KingPhilipII's Blue Flame
#1
KingPhilipII's Blue Flame
LATEST SETUP
Engine/Drivetrain Modifications:
K&N Drop-In Air Filter 33-2054
Koyo Radiator A1306
4 Gauge Alternator Wire
Suspension Modifications:
Powered By Max MAX Competition Coilovers (18/12 kg)
Prothane Polyurethane Bushings Front Upper & Lower Control Arms 311-18-207-BL
Prothane Polyurethane Bushings Rear Upper & Lower Control Arms 311-18-304-BL
Daizen Polyurethane Steering Rack Bushings S1-2030
Daizen Upgraded Sway Bar Set S1-2005
2nd Generation LS400 Front Brake Calipers (Polished)
Advanced Brake Technology Zinc-Coated Round-Slotted Premium Performance Disc Rotors Front SR-BZ44084 & Rear SR-BZ44107
Goodridge G-Stop Stainless Steel Brake Lines
Driftmotion Braided Stainless Power Steering Line
Custom Alignment Specs
Wheels/Tires Modification:
Euro.Tek by MRR Wheels 07
19x9.5 +12 225/35/19
19x10.5 +22 265/30/19
Muteki SR48 Extended Open End Lug Nuts with Lock Nuts
Interior/Exterior Modifications:
DDM Tuning HID Kit with 35w Slim Ballasts 5000k headlights & 3000k fog lights
Toyota Japan Amber Sidemarker
LED Bulb Electronic Flasher CF13GL-02
LED Bulbs All Around Exterior & Interior
Euro/Japanese Spec Signal/Park Lights
Rolled & Pulled Front & Rear Fenders
JDM Innovation Oval-Tip Mufflers
'98+ SC300 Gated Shifter
50% Tint Front Windows, and 5% Tint Rear & Back Window
'92-'94 SC400 OEM Lip Kit
UPDATES
04/10/12 2012 Look of Blue Flame
04/12/12 Trials & Tribulations
04/30/12 New Intake Coupler & Brand New Tailights
05/01/12 JDM Sidemarkers
05/02/12 Fuel Filter
05/08/12 Coolant Temperature Sensor
05/10/12 Drift Motion Stainless Steel Braided Power Steering High Pressure Line
05/12/12 Gas Cap
05/12/12 Bad MAF Sensor
05/19/12 SDCL BBQ Meet & Greet '12
05/30/12 Front Polyurethane Upper & Lower Control Arm Bushings / Continuation...
05/30/12 Polyurethane Steering Rack Bushings
06/05/12 Mirror ECU
06/07/12 Cabin Air Filter
06/28/12 Purolator Pure One Oil Filter (PL20195)
07/13/12 Rear Polyurethane Upper & Lower Control Arm Bushings / Continuation 1 / Continuation 2
08/31/12 Oil Pressure Switch/Wheel Flip
09/13/12 New Battery(Just in Time for Winter)
09/28/12 Trunk Cargo Net
10/03/12 Daizen Sway Bars
10/26/12 Old School Amber Lights
10/27/12 3rd/Spoiler Brake Light
10/30/12 LS Brake Calipers / Continuation...
12/03/12 New Tint
12/07/12 Gated Shifter
12/25/12 Brake Master Cylinder & Brake Booster
01/28/13 HID Color Temp Swap
03/25/13 PROPER Alignment
03/26/13 OEM Front Lip
04/14/13 Photoshoot
Hello CL, I've been a member for a little over a year now. I wanna reintroduce myself and my SC. I, KingPhilipII bought my 1995 SC400 Midnight Indigo Pearl aka Blue Flame on March 17, 2011 exactly a month before my birthday. I originally wanted a black on black SC, and the first time I saw my SC in Craigslist, the pics were so dark that I thought it was black. I contacted the seller and met up with him the following day...or night, since it was already getting dark when we met, and so I was still under the impression that it was black. On the third day me and my wife decided to buy it, this time I saw its true color in the morning, I didn't let the color throw me off since the car was still in great condition... Or was it?
Blue Flame was first bought and always has been a California car. It has not been daily used since 2009 according to the guy I bought it from. It has a clean title, no accidents, no nothing reported to its Carfax. Tags were expired since 2009, the paint was so dirty and grimy, interior was in considerably good condition - no rips in the leather, but some parts of the leather felt hard and were already cracking especially the rear seats. Last time it was brought to the dealer was at 120,xxx miles, and I got it at 163,xxx miles, timing belt and (hopefully) all those good stuff was done at 152,xxx miles. The first time I cleaned my cabin, I found a receipt from a local impounding company, saying my SC was bought by the guy who sold it to me less than a month before I bought it for roughly $1300 cheaper, LOL. My SC has gone through a lot in the last year than the last 16 years it had with it's 5 previous owners.
