Newbie...
 

Hello all,

Just joined the forum. I am a huge ToYoTa fan, always have been. Recently picked up a 1999 Camry for a daily driver / commuter. It has 199,000 miles on it, but I bought it from the original owners who mostly towed it around the country behind their RV.

I'm loving this car. I'll be here looking for tips/tricks and maybe some mods, eventually.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5746/...efe1f99d_z.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/708/2...93fd880a_z.jpg

Welcome to CF!

Nice looking car.

Have camped at Scenic Beach State Park a few times, nice area!

Wow! Someone who knows where Seabeck is! :)

Well, I got a couple parts in today... The previous owner had at some point replaced the wiper blades with aftermarket, which makes it difficult at times to find refills.

Also the radiator cap was pretty beat up, so a new one will go on.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/765/2...30ffff93_k.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/701/2...c5d8fdd8_k.jpg

Welcome to the forums!
Nice looking Camry for that many miles!
Congrats!

The wife didn't like being upstaged by my 1999, so she went out and washed her 14.5 SE this morning :)

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5695/...d91b8fa3_k.jpg

Nice!

Very nice!
I like the blacked out look.
I like the wheels too!

Your 1999 looks real neat, nice find! I dig those wheels on your wife's SE..

richj11, welcome to the forum and congrats on your Camry - it looks beautiful! Forum like this is the best way to make new friends and learn something new about a passion that runs deep. Hope you stick around and find this place useful!

She actually drove it off the lot like that. The dealer tinted it and did the wheels. I enjoy it when she lets me drive it :)

Well, I picked up a used set of wheels from Craigslist. Looks good!

I have some lowering springs on the way. I love tinkering with this car.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/711/2...3dcc894f_k.jpg

Looking good! It will really sweet with the lower springs!

Oh, and sweet garage! I see the lift, I really would love to have that set up!

Yep, I love my garage and the lift... it will come in handy when I install those new springs! Hopefully this weekend if the rest of the parts come in...

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5786/...bfd4282d_k.jpg

Nice car! Oh, I finally was able to post a link to my new Camry. :-)

I hope the parts come in. I'm looking forward to the progress!
That lift will really come in handy!

Well, I attacked the lowering springs today. Pretty straight forward work.

Remove the side panels in the back seat:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/740/2...cf83dc3d_k.jpg

This gives you access to the three bolts for the top mount of the rear shocks.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/750/2...9bb7e1f0_k.jpg

Disconnect the various bolts on the strut:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5822/...ac6501bb_k.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/669/2...9c47f460_k.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/722/2...af4e5c5c_k.jpg

Now you can remove the three bolts on top of each strut and they basically drop out:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5651/...f1224b04_k.jpg

I went to AutoZone and "borrowed" their spring compressor.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5733/...d5f52541_k.jpg

The first one all apart

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5834/...7170b29b_k.jpg

Then basically reverse the process and put everything back together

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/674/2...212e5a03_k.jpg

Dead soldiers!

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/583/2...c6415b6f_k.jpg

The Megan springs advertise as giving you 2" lower all around. Here is what I had when I finished:

Front: About 1"
Rear: About 2"

FRONT:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5625/...73c8b7d1_k.jpg

REAR:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/564/2...2af84148_k.jpg

I'll have to let them settle a bit and see what happens. Maybe that full tank of fuel settled the rear faster :)

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/617/2...abd18bd5_k.jpg

Welcome to the forum! Cheers from Vegas!

Well, I guess I could've done a little more research, but I couldn't beat the price on the Megan Springs ($160). After all it is an older daily driver Camry for me to tinker with...

Survey says this is pretty standard stance for the Megan Springs. I'm gonna check out some other options, maybe clamps on the front to bring it down a tad bit more.

I absolutely love the rear stance. And the Devino wheels (craigslist find) fit perfectly in the wheel wells.

Stay posted :)

Looks pretty good! How is the ride quality?

I'm still gonna monkey with the front end and see if I can get it down a bit lower.

On the highway, the ride feels pretty much like it did before. Down the little gravel road to my house, I definitely feel the potholes more than before.

Well, it was a weekend to celebrate! :)

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5632/...a242304f_k.jpg

So, I spent some time monkeying around with those lowering springs. The clamps were not a viable option due to lack of space to get them installed on the spring.

SO... I took the plunge. I cut one coil off of each front end spring. I'm a little happier with the result. But I think I'll go and hack off another 1/2 coil and see where that puts me.

Update to follow.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5699/...d6209814_k.jpg

I'm liking it more!

So, I ended up taking another complete coil off the front springs. I like where it sits now. I'll get a photo when I get it out of the garage. I was doing some other small fixes today.

There was some minor front end damage when I picked this thing up. I did a temporary fix on the torn front bumper cover. The fender had some rippling on it. When I ran across an aftermarket fender and bumper cover for about $100 shipped on Amazon, I figured what the heck :)

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5774/...7801c8bd_k.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/648/2...72fee902_k.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/747/2...4211af3f_k.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/699/2...3ef4850a_k.jpg

I really love the pics, it's nice to see the progress that you are making.
And again, so jealous of that garage! Even Toyota flag banner!
Good job, things are looking great! Great find on Amazon too!

Well, i picked her up from the paint shop... went for a $600 Maaco job. Looks fabulous (in my opinion). Nice fresh, shiny paint! It is just the original 6R1 Woodland Green Pearl.

Now I need to get the emblems back on.

Here's a pic with the final front end lowering and paint. Think I'm gonna tint the windows next week :)

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5821/...e83039c0_k.jpg

The wheels I have on it now were a Craigslist find... set of 4 Devino wheels with pretty decent Toyo tires. One of the wheels was pretty beat up, so I figured I'd try my hand at a makeover. I think it came out pretty nice! Now I have to do the other three to match!

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5636/...d0d66b7d_k.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/689/2...4098820d_k.jpg

Looks great! When you do the next wheels can you do before and after pics and a quick 'how to'?
Your Camry is really coming along nicely!

Sure will. I'm actually working on them now. Taking a little break for some dry time...

https://www.camryforums.com/forum/di...588/#post91176

I did a quick write up of the wheel work.

Great write up, thank you for taking the time to do it and share with us.
Wheels look great!

new member
 

hey guys im a new member and I love Toyota I have a 1998 camry which is my first car and I need some help ive done a lot of research about swapping a 3sgte into my car I know that the tranny will bolt up I just need to know how and what I need to do to be able to do it.




Thanks,
Wes

I can't tell you the specifics but I would just buy a donor car. That way you have everything and then some, you know, sometimes stuff breaks.

Nice One. I have a bit problem here dude. I have just purchased camry 2005 catalytic converter from here. With converter I was facing problem of engine lights but after using this they are over. The problem is that my gf has left after I have purchased it. What to do man now???

Hey what's up peeps?! My wife and I just became the new owners of an 05 Camry Le today. 71000 miles for $6900 out the door. I'm hoping to locate a free shop manual somewhere online and became a member here to learn and share tips, pointers and tricks to keep this baby running in tip top shape. I am an unlicensed and un-certified mechanic however I do know my way around under the hood of most cars. Happy to be a part of the Camry community.