Weather has caused delay in more ways than one. The weather this past weekend was bleak and wet. My original plan was to use wheel cleaner to try to restore what is left of the aluminum alloy Motegi RT5 18 inch wheels I inherited with this project. I did play with the idea of ordering new 17s but I simply did not want to invest in the wheels yet. It certainly is not off the table, but for the moment it isn’t on it either. I also wrote off suspension changes (coilover installation) for similar financial reasons. Granted, I could have brought the Civic out of the garage into the nasty weather and tried cleaning the Celica wheels in the garage, but I could not find the energy for it.
To elaborate on the weekend plans, when I got the car, it was pretty disgusting. It was clear to me that previous owners did not want to give the car any attention, as sad as that is to say. The wheels were especially noticeable as they are aluminum/silver in finish. This made their layers of brake dust really stand out. Since the beginning I wanted to take each wheel off individually and really see how clean they could become. Without taking the wheels off I was able to get behind them since they are 5 spoke and my hand can reach back there, but they are far from perfect. I really wanted to see how clean they could get, at least once, so I can get pictures. The road rash and scrapes are unfortunately just going to provide character to them–I had no plans to try to fix that.
What I was able to accomplish in the nasty weather was replacement of the shift boot and installation of a steering wheel cover. While installing the steering wheel cover, flecks of dried up leather did come off the wheel. I was not surprised. The best way to go about it would be to take the steering wheel off and actually rewrap the wheel. I’m not ready for that type of challenge right now…
An unrelated delay to Project CELICA is that I was able to edge (yardwork) around the house before the weather got nasty, but I was not able to mow. It wasn’t really pouring down, but there were spotty showers. I didn’t want to take the risk of starting to mow and then getting rained on, so I just waited. It also isn’t fun when the grass clumps up due to humidity and moisture. I still ended dealing with that the next day, but it is what it is.
I also tried to clean the Celica’s interior a bit–nothing fancy, just garden hose water and a washcloth. Somewhere down the line of this vehicle’s previous owners, there was someone who was messy since I found remnants of what could be candy or something else in storage compartments around the car. I also may have found lotion that spilled. I tried as much as I could with the washcloth and water to clean and helped a bit. When I get more time maybe I can take some cleaning product in there for a better type of detail.
So at this point I still want to give the car the full detail it deserves. I also have floor mats and a shift knob on the way, and I want to see if I can touch up the front bumper and hood before attempting a polish.