I'm not sure wether I got lucky, or the other; but my SC ended up having every little possible common problem these cars has, but I enjoyed getting her, ahem, HIM back to good if not great condition. My family has always been Toyota guys, I grew up in a garage converted into a car shop by my granpa, and all the fixing and maintenance my car needed brought back great memories. I can even remember waking up in the morning from the loud banging of our metal fabricator guy when he's fabricating auto body parts. We've always had either AUV's(Asian Utility Vehicle; Jeep sized SUV's), SUV's or pick-up trucks (and most importantly, they were all rear wheel drive) back home in the dreaded streets of Philippines. So yeah, I'm new to this car/coupe "thing", especially this "lowering" of cars thing, although I'm not new to the car scene. Back then, the only thing I can modify in my AUV was it's sound system, and since I was younger back then, I wanted my system to be BANGIN'!!!
The only reason I didn't sell my SC and decided to restore it and make it my keeper was the fact that it's very dependable as a lot of people has confirmed and vouched for, plus it's considerably a classic Lexus having the same chassis as the Toyota Supra and the very first Lexus sports coupe.
These are the only pics I can dig up of my SC the next day I got him;
Right from the get-go you can tell I had a lot of work to do. Just look at those cracks on the radiator, the bloated hoses and the fact that it was so filthy inside and out.
Only mods when I got it were;
Tokico Blues/Tanabe NF210
RPM R-505/Wanli Tires
Front - 19x8.5 +33(with 5mm H&R wheel spacer) 235/35/19
Rear - 19x9.5 +23(with 15mm Ichiba V1 wheel spacer) 235/35/19
Here's a screenshot of the excel I made which includes all the repairs, maintenance and mods I've done so far to Blue Flame since there's too much to list;
I am so proud to say that no shop has touched this car throughout our whole ordeal in fixing him up and modding him. Everything was done either at my uncle's house, my condo's parking lot, or my buddies garage. Too bad I wasn't able to take pics of everything I've fixed, repaired or modded, everything happened just when my old camera broke on me.
First thing I went crazy with was lights. From LED's to HID's. I hated how the cluster background was color orange, so I decided to upgrade to LED's, to lower the wattage as well considering the wirings are 17 years old already. I'm planning on getting it done by LexTech still, to white background and blue needles and time & ODO, but not until I finish my interior swap to black.
I did the foglight mod, so I can turn on my fogs without turning on the headlights.
Then I swapped the flasher relay for the signal lights to the electronic/digital flasher relay(CF13 GL-02) so I can upgrade the front signal lights to LED to get rid of the amber bulb reflection without the hyperblink issue.
I cleaned up the headlights and fogs off of its annoying grime, yellowing, oxidation and heavy condensation...
And installed HID's...
And voila!
Engine/Drivetrain Modifications:
K&N Drop-In Air Filter 33-2054
Koyo Radiator A1306
4 Gauge Alternator Wire
Suspension Modifications:
Powered By Max MAX Competition Coilovers (18/12 kg)
Prothane Polyurethane Bushings Front Upper & Lower Control Arms 311-18-207-BL
Prothane Polyurethane Bushings Rear Upper & Lower Control Arms 311-18-304-BL
Daizen Polyurethane Steering Rack Bushings S1-2030
Daizen Upgraded Sway Bar Set S1-2005
2nd Generation LS400 Front Brake Calipers (Polished)
Advanced Brake Technology Zinc-Coated Round-Slotted Premium Performance Disc Rotors Front SR-BZ44084 & Rear SR-BZ44107
Goodridge G-Stop Stainless Steel Brake Lines
Driftmotion Braided Stainless Power Steering Line
Custom Alignment Specs
Wheels/Tires Modification:
Euro.Tek by MRR Wheels 07
19x9.5 +12 225/35/19
19x10.5 +22 265/30/19
Muteki SR48 Extended Open End Lug Nuts with Lock Nuts
Interior/Exterior Modifications:
DDM Tuning HID Kit with 35w Slim Ballasts 5000k headlights & 3000k fog lights
Toyota Japan Amber Sidemarker
LED Bulb Electronic Flasher CF13GL-02
LED Bulbs All Around Exterior & Interior
Euro/Japanese Spec Signal/Park Lights
Rolled & Pulled Front & Rear Fenders
JDM Innovation Oval-Tip Mufflers
'98+ SC300 Gated Shifter
50% Tint Front Windows, and 5% Tint Rear & Back Window
'92-'94 SC400 OEM Lip Kit
UPDATES
04/10/12 2012 Look of Blue Flame
04/12/12 Trials & Tribulations
04/30/12 New Intake Coupler & Brand New Tailights
05/01/12 JDM Sidemarkers
05/02/12 Fuel Filter
05/08/12 Coolant Temperature Sensor
05/10/12 Drift Motion Stainless Steel Braided Power Steering High Pressure Line
05/12/12 Gas Cap
05/12/12 Bad MAF Sensor
05/19/12 SDCL BBQ Meet & Greet '12
05/30/12 Front Polyurethane Upper & Lower Control Arm Bushings / Continuation...
