I'm currently doing a full restoration of my TA22 celica (paint, engine and interior) having never done any mechanical or paint work previously; and the best advice if you want to do the work yourself is lots of research. For doing an engine swap you can get endless reams of information by doing searches through the toymods forums. This is where I got most of my info from and the rest from friends, who have done similar things.
With the painting Ii went to the local ACT libraries and hired evey single book on spray painting. This has helped me a crap load! Buy some extra paint and, if you can, a spare panel from a wreckers as you'll need the practice using the spraygun. All up it has cost me around the $4-5k mark with most tools and parts. I did have my own jacks, stands, rachets, spanners and chain block for the engine which is a must. Shop around lots to get the best price (I found a $200 spray gun on Ebay for $80 brand new) it will save you lots of money in the long run. There are a few people in the Canberra Celica Club who run sprinters and 4AGE (in Celicas) who can probably give you a lot of advice too.
Sun, 22 February 2004 23:58
