The first few warm days of spring mark the winter car/tire changeover and the start of car season. For those who have a winter beater and a summer car, it means reviving the garaged and neglected summer car and hanging up the keys on the beater. Since my modest 04 Camry fulfills the role of a year round mule, the best I could do for it was source some new shoes for summer. But this marks the first step in modifying the car to my tastes, not restoring it from the despondent condition of years past.
Current state of affairs
For a guy with a genuine passion for cars, it would seem odd for them to be working on an anemic 4 cylinder automatic Camry when there are affordable, sportier options for a decent price. However, I feel a strange sort of attachment to the car. People who work on and modify cars understand that they are depreciating assets. You'll never see a monetary return for the effort and expenditure. However, you become proud of what you own and understand that your car is unique. Even if it's one of the best selling cars in North America and everyone and their grandma drives one.
Let's start with the Camry itself. My family has been very pro-Toyota ever since we immigrated to North America. Starting off with an 80's Camry in our first years in America, and an almost identical example here in Canada, to the current 04 Corolla and 04 Camry, my family has a soft spot for what they consider very reliable point A to B cars. However, for them, cars are an appliance, no more than tools to get the job done. Because of this, despite their legendary reliability, the cars have acquired their fair share of battle scars. But these same cars also got our family through some of the most difficult times, asking for very little in maintenance as we scraped together a living in our first few years in Canada.
My history with the car began in the summer of 2014. Having finished my 1st year of pharmacy school, I found myself always asking to borrow the car for day/evening/whenever, especially since I needed to drive to Leduc. However, there were more issues with it than I could count that developed over the years: underbody trays were flailing in the wind, the interior was trashed and stained, wheels were curbed and neglected, the paint dulled, and the headlights hazed to the point of being useless. At this point I decided, "Wouldn't it be nice to turn that car around and make it look as good as I possibly could?" And so I told my parents that I was seizing ownership of the Camry and had plans of cleaning it up and giving it a new lease on life (Don't worry, at this point in time we owned enough vehicles for the all of us).
Camping in Jasper, July 2010. The earliest photo of the Camry I could find.
Project Camry Restoration started during the winter of 2014 with a complete interior cleaning. After removing all the floor mats and most of the trim inside, the majority of a week was spent cleaning every panel and vacumming every cloth or carpeted surface. Following that, new floor mats were purchased, burnt out bulbs were replaced, and the car was, weather permitting, given a wash.
Come Spring/Summer 2016, it was time to catch up on maintenance. Spark plugs, rear brake pads and discs, PCV valve, and oil were replaced. The danging underbody trays were removed temporarily, and I purchased a headlight restore kit and tackled the headlights. New fog lamps were ordered and installed.
The most time consuming job at this point was paint correction. The number of large scratches and swirls caused massive hazing that made the car look older than it was. The front half of the car was more or less unsalvageable due to the heavy rock chips that exposed bare metal, but the rest of the car was given some love from a clay bar and dual action polisher. 3 weeks later, the car was restored to a shine I had not seen on the car previously. Then, I ordered some interior door handles and re-painted the armrests to freshen up the interior. New LED interior lights completed the package. I was happy, but there was still more to do.
At this point, the car was more or less at the point where it was "restored". After taking the car in for some additional work (transmission filter replacement and flush, power steering flush, and a leaking valve cover gasket), it was back to being a now clean example of a stock 2004 Camry. I added a new headunit, dashcam, and new front speakers. I was happy that I could listen to music off my phone now instead of listening to the radio. It was more enjoyable to drive, and I began to feel like it was finally "my car". I kept it in this state, and enjoyed my time with the car.
Unfortunately, on Halloween, in an empty CIBC parking lot, a girl backed her car into mine, into an otherwise empty parking lot. Realizing what she had done, she attempted to drive away, to which I quickly gave pursuit and she pulled over.
Sadness.
Not all was lost though; I wrangled her into paying for my bumper to be repainted, which happened later in December. The accident was really a blessing in disguise too, since the bumper itself had its fair share of battle scars from years past.
Moving forward to early 2016, my girlfriend of 3 years and I broke up. Shattered, I began a now-regular habit of driving for an hour or two in the late hours of the night to reflect. It was near this time that I began to foster an appreciation for photography, which lead to the creation of the website not 6 months later. At this point, I decided it was time to spend more time addressing issues with the car. I sourced new fasteners for the car's underbody tray and re-installed it. The rear windows were tinted, and I slapped the first of a few stickers on the car. The giant hole in the front driver's side fender liner was also fixed.
