15 replies to this topic

[Noely]

Hi Guys and Gals,

 

This is my Sera I picked her up last week with my tax return.

 

It's a 1993 Phase 3 (I believe) in Light silver opal

160 thou ks on the clock

Rare 5 speed manual 

Everything is pretty much stock except for 15inch aftermarket wheels, steering wheel, gear knob, Window tint (I think it's standard) Gullwing stickers on the Sera rear panel  

No SLS unfortunately 

The car also has a engine immobiliser (not sure whether this is stock or not) but pretty cool. It will be my garaged weekend driven project car.

The only very minor problems I found with it was a minor crack in the passenger rear tail light and a few light scratches on the body from it's age.

 

Current plans are to:

*Get G5 front bumper (off Graham)

*Service, drain all fluids and oils

*Remove the horrid mud guards

*Buff and Clean up headlights with Meguiars Plastx

*Replace steering wheel 

*Replace gear knob (i've already removed and thrown out the one it came with was absolutely horrid)

*Cusco front strut brace

*Blitz or HKS panel filter

*Metal monkey dials

*Aftermarket Exhaust system with pacemaker extractors 

*Replace all standard audio with Pioneer gear

*Remove gull wing stickers

*Get white custom no. plates to replace the ugly standard yellow ones

*Respray side mirrors and boot latch lip gloss black 

*Get HID headlight kit either 4300 or 6000k 

*Get Remote central locking and alarm kit

*I've also noticed the G5 spoiler on it didn't come with a brake light in the middle  just a plastic cover? I might just paint the cover silver to blend it in and look flush.

 

 

Future plans will be to:

*Replace current 15 inch wheels with lighter 15 inch wheels in black

*Remove existing window tint as it is peeling and replace with 15% and 5% windscreen strip

*TRD short shifter kit

*Questpower Dash

*Questpower roof spoiler and bonnet (maybe, depends if I win lotto) 

*Tein Coilover suspension

*Replace standard seats with Bride racing seats 

*Full respray in original colour 

*4EFTE conversion with FMIC

 

 

 

 

 

Pics below enjoy and please do comment 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mork]

Welcome to Sera ownership! Looks tidy. The spoiler isn't the G5 one, might be off the CIA kit.

[Noely]

Welcome to Sera ownership! Looks tidy. The spoiler isn't the G5 one, might be off the CIA kit.

Thanks man! She needs a good wash and polish. Oh my bad I'm still learning all these unique kits on these cars does the g5 spoiler look similar? just smoother? and with a brake light?

[Impressive G]

Awesome bud. I'd keep the gulwing sticker. I'm not exactly sure but it could be a sera gulwing freaks sticker from japan which is a club over there for Sera's. But I'm not sure.

Good luck with it and I'll look forward to updates soon

[Noely]

Awesome bud. I'd keep the gulwing sticker. I'm not exactly sure but it could be a sera gulwing freaks sticker from japan which is a club over there for Sera's. But I'm not sure.

Good luck with it and I'll look forward to updates soon

 

Cheers buddy,
 Your's is definately an inspiration to me! I will keep you updated on progress   

[Graham]

Congrats !!!

Looks good - looks like ours, even the wheels look like our originals.

I'm certain that your Sera was complianced by Car Imports Australia (CIA) in Brisbane (now closed) - which means it has probably been in Australia since 2005 or earlier.
The rear spoiler is the CIA body kit, which is a copy of the Japanese Quest Power "G5" kit. I think the CIA front bar is a close copy but the rear is only "very similar" to the G5 kit and I believe the handle piece on the back glass is unique to the CIA kit.
Your front bar looks a different colour in the photos - I would assume your car once had a CIA front bar but it got replaced. Is there any evidence of front end repairs?

The brake lights in the rear spoiler should work - ours has a plastic cover which is faded, but the LEDs still work.
If yours isn't working - the factory wires connect at the top of the rear window, near the hinges and they sometimes break at the connection. Some people have repaired them by mixing iron filings (or similar) in araldite to make a conductive glue to reattach the wires. I think I managed to solder one back on. There's also antenna and rear window demister connections up there under their rubber boot covers.

Your mod list.
I highly recommend the front bumper bar option
HID lights - recommended. If you are worried about Police targeting you, go with 4300K. Apparently you can hide the transformers under the lights (Davor) or inside the guards (Scuzzy). Mine are just bolted to the fuse box and power steering pump bracket.

Depending on when you do the turbo conversion, any exhaust mods might just be a waste of money. I had extractors for a few years before going 4EFTE though, managed to sell the extractors to Scuzzy pretty quickly. One good thing about them - oil filter changes are a breeze!

I don't recommend the brand name panel filters - just no bang for buck as the stock filter works just as well if not better.
If it's a washable filter, then you may save some $ over time if you're cleaning it instead of replacing it.

If you're going to paint the side mirrors black, please photoshop it first and make sure it's the right move. Similar with the boot lid strip, but I think it might look great in black.

See you soon!

[Noely]

Congrats !!!

Looks good - looks like ours, even the wheels look like our originals.

I'm certain that your Sera was complianced by Car Imports Australia (CIA) in Brisbane (now closed) - which means it has probably been in Australia since 2005 or earlier.
The rear spoiler is the CIA body kit, which is a copy of the Japanese Quest Power "G5" kit. I think the CIA front bar is a close copy but the rear is only "very similar" to the G5 kit and I believe the handle piece on the back glass is unique to the CIA kit.
Your front bar looks a different colour in the photos - I would assume your car once had a CIA front bar but it got replaced. Is there any evidence of front end repairs?

