Well thanks all for the replies to my post. I'm impressed at the response. I'm new to paroosing Yahoo Clubs, and I must say that I haven't gotten any other responses to the same questions at other Toyota/Celica/Vintage clubs. I really appreciate what labroracing2001 and goretro77 have said already. I've copied the info down and stuffed it away in the note book I keep on my car project (phone numbers, locations of parts, www's, modification ideas, where to put parts back on, etc).<br><br>And goretro77, as for why I wondered if you still had the AC system in your car was because in one of your pictures it looks as though the grilled unit that sits in front of the radiator was still in. It didn't make sense to me since you've clearly got your car set up for performance and and extra weight like that would be taken out.<br><br>I plan on putting mine back in providing I can rebuild the motor OK. While I want to tweak the engine a bit and get better performance, I'm not worried about achieving speed that rates up in the range of madness. I also want to make my car relatively as nice as possible, so if I can add the AC - great - if not, oh well, my other Celicas never had it. (If I could just get that damned back window to defrost.)<br><br>I really dig the thoughtfullness in noting the sides available at another site. My plans are to go with the Webber down 86/88....as I am trying to not go nutz w/ the bank account on this rig. At least when dealing w/ Webbers, I know that through Paco the sides are 3 times more expensive than the down -- and I just can't go that kind of money. Things might be otherwise if I found myself the heir to a wealthy uncle or if anyone wants to donate to the CelicaMon Car Project Foundation.(JK)<br><br>Also, thanks a lot for the advise on the ignition and points. I've had very little trouble with mine. I had to replace one of my rotors and was bummed because I was loosing the ignition w/ the extra nob on it -- the fine tuner. That was a novelity I liked showing off.<br><br>Right now my bigest debate I'm having mentally is over sticking with the stock crank, arms and cam or getting something performance. One of my resolutions has been to get the car built and on the road and then go back and put in things like that, limited slip, headder, etc, later. Thats kind of a pain to do though -- but on the other hand, tinkering is fun.<br><br>Well, thats all for now. Thanks for the advise and please keep it coming.

Celicamon, that grilled unit sitting in front of the radiator is a perma cool 6 pass engine oil cooler. (It does lok like an AC unit!) The 18RG likes to rev and really beats up the oil, so to keep things under a moderate temperature, a huge oil cooler was added, of course with steel braided lines and aeroquip connectors. This also accompanied a Griffin aluminum radiator upgrade. We figured in front of the radiator is one of the best places to put one on, since it sees lots of airflow. Hope this helps.

I'll have to look into one of these oil coolers -- as I said at a different Celica/Toyota club to ToyotaGeek -- more toys, more fun, more power! That could make for a cool little addition/modification to my rig. Hmmm, I might have to find a different place to put it though because I have figured on putting some fog & driving lights behind the grille. I don't know where else to put them that they wouldn't get beaten up or broken and still have space to work and tinker. Hmmm...<br><br>I noticed that the radiator seemed plump too and wondered if it was stock to the 18R or a mod. Thanks for reading my mind via the net. I take it that the fatter radiator made it impossible to put the stock air scoop in too? Or maybe it didn't offer the mounts for it or you didn't want it, I don't know.<br><br>I would consider doing that Griffin radiator myself for car (also more power), but since I have already bought a raidiator new and my restoration car came with a new one, I can't justify buying yet another. Besides, one of the ones I have now is painted to match the rest of my engine components. Aside from getting a different thermostat, do you have any other suggestions for making the car run cooler? I understand that it is actually advisable to _not_ deviate from the stock thermostat and maybe a few other parts..... but what do they know -- my block is already bored over stock and decked!<br><br>Geez.... look at all these parts laying around. I need to find a swap meet to get rid of the ones I can't use. '76 & '78 alt's, '78 carb, fuzzy dice, contents of glove box from former owner....<br><br>Thanks, gotta run,<br>CelicaMon