Celica Forums General Discussion Exterior mods

I have been lookin for some things to do to my car. I thought about changing the instrument lights to blue, AC controls to blue, painting the console (maybe black), shorter shifter...I dunno.

My car is red and it's all stock...any suggestions as to what I can do? I don't want it to look too "ricey" but I want it to look nice and clean. Keep in mind I'm a college student with not a lot of money, so no body kit suggestions, please. Thanks.

Since your car is red, might I suggest a red motif on the interior? Perhaps red lights instead of blue?

get an s2000 antenna, one of my first and favorite mods

Like they said, S2000 antenna, then I say take out your interior pieces and get them professionally painted red and you can still drive around without those pieces.

A professional paint job would cost hundreds. There is a great painting guide on this site.

Hey Chris

-G2 RED Brake Caliper Paint
-JDM Amber Sidemarkers
-Silvania silverstar front turn-signals
(they look clear from a far but a bit closer they have a twinkle of blue/orange.. but when on they are a dark orange over stock..)

Change the color of your A/C, but be warned. I tried the acetate thing and ended up breaking the PCB board, so my A/C and heater don't work. As with anything, be very careful.

S2k, definitely. Clear Corners! A must! You live in Texas and i'm sure there is plenty of dust. Make your own Custom Cabin Air Filter! (see installs section). Unless you're getting a short ram or cold air induction Intake soon, take the butterfly valve out of the airbox. Give your car a deeper growl, without buying the Intake, headers, or exhaust. By all means, get the windows tinted. It really gives your car the clean look.

Don't forget to post pics when you're done!

hundreds for console painted? I have heard people getting it painted for like 50 dollars??

paint calibres, short shifter, sri, paining dash, gear knob, 2003 back garnish, tyc ligths,

Clear corners? Maybe I'm dumb or just a n00b...what are clear corners exactly...are you talking about the small orange lights on the front fenders (actually, I guess it's the bumper, right in front of the wheels)? Whats a Cabin Air Filter? I don't plan on a CAI anytime soon, seeing as how I'm broke, so what is the butterfly valve? What exactly does it do? Any loss in performace if it's gone? I hope someone has some pictures or something so I don't screw it up...Thanks for the help, guys.

P.S. The pictures in my profile page are outdated, so the windows are already tinted.

joo!

Check my picture in the signature. The clear things on the front bumper by the lights are your clear corners. Instead of orange, they are clear because they look better, imo.

Cabin Air filter is the filter that doesn't exist thats behind the glove compartment. Make a custom one from a furnace filter. This is great, unless you always drive with your window down. Click here for install

Butterfly valve is the white valve thing in your airbox Intake. It constricts airflow to help with the cars mileage. Take it out and maybe add a K&N Performance air filter. Without the valve, the sound of your engine is much deeper and louder, similar to a CAI (but much quieter and no Performance gains ) Click here for removal guide

If you have any other questions, just reply

I'm a college student on a budget too, so this is what I have done and I would recommend it: Red-out tails ($3 dollars, 2 hours) S2000 antenna ($14), Toyota debadge (leave the GTS though), Tint as dark as you can go ($180), Remove the butterfly valve (just did this tonight).

These small changes make a big difference for under $200. It looks much cleaner. My next cheap mods are installing supra corners and painting brake calipers.

Lots of luck with your celica.

Red-out tails?

Also thought about doin some foot-well neons...cheap, like $6.

Also, I went to TireRack.com and they have some decent wheels for cheap. They have this nifty image thing where when you click the wheel, it shows you what it looks like on the car. Anyone see any good wheels on this site?

This is the guide I used for redding out my tail lights:

https://celicahobby.com/ubbthreads/thread.f_57001_0_collapsed_5__1.html#57001

And here are more pictures:

https://celicahobby.com/gallery/qsearch.php?q=REDOUT

Not professionally. As with any piece that needs to be painted, it needs to be preped, and that's where it gets pricey.

Chris, I just wanna let you know, those are cold cathodes in the picture, not neons. Cold cathodes are used in computer cases and they are much brighter than neons. I installed mine 2 weeks ago and they look awesome, very bright! I got a dual kit at CompUSA for $10. If you have an Qs about them, reply or PM me.

Yea, I knew they weren't neons, but it's pretty much all the same effect.