'79 Celeste 1600 GSR Twin-Carb

[Drive-By]

Hi again,

 

As if I didn't have enough cars or running my own garage wasn't enough I have aquired another Nostalgic which I'm head over heals with.

 

A few months ago I was combing the pages of the ususal forums for exciting Dats and Mitsu's "of a certain age" LoL. I came accross a topic by a celeste owner in the UK and was so overcome I had the cheek to ask if he ever considered selling her I'd be very very interested.

I was extremely lucky that Jon aka Watanabe took me up on the offer a few months later and now thankfully another classic is saved to be restored as I'm sure jon would have liked if he had not had so many commitments.

 

 

So here she is...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see from the plates and rear window sticker original features are charming on this celeste. Even if the previous repairs from early owners which at 4 are very few, have been the only real accelorators in the tinworn which in all all honestly is limited to a few scabs and the usual rear of the sills/arches and front wings.

Other than that its nothing too frightening to aproach thanks to extensive undersealing and waxoil in every panel and the chassis, sills barred, is extremely solid and rust free.

 

I was lucky an an apprentice to see a celeste up close as the parts manager owned one, now 20 years on I consider myself luckier still to own one.

 

Chris

[trigger]

Nice work!, It looks tidier (and better looking) then the one i went to view last weekend. Do you plan to restore it or just run it as it is?.

[retrogeezer]

they are a great looking car for sure...

[Drive-By]

  trigger said:

Nice work!, It looks tidier (and better looking) then the one i went to view last weekend. Do you plan to restore it or just run it as it is?.

Restore all the way and make her Shiiiiine! Can't thank Watanabe enough, it seems the worst of her is just repairs that look from receipts to have been done in the nineties. Watanabe's kept her dry and she's solid and straight underneath.

 

 

Since collecting her last saturday I've been keen to get a few of her smaller problems sorted to make her easier to move around and feel a little more complete.

 

The drivers door handle was broken and being white metal cast it wasn't going to be a clean repair. so doctor prescibed a splint.

 

 

and after that then the front calipers which were siezed needed some attention but 30 minutes a side had them freed up and working again.

 

Next on the list is a tune up and investigate the misfire, which hopefully won't be more than simple items with her mileage being only 52k

The history with her is crazy too, almost every receipt since she was new.

[Guest]

Gone to a good home, then.

 

I know you'll do right by it DB, so props to you.

I bought this 1/40 Diapet Celeste as a reminder.....

 

[reallyloud]

Such a great looking car. Most jealous. Everything you need in a car except rust - hope that its not too bad underneath - these old colts are terrible for rot even by Japanese standards.

[autofive]

whats on the other side of the keyfob?

[shaun1706]

Result

[Station]

Did you buy the Celeste Trigger?

[trigger]

  Station said:

Did you buy the Celeste Trigger?

Keep up at the back! , Sadly it was a dog, Every panel was rusty and damaged and needed painting, Interior was tatty with paint over the inside of the boot, even the stereo was just hanging loose in the dash, The underside was freshly covered in lots of bruish on underseal on patches, The rear leaf springs looked VERY rusty, wheels were very rusty, Sills didn't look very heathly, 3 big oil leaks coming out of the engine and it sounded a bit tappy.

 

I know many of the faults could have been sorted over time but it wasn't worth anywhere near £1250 and it really wasn't in the "lovely condition" i was told it was in.

[Station]

No way! That looked stunning! I'm surprised at those well hidden secrets.

[trigger]

So was i , especially after all the upset it has caused since after trying to view it.

 

I think oldford who took me up summed it up the best, "I can think of better ways to spend £1250 quid"

[Drive-By]

  trigger said:

£1250 quid"

 

 

Took 10 minutes at the end of the day to try my SSR's on to get a better idea of what wheels would work size and width wise. I got them for my Dat so theyre a little on the wide side and 15's are an inch bigger than I wanted to go but its given me a good idea of what will work best on her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry about the poor quality they were taken on my phone.

[trigger]

Nice I think Mike D from this parish might have a lot of spares for one of these, but i could be wrong.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Sorry, those wheels look bad! Theyre nice wheels but seem to be totally the wrongsize and offset. (I am a wheel expert BTW)

[Mike D]

I reckon you'd get away with 8J rear 7J fronts on it, I had 7J and 6.5J on mine but I think you could get away with the slightly bigger ones. Mine were 14's...

[Bozwell]

imo those wheels just don't work. comparing the before and after pictures it's gone from sublime to looking like it should do 200mph and leave 2 massive black lines everywhere. which when it doesn't just looks silly.

 

i still think banding the rear wheels slightly wider will look quite cool

[Mike D]

Celestes need a hell of a drop to look good in my eyes! This is my old 77 on the afore mentioned wheels, albeit with a good lowering!

[Station]

The wheels look like it's on tip toes or something, but I think lowering it somehow would make it look good if you want to go that way. Is this taxed/MOT'd btw? It looks kind've nice with the wing and the odd spot of rust.

[Drive-By]

  Mr_Bo11ox said:

Sorry, those wheels look bad! Theyre nice wheels but seem to be totally the wrongsize and offset. (I am a wheel expert BTW)

Yeah it looks Tonka with them but as I said they are bigger than I intend for the Celeste and I've tried them on to get a better idea of what offset and size will work.

After measuring them and against the originals I'm looking for some around a +7 offset 14x6j or 14x7j . The SSR MK III's are a 15x8.5 and 15x9.5 respectively with a -10 and -17 offset > Now I know what will and won't fit so it's off to trawl yahoo.jp for a suitable cadidate.

 

 

Autofive- the keyfob is an original J.T.Dickinsons of Nunthorpe where I was an apprentice.

[eddyramrod]

Those back wheels, especially, look too wide for the tyres. Can't be doing the sidewalls any good, surely?

[Drive-By]

  eddyramrod said:

Those back wheels, especially, look too wide for the tyres. Can't be doing the sidewalls any good, surely?

The stretch is intensional to get the look I wanted to immitate for my Laurel.

 

Much like this

 

 

But for the Celeste I want to have a more subtle and enjoyable look and ride so a smaller wheel with less offset much like Mike's is what I'm after. As I said fitting the SSR's was more over to see what and why, to better help me visualize the offset,stretch and size of rim that would complement the car rather than the 15's which swamp her a tad.

[gtd2000]

Here's a quick comparison - I've flipped my old car horizontally

 

 

I like the look of the wheels makes the car look more muscular

[Drive-By]

  gtd2000 said:

Here's a quick comparison - I've flipped my old car horizontally

 

 

I like the look of the wheels makes the car look more muscular

That's helpful, thanks very much

 

Chris

[Mike D]

6J around ET7 look a bit daft on the fronts, they sit too far in, When I had the Bilbos on mine they needed spacing to look right

[gtd2000]

  Drive-By said:

  gtd2000 said:

Here's a quick comparison - I've flipped my old car horizontally

 

 

I like the look of the wheels makes the car look more muscular

That's helpful, thanks very much

 

Chris

I'm looking forward to seeing the progress on this one

 

I always wanted to do a Starion engine transplant into mine - pipe dreams and all that

[Drive-By]

  Mike D said:

6J around ET7 look a bit daft on the fronts, they sit too far in, When I had the Bilbos on mine they needed spacing to look right

have you any pics from the front to see this Mike?

[Mike D]

Certainly

 

These were 13's, but that makes no difference really apart from illustrate 14's seem to suit better!

 

 

 

There you go

[Bozwell]

i must be wierd because i think the wheels in a little at that angle look spot on

 

bit more negative camber on the front will suit it as well.

[FredTransit]

Bump for a real thread.....