Thread: 1987 Toyota Camry -- Complete Resurrection

HELL YEAH!

I just thought id point this out.....

why do people restore cars from the 1930's through the 1970's yet doing anything to an 80's or 90's is so bad?

Originally Posted by fwaggle

cuz from about the early 80s on, the auto manufacturers more and more started leaning toward disposable vehicles. earlier particularly with japanese made units.

but i for one support you. while i personally wouldn't do it, (an 87 camry isn't exactly my dream car) people need to remember that when it comes to car audio, performance (the entire spectrum from ricers to funny car owners), and even carpcs, what's "practical" is not always a concern.

Yeah some cars were disposable yes.....

but i disagree about the the japanese cars
I feel they were quite well made....but eitherway

I do agree its up to the owner to do as they please for whatever reason they feel. Thanks.

Originally Posted by FC3S

i've always hated that

"why get the old car, new ones are better!" ****es me off everytime, dont people think we've thought of that?, god

good luck man, my cars from 91, and im gonna put multiple thousands into it as well, lol

I have no problem with old cars (my personal favorite car is a 1967 mustang fastback and i hope to own one), and restoring them is fine. i just don't get dumping $16k worth of audio equipment into a $500 car thats all.

Originally Posted by Sidewalksalvage

HELL YEAH!

I just thought id point this out.....

why do people restore cars from the 1930's through the 1970's yet doing anything to an 80's or 90's is so bad?

People restore cars from 1900's (model A) through the 70's because of the no smog restriction on car engines. which really comes into play if you live in california. also they are classic cars. i hardly think that you ca classify a 1987 camry as a Classic.

Why not? Define classic

In my mind its worth more to me than a classic. How much did you love your first car.

And just for perspective, I have seen a 1987 Camry sell on ebay for $58.34 so for me. It is purely emotional satisfaction for me which is priceless.

Also note that if you are restoring a Model A i can guarentee that it is NOT for smog restrictions....

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

The day before chrismas eve im driving out to see my girlfirends family and im heading up a hill.

Now i've known my timing belt has been worn for a bit now (considering its original with the car... so thats what 115,000 on one belt... which is rated for 30,000) But i thiough i would be fine for just the break before i go back to school and all... but nope

I was headded up hill and my car kicked into O/D (which i thought was off.. considering you should never use Overdrive unless on a nice flat road ... ugg)

and kaput. Thats it. the car just shuts off. I turn the key.. nothing. I pop the hood, oil is good, temp is good.. all that jazz. I do a quick spark test nothing. Im like crap. I open the edge of the timing belt cover and had my buddy crank the engine. It flopped around like a dead fish.

I was so upset. So about 4 hours later, I finally got my car home, completely missed my girlfiends family and all

So now my car sits, kinda dead, not running... im really sad....

But. Now at least i have an excuse to replace the engine..........

IDK... it has brought to my attention how old the car is (just about 20 yrs old now) I have to think hard what i really want to do.

Replace the engine? Just replace the belt... Im pretty sure any toyota engine driven by a belt is non interferance. My MR2 (4agze) is non interferance and belt driven, and, my matrix (2zzge) is interferance and chain driven.

Or... you could just 3SGTE

hey man, sorry to hear your car gave up it's timing belt...

don't mean to but in on your decision, but I like your creativity & desires...

one of the biggest mistakes I see most amateurs make in building there first car is, starting with the car they have, & not realizing they built the wrong car till there too deep to turn back, then, getting in even deeper... & in the end, it can just turn into a big waste....

now this is not to say that just cause a car is cheap or free, that it's not worth investing in a total redo either...one off my best custom cars that I've built started out as a car I traded for an alarm installation.... total cost to me was about $75 & 3 hours work...

the car had a bent frame, had over 150k on the original 4100 crap motor, & had the most ugly blue velour interior... but it had a straight body, & it was a car that I loved style wise.... I proceeded to rebuild her from the frame up... swapped out a newer low mileage frame with abs brakes... complete new everything... turbocharged drive train with best of everything.... custom body mods, paint, rollbar... etc...

I must have put over $30,000 in that car over the years, & I had many good times driving & racing it... dove it for close to 4 years, then, she's in storage & being rebuilt yet again...

the car I am talking about is my 83 caddy coupe, "turbocad6"... it's also the first car that I ever put a computer in....I've built many many other custom cars through the years, some that started with 10 & 15k cars to begin with, but turbocad is by far my favorite, & the one car in my collection that I know I'll never get rid of.... I know I will put a bit more money into her in the next few years, but I don't regret one bit of it.... I love this car

weather it starts out as a $75 car or a $17,500 car doesn't make much difference if you love the car, but of course, the newer & minter the car you start with, the less work you'll have to do.... if your going to redo EVERYTHING anyway, then theres not much advantage to paying for really nice everything to begin with.... for example, if you know you want a custom paint job & interior, theres no benefit to paying for a car with a mint paint job & interior to begin with, cause it'll just be wasted anyway when you redo it...

,but don't forget to factor in that a clean nice car will be nice in all other respects mechanically, where a beat up car will need more restoring & replacing... again, if you going to redo it all anyway then that's fine, but it sucks to HAVE to redo everything too, if good stock would have been good enough...

but then again, for the average guy without the facilities & resources available, it usually is an advantage to starting with a decent car to begin with, that's why all these guys keep saying "why man... that's stupid"... cause the average guy isn't going to want to start with a car that needs EVERYTHING redone unless theres a real good reason to do so... the average guy is not going to see any reason to putting this much time & energy & resources into a mundane old average car to begin with.... but what anyone else thinks is really irelivant... it all comes down to how YOU feel about the car....

the best way for you to decide if this is really something you want to pursue is to ask yourself one simple question....

"If you had $16,000 in your hand right now, would you take that money & do your dream redo on this car, or would you go out & look for a new car?"

if you can honestly answer that you would redo this car then I'd say go for it.... **** what anyone else says,... but if you think that your answer would be different & then realize that the only reason you want to do that car is cause you already have it, then just throw a new belt in it & decide exactly what it is you really want to put all your energy & creativity into...

either way, good luck with whatever you decide