Guest gtr123 Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 I am considering purchasing my first vintage car. A 1980's Toyota Celica. It's garage kept and in very nice shape. Can anyone tell me a little bit about some of the things that I should prepare for when owning a vintage car like this? Are parts available? If something goes wrong, do I always need specific parts or can some jobs use commonly found parts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Find the owner's manual and go by that. It contains the maker's maintenance schedule. Maintain it by the book for long life with minimal expense.Most parts can be bought at any auto parts store or your local Toyota dealer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auburnseeker Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Store it inside under cover when you are not using. Nothing like ruining a car that has always been garage kept by sticking it out in the back yard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1912Staver Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Toyota's of this vintage are very robust as long as they are not rusty. Parts are still generally available. Celica's have a strong fan base. Many end up at least somewhat modified as high performance street/ track day machines. They are well suited to this, Toyota themselves {and many others} supplied lots of race oriented, over the counter parts. A stock one is nice , and may some day be quite collectable. I would have a hard time calling one a vintage car, but I suppose it would be old enough to meet the legal definition. They are often quite rusty, so look at it underneath carefully.Greg in Canada Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 If the paint finish is in good shape, wash it and get some good wax. Wax it 4 times or more. I have polished and waxed an old paint job 9 times and it kept getting smoother and shinier.Wash and wax the car regularly every 6 months or a year and the paint will not deteriorate. With a good wax job dirt and even small stones will bounce off and do no harm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Drive the car on a regular basis More old cars go to pot sitting then they do when getting driven.Besides, that is half the fun of the old cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RansomEli Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Also, get a factory shop manual for the car. A genuine Toyota manual is worth it's weight in gold. Don't bother with a clone such as Haynes or Chilton - get the real deal.Also, join one of the Toyota forums online. Lot's of good maintenance tips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 If you leave it unused for more than 1 or 2 months put stabilizer in the gas. One of the biggest problems on old cars is gummed up gas tanks, carburetors and motors due to stale gas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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