Demod Part 2

During part 1 of the demod process, most of my precious mod have already been removed, leaving only a few left. So, I took another day off and head to my friend's place. What I removed this time was the sun visor which is supposedly quite rare, a little small matter and the main purpose my precious RECARO SR-6 semi bucket seat. It came with the car when I bought the Celica and I think the main reason I could drive fast through straights and corners is all thanks to this seat. I love it very much and this is why I decided to remove it before selling the car. Before I got the Celica, I had only read about RECARO and how many production sports car from Japan have it as standard seats. I also heard that it is very uncomfortable to sit on it for a long drive. At first I was very skeptical about having it as my seat after all those complain but I did not expect that I would love it to this extent. The alcantara fabric is very comfortable and it gives me a sense of safety with its large shoulder, side and thigh padding. It feels like someone is hugging me and keeping me focus throughout high speed. There are minimum body roll and I do not feel the danger at all. It really is a good experience but the down side is, now only semi bucket seat could satisfy me. There are many more comfortable seats such as leather, fully automated seats but I could not have the sense of safety to do high speed anymore. I will definitely miss it.

There is more to do than just remove my RECARO seat. My Celica falls under the Superstrut spec which means the original seats are black in color with fabric on the sides and alcantara on the center with harder paddings. My friend has a few original seats laying in his storeroom but sadly there is no Superstrut seats for the driver side and I can not have different color seats. So, I had to remove both seats and put in a non-Superstrut pair of seats inside. Now it has red and black, full fabric seats with a softer padding. The good thing is an average buyer would not know the difference. I have never drive with original seats before and I was a bit reluctant. The main differences are the height and wrapping ability. The RECARO sits lower and closer to the chassis floor and the original seat have no extra padding. So, driver have a better visibility of the front of the car but higher body roll. Nevertheless it still does its job for the average driver. Now you might ask what plans do I have for the seat. Many might think I would use the seat in my future car, the Mazda 6 but that would not be the plan.You see, the Mazda 6 comes with electric seats and it would be a hassle to do away with the electronics and put the RECARO there. Don't mention the waste of it. For now, the RECARO will most probably be turned into a chair that I would use in my room. It sure will bring back the memories of me and my Celica. Maybe I will turn the RECARO into a racing simulator seat with a PS3. Not a bad idea.

Red MacPherson Fabric Seat

Black Superstrut Alcantara-Fabric Seat

The rims of the car have also finally been replaced.It is really hard to find rims with PCD 100, 5 holes 7.5" width and offset of 42 and below. Especially since the new trend is using rims with PCD 114.3. I had to stick to this spec because I planned to use the remaining tires I had before the accident. Since I am going to sell the car there is no reason to splurge on Japanese made rim that would cost a bomb even in used condition.It took me a while but I finally one with the same exact spec made in Taiwan. It is a copy of the famous SSR Type S rims in black. I personally do not like this design but it will have to do. I hope the new owner would enjoy it more than I do. The front looks much more different form what I remember or am used to. Now that the massive 4 pot is removed there is no use for a spacer and thus the front wheel is behind the fenders. I prefer the all out look and maybe I should have gone with a 8" width rim. Now I hope I can sell the car soon and the mods too.