Freshly tinted!
Then, I ordered some WeatherTech Side Window Deflectors.
Circa May 2016
At this point, my focus switched over to photography for a few months. The Camry was clean, reliable and surprisingly torquey for a 4 cylinder. It was my escape, where I'd spend my nights driving aimlessly through Edmonton's River Valley and scouted out picturesque skylines. In regards to the Camry, I installed the TRD license plate holder, plastidipped the rear Toyota badge, and debadged the trunk.
Gallagher Park at night
Disclaimer: Not that purple in real life.
Fall ushered in more changes. A genuine TRD exhaust was installed, giving the car a slight growl. The front bumper, hood, and fenders were repainted due to the accumulation of paint chips common for Alberta driven cars. Following that, I had the whole front of the car wrapped in paint protection for next winter's onslaught.
Post-paint, pre-paint protection. Circa September 2016
The next step was to put winter tires on my OEM rims. I decided to discard the old all season tires as I had plans to order in new summer wheels and tires. I also shelved the front bug deflector and replaced the front grille with an updated 05/06 Camry SE item.
Education Car Park at midnight
Winter saw no changes, but a lot of parts hunting for the upcoming summer. I would be graduating that summer, and was determined to have a game plan for the car season. It was also the point when I considered moving on and buying a better daily. WRX? TSX/TL? IS? But in the end, I made the decision that this would be a "forever car", or at least a "until it dies and can't be ressurected car" and plowed on with my plans. I installed an AGM battery for the winter months as I had a 2 month practicum in Calgary and needed the CCAs. Unfortunately, the car also decided to throw a cracked belt, leaking water pump, and broken tensioner into my plans during my time in Calgary, so it spent a day at Stampede Toyota being sorted out. Otherwise, the car was as always, reliably getting me to where I need to be: at work on the weekdays and back home in Edmonton on the weekends.
First days of spring
After returning to Edmonton, I ordered new wheels for the car. Desiring better grip and a more flush fitment with the fenders, I decided the the stock 16/6.5 +45 wheels would be upgraded to lightweight Enkei TS-10 in 18/8.5 +35 with Michelin Pilot Sport AS3+ tires in 235/40/R18. Next came the month long wait for them to come in.
The package arrived in early April, and I rushed home to install the new wheels and take the car for a test drive. During installation I realized the fitment was too aggressive and I had a 1/4" poke in the front and the back. Otherwise, the grip was miles better compared to my previous setup at the expense of a bit harder ride and road noise.
Monster Truck height (notice my right foglight burnt out)
I had intentionally sized the wheel setup to be overall slightly smaller in diameter to the OEM setup to facilitate easier lowering of the car. Lowing it was a priority too, since the wheel gap is large enough to shove my shoe in. To remedy the situation, I enlisted the help of Terence, who runs T T Automotive, who I set up an appointment with to get coilovers installed and for fender rolling and pulling in May.
Currently, the Camry is sitting on its stock shocks with almost 210 000 kms on the clock, meaning I've put about 35 000 kms on it since I adopted it. BC Racing coilovers have been ordered from Lightspeed Innovations in Red Deer and will be shipped to Terence before my appointment. Things are looking up this summer and I'm excited to see where the future will take the humble Camry. On the shortlist are StopTech pads, rotors, and stainless steel brake lines for both axles, with the possibility of upgrading to a front BBK. I'm also considering a rear sway bar (Whiteline or TRD), Lightwerks converted HID projector retrofit, and a paint matched JP Vizage Kit. The rear bumper paint is also starting to chip, so I'll be paying a visit to the paint shop to see if they'll honor a repaint under warranty.
The almost 3 year journey with the car has been a fulfilling one. The Camry for all its hate, is a comfortable and reliable daily that looks decent with a few cosmetic changes. I'm sure it'll serve me well for the next 300 000+ kms I plan on putting on it, and will see many new places, meet many new places, and help make many more memories.
Shoutout to some great people and local shops for helping me with the Camry:
- Wai at Jasper Autoworks for helping me with most of my regular maintenance and some installation help
- Terence and Teresa at T T Automotive for being incredibly friendly and knowledgeable car people
- Cam at Lightspeed Innovations for making the ordering process for the BC Racing coilovers smooth and painless.
I'll keep the car updates rolling, both on my own car and other local cars. More content coming in the form of Edmonton Motor Show Coverage, as well as the upcoming Driven events and the 780Tuners Season Opener!
Cheers,
Gary