1986 toyota celica - a work in progress

[MetroMPG]

PS - where do you live? The other cars and some of the details in your pics look european, but it can't be UK because the cars are left hand drive.

Or maybe don't tell us yet, and it should be a guessing game.

Anyone want to play?

[SVOboy]

Hi and welcome to the site, some nice new types getting on board these days.

Got any interior shots of the car?

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Originally Posted by theclencher

That sounds really... optimistic... unless when it got 20's FE the timing was so retarded it hardly ran at all...

Check it out. I have no experience myself, yet, but judging from the mileage an Uncle said he had with the same truck, a 6-10mpg difference may be possible. Another confound I just thought of is the need to pass emissions in CA. There's a 4-5mpg just from the difference between CARB and 48-state emissions equipment, and maybe a couple mpg from fiddling with timing.

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Never was a fifty percent increase. Something else I found interesting is that stock timing is from 8-13 degrees BTDC, which seems to be on the conservative side.

[SVOboy]

PS: It's now 45 state emissions, since NY, MA, VT, and someone else also follow CA standards. Mwahaha.

[GasSavers_Ryland]

how good of shape is the engine in?
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_...281986-1989.29
you have a carburated, single over head cam engine that puts out peek toruqe at 3600rpm, so with the decent mileage you are already getting I would say to leave the carburator alone, other then maybe running some carburator freindly carburator cleaner in your fuel, but with the peek toruqe at a lower rpm like that you might be able to shift just a little earlier, altho with the carburator if you slow your engine down to much it's going to run horble, and start gulping fuel, aside from that make sure your engine is in peek condition, as it looks like you have a reasonably good car.

[86Celica]

[how good of shape is the engine in?]

It has run only 105.000 miles (169.000km) and runs like clockwork, never any problem (like the whole car). I tend to shift to a higher gear between 1500 and 2000 rpm, something which I think is also made possible because I reduced the weight a bit. Also the car is quite light, since it has no airco, no electric windows, no power steering.

[Nice, clean 20 year-old car!]

It's not so clean anymore. When I peeled off the black side stripings (weight reduction: around 2-3 pounds) some paint came along. There's also some rust here and there. So I'm thinking about a paint job (that is, after I've closed the rear wheel openings and removed the antenna), but this runs contrary to my philosophy that fuel efficiency is also about saving money...

By the way, I'm from the Netherlands, but live in Belgium

[You might see some significant improvements from advancing timing]
Thanks for the explanation! But I probably won't, since my car has to be tested each year for emissions...

SVOboy: I'll put some interior pics later.

[The Toecutter]

Dude, if you put a shaved door handle kit and a tapered roof spoiler on that thing, ditched the pop-up headlights and replaced them with something flush to the front of the car, installed rear wheel skirts, replaced the mirrors with a camera setup, installed wheel spoilers, ditched the side reflectors and radio antenna, and gave it a clean paintjob, your car would look sick as ****!

Better yet, figure out a way to make front wheel skirts that won't rip or rub against your tires, and you'd be set for one slick ride.


Your rear angle isn't good for drag, but that can be corrected with a tapered roof spoiler.

[86Celica]

Toecutter, you're absolutely right. Read your blog today on aerodynamic standstill over the last 70 years, excellent piece. Says it all, one of my basic reasons for starting work on this car and joining this forum is frustration and irritation that car companies are not catering for our taste.

I will tape the passenger door handle (it only works from the inside anyway), will try the rear wheel skirts, will put wheel spoilers and ditch the antenna, and will ditch the side reflectors if legal. And put moon disks on, and then who knows, maybe the paintjob. Any color suggestions anyone? I can't do windowtint because then I have to put the passenger side mirror back on (legally).

About the rear angle, is it really that bad? as in close to the famous 30 degrees? Then why do the EV1 and Ford Probe have similar backsides? According to internet sources, this car has a 0,31 Cd, and it has a pretty high top speed for a 86 horsepower engine. Is the aim of the tapered roof spoiler to make the angle less steep? What would it look like?

[The Toecutter]

Your rear angle looks like it's about 25-26 degrees. I found a side veiw pic of your car's body style via google, and drew a right triangle, length and hypotenuse starting at the end of the roof, and did some basic trig calculations.





Earlier today on the highway, I saw a red Nissan Pulsar that looked like a station wagon. It looked to have had a custom-made tapered roof modification, all the angles were right.