Raine's SC300 (KEIRA 2.0) Timeline From Beginning to End.


After realizing I didn't keep a good record of what I've done to the car for the 6 years I had it, I decided to go through the hard drive and document my SC300 from the start. This is a LOOOONNNGGG thread, so forgive me If it gets a little "wordy" - it's probably because I used to work in the publishing industry as a writer/editor. Feel free to comment if you like

NOTE - My previous car (the S14) was named "Keira" because I'm in love with Keira Knightley (one step short of stalking her. LOL JK), but when I bought the SC I didn't really think about a name. So instead of making it a big deal I decided that I'd just name the SC "Keira 2.0".


Old forum sig. Many of my friends say I'm obsessed. I don't disagree.

Alrightythen… let's rewind the clock back to 2006, and the beginning. First up is my excel spreadsheet screenshot. I didn't realize how much I've spent but it all goes with being a car guy. It's part of the life, it's part of the game - especially when you start with a 11-year old car like I did when I bought her in 2006. Here's a screenshot covering 2006-2011.



That list is a lot longer than I thought it would be! I went through all my receipts, eBay history, Amazon invoices, and other sources to compile the list as complete as possible. Then I went through hundreds of photos of my car dating back to 2006, some on my desktop, some on my laptop, and some archived on my network storage. It was a learning experience in a sense, and also an enlightening one.

Anyhow, with that out of the way, let's get to the timeline, listed from oldest to last. I'm also going to just add info and notes on the more significant stuff, leaving out the boring "oil changes" and "tire flipping" and other we-don't-need-to-elaborate and self-explanitory items on my list.

Here we go!

 

RAINE'S SC300 "KEIRA" TIMELINE
=====================================================================

2006
Year One: Mainly cleaning and making sure everything is working OK.
07.22 Sell the Old Car - Goodbye S14, time for something new. (#003)
08.13 The Lucky Find - Listed as an automatic, but it was an original 5-speed. (#004)
08.19 Dump the Chrome - OEM IS350 wheels and tires for temporary use. (#005)
09.14 Clean Shift - Cleaning the interior, exterior, and engine bay. (#007)
09.30 Spring It - Espelir ASD spring set. (#011)
10.15 Going With 19's Luff M1 19" wheels with Toyo tires. (#012)
11.24 Spaced Out - Ichiba Spacers. (#013)

2007
Year Two: The year of the coilover swap. LOL
03.29 Comfort Spec - Tein Comfort Spec CS-T coilovers. (#023)
04.06 Back to FLEX - Tein Type FLEX coilovers. (#024)
06.01 Middle Buttons Tein EDFC controller kit. (#025)
08.28 Splashy Side window rain visors. (#026)
09.14 Softer Skins OEM 1998 leather set. (#027)

2008
Year Three: Just a little audio.
03.27 X7 Red - Tamiya X7 acrylic paint. (#031)
05.09 Less Rattle - Fatmat sound deadener material. (#035)
06.28 JDM Clear - JDM clear headlamp lenses and halo mod. (#036)
08.01 The Basslink - Infinity Basslink-T amplified subwoofer enclosure. (#039)
08.02 More Thump - Audio Control Epicenter Plus bass restoration processor. (#040)

2009
Year Four: Going to Work (Meisters).
05.18 Double DIN - Kenwood DDX-714 head unit (#049)
06.02 Working Out - Work Meister S1 3-piece wheels / Toyo Proxes T1R tires (#050)
06.14 Go Cyrus – Getting an alignment (#051)
06.21 CL / HT - The sorta-famous “Aftermarket Head Unit with OEM speakers” HT on Club Lexus (#052)
09.14 Light Floor – 8” blue LED floor lamps (#053)
11.21 Tire Flip – Maintaining the wheels and tires (#054)
12.02 Not Foggy - Replacement OEM fog lamps (#055)

2010
Year Five: Not that great of a year.
01.24 Cat Back - Top Speed axle-back mufflers (#057)
06.07 Wasting Film, Part 1 - Hella Flush Meet, Santa Monica (#058)
07.13 Wasting Film, Part 2 - Stance Nation Meet, Los Angeles CA (#059)
07.17 Steam Engine - OEM radiator/Toyota engine coolant (#060)
08.20 On to FK’s – Falken FK-452 tires (#061)
08.26 Black Out - Main engine harness disaster (#062)
09.01 Remote Start - Autopage 2-way alarm (#063)

2011
Year Six: Upgrades, upgrades.
02.03 EDFC #2 - TEIN EDFC controller (#065)
04.04 Wasting Film, Part 3 – Rebuild Japan Meet, Los Angeles (#066)
04.16 Clutch Job – ACT clutch disc/Spec flywheel/Red Line gear oil (#067)
05.01 Tune-Up – Major service time (#068)
05.03 Colorful – Project Kics NeoChro lug nut/lock set (#069)
05.09 Flat Fix – Falken FK-452 front tires (#070)
06.16 Steel Line - Techna-Fit stainless steel clutch line (#071)
06.16 Solid Works - Battle Version aluminum steering rack bushings (#071)
09.15 Cat Back - Fujitsubo Cat-Back exhaust system (#072)
09.27 Rear Flashers - 1997 OEM taillamps (#073)
11.01 Burning Black – Repaired/custom refinished Work Meisters (#074)
12.30 Whiter Light - LED dash bulbs (#076)

