Newb checking to say Hi.

[skraggy_uk]

Had a 1991 celsior with about 100k miles, in the UK, for a couple of months now.

Nice car, but the air struts have been swapped for shocks/springs which cause a lot of dive.

Also, there is a rip in the drivers seat that needs repair and the aircon is out of gas.

Other than that, a great car that only has age related dings and bubbles under the paint.

For the £800GBP I paid for it with a years MOT/Inspection, I'm going to keep it mechanically good, tune it a little and enjoy, I'll be happy.

Plans are, sort out the suspension (either re-instate the air suspension or find a good set of JIC Executives), get it gassed so I don't sweat and then sort out that rip.

 

[Mr.LexGS]

Hi, welcome to the forum...new bie here also... Not a bad car... With some mods for sure it would as good as the new one... see you around..

 

[JamesN]

Welcome to Lextreme. Good milage for a 91 celsior...

 

[skraggy_uk]

to be honest it is probably closer to 112k as I think it is about 180k kilometers on the clock.

The 6 CD changer still works great. I know I should get the cam belt changed at that mileage as the car has absolutley zero history. Are there any visible signs of cambelt wear?

Biggest issue is, along with the shocks instead of airbags, the car had some Colway retreaded tyres fitted for the last MOT not long before I bought it.
I know that Colways can be tricky to balance, and I do know it was tested locally, failed on tyres, had the colways fitted then passed. It wasn't driven a fast speeds and was parked up.

As it happens, it has a wobble that comes in at 60mph dead, fades then comes back between 75 and 90. I know it could be tyres, but I'm also worried it is the upper balljoints might be worn. It even wobbles through the shifter. It isn't the trans itself, it appears to be wear in the shift lever (it can be wobbled a little) and it vibrates at a resonant speed. If you touch it, it stops and you can't feel vibration so I don't think it is the trans mount. And the steering does need properly aligning.

Other than that, it is a great car.
I only do about 50 miles a day so it isn't a problem but I do want to sort it.


It does need a full service too and that will be job one. I do quite fancy upgrading the brakes. I fitted DBA discs and Akebono Ceramic pads to an old GT4 that I had. They worked great, and would love to try and find them for the Celsior.

 

[jibbby]

Hi, it sounds like a cosmetic pig...Hope it runs good....Cheers and welcome...

 

[skraggy_uk]

It isn't that bad. For £800GBP any Mercedes I bought would have been rotten, asthmatic and barely moving, a BMW would have been boy racered to hell, and any ford/vauxhall/citroen/puegoet etc would be a pile of rusty flakes with no MOT and a small 4 cylinder engine. At least with this, I can still do the old beer bottle trick. Standing and open beer bottle on top of the plenum with the engine running then raising the revs to 3k, nothing rocks, nothing wobbles, and there are no bubbles in the beer.

An interesting side note that I can't unfortunatley back up is that the last owner reckons that is was a *** embassy car in the UK, and when he bought it it has small fixed flag pole on the corner of the front bumper. He took it off because people kept asking about it. Idiot. Purely hearsay mind you with no way of knowing, except I know this 91 Celsior has UK Lexus glass and Radio, but *** everything else and was registered as a UK car in 1998. And a member of the uk Toyota Enthusiast's Club has a P plate Century V12 which is a 1996/1997 car, so it is potentially possible that my car was retired from diplomatic service back in 1997 and registed in 98.

 

[jibbby]

Sounds good to me...Oh and yes the 1uz-fe's idle like the motor is not even running...However, I don't know if you can set an open bottle of beer on the top of the engine and rev 3000 and have it not spill... Who knows? Maybe I will try that one day just to see if it's possible....

I would hate to waste the cold beer though....:beerchug:

 

[V8Datto]

No..... but you can stand a 50cent coin on END and rev a 1UZ-FE to 6500rpm

Here... I made a video of it just for fun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHsx9G_oQ0U

 

[skraggy_uk]

Seriously, the beer trick works.
I was driving so it was a bottle of alcohol free, so no great loss if it spilled, at a local import night at a pub near me.

One of the guys I know remembered it from the launch days, and suggested we tried it. It didn't even froth the beer. Smoother than a mink lined silk faced thong.

 

[jibbby]

Impressive!!!!!!!!!!!:alcoholic: