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How to maintain a vintage car (Toyota Celica)
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 I use commonly found ones?
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an 80s Cellica should be easy. Find a good, reliable indy mechanic, and have them check it out carefully. parts are easy to get for one of these, and they should not need any special care. really it is a modern car at this point. Once you have it all buttoned down (if it has sat a long time, change all the fluids/belts/hoses/filters/tires) just drive it and enjoy.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I agree. I would treat it as a modern car, which it is. It doesn't have any special or peculiar needs that your average repair shop wouldn't be familiar with. As for parts you should be able to find everything very easily except little trim pieces on the exterior or interior. Even things like bumpers or fenders would require some searching on eBay or craigslist--but they are out there.
Only real headache is the carb (assuming it has one). They're rats' nests of vacuum hoses, which leak and crack and get misconnected over the years. Get a good manual for it.
That's true...Japanese carbs of that era are very tricky to rebuild---so keep that baby clean with good fuel and filter changes.
Those were great, rugged little cars! The 20R and 22R engines lasted a very long time. If it's a 1983 or newer it'll have fuel injection.
The carbureted engines weren't "bad" but it's takes a skilled person to overhaul those tricky carburetors. Parts are readily available are most shops will be happy to work on it.
Watch out for rust. Rust was a problem on some of those.