2012
Year Seven: The makeover.
02.17 Resizing - Falken FK-452 Tires: 225/35-19 & 265/30-19 (#083)
02.23 Photo Shoot – Velocity Motorsports (#084)
03.02 Pathfinder Park – Taking pics (#085)
04.06 Bad Friday - New Rear tires, Falken FK-452 265/35-19 (#086)
05.04 Round Fogs - 1997 OEM fog lamps (#087)
05.06 Return of the Triple – Custom installed gauges (#090)
05.17 Corse - Momo Devil steering wheel/Momo boss kit (#091)
05.21 Readable - New HVAC LCD screen (#092)
05.23 Shine, Part 1 - Shine Auto Project Spec-A front bumper (#093)
06.09 Drop Off - Drop off car for paint and body (#094)
07.07 Not Fresh - Pick up car (#095)
07.09 The Solution - Pickup Shine Auto Project Spec-A side skirts/rear bumper (#096)
07.12 Side Markers - JDM front side markers (#097)
07.14 Supermade - Supermade headlamp lenses/full HID (#098)
07.14 Knight Rider - Knight Rider scanner LED light (#099)
07.15 Dual Powered - Start system rewire/dual battery Installation (#110)
07.21 Carbon B - Carbon Fiber B-pillars (#119)
07.24 Waterproof – VIP LED puddle lamps (#120)
07.27 Ride Height Reset - Coilover reset/ride height adjustment (#121)
08.01 Music Lessons - Took some test pics (#123)
08.15 Reconfiguration/Ambers - Messing with the taillamps (#175)
08.22 Covering Wood - Carbon fiber wrapping (#182)
09.01 Light Show - Photos of my lights as requested (#199)
09.11 Nice Rack - Steering rack and LCA bushings; Custom alignment (#216)
10.13 Parking Watch - Front radar and camera (#246)
10.18 Sunny Side Up. Damnit. - Back to JDM OEM headlamps (#259)
11.07 Equip List - Channeling N.O.B. (#306)
11.13 Wasting Film, Part 4 - Krispy Kreme End of the World Meet, Burbank (#307)
12.07 Video Games - Customizing the Steering Wheel Horn (#309)

2013
Year Eight: Winding down.
01.06 Custom "Plating," Part 1 - License Plate Installation, Rear (#320)
01.10 Custom "Plating," Part 2 - License Plate Installation, Front (#325)

2014
Year Nine: Still running strong.
03.03 200,000 and Still Going - Mileage Milestone; New Kicks (#377)
09.18 End Of Line - Car is sold. (#403)

 

07.22.06
Sell the Old Car.
- It all started when I decided to sell my 1995 240SX SE S14 5-speed. The Nissan had a lot of mods done to it: TEIN Flex coil overs with EDFC, Battle Version links, genuine Nismo strut bar and motor mounts, C's short shifter, Final Konnexion headlamp lenses, JDM grille, JDM spoiler, custom subwoofer install, etc. It came a long way from how it was when I first got it, and I spent a lot of time on Club240 as a mod because of how active I was online at that time. However too many miles on the mountains, AC leaking, another illegal smog coming up - it was time to get something else. I put the S14 on eBay, and within a few days the car was sold.


Low on stockies, because it was easy.


Interior had lots of add-ons, was very mint, and very clean.


EDFC (original silver version 1) custom installed in the ashtray.


I also custom installed a pair of 10" JL Audio subwoofers into the rear side panels.


Dampachi hanging out on the shock tower.


Got a lot of thumb's up's for having triple gauges up on the windshield.

With the S14 gone, I was looking for something bigger, with three main requirements:

1. Must be a Japanese 2-door coupe
2. Must have something stronger than the KA24DE 2.4-liter engine in the 240SX
3. Must be RWD (of course)

I was looking at late model Z32's since at heart I'm a Nissan guy, but I couldn't find one in pristine condition that wasn't overpriced. Ditto for the FD3S. Ditto-squared for the Supra. Knowing that the Supra and the SC shared a lot underneath, I started looking at SC300 ads; however I knew that looking for a clean 5-speed would be tough. After about a month of searching for an SC that wasn't white or black and that didn't have a typical Vertex body kit (heh!) it didn't look too good. I started to get a little discouraged and a little disappointed, so much that I changed the search and looked at ALL SC ads - even automatic transmission-equipped 300's and 400's. But that decision was where luck came into play.

