Crazy Cat Lady

My shock absorbers are okay, purchased vis eBay seller: clickcarparts The replacement boots, bump stops, etc from Import Car Parts (but not their shock absorbers) https://www.importcarparts.co.uk/parts?cat=89&sub=1353&sec=1555&var=38&dc=y

Today i fitted the super dooper deluxe sun screen cover marketed via Amazon by 'FREESOO' [although it wasn't so free costing £23.99] The backend of my car is nicely sheltered in the shade but i wanted something BIG to cover whole windscreen and both door windows. This seems to do the job, also covers the wipers, door mirrors too with room to spare. The shiny aluminium finish should reflect the suns heat, and keep the inside of car from getting oven hot, we will see.... Debs

Ordered this bargain lexus via Amazon uk for 24 quid, but all they've sent me is the windscreen cover I wanted to take a photo of the new sun screen on my Celica but.... it's raining now! That's the end of summer then, will put my posh new super deluxe sun screen away ready for next winter's snow Debs

After changing over from winter to summer tyres/wheels on Friday last week... Today i checked the tyre pressures - first time on the summer set [Goodyear F1] since last September when they went into storage. They were all around 28 or 29 psi, so increased to 32 psi all round, car now goes like it's gained a turbo, and the handling is a joy!

You've got us all worried now, Gav Both mine have a silver coloured top, not easy to see on the front shock from photo below but is silver, don't recall seeing sparsely placed weld spots... Perhaps i can relax, car feels okay to drive anyway. All my shocks have a dodgy looking paint job, but that was me in the shed before we fitted 'em

It's official - the summer starts today! Took winters off and put summer wheels on a bit late this year

Toyota did have roof rack bars available - as an accessory for the Celica Gen7. Somewhere i have a showroom handout brochure for the 2003 Celica, and one of the photos shows a roof rack-fitted with bicycles. Although, i bet they were expensive to buy from Mr.T at the time, and maybe difficult to find pre-owned now. Just had a look at the Thule website and they don't appear to list the G7 Celica. Debs

The replacement [rear] speakers have arrived

I admire your commitment to restore the GT to such a high standard, hope it all achieves a really fantastic result. Professional restoration work is far more exciting and worthwhile than anything customising has to offer [ IMO ] Can't wait to see the photos! Who is doing the work? Debs

Arrived in yesterdays post, sticky backed sound absorbent material, very light weight but ideal for the inside enclosures of audio speakers The 1 x 3 meters roll will be enough to also use under rear seat, jack stowage enclosure, and perhaps some underneath the parcel shelf...

3 years ago i painted four 'remanufactured' callipers from EPC, and which came with the thin silver plating coat. I used [ Gold ] Foliatec, an excellent quality heat resistant calliper paint. There is a huge range of colours to choose from. The kit comes with an aerosol of brake cleaner, tin of paint colour and a smaller tin of hardener to be mixed together just before painting. Is holding up well so far, the gold paint has formed a very hard coating and makes for easier cleaning. Priced around £25 but well worth it imo.

I didn't realise buying new number plates was so bureaucratic, and didn't have any faff buying my new plates [ all done mail order with no documents ] Perhaps because they came from 'Plates For Cars' who are Dublin (?) Size Front: 520x111mm (20.5x4.4in) Size Rear: 520x111mm (20.5x4.4in) Font : UK Legal Black GEL RESIN Badge : Wales 2 Border : Red Legal Details : Yes http://www.platesforcars.co.uk The Gel 3D Resin plates are particularly nice IMO.

Materials tend to differ in function and how they can decrease noise, the sticky-backed dense stuff is good where metal panels are prone to vibrate, such as doors than 'clang' on shutting, although i don't think Celica's particularly suffer from door shut clang. But used sparingly here and there to add weight to 'wobbly' panels can improve things. Car manufactures do tend to use some kind of product sparingly stuck on some outer panels to do this. Three years ago i used a product called 'rattlematt' [ IIRC ] inside the boot floor and rear wheel arch area, but the after-fitting effect on sound deadening was very slight, IMO not worth the effort of sticking it in places that are already fairly 'rigid' in build. What i did achieve is adding around 5 kilo of permanent weight to the boot area! At least the 'rattlematt' looks neat and is so slim not to cause any problems re-fitting the interior panels. I'm not speaking from any experience here, but i strongly suspect a far better sound deadening material would be a dense felt type material and the thicker the better as long as it don't cause problems refitting the panels after. Rubber sheeting would probably work as a good road noise suppressant too, but would be tricky to fit, and very heavy. I suspect there are fantastic products out there that if fitted though-out the inside shell of the vehicle would work very effectively, but i bet they're very expensive, and would be a faff to fit. Probably best to seek professional advise, or give up and buy a pair of ear-muffs. I've just purchased a roll of this: It's only 2 meters by half a meter but easily enough to acoustically damp out the rear speaker enclosures before replacing the rear speakers with Alpine replacements. The job of sound absorption is different again here, simply to acoustically damp the audio speaker 'cabinet'. Many years ago i did this on a previous vehicle with excellent results - better audio sound quality Debs

