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Hey Guys. I figured I would start a build thread to track my progress on the build I'm doing for this car. I've had the car for about 7 months now, so this first wave of pictures and mods all happened in the past. However, I have a lot planned for this car in the future.
Here are my plans and aspirations for this build:
I'm going for a resto-mod tuner kind of vibe here. Keeping the car relatively subtle. Most of the mods will be under the skin. Want the car to look stock but with modern touches ie: new brakes and wheels etc.
Keep the stock motor. No 1J or 2J swaps here. I love those engines, but I love a Japanese V8 more. Such a rare breed especially in 2018.
Full suspension rebuild including upper and lower control arms, bushings, shocks, springs, steering rack, control arms etc. The full treatment. However, I want the car to be driveable so it wont drop more than an inch, and I'm going to keep the springs on the softer side for decent ride comfort.
Drivetrain Upgrades: I'm going to keep the stock motor, but I'm not going to keep the motor stock if that makes sense. Not too many performance upgrades for the 1uz vvti, but things like upgraded cams, intake, exhaust, and maybe headers are viable upgrades. Not looking to make a ton of power. Just want a car that looks nice, sounds nice, and gives me a decent pull on command. A high performance Optima battery is also on the list.
Transmission: I don't plan on manual swapping this car. I am open to the idea, but for this build I feel like an automatic with the ability to go through the gears manually will suit the car better. Maybe an IS300 trans swap.
Brakes: In the far future, I would like to do a full brake system rebuild with Wilwood Calipers all the way around. However for the time building the classic LS400 BBK is what I'm going with.
Exhaust: I don't want this car to be extremely loud, however it is much to quiet stock. I plan on getting a Magnaflow catback exhaust with an electronic cutout to make it loud on command.
Paint/Visuals: I plan on respraying the car in the near future, but it will be a stock color. Black Onyx. I like the Gold Badging that came stock, so that will be resprayed in factory gold as well. Speaking of gold, the LS400 BBk will be painted Brembo Gold. I am also going to get the intake manifold anodized to the same blue found in the GSF sedan to add a little pop to the engine bay.
Interior: I plan on completely disassembling the interior, and replacing any broken pieces, and respraying/refinishing any pieces that are worn out. I would like to get the seats re-done professionally as well with new leather and new padding. New carpets are also on the list. I am also going to re-do the entire audio system. New speakers in every corner, a decent sized trunk mounted subwoofer and amp, and an android auto headunit, with google maps, spotify etc to modernize the interior.
Miscellaneous/things that I want, but probably won't end up doing: I really like the idea of doing a dual airbox/intake on the stock engine. Think BMW M5. A neat Idea, but just a possibility. Also, hidden side dump exhausts I think would be very cool. Look up the 2013 Boss 302 to see what I mean. Wouldn't be able to be seen by anyone outside the car, but would add a nice bit of volume to the exhaust note. Again, just an idea.
Here are some pictures from when I purchased the car last year:
Hey Guys. I'll begin to start posting the mods that have already been completed to get you guys up to speed on where the car stands right now.
First Mod: Niche Targa M129 17 inch wheels. Gunmetal grey. Bought off craigslist for like 200 bucks. They are wrapped in BFGoodrich Comp 2 A/S tires, 245/45 all the way around. The previous owner had tires from a brand I had never heard of so I figured this was a good starting point. The tires handle incredibly in the dry and the wet. The wheels fill out the wheel wells much better than the stock ones in my opinion. Didn't want to go too big in size. I think 17's are a nice middle ground.
Second Mod: LS400 BBK upgrade. Found these brake on a '99 LS400 at the local junkyard. They have been completely disassembled, meticulously cleaned, polished, wire brushed, and painted with engine enamel paint to handle any level of heat produced by the caliper. They turned out amazing. They mimic the gold from the badging mixed a bit with the classic Brembo Gold color. So happy with how they came out. Also threw the stock fog lights back into the front bumper after cleaning them up and replacing the bulbs.