The brake lights in the rear spoiler should work - ours has a plastic cover which is faded, but the LEDs still work.
If yours isn't working - the factory wires connect at the top of the rear window, near the hinges and they sometimes break at the connection. Some people have repaired them by mixing iron filings (or similar) in araldite to make a conductive glue to reattach the wires. I think I managed to solder one back on. There's also antenna and rear window demister connections up there under their rubber boot covers.

Your mod list.
I highly recommend the front bumper bar option
HID lights - recommended. If you are worried about Police targeting you, go with 4300K. Apparently you can hide the transformers under the lights (Davor) or inside the guards (Scuzzy). Mine are just bolted to the fuse box and power steering pump bracket.

Depending on when you do the turbo conversion, any exhaust mods might just be a waste of money. I had extractors for a few years before going 4EFTE though, managed to sell the extractors to Scuzzy pretty quickly. One good thing about them - oil filter changes are a breeze!

I don't recommend the brand name panel filters - just no bang for buck as the stock filter works just as well if not better.
If it's a washable filter, then you may save some $ over time if you're cleaning it instead of replacing it.

If you're going to paint the side mirrors black, please photoshop it first and make sure it's the right move. Similar with the boot lid strip, but I think it might look great in black.

See you soon!

 

Haha thanks Graham yeah my is like totally a twin version to yours except in manual. That's interesting to know about the front bar but i've checked for any damages to the car with my mate who's also a panel beater prior to purchasing it and there is no evidence of any damage the standard bar although does have minor paint chips off and slightly is faded but I just assumed it was because of age? I am however not really worried because the front bar has to go lol and I want to get the G5 bar off you 

 

I shall unscrew the cover on the CIA spoiler to see what lays underneath hopefully there will be light if not I'm just going to colour code the cover to blend it in. The side mirrors and handle piece in gloss black will look pretty cool I reckon make it more "JDM" and blend in with some fresh dark tint too 

 

 

I've decided to go with 4300k so it's not a cop magnet however I think the car may just be a cop magnet anyway lol we'll see....

 

The engine conversion wont be for a while me and my wife are saving to buy some land to build our second house on to have another child... getting a bit clucky 

 

But, I'll defo see you soon Graham for that bumper 

[Impressive G]

I love the white one in the pic soooo much. I really need to get on with my renovation :-)

[Impressive G]

Awesome bud. I'd keep the gulwing sticker. I'm not exactly sure but it could be a sera gulwing freaks sticker from japan which is a club over there for Sera's. But I'm not sure.
Good luck with it and I'll look forward to updates soon

Cheers buddy,
 Your's is definately an inspiration to me! I will keep you updated on progress 

Cheers bud

[Noely]

I love the white one in the pic soooo much. I really need to get on with my renovation :-)

I love it as well man the work that has been done to it is very impressive SO JDM.How is your beast coming along? The Sera looks so good in white making me consider in respraying it white too lol

[Noely]

A bit of an update...Well finally had some spare time on my hands 

 

A few things that came in the mail:

 

 

Bought my Meguiars and cleaned the headlights:

 

 

Replaced front parker and number plate lights to white LEDs, Bought my oil change gear and took it to my old man's place to service and removed the gullwing stickers (probably should'nt of yes but after a flush unsuspectable look) and removed mud guards. FInished with a wash and looking mint:

 

 

New steering wheel is on the way...

HIDs will be next on the list

G5 Front bar and replacement left rear tail light 

Cusco front strut brace

[Impressive G]

Good progress

[Noely]

More progress....

 

Blitz Sus Power LM Panel Filter & Sunwolf 4300k HID kit 

 

IFRA 320mm Steering wheel (Carbon look) was after a style like the McClaren F1 or Toyota 86 steering wheel 

 

G5 Front bar off Graham (test fit the mounting or indicator holes haven't been drilled yet will get onto that this weekend) I think i'll leave it unpainted for a while until I get some more cash together plus it looks ok to me heaps JDM lol...

 

 

I've also purchased a short throw shifter from Xracing and i've changed the side indicators on the car too I changed them to SS VT ones I think they accompany the shape of the car and more sleek pics soon. 

 

Next on the list:

-custom white no. plates

-Cusco front strut brace

-re-do tint or get new shoes (wheels) we'll see how funds go after christmas 

[Impressive G]

Good progress.
Just a question, anyone who has a G5 or CIA bumper did you need to lower your washer bottle to fit the passenger indicator? I did

[Noely]

Cheers mate 

 

Heres are the photos of the short throw shifter (still waiting to put it in and measure how much the throw is reduced opposed to stock one) and the upgraded SS VT side indicators I had a ST185 GT-Four Celica a couple of years ago and did the same indicator upgrade then. I think it matches the shape and style of the car. I dunno the factory square toyota ones just never do it for me plus as anal as this sounds the new ones match the front indicators with the dotted pattern thats on them   where the toyota ones have vertical lines on them call me OCD I know lol. I had to modify them a little to fit it was weird with my GT-Four no modification was needed I guess with the Sera I misjudged the hole on the guard but anyway

 

 

 

Good progress.
Just a question, anyone who has a G5 or CIA bumper did you need to lower your washer bottle to fit the passenger indicator? I did

 

Here here! I had also had to lower my washer bottle as well for the left indicator to fit