 

08.13.06
The Lucky Find.
- Browsing the "automatic" ads, I found a clean, relatively low-mileage red SC300 with a complete interior, no body damage, stock everything (except for some obviously packaged 18" chrome wheel and tire combo) owned by an older lady for sale about 15 minutes from my house. It was listed as an automatic, and I immediately thought to myself "transmission swap" - except that when I read the specifications of the car, it said "manual". I didn't know which was the typo, so I immediately went to the seller to take a look. Turns out the "automatic" part of the ad was a typo - and I had found a 5-speed coupe!

During the test drive the car ran smooth, everything worked, AC was cold, and it came with every single service receipt since the original purchase - and all work was done by a Lexus dealer. Carfax came up squeaky clean, the undercarriage showed no signs of leaking, the shocks weren't blown, the stereo, cassette, and cd changer all worked - it was a nicely kept car. With the S14 I went the "buy cheap, spend a lot to fix it" road, and I didn't want to do that again - so I ended up buying this 1995 SC300 less than 48 hours later. I actually saved a .pdf of the ad, here's what the car looked like:


If you look closer you can see the sweet chrome wheels it came with LOL

 

08.19.06
Dump the Chrome
- The following weekend I called my friend John C. because I had to get these ugly chrome wheels off the car - and I knew he had a set of 2006 IS350 OEM 18's sitting in his garage (he had Wald wheels on.) He brought them over (stock tires mounted) and we put them on. I also cleaned and detailed the engine bay.


IS350 18x8 +45 / 18x8.5 +50 (eek!) on 225/40 and 255/40's...


…so now she's clean and fresh - except that she's sitting at SUV height.


Also clean under the hood after another 2.5 hours.

The addition of just the IS350 wheels alone actually makes the SC300 look younger than it is. However it's pretty high; no wait - really high! Time to look into suspension upgrades.

(continued on post #7)

 

Nice thread so far. The interior is clean as hell.

 

09.14.06
Clean Shift
Next I cleaned and detailed the interior. It wasn't gross from the start but I'm just picky like that, and cleaning the interior let me discover any damage or areas that needed attention that I might have missed. Finally, I installed my HKS Limited Edition D1 shift ****, originally on my S14. Since the one I had was fitted for an Nissan S14 (and they didn't even make a fitment for the SC) I had a friend take it to his machine shop to enlarge/rethread the lower opening to perfectly fit the SC300 shifter. I guess you can call this the first aftermarket mod on my SC, heh:


All clean after 3 hours of vacuuming and spraying and scrubbing and wiping.



(continued on post #11)

 

Subbed. I love ridiculously detailed threads.

 

Looks promising, I expect nothing less of you Raine! I sold you the Y pipe about a year or two ago.

 

In for more info!!! See y'all on the 4th!

 

09.30.06
Spring It
- To lower my car the first time out, I picked up and installed a new set of Espelir ASD springs (7kg/6kg rates). With the ASD's and the stock OEM IS350 wheels, the car looked nice and clean. Plain yes - but clean. I remember an older guy asking me at the gas station what year the car was, he thought it was a later model Lexus because of the IS350 wheels.


OEM shocks on the car were still good, so I kept them.


Espelir ASD's, mild but noticeable lowering, plush ride, not too expensive.


Ride height check? Much better than before. It looks "car height", not SUV height now. Note that angle of the photo makes it look lower than it actually is; see the next post for a side view pic.

 

10.15.06
Going With 19's
- My co-worker at the time suggested that I try some Luff M1 wheels on my car. The sizing was 19x8.5 +35 / 19x10.5 +43. Back then I wasn't that keen to offset, and the Luff guy we were hooked up with said it would fit with no rubbing issues. I ended up buying them along with a set of Kumho Ecsta SPT Tires in 235/35-19 & 275/30-19. Brand new wheels, brand new tires- for $700 TOTAL. (Now you know why I put replica A.K.A. FAKE wheels on my car the first time LOL) Anyhow, a few weeks later they were delivered, and I installed them on my car.


Fresh inside the boxes, "BBS replica" Luff M1 fakies. Yes, back then I was newb with wheels, sorry.


Out of the box, I can't remember why I agreed to gold. Oh yeah - because that's all they had in stock.


19" wheels on the car, still on Espelir springs, not bad but way too high.

So they seemed to fit with no fender mods required. The fronts were also sunken in a little, the rears not so much. Ride height was fine, but I wanted to go lower (especially after my S14). Coilovers immediately went on the "to-do" list, and after hitting a deep bump and hearing that now familiar "scrape scrape" noise, a little fender roll was also added to the list.

 

11.24.06
Spaced Out
- Had the front and rear fenders rolled at Hiro's Auto to get rid of the slight rub/scrape in the rear. Afterward I installed a pair of 10mm Ichiba Spacers up front to bring the lips out closer to the front fenders, but to do that I first had to install extended front wheel studs.


Not so sunken compared to before, but not flush either. Man those 235's look chunky on 8.5" wide wheels!

(continued on post #23)

 

Nice build man. That red is still in amazing shape. Looks great!!!!

 

I see somebody's thread motivated you to make this one lol