Mc1337sauce's 2001 Toyota Camry Gallery Series Restoration

[Mc1337sauce]

Sam a.k.a. Mc1337sauce's 2001 Toyota Camry Gallery Series Restoration/Build



History: Recently inherited this car and am restoring it to as new a condition as possible without going completely overboard and spending more than the car is worth.

Specs:
2001 Toyota Camry with the 3.0L 1MZ-FE V6 Engine (Japanese Build)
Mineral Green Mica/Lunar Mist Metallic with Sage Interior
4 Speed A541E Automatic
115K+ Miles

Mods:

Engine and Performance
-Replaced vacuum lines with combination of OEM and silicone
-Optima Red Top Battery (old one from my 4Runner)

Wheels and Tires
-OEM 15" Wheels
-BFGoodrich Advantage T/A 205/65R15

Interior/Sound
-Factory JBL Stereo
-35% Mirror Tint (being replaced soon)
-New OEM Carpet Floor Mats

Suspension
-Everything factory, soon to be refreshed/upgraded

Exterior
-Headlight and corner light restoration
-Full exterior paint correction and detail
-Replaced broken front grill with stock aftermarket part

Future Mods
-OEM Gracia or Vienta Clear Corner Lights (if a set can ever be found)
-Depo Tail Light Corners (amber light delete)
-Replace wheels and tires with more modern Toyota/Scion/Lexus wheels (current tires are new, so this will be a while)
-Repaint mud guards

Now that we've been through all of that, here's a few pics.

The car in it's former home, before we had even gotten it started. Had been sitting for 2-3 years. Once the battery was replaced, fired right up, and after a few tanks of gas and fluid changes runs 100%.


Interior before any cleaning, also before the car had even been moved. Notice how the seats almost look grey. They're actually light tan.


Door panel, post interior detail.


Steering wheel and dash, post interior detail.


Driver's seat, post interior detail. 80% perfect, the bolsters have irreparable damage, but oh well.


Passenger seat, post interior detail. 95% perfect, some wear still present.


The mess under the passenger's seat. 90% of this came out, but of course, I forgot to take an after picture. I will be sure to add one soon.


Maintenance Performed:

As many of you know, I make YouTube videos on maintenance and modifications for vehicles I own. Here's what I've done on the Camry so far.

















Hopefully someone here enjoys this little restoration. This car is actually much better than I anticipated - I was expecting an econobox, but it reminds me of early Lexus cars more than anything.

 

[Mc1337sauce]

Got the headlight oxidation all cleared up yesterday. The lights are still a bit pitted after 115K miles, but they're fine for a daily beater; otherwise, they are now perfectly clear, a huge improvement. The pictures really don't do the transformation justice.

Before:


After:


I'm beginning the paint correction today, so we'll see how far we get with that. Stay tuned!

 

[Mc1337sauce]

Got quite a bit done this past week. I started the paint correction process - this paint is actually harder than I expected, so it is taking more time than I originally anticipated, and as such, progress has been slow since the car is being driven during part of the week. Got the hood and roof done in a few hours, the rest hasn't been touched yet.

Shot of the hood and the reflection of part of my garage.


And a couple closer-up pics showing the lack of swirls.




Also got the blown hood struts replaced, along with the coolant changed. YouTube videos were made covering both jobs, if you are interested.





Next week I plan on finishing the paint correction process as well as detailing the exterior, and replacing the front grill. Not sure if there is anything else that I will be able to get to in that time frame, but stay tuned!

 

[Mc1337sauce]

Got a lot more accomplished on the car. Finished the paint correction (pictures coming soon), and got the cracked grill replaced along with the rear struts. Videos on both below.





The valve cover oil leak has gotten MUCH worse over the past few days, so that is the next thing on the list, along with the front struts.

 

[CookieRoe]

Great job!

Restoring a 14 year old Camry is about as exciting as paint dry. HOWEVER, I really enjoy this thread as you are passionate about keeping your rig clean/original/top shape, I admire that. It also reminds me of my aunt's 1997 Camry. I was going to help her "lightly restore" it, but she backed out and got a new Altima. It also reminds me of my DD, a 2007 Civic EX sedan. She has about 190K miles on her and is in very good shape. I try to keep thing original except for a few mods, but the point is for it to look as close to stock as possible. My current projects include installing leather seats with "stock" heated seats. For those "Civic experts", leather/heated seats wasn't a factory option until 2009. All OEM switchgear.

Anyway, I've always wanted to "restore" my 4Runner and I kind of am. I would love to replace all the worn/torn parts with new (while I can still get them) parts and would love to have a "body off frame" restoration, but I have no money to do it, so I'm constantly giving her TLC.

Thanks for sharing and good luck!

