From humble beginnings.

Got the motor and trans.

Decided to clean up the motor a little and give her a valve cover polishing. The LFX isn't exactly a pretty engine with that plastic intake on top.

For colors I'm thinking something like Porsche 'grey black' or Ford 'silver spruce'. No idea if either would cost more than the other, anyway a long way off before I have to decide.

Best Celica body ever.

Modern meets vintage.
Potentially the first LFX in a Celica.





Rear clearance passenger:



Rear clearance driver:



Plenty of side to side clearance, but need to lower an inch or two. Trying to decide if I want to buy a fabricated crossmember for an 86 Corolla (a bolt-in upgrade that allows for power steering) for $450 and heavily modify it to lower the motor around the pan and steering rack, or create my own crossmember from scratch...



Hood clearance:

Made a nice upgrade to the garage this weekend. I'm seriously in love with Facebook Marketplace... Little red mig welder. Anything 1/4" and up (motor mounts) I can at least tack together in my garage and bring to grandpa's shop to complete with his 220v welder. Now, to fit another gas bottle on my little cart...

Garage is getting messy.
Ordered a starter, engine oil fill cap, front sump oil pan from Australia, and a bunch of OEM bolts to attach motor to trans. Realized my motor doesn't have a power steering pump, so the Cadillac it's from must have had electric steering. Will need to source a pump, brackets and hardware, and different belt and tensioner.

The front sump oil pan from a Holden Commodore VZ should hopefully allow the steering rack to fit under the motor and give enough clearance for the crossmember as well.



I drew how deep the GM oil pan is, this is directly in the way of an 86 corolla power steering rack.

Concerning colors, that Porsche color is great.

I found another color, Ford 'Lead Foot'. On their new trucks and mustangs.

Now I'm in a quandary.

This is fun to follow, and will be interesting to finally see the end result. A very ambitious undertaking. My hat goes off to you.

First question: what are you doing with all the original pieces? I'm not curious for myself, just curious. I would think that some of it would be of interest to other people, maybe all of it. Or maybe you want to keep it for posterity, reminders of how it was when you got it.

Second question: I can see that you like grays, but have you thought about using an original Ford color scheme, as a nod to the Mach 1 that this Celica body style mimics? Even striping, blacked-out hood, etc.? Not to be making a copy of a Mustang, but to acknowledge that's where this design comes from. Just a thought. Whatever you do will be cool.

Nothing short of a passion project! Looking forward to seeing your progress and updates with this build

Anything useable I've been storing in the basement, or in labeled bags, a lot of it is trashed though so the interior will basically be brand new, a lot of it fabricated myself like door cards and dash. AC and heater, when I get around to it, will be a non-original setup (restomod air or vintage air). Everything but brake stuff, steering column, and windshield wiper mechanism has been scrapped in the engine bay, nothing worth saving except the trans might be worth something. I've kept the Corona bottle cap I found under the seat though...

As for color schemes, not a big ford guy I guess. At this point I'm wanting to keep the exterior mostly original looking, except paint, JDM bumpers, lowered suspension, and some 'period-correct' wheels.

Old oil pan:



Sourced an oil pan from Australia, found in a Holden Commodore VZ. Unfortunately the old baffle and pickup won't bolt to the new pan.







New pan installed:



Clearance where I need it for the steering rack. Just ordered that new fabricated crossmember, fingers crossed everything works out.

Bad ass. My favorite piece of J-tin lol. I had a few TE72s and a S30 but sold them all when I was broke. Wish I could buy them back for what I sold them for.

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