Today i washed the engine under-trays and wiped them over clean, made the teas, eat a sandwich, and watched as the guys changed the radiator, water pump, thermostat, and refilled with fresh Pink coolant. We changed the hooter too, old fossilised OEM type went in the bin, new Fiamm fitted Forgot to take my camera so you'll have to take my word for it Debs

Wow, the Shell-out posh petrol is only 1p a litre dearer than Tesco 99Ron! Filled up with Tesco momentum at Welshpool this evening = £1.28.9 a litre. BTW...why does it always ends with a .9 of one penny, i'm sure there is no such currency denomination?

Some good quality stone chip paint arrived here today. The first can will get used to protect the lip-seals that hang down along the sills. I'm not looking forward to the hour [or three] of preparation work, but that can gun holder should make the few minutes of spray time a pleasure. Also a Hilka wire brush set - good value for money for £4.80

You're so lucky, i wish my garage had the space and grandeur

Yeah... i suppose damper & springs are 'consumables' but in the longer term sense, hopefully at least a decade, and even if kept rust and tatty corrosion free they will still wear out anyway. Probably best to periodically go over the exposed metal areas with an oily rag and allow a grimy gunky look to offer some protection.

My primarily concern is about protection from the dreaded tin worm, and then the general upkeep and maintaining a good appearance of 'things underside'. It don't look good to see rust, even slight surface rust, on parts underneath a vehicle. Looking at the photo below taken 3 years ago; this was my front suspension at 11 years old and 52,000 miles, the OEM springs are rusty and tired, obviously seen better days, the OEM strut dampers still have some life in them but look scruffy & corroded, especially the lower spring holders. The underside of those spring holders is where it would be very easy to add some anti-rust primer & top coat paint to the brand new ones before fitting; in the interest of applying a more hard wearing protective surface, and would assumably be easier to periodically clean up, perhaps include the lower strut leg too, these things are in a messy place, and direct line of fire. [Think British winters]. [Could also take the opportunity to paint this area the most distasteful colour of ones fancy to cringe the eyeballs of the most hardened MOT guy!] I also wonder about the addition of a detachable fabric strut sock to encompass the spring, a larger version of what is already available for coilovers (?) If the springs are clean and lightly oiled behind a protective curtain of fabric it should in theory cause them to last a lot longer than a decade...

Pink may carry a risk of falling foul of MOT tester advisories - 'suspension parts in shockingly bad taste colour choice' I wouldn't want to risk any bureaucratic stray inking of my blotter. However, GOLD on the other hand is rather classy, and would coordinate with my brake callipers

Thanks to AMS for supplying a few suspension bits, now have all the parts for front and rear Spent a very noisy hour with angle grinder wire brush some surface rust away plus a good pre-paint clean-up, and then a far more quiet hour applying two coats of primer paint. Will apply a top coat sometime over the weekend.... Right now i'm enjoying a more relaxful hour with a glass of that Cantele

Today i picked up a brand new rubber boot seal from Mr.T, and a couple of pads for me bunions

Gen 7 - rear shock absorber boots & bump stops suppled by ICP i nearly have all the bits to complete my OEM suspension jig-saw puzzle If any Gen 7 owner needs brand new shock strut boots & bump stops - ICP presently has them in stock Front lower coil spring rubber seats: £9.90 Front dust boot & bump stop: £31.50 Rear dust boot & bump stop: £27.50 Priced as pairs, and inclusive of VAT - (fit 140 & Tsport) Import Car Parts: https://www.importcarparts.co.uk/parts?cat=89&sub=1353&sec=1555&var=38&dc=y

Never mind V6, how about jet propelled?