So I was backing up my files onto an external HD when I came across pictures of my olllllllld Camry and started feeling nostalgic. This thing was my first foray into the whole car mods thing. It went through a couple different stages, then I parted it out before I bought my old S13 (which I then sold to get my Z).

Now I know its not some crazy time attack drifting baby eating machine and it is FWD, so dont hate. I just wanted to share some pics. This thing taught me a lot about working on cars, building project cars, driving on the track, and I met some awesome friends along the way.

The main stuff about the car that was cool:
-JDM 3rd gen 3SGTE swap with upgraded turbo/IC
-E153 transmission (from JDM MR2, converted for FWD application) with Kaaz LSD
-K Sport RR coilovers with Swift springs - 10kg front, 12kg rear
-Custom exhaust with Veilside muffler (oooooh)
-Custom CF hood/trunk combo (nobody made these before I came along and ran the group buys)
-VIS front bumper - yeah yeah, VIS, but this was the first not horrible bumper they made for my car, they used my car to make it so I was the first.
-Made 325whp on pump gas, and surprised the **** out of a lot of people when I took it to Buttonwillow/Streets of Willow/Angeles Crest.

Check out the evolution:

Bone stock, 94 Camry coupe, 55k miles on the odometer, 2.2L 4cyl, 5 speed, 0-60 in about 10 minutes.


Then I saw this, a Camry touring car from Australia, and was inspired:


SSR wheels, CF trunk, Veilside exhaust, silly unpainted front bumper:


Motor swap time...


Sleeper status at Buttonwillow... Turbo, Supra brakes, shitty spring/strut combo... TONS of fun.


So cleeeean you could eat off it.


Original turbo setup- stock motor (fully built) with CT26 turbo and special Costco battery:


Time for paint... British Racing Green. Random ADR wheels. Supra TT brakes.


Time to get a little more serious- 3SGTE swap, Koyo rad (from an S13, dont ask me how I figured out that itd fit), custom Red Bull catch can and hockey stick hood prop FTW.


All time fave picture of the car at Streets of Willow:


Another fave pic at Angeles Crest:


Tons of Autometer gauges, and back when I ran the S-AFC (before going standalone AEM):


The inside took forever to change from that ugly stock poop brown to the black/cream suede combo shown here:


Some artsy ****... A little carbon fiber, Veilside shift ****, AEM wideband, Autometer fuel pressure, Weld Techniques engine starter (got it at the first ever D1GP they had in the US at Irwindale. Score!).


ToyotaFest at the Queen Mary in Long Beach... Ignore the Solara behind me with the S15 lights (LOL)


Bye bye... Running down Angeles Crest. I miss her......

^In Japan, two door Camrys were actually called "Scepters"... I managed to get a hold of the JDM center piece by swapping with some guy from Kansai(sp?) Japan and sending him my stock Camry center piece.



Parted her out in early 2007 and towed the chassis to the junkyard... I didnt want anybody else to be able to drive it again after me.

 

not bad..looking good

 

never thought i'd be impressed by a camry but im impressed.

 

im having mixed feelings about this...

 

Wow, nice motor work man.

Thanks for sharing.

 

wow.. i envy you... maybe i'll can see you around at buttonwillow events.. did you time your laps with your camry?

Great Work~!!!

 

Very cool. Never thought I'd see a B.A. camry.

 

Damn, that's like Kafka asking his friend to burn all his writings. Mean man you are.

 

Quite impressive.

 

Thanks fellas!

I still get all bummed out if I see a clean looking gen 3 Camry on the streets because I miss mine.

Best time I ever ran at Buttonwillow was a 2:10ish and Streets was a 1:29ish... Ill have to double check those times later when I get home. Been a while.

 

very cool, impressed as well! you have some good idea's i see..

 

Major props ... never knew a mr2 motor would fit so well.

 

Wow really nice job!

 

lol. serious indeed. i miss my 3g camry now.

 

im really impressed with your camry and I'm sure you miss her a lot. I would have brought the chasis to the junk yard as well haha just so no one else gets to enjoy it lol. im sure your z if it already isn't sick, will be eventually since you have good taste.

 

Very cool. Kinda seems like a lot of effort spent on the wrong platform. In the end it seems like you had a lot of fun, so really it was the right platform.

 

I totally respect that Camry...awesome!

Reminds me of something I did in Gran Turismo 2 back in the day.

 

Well it was a kind of "work with what you got" scenario... You guys all know how it is. Everybody always says "Oh Ill just do wheels and a nice drop and call it a day." Then you get sucked in and next thing you know, you're building motors, swapping out suspensions and wheels like changing boxers, getting nifty little doo-dads here and there, etc.

In retrospect, yeah I probably should have spent the time/money/effort on something a little better/faster out of the box but at the same time it was a lot of fun. Plus, there are 87654324864321 modded S13s and Z33s out there, this was kind of a unique project.

That being said, I love my Z 100x more than that car. I wont go as all out on it though, I have a '72 240Z that I want to go all out on as a project car.

Thanks for all the compliments though guys! Kinda makes me miss it more...

 

I always like the 3rd gen camry coupes.. I haven't seen that style in a long time.. Clean work to btw!

 

wow, didn't think anyone cared about camry's. I've never seen anyone who cared to mod one yet, but this looks pretty good.