1.8L, 2ZZGE, 16 valve DOHC inline 4 cylinder, 180 HP, FWD, 6-speed manual

Term driven: 2021-present

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was in full swing and my Mom had passed away the year prior. I was interested in finally reaching some of my automotive tuning and tinkering goals, and I had a little bit of money to play with to this end. I was acutely aware that I was not getting any younger.

After intensive research into the 2020-2021 automotive market I came away with this car out of Deltona, FL via Facebook Marketplace. The car was leaking oil when I bought it, and I drove that leaky car all the way from Deltona just outside of Orlando back home. I knew that Toyota and Yamaha had a gem in this motor and I wanted to learn more about it. With this automotive purchase, I would proceed to learn more about it–particularly that it was a big motor for the size of the chassis it was installed in.

This car, aka Project CELICA for readers of this blog, is the first real project car that I ever significantly invested in. I have had other projects in the past but they were all daily drivers. This project was bought for the sole purpose of fun. Ironically, it became my daily driver for the majority of the year 2021 running into 2022, particularly after I made the mental commitment of trading my Honda up for a Tesla Model Y.

After driving back from Deltona I took inventory of the car’s status. The underbody plastics were dragging on the concrete and the car was missing numerous bolts in varying locations. The car was leaking quite a bit of oil so I could not park in my own driveway. The clutch slipped all during its maiden voyage back home. The cabin speakers were absolutely terrible–there may have been one or two that didn’t sound like utter garbage. I recalled when I shifted in to 5th gear there was a “crunch” sound which I associated with some level of abuse by prior owners. There were aftermarket wheels installed that I was not so fond of, but were of reasonable taste for the car. The tires were too large and scraped against the underbody plastics on full lock. The cabin was covered in dog hair and there were numerous scratches on the exterior paint, likely due to the dog’s claws. There was a noticeable odor in the car as well. It was certainly safe to say this had all the makings of a project car, from A to Z. Full purchase price of this car, which had roughly 130k-135k miles on its odometer, was $3000 even.

For those who know anything about me, you already know that when I sank my teeth into this rebuild, I went 100%. First thing was first–the oil leak had to stop. There was no ifs, ands, or buts about it–the engine had to be reviewed. For anything motor related I heavily related on dear old Dad, retired automechanic with decades of experience reviewing not only automobiles but other mechanical assemblies of varying applications. To say my Dad knows his way around tools would be a massive understatement.

We ran a compression test and found the motor to be healthy for the age of the car. This indicates relatively good maintenance for the engine’s motor, meaning I wouldn’t have to look into doing anything drastic like swapping the engine or the shortblock. Next was to find the leak.

Well, that’s really not true–we already knew roundabout where the leak was coming from. The gentleman who sold me the car graciously allowed us (Dad and I) to investigate where the leak was coming from. To be honest, I think he knew that if we did not know where the leak was coming from, we would not buy because that is the textbook definition of a crapshoot The issue could be minor, or it could be deal-breaking. Dad and I found the leak to be coming either from the timing chain tensioner or the timing chain cover gasket. Ultimately we settled on the timing chain cover gasket, which after calling the local dealership and surfing the web, we found cost about $1k to outsource its repair. After unsuccessfully attempting to drop the price that much, ultimately I ponied up and spent the $3k. It was a deal even with that cost, which we lowered further by buying the parts and sourcing our own wrench time.

Dad and I researched and found that replacement of the timing chain cover was a relatively intensive ordeal, requiring significant disassembly of the motor and purging of multiple types of fluids. The old adage of “while you’re in there” came into play as we are already disassembling a considerable portion of the motor. You can read into details on the many posts related to the tag of Project CELICA found on this blog as I purchased the car after starting the blog, right in the middle of the global lockdown portion of the pandemic.

To fast forward ahead, after the motor was reviewed and corrected (read: leak fixed, clutch replaced), I added some value to the car by updating the speakers, replacing missing bolts, touching up paint, replacing wheels and tires, and deep cleaning the car. I frequented the local parts distributor for Toyota while I provided Project CELICA some much needed TLC. Today, it serves as my daily driver while I await my Tesla Model Y to trade in my Honda.