SCick300

I already introduced myself in the New Members thread, but I figured I'd start some type of thread over here as well showing my plans and progress on my 1992 SC300 that I just picked up last week. Now I can't promise that this will be a steady-moving and highly updated thread because I'm a college student, which means money and time are tight but I will do my best to keep it updated at a regular pace. Progress will pick up more once the warmer weather comes along.

I picked up this SC from a local guy whom I met on a local car forum. It's a 1992 SC300 automatic that needs to be loved again. I got it for $1700. It's definitely in rough shape; the entire interior needs to be redone. Pretty much everything minus the dash is broken, I think OP let his pet bear live in the damn thing. Windows don't work, climate control is shot, radio has no sound, seats are toast, random screws missing, no driver door panel, cluster is hanging on by one working needle, luckily it's the speedo, and the carpet is gross. Among those issues, it needs some body work. The passenger door will not open from the outside, the driver's outside door handle was replaced by PO who left a major dent around the handle and did a very poor job of installing, the rear wells have some surface rust where the PO attempted to roll his fenders and left the chipped paint exposed, the exhaust is ghetto-rigged with two different mufflers that don't even line up right, and it has a mismatched fender. As for the way she runs, it runs great at 186k miles. Has a miss at low RPM from an exhaust leak, but that'll be fixed. Some will say that I over payed for this car, I am beginning to think that I did myself, but SC's are rare around where I live and I missed my old 97 SC400 dearly and have been looking for another SC for a year. I look at her potential rather than the condition she is in now.

The majority of this thread will be fixing the stated issues above at first, with some customizations and modifications along the way. Once I have her sitting pretty, I might start on performance modifications. We'll see.





The hoodrat exhaust:



Rear Well Rust:




Front tucked nicely, It's sitting on Tanabe springs and shocks:



Wheels are staggered Motegi Touge's; 19x8 in the front and 19x10 rear. Not sure of the offset, the wheels came with the car. But it sits pretty flush IMO.:




And here's the horrid interior:



(don't ask what that white stuff is on the back seat, I'm afraid to touch it.)





And finally, the only clean and flawless part of the car:




And for those who care, here is my old SC400:

97RSPSCTT

nice to see you back in a sc. nice base to start with, good luck with the build and def keep us posted. cheers

acklac7

I dont think you overpaid, as you said SC's are rather rare around OH and when you do find them they often have substantial issues (not to mention the sellers rarely will come down on the price). I looked at 3: everyone of them had issues of somesort, and everyone of them had a beat-to-**** interior. I'm pretty sure the nicer ones get bought up FAST then easily re-sold at a premium on lots. These cars are rapidly becoming classics....

acklac7

PS i've been keeping my eyes open and rarely will I see one listed below $2500, no matter what the condition.

SCick300

Nice to see someone nearby on here.

So I ordered some parts this morning. I found a climate control unit on eGay for $99. Also ordered two new rear tires, 275/35's, and I bought new needles and super white LED bulbs to fix my cluster. I am heading to the scrap yard here in the next hour or so, they have an almost complete SC that hasn't even been thrown into the yard yet hoping to get everything that I possible can off that thing.

scforlife

Looks like a good starter car. Treat her right and do the necessary matinence and she will last a lifetime! Good luck and keep us posted!

ClearP

I love "bringing this car back to life" threads. Good luck on everything, I might have some parts you can use I'll give it to you for free, just pay for shipping, I'll have to check to see what I have left tho, just threw out a bunch of stuff.

SCick300

That would be awesome, you have no idea lol. I just got back from the junkyard, apparently the guy I talked with on the phone gave me some false information and the SC that I was going to pick at was already thrown in the yard. It was pretty much gutted. All I was able to get from it was a corner light but hey it was something I needed. To make matters worse, I had a blowout on the highway on the way there, so now I have a tire to buy

brad11140

iTrader: (3)

Looks like it isn't to bad. Some love here and there is all she needs. The engine looks healthy. I have a similar situation with a 94 SC400. Checked valves and compression and everything is great. I would do the same on yours. If the engine is good, than everything else is just details. I guess it just depends how much time and money you want to invest.

acklac7

Parts on these cars are worth big $. Most pick-n-pull yards won't get a chance at them: when they do someone on the inside usually has a buddy strip the entire vehicle clean the second it hits the yard....

313sc3

LOL. You beat me to it. I seen that car on craigslist. I thought about buying it as a parts car but oh well. Congrats and keep us updated.

SCick300

Lol anything I have is always for sale for the right price. You're welcome to make an offer.

SCick300

Well most of the parts were laying around the car broken, ie door panels and dash and such, as if people ripped everything apart to get to other pieces they needed. That's usually the case. People don't care as long as they get what they need. But this car didn't look as if it were stripped before being put there, it was just all torn out and thrown around by careless people.

acklac7

Everything of value was likely taken by 1 or 2 ppl: Everything else was ran-sacked by scavengers.

acklac7

I'm not going to lie i've done the same. Up until one day an (older) buddy of mine pointed out that other people may need the parts I was semi-destroying...