05/30/12 Polyurethane Steering Rack Bushings
06/05/12 Mirror ECU
06/07/12 Cabin Air Filter
06/28/12 Purolator Pure One Oil Filter (PL20195)
07/13/12 Rear Polyurethane Upper & Lower Control Arm Bushings / Continuation 1 / Continuation 2
08/31/12 Oil Pressure Switch/Wheel Flip
09/13/12 New Battery(Just in Time for Winter)
09/28/12 Trunk Cargo Net
10/03/12 Daizen Sway Bars
10/26/12 Old School Amber Lights
10/27/12 3rd/Spoiler Brake Light
10/30/12 LS Brake Calipers / Continuation...
12/03/12 New Tint
12/07/12 Gated Shifter
12/25/12 Brake Master Cylinder & Brake Booster
01/28/13 HID Color Temp Swap
03/25/13 PROPER Alignment
03/26/13 OEM Front Lip
04/14/13 Photoshoot
Hello CL, I've been a member for a little over a year now. I wanna reintroduce myself and my SC. I, KingPhilipII bought my 1995 SC400 Midnight Indigo Pearl aka Blue Flame on March 17, 2011 exactly a month before my birthday. I originally wanted a black on black SC, and the first time I saw my SC in Craigslist, the pics were so dark that I thought it was black. I contacted the seller and met up with him the following day...or night, since it was already getting dark when we met, and so I was still under the impression that it was black. On the third day me and my wife decided to buy it, this time I saw its true color in the morning, I didn't let the color throw me off since the car was still in great condition... Or was it?
Blue Flame was first bought and always has been a California car. It has not been daily used since 2009 according to the guy I bought it from. It has a clean title, no accidents, no nothing reported to its Carfax. Tags were expired since 2009, the paint was so dirty and grimy, interior was in considerably good condition - no rips in the leather, but some parts of the leather felt hard and were already cracking especially the rear seats. Last time it was brought to the dealer was at 120,xxx miles, and I got it at 163,xxx miles, timing belt and (hopefully) all those good stuff was done at 152,xxx miles. The first time I cleaned my cabin, I found a receipt from a local impounding company, saying my SC was bought by the guy who sold it to me less than a month before I bought it for roughly $1300 cheaper, LOL. My SC has gone through a lot in the last year than the last 16 years it had with it's 5 previous owners.
I'm not sure wether I got lucky, or the other; but my SC ended up having every little possible common problem these cars has, but I enjoyed getting her, ahem, HIM back to good if not great condition. My family has always been Toyota guys, I grew up in a garage converted into a car shop by my granpa, and all the fixing and maintenance my car needed brought back great memories. I can even remember waking up in the morning from the loud banging of our metal fabricator guy when he's fabricating auto body parts. We've always had either AUV's(Asian Utility Vehicle; Jeep sized SUV's), SUV's or pick-up trucks (and most importantly, they were all rear wheel drive) back home in the dreaded streets of Philippines. So yeah, I'm new to this car/coupe "thing", especially this "lowering" of cars thing, although I'm not new to the car scene. Back then, the only thing I can modify in my AUV was it's sound system, and since I was younger back then, I wanted my system to be BANGIN'!!!
The only reason I didn't sell my SC and decided to restore it and make it my keeper was the fact that it's very dependable as a lot of people has confirmed and vouched for, plus it's considerably a classic Lexus having the same chassis as the Toyota Supra and the very first Lexus sports coupe.
These are the only pics I can dig up of my SC the next day I got him;
Right from the get-go you can tell I had a lot of work to do. Just look at those cracks on the radiator, the bloated hoses and the fact that it was so filthy inside and out.
