getting stolen while I was loading up- from right behind my house in broad daylight. New ones ordered, but that was a big hit to the wallet and a real bummer. I've driven two local events now on street tires and it's not a lot of fun.

Then, at a local event, I was in line to start and the guy ahead of me launched... in reverse! Smashed into poor Tom pretty hard. I got a new bumper at the junk yard and have painted the cover. But that's another pretty big job I have to do.

I'm kinda getting a little overwhelmed. The MR2 has been my focus lately. My wife and son are driving it and they wanted power steering. Huge job. Had to change out the front wiring harness and cut holes in the floor of the frunk to mount the pump and reservoir. I have that much done. Still need to put the steering sensor in and weld a bracket for the pump. Then bolt everything else in.

Colorado Tour is in two weeks and Tom won't be in great shape. I'll run it and have fun, but I've been looking forward to this event for a long time. Sure wanted it to be in better shape to run.

fast_eddie_72 wrote: The 22RE the way I have mine now is good down low, but sure hates to see anythign over about 4,000 RPM. That's the killer. Just makes it less fun to drive. For a cool project that isn't being built to a set of rules, an engine swap would transform the car. I hear that a cam and porting the head really make the 22RE a load better, but I can't do either in SP.

For posterity, I guess. An update on this.

Man, I feel a little silly. The 22RE has a duel port vacuum advance distributor. I had the hoses hooked up backward. No vacuum advance. Swapped them tonight and dialed in a little more base timing. The difference is huge!

I've been running reasonably well in the car with this jacked up. More power and way, way better top end. It literally would not go past 5,000 RPM before. Now I can zip up to 6,000. Just over 5,500 there's some kind of soft limiter or something, but it keeps climbing. Way, way more fun to drive now.

Last week I did poly bushings too. That made everything much sharper. It feels more like a race car. I'm sure they make it a little faster, too. The old rubber bushings were pretty past it. I'm sure I was losing camber to them.

I can not wait for the next event... then, Nationals.

How was colorado? And did you kick Douchey McReverse in the ding ding for that jackwagon launch? Not sure how I missed that update, Im fascinated by this build!

You should just forget this whole being competitive in your autocross class thing and swap in a 2j or 1j or even a LS all could make that car a real monster lol

I haven't updated this thread in a bit.

Lots of good info from here and a really smart local autocrosser. Starting to get it figured out. Had an event on Sunday and got things working a little better. Some new parts arrived today, and some more on the way.

And never updated the stolen wheels story! Yup, they're back! There's a thread about it here somewhere.

I may end up back on the coil-overs I built the first time 'round. And the front springs I was sure were way too much may not be so far off either. Rear needs to go softer. It's ironic, really. I've learned a little about suspension stuff, but the more I learn, really, the simpler it gets. Street Prepared rules just don't let you do too much. So I need to stop worrying about the things I can't fix and just get it in the ball park.

I talked about it elsewhere, but I did take it to Lincoln and ran at Nationals. It was a lot of fun, and no stress trying to win anything with it in the shape it's in. Just a great time and a load of fun. So we did the Colorado Tour, the Farmington ProSolo and Nationals. Sure having a good time and neat to do some events beyond our local autocross. Man, I sure had a great summer.

Seems like these pics should live in this thread.

And one of my runs in Lincoln.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GTjgnRtO9M&feature=plcp

Pretty neat to go back to the first pics in this thread and see just how far it's come!

In reply to 4cylndrfury:

The Tour was awesome. I wish more people had come out. We have a fantastic venue here in Colorado. The lot isn't huge, but it's pretty darn good size and decent grip. Indoor toilets too! We feel pretty lucky to have the site. I just hope we get an event again next year. Not a great turn out.

In reply to Caleb:

It has crossed my mind. If the Street Prepared thing doesn't work out, yeah, Street Mod could be a lot of fun! I dunno.

lol big plus one for running with eylids half open.

Tom Celica now has an official fan page on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/Tom.Celica.FSP

Yes. I'm that much of a dork. Give us a like!

Done!!

Liked.

Thanks guys!

After this week I'll jump on fb and give it a like. I've boycotted it till later this week. (No patio bait here. Moving on!)

Spinout007 wrote: After this week I'll jump on fb and give it a like. I've boycotted it till later this week. (No patio bait here. Moving on!)

It's taken a steal will to check myself on facbook as well as I have. One of the nice things about having a "fan page" for my car: Tom Celica holds no political opinion what so ever.

TRUE But I haven't even reinstalled it on my phone after doing a wipe last week.