01883 730170
1977 Toyota Celica
Our Toyota was built by Mike Gesselle from Crystal Lake, Illinois. He dragged the non-running but solid car out of a field in 2013 for a price of $1000. He then bought a complete 1997 Lexus SC400 and the project took two years to complete. He did approximately 9k miles in the car and it ran 11 sec quarters in the States, winning lots of trophies in the process. Mike’s Facebook page now managed by Trevor can be found here.
GT77.
Trevor saw the car advertised fairly locally on a well-known auction site for a few weeks and curiosity got the better of him. He was impressed with the overall quality of the build but there were a lot of details that he could add the TJ Motors touch to.
Improvements started with lowering the rear and raising the front, dialing out lots of negative camber and removal of wheel spacers for a more classic look. Also fitting a couple of mufflers to the 3.5” exhaust as was way too loud and replacing the old sound deadening materials with modern equivalents also helped.
The horrible grey MK1 MR2 seats made it cramped inside, these were replaced with lower mounted stylish seats. To give more legroom the steering column was raised and a nice original wood rim wheel replaced the tiny boy racer item previously fitted. Quite a few interior parts were missing and Trevor sourced all of those for a more finished look. A Hydraulic handbrake unit has been fitted to the original handbrake. There has been a ton of little jobs, sorting water leaks, and fixing many of the electrical items like the horn, front side lights, reverse lights, interior lights, washers, and warning lamps
Fitting a replacement early thick rod motor and a stronger box should be good for 750 BHP one day especially as
everything is lightweight coming in at 1200 kilos.
GT77.
Trevor saw the car advertised fairly locally on a well-known auction site for a few weeks and curiosity got the better of him. He was impressed with the overall quality of the build but there were a lot of details that he could add the TJ Motors touch to.
Improvements started with lowering the rear and raising the front, dialing out lots of negative camber and removal of wheel spacers for a more classic look. Also fitting a couple of mufflers to the 3.5” exhaust as was way too loud and replacing the old sound deadening materials with modern equivalents also helped.
The horrible grey MK1 MR2 seats made it cramped inside, these were replaced with lower mounted stylish seats. To give more legroom the steering column was raised and a nice original wood rim wheel replaced the tiny boy racer item previously fitted. Quite a few interior parts were missing and Trevor sourced all of those for a more finished look. A Hydraulic handbrake unit has been fitted to the original handbrake. There has been a ton of little jobs, sorting water leaks, and fixing many of the electrical items like the horn, front side lights, reverse lights, interior lights, washers, and warning lamps
Fitting a replacement early thick rod motor and a stronger box should be good for 750 BHP one day especially as
everything is lightweight coming in at 1200 kilos.
Engine
1994 1UZ- FE 4.0 32 valve V8 Thick rod motor with ARP head studs Cometic head gaskets 76mm Turbotechnics turbo Turbosmart external waste-gate, running 12psi. AEM water/meth kit. Rising rate fuel pressure regulator Stock ECU (for now) One-off billet intercooler increasing the power to 500bhp (a real work of art) Custom made alloy 20-gallon fuel cell Gearbox W58 Supra, steel band 5 speed, short shifter MR2 turbo stage 4 paddle clutch and concentric slave cylinder Custom prop leading to 8.8” narrowed Ford axle 3.55 gears and LSD All on one-off billet 4 link set-up with Panhard rod 1985 Celica front cross member and steering rack conversion, front adjustable coil-overs, disc brake all round. Subframe connectors underneath |
Interior
New seats Wideband gauge Full Speed Hut gauge set, carbon dash panel, and console, 6 point Chromoly cage, harnesses Exterior Shaved marker lights, shaved trim, ultra-rare JDM banana rear lights (tinted) Toyosport flares and front spoiler Custom striping on the hood Painted in Dodge Viper snakeskin green Fibre-glass bumpers All new weather striping and rubbers Wheels 15 X 8.5 and 15 X 7.5 Watanabe Disc brakes all round and hydro handbrake |
Thanks to Dan at DSG for detailing the car for the Fast Car Magazine shoot.
Photo credits: Trevor, Images Works John Lambett
Photo credits: Trevor, Images Works John Lambett