 

[Ed_C]

If you haven't replaced the rear valve cover gasket yet here's some hints and suggestions.

• The upper intake manifold has to come off so order a new gasket between the lower and upper plenums
• There are two or three brackets supporting the upper intake manifold to the head, no need to unbolt it completely on the head side, just loose enough to swing them out of the way.
• There is also a ground wire or two bolted to the upper intake manifold.
• While the upper intake manifold is off,it's a good time to replace the spark plugs and wires.
• To ensure the gasket is nice and tight in the valve cover,lay it on a clean level surface and press down with you body weight.

 

[Mc1337sauce]

Restoring a 14 year old Camry is about as exciting as paint dry. HOWEVER, I really enjoy this thread as you are passionate about keeping your rig clean/original/top shape, I admire that. It also reminds me of my aunt's 1997 Camry. I was going to help her "lightly restore" it, but she backed out and got a new Altima. It also reminds me of my DD, a 2007 Civic EX sedan. She has about 190K miles on her and is in very good shape. I try to keep thing original except for a few mods, but the point is for it to look as close to stock as possible. My current projects include installing leather seats with "stock" heated seats. For those "Civic experts", leather/heated seats wasn't a factory option until 2009. All OEM switchgear.

Anyway, I've always wanted to "restore" my 4Runner and I kind of am. I would love to replace all the worn/torn parts with new (while I can still get them) parts and would love to have a "body off frame" restoration, but I have no money to do it, so I'm constantly giving her TLC.

Thanks for sharing and good luck!

Yep, restoring this car is indeed quite a dull experience compared to some of the other builds and restorations I have done, but it is going to be passed down to my sister as a first car for her, so I want her to get as good a vehicle as possible. It would be more interesting if I were doing a full build on it - TRD supercharger, headers, exhaust, coilovers, etc. - but I'm not a Camry person at all...much too boring of a car...lol.

Luckily, I'm the original owner of my 4Runner (the Camry came from an older family member who was the original owner, but was too old to properly care for it), so my truck doesn't need restoration - I'm at the modding stage. I definitely hear you on replacing parts while you can still get them, though - most of the accessories and aftermarket parts I bought for my truck have been discontinued...I wish I had loaded up on JAOS accessories while they were all still in production. I'm definitely jealous of your previous Surf ownership, too - I'm in the process of converting my truck to what will essentially end up being a LHD Surf, but the Japanese parts are so difficult to find over here in the US that its been a slow process - luckily, I've been scoring on the rare bits lately!

If you haven't replaced the rear valve cover gasket yet here's some hints and suggestions.

• The upper intake manifold has to come off so order a new gasket between the lower and upper plenums
• There are two or three brackets supporting the upper intake manifold to the head, no need to unbolt it completely on the head side, just loose enough to swing them out of the way.
• There is also a ground wire or two bolted to the upper intake manifold.
• While the upper intake manifold is off,it's a good time to replace the spark plugs and wires.
• To ensure the gasket is nice and tight in the valve cover,lay it on a clean level surface and press down with you body weight.

Thank you so much for the advice, I am sure it will come in handy when I tackle the job. Not looking forward to it in the slightest, but it's puking oil now so it needs to be done.

 

[amalik]

did you do your own upholstery work on that torn elbow rest?

looks great.

 

[Mc1337sauce]

did you do your own upholstery work on that torn elbow rest?

looks great.

The original elbow rest was a leather cover and pad that were part of the Gallery Series package. I just pulled it off for now, but I do plan on having it reupholstered at some point. Thanks for checking out my thread!

 

[Mc1337sauce]

Got a lot of stuff done the past week or two. Finally got the front struts delivered and installed last week...super easy to put these in.



Then yesterday and the day before that got the spark plugs and valve cover gaskets changed. Swapping out the rear VCG was probably the biggest PITA engine-in job I have had to do on a vehicle...to be completely honest, turbocharging my 4Runner was less difficult. There is almost no access to the rear valve cover even with the intake plenum off...I have slim hands and arms, and it was very difficult for me to get into many of the places you need to get the cover off. Poor design by Toyota, but hey, at least it isn't a 2JZ fuel filter change or an Audi 4.2 V8 timing chain replacement. I think they should have stuck to using an inline 4 in the Camry...in fact, any company that produces a FWD vehicle should have either an inline motor or should take a page from VW's book and design a shared-head V6 (ala VR6).







Not sure what else is in store for this car...at some point it will be getting clear corner lamps, and that will probably be next on the list, but for now it'll be daily'd by my mom since her VW got a nice crack in the windshield while she was at work...damage also happened to the old Grand Vitara at the same workplace, so I think it's safe to say driving a nice car to work is not the greatest idea in her case.