When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Started putting seats in and after that the harness install.
For anyone that’s going to do seat swaps, I’ll say you’re welcome now.
The seat brackets were a pain to source correctly (from Sparco-Planted).
I was told ISF ones fit but no one had em.
Was told IS350/250 ones fit ISF. No one had em neither.
Then was told by an IS300 guy that the IS350 ones fit IS300.
Well they don’t...
After some careful measuring and talking to the Planted guy, we figured out that Rcf takes the late model IS350/250 brackets, BUT one side is for auto and other side for a manual.
The model numbers are in the pic.
Got the harness in on driver side. Was a major pain but felt good with all the connections. All were within Schroth guide lines so I feel good about it.
Attached the outside lap belts to oem seat belt attachment points.
The inside lap belt went to the seat bracket itself which had a spot to attach the oem seat belt receiver buckle.
The 6 points went to the floor. Had to drill 2 holes beneath the seat through chassis.
The shoulder belts went to the same spots where the cage attached. Very strong oem attachment points.
Driver side floor mounts Passenger side floor mount Shoulder belt mounting spot The eye bolts beneath the seats for 6 point attachment
Finally got my full carbon Alpheyga front splitter in! Took a min. Covid delays didn’t help. But it looks to be made very well. I had it expel wrapped before they shipped it to me so I didn’t have to mess with that.
Man the splitter install was way trickier than I anticipated.
The fitment of the front bumper shape vs the splitter’s shape was not spot on. Had to fudge the bumper a bit to get the profiles to match up.
First there was some 3m tape to hold it in place. Then I shut a few self tapping screws to make sure it didn’t move. Last I drilled through the bumper and splitter and secured both together using some nuts and bolts.
This was a suggestion from Lammyy. He had the same splitter that was mounted with tap screws only and it pulled off the bumper when he did high speed pulls.
The splitter ended up making the bumper super stiff, which made it very hard to reinstall onto the car and have the oem fender/bumper clips line up.
I fought it for hours and still not happy with the fender-bumper gap.
Will have to take car to my buddy’s shop and rack it so I can get the bolts loosened and may be then I can get the bumper clips to line up correctly...
Cross fingers.
Had a buddy 3D printed this for me. Took him forever to draw the cad. Turned out pretty good I thought!
The resin printer does produce a surface texture that needs some work.
Primer then sanded.
Painted then sanded.
Just couldn’t get a good finish with high gloss black. Finally gave in and sprayed satin.
Posting this to show my Chinese engineering skills 😂😂💩💩
The bumper-fender gap got real bad after some high speed pulls to test the front lip.
Found the last tab on the bumper to be torn/broken. Probably from me man handling it trying to get the gap to close or the pressure pulled it off...
The fix was a piece of pvc exterior house trim, hand shaped to match the inside of the bumper, then epoxied on with a bolt holding to the fender connection.
It has since went to Road Atlanta and seen 150mph. Still holding!!
Trying a slightly higher rear camber this time. Been running 2.6 rear camber.
Going to Barber Motorsports park. Tad tighter-slower track than my usual Road Atlanta.
See how it goes.
Interestingly, the front camber increased a tiny bit due to adjusting the rears.
Fronts were at 2.8, and went to 2.9 by themselves while on the rack without adjustments.
So here’s my thoughts since both things went on the car at once.
The solid lca obviously will transfer more road surface vibration, but the car seat literally buzz like I’m sitting on a massage chair when the car is at idle, so all that motion is from the motor not being isolated by rubber mounts.
You'll have to wait to see the top secret coilovers. Stay tuned. Haha.
Ming,
Having had the figs engine mounts going to 2 years now have you noticed any changes? Has NVH mellowed out in any way?
The motor mounts are about the same.
There’s no noise. Just noticeable vibration when idling. It’s not bad at all imo.
Oem lexus ones had almost zero vibration so it was noticeable after initial install.
I got use to it very fast.
Of course now the car is full blown track so it rides rough anyway.
If you’re curious, the ILX have performed flawlessly and I still love em as much now compared to new.
Definitely head and shoulder above any shocks I’ve driven on.
Hey Ming! Yes I was a little stealth for a good amount of time haha.
Installed my figs mounts, I believe I will need a tune because of my headers. The idle is a bit rough. Its idling at 600 when in gear and AC on, sending a bit of a heavy reverberation at times. What are your thoughts?
Glad to hear you're loving your ILX, wetting my appetite for those.
Mike Figaro contacted me yesterday asking if I was interested in a new motor mount vibration isolator he’s working on. May be you can contact him on that?
I told him the car is not a street car anymore so I’m not interested.
05-23-20, 05:57 AM
