Carfreak70

iTrader: (16)

Well, I will give you some back ground information. About 2 or so years ago (maybe not that long), I had a 95' 2JZGTE swapped GS300, Turbonetics single, blah blah blah, well anyways I ended up trading the car for a 6 speed swapped SC300. I miss the GS terribly, and I have tried for about 4 months to track down where that car went, and apparently its up north somewhere, and I cannot find it for sale. I decided that I wanted to build another-as I was building my Miata. I finished my miata rather quickly, and sold it ASAP to fund the new project. I started looking for a complete GS300, so I could just rip the motor and trans out, and begin the fun. Well, there were like NO 1G GS300 in middle Tennessee, or even close to TN for that matter, and I decided to look for a motor, and when I put "2jz" in, I came across one in a GS300 and it said $1,500 for the motor (I know LOLZ!!!), and that the shell could be had for 1,700. I called and said I wanted the shell and not the motor, and was willing to come pick it up and pull the motor out and pay for the car. Well we agreed on a price considering I wasn't purchasing the expensive 2jz, it came out to a lot more than I thought it would be, but I still feel like it was a decently fair deal, he definatly got out better than I did, but I needed a shell. Well I went to get it and a long story short, it was HELL trying to get it. Finally got it and got it home.

The car is rough, to say the least. Or at least it was when I got it, I have been working every single day on this car. The reason the car is in such terrible condition is because the genius decided that leaving the window down for 6 months would be a GREAT idea...well to say the least, it had MOLD, standing WATER, SPIDERS, LEAVES, 4 leaf clovers GROWING FROM THE CARPET....ect.

Here is where I will start with the pics....

This first picture is a half and half of the roof, as I was cleaning it off. I sincerely wish I had taken more pics of the car, throughout this whole build, but thats in the past. These few pictures will give you an idea of what I was working with. I couldn't tell anything about the paint, or body condition, but I was determined to wash it all off and get it looking decent. The car is at a barn about 20 minutes from my house, and unfortunatly doesn't have easy access to water, so I used litterally 6 rolls of paper towels and a whole bottle of window cleaner, and rainX cleaner.
Where the car was when I picked it up...with TWO TRUCKS BEHIND IT











Then I got to the interior. It was completly nasty. To the point where I did not want to even sit in the car. I would litterally watch for a couple minutes to make sure I didnt see any spiders or anything growing out of the seat. I never sat in the drivers seat. I am not that brave to sit in mold, and nastyness lol. Anyways, I got it to clean up decently well with Lexol. Best stuff ever. Nuff' said lol.






A couple days later, I took it out of the barn and got it on gravel so I could start working on it with some space. I managed to get the seats out (which didnt work might I add), and began the process of removing the nasty moldy carpet. After I started, I knew it wasn't going to be good. I pulled some back and immediatly saw standing water, but what could I expect? Clean and dry? I think not.
I got the carpet out, managed to find lots of mold, an ant colony (most ive seen in one place ever....seriously, there were litterally thousands), and who knows what else.
Sorry for the picture quality on this one, it was obviously late at night.

Carfreak70

iTrader: (16)

So I got it all cleaned up, as you can see in some of those pics. Hard work and lots of paper towels, bleach, tilex, and window cleaner later, it came out really well, and looks good now. After that, I pressure washed the carpet for litterally 20 minutes trying to get everything out, including all of the mold and crap that was stuck to it. I then hung it up and let it dry for 2 days, in the hot 95* heat. It finally got dry and I put it back in. I also had a set of SC300 seats laying around that I never sold. They are grey cloth, and hold a lot better than those leather ones ever would have (not to mention the leather was EFFFF'd) so I put them in, and they bolted right up to the stock location. The carpet still needs lots of attention, but I will hit it with some carpet cleaner, the pressure washer can only do so much without chemicals.













After I got all of that done, I made a nice little purchase, I bought a MINES 2JZGTE Automatic ECU, and some coilovers for an SC300 for a good price. I am stubborn as hell, and searched the internet to see if coilovers from a SC300 would fit a GS300, and the answer I found was "no," well I have news for everybody THEY FIT! So, I got 2 of them put on (front and rear to make sure they would work), and this is what I was left with

Carfreak70

iTrader: (16)

Honestly before I put the coilovers on I pulled the motor but I really dont feel like going back and editing, haha, but here are the pics of the super expensive 2JZ, but in its favor, it looks like it has a new head gasket and MISC stuff, however it doesn't look like the waterpump has been touched in ages :eek:








On to the trunk, there was some MAJOR stuff in there, so bad I had to use a mask, to make sure I didn't suck up and mold. The mold was TERRIBLE in the trunk, so bad, I honestly didn't want to take a pic, but let me tell you, it was REALLY BAD! I can take a pic of the spare that came out (obviously had standing water in the trunk which made everything that much better), but a bunch of bleach, tilex, ECT later, it came out really well, and I am really happy with it now. To top it off, the trunk shocks are installed backwards. When you open it, it SLAMS shut, but if I reverse them, I tihnk they will hold it up, becasuse they are STRONG.