Only mods when I got it were;
Tokico Blues/Tanabe NF210
RPM R-505/Wanli Tires
Front - 19x8.5 +33(with 5mm H&R wheel spacer) 235/35/19
Rear - 19x9.5 +23(with 15mm Ichiba V1 wheel spacer) 235/35/19
Here's a screenshot of the excel I made which includes all the repairs, maintenance and mods I've done so far to Blue Flame since there's too much to list;
I am so proud to say that no shop has touched this car throughout our whole ordeal in fixing him up and modding him. Everything was done either at my uncle's house, my condo's parking lot, or my buddies garage. Too bad I wasn't able to take pics of everything I've fixed, repaired or modded, everything happened just when my old camera broke on me.
First thing I went crazy with was lights. From LED's to HID's. I hated how the cluster background was color orange, so I decided to upgrade to LED's, to lower the wattage as well considering the wirings are 17 years old already. I'm planning on getting it done by LexTech still, to white background and blue needles and time & ODO, but not until I finish my interior swap to black.
I did the foglight mod, so I can turn on my fogs without turning on the headlights.
Then I swapped the flasher relay for the signal lights to the electronic/digital flasher relay(CF13 GL-02) so I can upgrade the front signal lights to LED to get rid of the amber bulb reflection without the hyperblink issue.
I cleaned up the headlights and fogs off of its annoying grime, yellowing, oxidation and heavy condensation...
And installed HID's...
And voila!
Last edited by OG Dada; 08-23-13 at 10:03 AM.
#2
Here's how Blue Flame look like when it's coming at you at night...
I was so attracted to the newer Lexus' rear license plate LED lit lights...
I love how the '95-'96's tail lights entire top part light up with thin red stealth looking running lights...
My interior wasn't so bad, like I said. I've already fully detailed it around December '11 to spotless condition, and since its tan, it's already as dirty as before I cleaned it up. I don't wanna deal with it anymore so I'm planning on swapping to an all black interior when I find one that I really like. (I'm trying to go for that blue IS-F theme color combo on my SC actually.)
I've always liked how Toyota/Lexus come with an organizer for your car manuals, your car insurance, registration, etc... Although mine, being 16 years old already and being passed by 5 previous owners, didn't have it when I got it... Then I saw a guy selling one in Craigslist for $10!!! It came with the original owner's manual, accessory brochure, owner's guide supplement and the leather Lexus organizer - all for a '95!!!
Then things, started to get serious........
Last look at my old set-up.... I really miss the bling and lip, to be honest.... But I'm starting to dig that stealth look the gunmetal wheels is giving my SC on the new set-up....
This is my passion right here... So if you're from SD and need job done, hit me up...
There's a few guys I wanna thank, who has helped me a lot in this process of slowly restoring my SC...
raine, whom I've been bothering a lot whenever I need some questions answered.
TheKevin, when I need a garage to work in so I wouldn't get burnt by the sun if I work at my condo's parking lot, especially the hospitality you have given me and my family...
fliptrix for all the help whenever I work on my SC at TheKevin's place! LOL
chargerfan, for the hook-up on alignment; although our transaction ain't done yet.
And many many thanks to CL and the members for all the DIY's and questions answered through new and old threads. It wouldn't have been any easier if it wasn't for that.
I was so attracted to the newer Lexus' rear license plate LED lit lights...
I love how the '95-'96's tail lights entire top part light up with thin red stealth looking running lights...
My interior wasn't so bad, like I said. I've already fully detailed it around December '11 to spotless condition, and since its tan, it's already as dirty as before I cleaned it up. I don't wanna deal with it anymore so I'm planning on swapping to an all black interior when I find one that I really like. (I'm trying to go for that blue IS-F theme color combo on my SC actually.)
I've always liked how Toyota/Lexus come with an organizer for your car manuals, your car insurance, registration, etc... Although mine, being 16 years old already and being passed by 5 previous owners, didn't have it when I got it... Then I saw a guy selling one in Craigslist for $10!!! It came with the original owner's manual, accessory brochure, owner's guide supplement and the leather Lexus organizer - all for a '95!!!
Then things, started to get serious........
Last look at my old set-up.... I really miss the bling and lip, to be honest.... But I'm starting to dig that stealth look the gunmetal wheels is giving my SC on the new set-up....
This is my passion right here... So if you're from SD and need job done, hit me up...
