New 1973 Celica Owner

[911celica]

Hi, I've always wanted to own a 1st Gen Celica for ages and for X'mas I've finally bought a 1973 Celica with 18rg engine which I intend to restore. Can anybody point me towards the direction of finding a set of chrome moldings for the rear windshield? I was able to buy brand new old stock set (5 pieces plus 20 clips) for the front windshield from Cabe Toyota in Long Beach, Ca but cannot find a set for the rear. I am also looking for a correct chin spoiler as well as a ducktail trunk spoiler. Sometime in the future, I am also looking to install headers/extractors for the 18rg. Any help anybody?

Here are some pics of the 1973 Celica:

[xxcoolrollinxx]

hey man
great looking car ! i love me some red 1st gens
For parts
I would check the vendors section of the site

these websites are also pretty awesome

http://www.toyheadauto.com/

http://www.toysport.com/

http://www.Toygarage.com

maybe i'm forgetting one



anyways welcome !
-matt

[Miles.BIDD]

where you located???
i noticed that your vinyl on top says jdmlegends.....

[911celica]

@matt: thank you for the leads...rick from toyhead already came back negative on the parts and I left a message for toysport & cannot seem to get through toygarage. Still have my fingers crossed. @miles: I am in North Hollywood, Ca.

[Miles.BIDD]

oh nice... socal owner...
i got family over there, so im over there almost every other weekend.

[zulu]

nice find I saw this car up forsale on ebay awhile back. glad it found a good new home hopefully see at the TORC carshow in may

[75CelicaGT]

Welcome,

That's a very nice lookin 73. Not to mention a nice stable of other classics, 2 Porsches, an old Mini, and what looks like a shelf full of R/C cars.



Pete
(Sent from my iPhone)

[911celica]

@zulu: you're right, i bought the car from a serious japanese nostalgic car collector & restorer in utah (he had a couple of pristine 1971-73 nissan skylines!) forum/posting.php?mode=reply&f=14&t=5427#
@pete: nice restoration documentation..i love the smiley bumper conversion..i personally feel this is the best classic celica configuration forum/posting.php?mode=reply&f=14&t=5427#

[Miles.BIDD]

@zulu: you're right, i bought the car from a serious japanese nostalgic car collector & restorer in utah (he had a couple of pristine 1971-73 nissan skylines!) forum/posting.php?mode=reply&f=14&t=5427#
@pete: nice restoration documentation..i love the smiley bumper conversion..i personally feel this is the best classic celica configuration forum/posting.php?mode=reply&f=14&t=5427#

i recognized that jdm legends vinyl from that utah place.... they have super legit stuff over there

[zipppo]

I rember this car from a few years back. A kid had it in Northern California. At that time it had all sorts of electrical issues and ran like crap with a busted ignition switch.

I spoke with the guys from JDM legends and they were and yes they admitted it was the same car. They did a lot of work to get the electrical Gremlins removed, tuned the carbs, and replaced the ignition switch.







From what I recall the paint has some orange peel in it. A good color sanding and buffing would help.

For the price you good a good deal.

[StingrayGT]

welcome

that celica is super duper clean

is this your car? http://www.myrideisme.com/Blog/legends- ... ising-sun/

[zipppo]

Here is the car when I saw it in northern CA. An original blue plate car!

[zipppo]

Here are some when I viewed the car recently.







Good to see it back home in CA. where it belongs......

[911celica]

@stingraygt: thanks, you are right...that is the car. @zipppo: so you were actually abe to view this car twice in the past.
may i know why you chose to pass on buying it??? any negatives you noticed that i should know? could you possibly help me in tracking down the fella from the bay area who used to own it.....i'm hoping maybe he still has the original blue cali tags!

[zipppo]

FYI The guys at JDM stated they had one of the original tags.

I passed on the car the first time due to all of the electrical issues including the jacked up ignition switch. The kid wanted too much money for what it was at the time.

The second time I passed on the car is due to the fact that is is a 73. I like the 71 and 72 cars for the following reasons:
1. Long style hood flutes
2. Flat light tail lights
3. I like the location of the fuel filler on the 71 & 72's behind the fuel door between the tail lights.
4. Lastly because it is red. Not my color just don't care for it.

The guys at JDM did a good job ridding the car of the electrical Gremlins and tuned the carbs to specs.

Again this is my view.

I can ballpark what you paid for the car with shipping and I will say you did well. You could not build that car for what you paid for it to include shipping.
Be patient do your research and be ready to pounce when a particular item you want comes up for sale.

I have a love hate relationship with these cars. Why? They are really cool looking and I enjoy the build. The thing that I hate is the lack of parts. I have built a bunch of these cars over the years and sold them off. Some actually belong to members on here.

Hot and cold!

I now have a few of these cars in various stages of rebuilding. I have fun then I run into a wall(no parts) after awhile I sell. I then return to my American Muscle Cars or European Exotics. A few months goes by and I get the urge to get another Celica. The only thing is that they now are really scarce and do not come along too often.

So with that I have decided to keep at least one. I am rebuilding an old school style car and have all of the parts to do so. For example every single piece of factory weatherstripping in Toyota bags. I have a N.O.S. dash pad in the box ( not a plastic cap). Also some other rare goodies I have acquired(N.O.S. HKS Turbo setup 100% complete). I will finish the car and stash it away in my garage and bring it out once in awhile for shows. I know it is but the values of these cars is rising and over the next few years will bring decent money for what they are.