After some of that was done, I decided to take some decent pics of the car out in the sunlight so you can see what I am working with. I really love the car already, and I am having a lot of fun cleaning it up. It is really just a fun toy, and I know some people are going to think I am retarded for buying this car, but its been SO much fun. I know the mold has been taken care of, and everything its coming together really well. I am excited for the progress of the car, and I will be posting my realistic plans here soon in the thread, if you want to continue reading...lol







I think that is all of the pictures I have so far haha.

My plans are:

2JZGTE (shipped on its way to my house!!!!)
XXR 526 Wheels 20X11 in the rear and 20X9.5 in the front
New back seat (or get the old one redone in cloth)
Maybe racing seats, havent really decided honestly, with harnesses
I want side exit exhaust coming out in front of the rear wheels (I dont care if you dont like it, I might not either and if not ill change it)
Supra Brakes/LS400 brakes depending on how these are
MINES ECU (bought)
JDM Aristo Cluster
Window Tint
3M headlight kit (this will be happening sometime soon, those are BAD)
New front bumper


I can't really think of anything else I want to do right now, but I will update a lot, I have kind of kept this a little bit of a secret, but I can't hold it much longer. I know there is a lot more that I want to do, but its late haha. Thanks for reading.

Brian@Vossen

Wow, this is going to be interesting to follow. Good luck!

Seize

Best of luck on your project!

USMCgs3

Man it's good to see someone with a gs in as bad of shape as mine haha. My carpet looks the same, seats too. That's interesting the sc seats fit and look Badass!!! Now I gotta find me some. Good luck man you have a journey ahead of you but when it's all done that color scheme is the best looking one!!

Carfreak70

iTrader: (16)

Thanks! Definatly can't wait to start working on it again!

Thanks buddy!
Haha, I like the color, but I wish the interior was black. That will probably end up being one of my journeys, but who knows. SEMS is so expensive, but its the only one that actually works pretty well.
Hope your GS is coming along nicely!

Stephendj1

This is going to be great to watch taking shape.

I thought mine was a mess when we started pulling it apart.

You've finally managed to confirm a long standing rumour that the SC seats fit it the GS without modification, thanks.

Carfreak70

iTrader: (16)

Haha, no problem. I am going to see how much stuff I can really get on there. I come from a long line of SC's haha, so I have a bunch of parts left over!!



MOTOR WILL BE HERE FRIDAY!!! UGHHHHH SO EXCITED!!!!

Supremeg56

iTrader: (1)

im following this thread for sure good luck to you man

Stephendj1

Sounds like your as bad as me for recycling parts

There's actually stuff from my old Alfa Romeo 166 on my Aristo

Carfreak70

iTrader: (16)

Thanks man, it should be an interesting ride. I hope I get it moving sometime soon!
Haha, I feel like I am a pack-rat when it comes to parts. But hey, whatever works. I am going to see if I can manage to get a SC300 97+ cluster into the GS...I like them a lot better lol.

USMCgs3

Good luck with the cluster swap, all my needles are burnt out on my gs cluster and I have a 97 sc cluster to swap and it might fit but the plugs are all different. I haven't had the time to research schematics and trace wires but..... If you do it successfully please post a "how-to".

DonCorleone

iTrader: (6)

wow you must have really wanted a GS3 good start, looks like you got your work cut out for you. Interested to see where you take it, fo sho. Good to know SC300 coils work, thanks for sharing.

Carfreak70

iTrader: (16)

I will definatly be doing some wiring, I already know haha. I will have to see how extensive it will be. I will look at the FSM and see what all matches and what doesn't. I will definatly post a DIY if I do it, hopefully it fits and such.

I definatly did want another GS3. After my first one, I really missed it. I definatly do have my work cut out for me, but it seems like im starting to get some results from what I have been doing finally!

Definatly a good thing to know SC3 coils work, because that opens up a lot of windows for 1GS buyers to get coilovers for decent deals.