There's a few guys I wanna thank, who has helped me a lot in this process of slowly restoring my SC...
raine, whom I've been bothering a lot whenever I need some questions answered.
TheKevin, when I need a garage to work in so I wouldn't get burnt by the sun if I work at my condo's parking lot, especially the hospitality you have given me and my family...
fliptrix for all the help whenever I work on my SC at TheKevin's place! LOL
chargerfan, for the hook-up on alignment; although our transaction ain't done yet.
And many many thanks to CL and the members for all the DIY's and questions answered through new and old threads. It wouldn't have been any easier if it wasn't for that.
Last edited by OG Dada; 09-20-12 at 12:02 AM.
#3
Now, for the 2012 look of Blue Flame, with no further ado, brace yourself for some pic flooding!!!
Euro.Tek 07 (Volk TE37 replica)/Achilles ATR Sport Tires
New line from MRR wheels, comes with a lifetime structural warranty.
Midnight Indigo Pearl 8J5
Wrong Fitment Crew reppin', thanks chragerfan for this wonderful decal!
MAX ドリフト (drift)
JDM Innovation oval-tipped mufflers aka eBay universal mufflers.
Factory brake calipers painted royal blue with eBay Lexus decal and Muteki SR48 lug nuts anoblue with lock nuts.
Goodridge brake lines and Powered By Max coilovers (18/12 kg)
Front - 19x9.5 +12 235/35/19 (-2.5 camber)
Rear - 19x10.5 +22 245/35/19 (-3 camber)
I live in a condo, so my biggest dilemma and problem is parking... I detail cars for a living, and I can't even maintain my own car to be garage clean... Anyways, here's my lovely parking spot...
Nice poke!
Those scuffs on the pillar ain't mine btw... I'm used to parking closer than this back in Philippines...
I've always wondered if the wheel stoppers were measured upon installing them and guess what, they were!
This will be the last thread I'm gonna make for my SC's restoration and build info. I daily drive my SC as a lot of people already know so updates and changes come very slow. I have a lot more parts just waiting to be installed, but not really a priority right now. So, please give me feedback, I'd really appreciate if we'd be respectful of each and everybody's comments and opinions. But, if you throw tihs my way, I'll throw it back twice the velocity of yours. Thank you all and have a great build, PEACE!!!
PS; Since somebody mentioned it, I forgot to explain why I refer to call my SC as HIM and not her. Well simple, it's all because it's a rear wheel drive car. You know how that differential looks like its ***** in between the 2 axles which are the legs? And for me, rear wheel drive cars are the most hard to control out of all car designs so it takes a lot of experience to be a rear wheel drive car driver.
Euro.Tek 07 (Volk TE37 replica)/Achilles ATR Sport Tires
New line from MRR wheels, comes with a lifetime structural warranty.
Midnight Indigo Pearl 8J5
Wrong Fitment Crew reppin', thanks chragerfan for this wonderful decal!
MAX ドリフト (drift)
JDM Innovation oval-tipped mufflers aka eBay universal mufflers.
Factory brake calipers painted royal blue with eBay Lexus decal and Muteki SR48 lug nuts anoblue with lock nuts.
Goodridge brake lines and Powered By Max coilovers (18/12 kg)
Front - 19x9.5 +12 235/35/19 (-2.5 camber)
Rear - 19x10.5 +22 245/35/19 (-3 camber)
I live in a condo, so my biggest dilemma and problem is parking... I detail cars for a living, and I can't even maintain my own car to be garage clean... Anyways, here's my lovely parking spot...
Nice poke!
Those scuffs on the pillar ain't mine btw... I'm used to parking closer than this back in Philippines...
I've always wondered if the wheel stoppers were measured upon installing them and guess what, they were!
This will be the last thread I'm gonna make for my SC's restoration and build info. I daily drive my SC as a lot of people already know so updates and changes come very slow. I have a lot more parts just waiting to be installed, but not really a priority right now. So, please give me feedback, I'd really appreciate if we'd be respectful of each and everybody's comments and opinions. But, if you throw tihs my way, I'll throw it back twice the velocity of yours. Thank you all and have a great build, PEACE!!!
PS; Since somebody mentioned it, I forgot to explain why I refer to call my SC as HIM and not her. Well simple, it's all because it's a rear wheel drive car. You know how that differential looks like its ***** in between the 2 axles which are the legs? And for me, rear wheel drive cars are the most hard to control out of all car designs so it takes a lot of experience to be a rear wheel drive car driver.
Last edited by OG Dada; 09-20-12 at 12:03 AM.