New Celica owner here...

[Mr. X]

Hey guys, just wanted to post a little introductory message here. I just got a 2000 Black GT-S manual yesterday and I must say, its the best car I've had yet, but I'm still getting adjusted to the clutch. I know I'm gonna have a lot of fun driving it.

But I have a few questions, do you guys know of any good body shops in the Northwest Georgia area, specifically around or in Dalton? I'm looking to purchase a bodykit in a few weeks and it would help me out a lot if someone could recomend a decent one. I'd be willing to drive down to the Atlanta area if that's the best option, but I would prefer if it was somewhere closer.

Any help would be appriciated. Thanks!

[Impulse]

Welcome to the board. The car is definitely a blast to drive. Sorry I can't help you out with shops as I don't live in GA. But this is the Southeast (aka GA forum ;)) so I'm sure one of the guys here can help ya out.

[TransAm]

Congrats on the new car. - If you want to come about 40 miles south of Atlanta, theres a real good quality/low price body shop called "Ted's Paint and Body Shop." Its in Jackson GA. If you are interested email me and ill give you the phone number. He does *great* work for a lot less than any other body shop i could find.
Camaro007m@aol.com

[Impact Blue]

Welocome!!
It is hard to find a good body shop. I know of a good place I found Jonesboro (sp?) called Heritage Collision. There is a guy I know there named Shawn and he does great work and is very nice. He has good prices too. If we ever meet up I can introduce you to him. We meet up pretty much every weekend so if you like you can come along and meet everyone. Talk to you soon.

Rox

[2kgtx]

Hey I've heard of a great place it's called Foshow or something like that, J/K that place blows or at least that is what I heard from Rox, I haven't a clue where you can go I am currently looking for a place myself. But welcome to the board

[skatamatic]

welcome to the boards and congrats on getting the new car. the places matt and rox both talked about are real good as far as painting and installing kits go. have you found a place to get the kit yet too? if not make sure you check the sponsors section of this site, some of the places listed there can get you a real good deal.
-cody

[Mr. X]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys. And thanks for the leads on the body shop. Once I get enough cash, I will look into it further, just lacking the funds now to do the whole bodykit deal. I think it would be fun to head down to Atlanta to meet you guys one weekend. What do you guys usually do when you get together?

Another quick question for a newbie celica owner: I plan on first getting some 18 inch rims, so I'm looking to get my car lowered. I was looking around the site and remember seeing something about how the stock shocks wouldn't handle the lowered car very well. So, how much would you guys estimate it would cost to get the car lowered about 1.5 or 1.8 inches? What all will I have to buy?

Sorry for all the newbie questions guys, but I just don't want to mess up my new ride! Thanks in advance.

[2kgtx]

My TRD springs where I think 170 and 150 to have installed. they are only a 1 inch drop so I don't know about a 1.5 drop

[Coolwheels00]

Welcome aboard!! United Collision in Duluth did a great job on repainting my front bumper after Atlanta Toyota didn't. They told me that if I got a kit they would paint it for $3-400. I have the Dropzone 1.8" springs and so far, the stock shocks feel great. Not bouncy, pretty stiff and a perfect drop IMO. I paid $125 for them on ebay shipped and had a friend help with the install. Alignment after was $75.

[skatamatic]

yea, i'd just find a set of springs such as TRD, dropzone, hotchkis, h&r, etc. all of them should be under $200 and install will be anywhere from free to about $150 depending on who you get to help with it. all of those listed have a pretty big range of the amount of lowering, but i dont know which ones have which amounts off the top of my head. if you're really concerned with handling you could get new shocks too but me, mark, and jamie are still on the stock ones and i think we're all doing fine on them. shocks, by the way, will probably run you another $400-$500 and probably won't make a huge difference (although i don't have them so i can't really tell you for sure). oh, and when we meet up we usually sit around and try to think of something to do but end up not doing anything...haha. (that's only true part of the time though, somtimes we will actually have something fun to do like going to shows/meets or autocrosses or helping each other out with installing stuff).

