3rd Gen. Owners!

I've owned my 1984 Celica GT liftback for a bit over a year now. I bought it for 550 dollars and I have to say that it is the best money I have ever spent.

Aside from the spot rust... and the absence of a stereo... and no rear windshield wiper... and the windshield washer pump being gone... and numerous small and mostly insignificant problems, it has had less major mechanical problems and failures than either of my two previous and 10 years or more newer cars. I love my Celica despite that having no stereo for the past year has driven me to insanity thanks to Southeastern Virginia traffic.

My Celica's 25th anniversary of being a car is fast approaching, at which time it will be considered an "Antique Automobile" by the state of Virginia, and I get to put the fabled black license plates on it. In light of this I have decided that I would like nothing more than to have it repaired and improved on so it can be in better shape than it has ever been in time for it officially becoming a classic.

So I'm trying to gather as much info on my car as humanly possible. And as questions arise, have them answered, so I came here.

The first few questions I have are:

-Are Third Generation Celicas notorious for any major and expensive problems that can go unnoticed? also, do all Celicas have a hatch rust problem? The previous owner replaced his old hatch because he said the old one was in worse shape then the one currently on it, which itself is in really bad shape and I dont think it could stand up to being sanded and painted. If so, were and how would I get a replacement hatch?

-In the early eighties I believe that the Supra was still at that point the Celica Supra. With that in mind I've been wondering if that since they are so structurally similar that one could swap a V6 supra engine to replace the 22R in a Celica? If not, what would be some good ideas to increase horsepower? When the 84 GT was new it only had 105 some horsepower, tack on nearly 300k miles and 22 years, I think I have half that by now.

-What were some of the "premium" options for this year of Celica? I'm guessing I have the premium seats and rims. I have flared fenders I've seen other 3rd gens without. And should my car die at some point soon, is there a market for the rims and seats?


I'll probably have more questions later, that's just all I can think of at this point. Like I said, I'm just trying to gather as I can, so I can be ready to get this baby back in shape.

Hey, been a while since I've seen a fellow 3rd gen owner. I have an 84 GT coupe, only down side is it has an auto tranny, yea 3 speed sucks. But I'm on the look out for a new one.

To answer your questions. Yes it is very common to see rust on any of the 3rd gen celicas, more common in the lift backs where you are having the problem.

Second, great upgrades would be suspension bushing, newer spring/shocks. I relocated my battery to the back and you can notice a nice improvement in handling. For upgrading your 22RE go to LCEngineering.com .

Third, yes you can put the 7MGE/7MGTE (inline 6 from the celica supras) in the 3rd gens, it's tight fit and will drastically change the handling characteristics. Mainly because those motors are really heavy. I've seen one in person with a 7MGTE they bolt right up only thing they need are custom motor mounts.

And lastly, I don't think the car will die, if you keep it up and repair those things are suppose to last forever. The 22RE is the legendary truck motor for going over a million miles. I know other motors have done this, but for toyota's lil truck motors it was a big thing. I don't know if there is a market for the seats, but the rims yes, since they are alluminum alloys and 15 x 7s, and people who like old school toyotas want those rims.

Sweet man, thanks for the info!