My ST185 has gone the way of Migs.  I.E. LEGENDARY.  The real question is… which came first: Hyper Rev Magazine or Migs AE86?  There sure as hell aren’t any Monroes in my AE86 magazines.

Of all the struts that used to be available for ST185, it seems that only two are currently available.  The first is the “KYB New SR Special” but it’s only available in Japan… and for a relatively substantial 60000円.  Sensa-Trac’s are pretty hard to come by… but I did manage to find some hiding on a shelf in Texas for $60 each.  Cheap.

Another option I was considering was a set of KSport Gravel coilovers… but it was hard to justify spending almost $2000 for something that I didn’t really want: fake bling, solid top mounts, high spring rates, and threaded collars that will probably just be locked in place by corrosion a year from now anyways.  Instead, I’ll find a bit more performance with some mild Eibach’s or Megan springs.  As well as the stock set up handles snow, it really is too pillowy to be fun around town.

It’s all very mild and meek, but if I was going to actually spend money on this car I would have to start with some fundamentals like bushings, engine mounts and other invisible things that annoy the hell out of me.

Running hard on snow and gravel has taken it’s toll.  I’ve got two blown rear shocks and a really sloppy tie rod.  I guess that means it’s time to get started.  Problem is… nobody else drives Celica’s, and nobody makes Celica parts.  There are no rear strut replacements available… period.  Well… there might be one option.  I’m in pursuit.

Did you know the stock rear strut has a body length of only 11″ and yet offers more than 7.5″ of travel?  If you’ve ever shopped for short stroke options for auto-x, you’ll know that 11″ is damned short.  That’s shorter than my 86’s ultra stubby Tokiko HTS, and shorter than anything Koni’s Race inserts allow.  And 7.5″ of travel?  A normal car has about 6″, and the high dollar rally parts offer around 8″.  It’s likely that all the aftermarket manufacturers looked at Toyota’s specs and thought they were crazy.

So my options… High dollar inserts in custom casings? High dollar coilovers?  Custom ears on a more common strut?  This is one time when I might spend money rather than hack something together, and that’s probably a more sure sign than anything else that I am old now.

And then shoes… My RC is the “widebody” Celica.  I actually find that pretty annoying because a like how skinny cars look and… because my already uber aggressive 7J +23 by Celica standards, is still more than 35mm sunk in the rear.  Do the math and I’m aiming for something around -10 offset there, while up front should remain about the same.  For tire options/gearing and ride height I’m looking for 15’s… where to find a pair of PCD100 15×7 -10’s?  That seems more troublesome than the rear struts.

But then there are all these old bushing that I want to replace as well; those I might have to pour myself.  And one degree of caster?  1 degree!

At least my engine fits in my car properly, and I don’t have to pull the engine half out of the car to replace spark plugs…

When I look at my AE86 now, I wonder if it isn’t almost something called “done”.  Of course there is always more than can be done, but as the car currently serves little purpose for me, it seems somewhat meaningless.  For my own pleasure, I’d like to add a little bit to the engine, but that’s simple.  The Celica on the other hand… I’m not sure.

Recent weather has been horrendous, and the Celica has been amazing.  I’ll acknowledge that anything with a decent AWD drivetrain would be amazing, and there are certainly things that make the Celica LESS amazing than alternatives, but I’m becoming more practical.  The Celica is what’s in my garage.  I’m thinking about modifying it… A LOT.

First on the list would be the suspension.  A. It’s not stiff enough.  B. While the rear geometry is very good, the front is very bad, and it doesn’t have enough travel.  It will be a little complicated to figure out, but shouldn’t be too expensive.  Ride height will come down, but only slightly… like the AE86, I think this car will love some shorter rubber.  Second would be simplifying the car.  I don’t like electric stuff and power options.  Bye Bye AC.  Bye Bye Power Windows.  Bye Bye Power Mirrors.  Bye Bye Power Steering…  And to do that I’ll probably use an AW11 rack.  A LHD AW11 rack… and finally make the whole car LHD.

It’s not that I mind driving RHD in a LHD world, it’s more that I mind telling people I drive a RHD car in a LHD world.  Doing all this will probably demand a parts car… but ST18X Celica’s are abundant and cheap.  Maybe I’ll drivetrain swap a Canadian car… that would give me lots of time to properly prep and reinforce a chassis, or fit a Camry front end…  Onevia, Camica.  Or buy a Camry and fit the Celica front end.  Celry, Celiry, Celery.