[WutARyd]

dude, do not pay to have your springs installed...i will be more than happy to do it for free, just did my ground controls, and have done probably 30 hondas over the years...also, you've got a while on your shocks once its lowered...i got a hookup at a shop that does paint for the LOLA bodies at the Petit Le Mans as well as the big show, they are down by Road Atlanta, which coincidentally is only about 12-15 miles from my house. Chris will do it on the cheap, and its obviously good quality. Did you know that Lola carbon fiber bodies run a little over 30 grand just for the shell? that's inphuckinsane!

[DevlynSyde]

Heh, Wutaryd, think I saw you rollin up around town on either Saturday or Sunday, forget which. Was rolling in a Trooper though since my car was chilling after having done the synthetic switch.

[Bling]

Scott I think Cody and I saw you on 985 yesterday afternoon. Out near the Mall of Georgia. You were going the opposite way or atleast he looked like you.

[DevlynSyde]

Heh, where the traffic was? I'd spun around after figuring I live off P'tree Industrial so I might as well. OHHHH, red Civic was Jeremiah? I'll have to hook up with you guys this weekend to hear the story.

[DevlynSyde]

Oh, and speaking of paint jobs, am I the only one that has scratches and dings everytime he turns around? I'm so sick of my car I can't decide if I should pay for the paint job or sell it. I think I notice every lil' thing wrong with the car, everyone I know doesn't seem to see 'em.

[Coolwheels00]

Hey man, I really don't have any complaints about my celi. No dents or dings yet. I've touched up a couple paint chips on the hood and had the front bumper repainted. Other than that, I still really like my car. BUT, if I start having tranny probs and such, It will be a different story. Ok, I do have one compaint, I'm tired of the belt squealing when it's wet outside. That is annoying as hell.

[skatamatic]

i am king of having tons of new scratches/dents in my car everytime i look at it. i had 2 on the old hood, 3 in the passenger side door (idiots that open theirs next to me i guess) and 1 in the bumper (it was there when i bought it ). i also have the cool crack in my winshield too and my left front rim has a few little dings in it. i swear, i'm so sick of crap happening like this. i hope my wrx won't be as cursed as this car was.

[DevlynSyde]

Haha, when I mentioned getting a new car to my dad while I was up in Gainesville this weekend, he was like... you can buy a new car, but just imagine if you are this pissed now how pissed you will be if its BRAND new. Cuz lord knows unless you never drive it, some bone head idiot is gonna smack it.

[skatamatic]

ha...yea, im afraid of some crap like that happening too. i sure hope it doesnt though. what type of car are you thinking about by the way?

[DevlynSyde]

I want the torque back if i get something, looking at going back to the bmw side of things, rex, and the s2k. All depends on if we get a house or not tho, if we do I won't be able to for a while, since her parents aren't giving us a thing cuz we aren't married :)
I've considered the WRX for a while but I just can't see buying it when I know it absolutely would require the body kit PLUS seeing all of them going so fast, it'd require the performance mdos as well just out of seeing the numbers so often... RAMBLING, I'm going to bed now.

[skatamatic]

haha...i did feel the same way about wrx (wanting a kit right away) but i've decided i'll settle with morettes, rims, and a drop just to get me started. then i'll do all the fun performance stuff so i can go around and beat people in v8's. some of the bmw's would be cool too (especially the new m3's) and i like s2k's too, but then i'd be back to having a torque-less engine. plus, they dont have much room (but they sure do look sweet and have cool HID's).

[DevlynSyde]

I keep looking at that damn M3 Roadster Coupe I think it is, the one with the hard top... I can't decide if I hate it or like it... either way whenever I look at it, it keeps me guessing, heh. And yea, thats why I consider the WRX still... I think I'll just keep this thing for a lil' while and see how things look in the 2004 year models...
Thats what, another year and a half... I think I can wait.... correction, hope.

[skatamatic]

i haven't liked m coupes ever since i almost got ran over by one at the autocross. that sucked.

[DevlynSyde]

haha, I wish I'd made that one. girlfriend is flying a lot more next month, most importantly she's working on saturday's again, so i should be able to call the phase 7 secretary and see if anything is going on