Third Mod/Maintenance: Replaced all of the stock brake lines with Stop-Tech steel braided brake lines. Bled the entire system and replaced the old brake fluid. These lines give much better pedal feel and fluid displacement. Made the bigger brakes feel even stronger. I also did a power steering fluid flush and replacement along with a full synthetic oil change which was a bit of a pain since my oil filter wrench didn't fit around the filter. But it was a labor of love.
I will hopefully have some more upgrades coming up soon as summer approaches and school starts to wind down. Unfortunately Mechanical Engineering classes don't leave you too much free time to work on your car.
More to come!
Last edited by AGladski; 04-07-18 at 07:35 PM.
Reason: spelling error
Looking very good AGladski!! The LS400 front brakes, new wheels and exhaust system are great starting mods!
Originally Posted by AGladski
Transmission: I don't plan on manual swapping this car. I am open to the idea, but for this build I feel like an automatic with the ability to go through the gears manually will suit the car better. Maybe an IS300 trans swap.
Actually your '98 SC400 has the same model A650E 5-speed automatic that is also standard in all the automatic 2001-2005 IS300's. There were a few variants of the A650E and the 98-00 SC400 VVT-i, 98-00 LS400 VVT-i and 98+ GS400 VVT-i all having the 290-300hp 1UZ-FE engine got the beefiest of the A650E. The IS300 and GS300, unless I'm mistaken, got a slightly less strong version of that automatic (or all the A650E's were all rated for the same maximum OEM duty cycle of 320hp regardless of being behind a V8 or I-6. I don't know the answer to that).
The only thing that might be advantageous is any proven kind of aftermarket transmission ECU controller, but while this does exist for the older, stronger A340E 4-speed found in 1JZGTE and 2JZGTE Toyota donor cars (the "SupraStick" A340E controller for example) I don't personally know of a similar system being available for A650E equipped Toyotas.
Originally Posted by 97-SC300
Great work. So is the SC400 the only V8 Japanese coupe ever sold in the US?
Trying to think of some other ones but just can't.
There aren't any that I can think of either.
The 1990-1995(?) Mazda Cosmo had 13BREW and 20B twin turbo rotaries.
The Infiniti M30 got an SOHC NA 3.0L 300ZX engine in the USA and V6 turbo variants in the Japanese market Leopard version.
The later Nissan Leopard / Infiniti J30 did receive a V8 engine in the Japanese market car only... but by that time it had become 4-door only.
The 91-95 Acura Legend Coupe famously used a longitudinal V6 with a transverse FWD transmission.
Infiniti G/Q coupes only ever used V6's.
The Lexus SC430 kind of sort of isn't a true "coupe" since it's a folding hardtop 2+2.
Even at the height of the bubble economy years there still wasn't enough market in BOTH Japan and the USA in the 90's for other Japanese manufacturers to warrant designing a V8 rear-drive coupe. Lexus made it happen because the SC/Soarer Z30 was designed and released when the market was still at its height. The Soarer V8 wasn't offered past 1996 in Japan due to lower volume sales (and the high tax bracket a 4.0L engine fits into there even today) but continued in the American and Canadian markets because most of the R&D had been done years before and the LS400/Celsior's new VVT-i V8 was not difficult to install in the American SC and GS anyway and was needed for better market appeal here.
All the other manufacturers weren't willing to take the risk that Lexus did by that time with the market in decline and no RWD luxury or sport coupe platforms of their own currently capable of accepting a V8. Of all of them, only Toyota/Lexus and Nissan/Infiniti even had commercial V8 engines.
Infiniti had the Q45/Cima V8 that they *could* have used but they never conceived the Infiniti M30 / Nissan Leopard F31 as being V8 capable, never deemed the U.S. worthy of the V6 turbo version and later abandoned the coupe version of that chassis altogether. They could have offered the J30 in a "J45" variant for the USA but... who knows why they didn't. Harrison Ford even made a commercial for the 4-door V8 Nissan Leopard (aka our Infiniti J30) with his dialogue in mostly in English to boot. Apart from the badging on the car and HF's ending dialogue being in Japanese and referring to the Nissan model rather than the Infiniti model it could have been used as an American/Canadian Infiniti commercial. I bet it would have increased J sales here if Infiniti had bothered to sell it in the USA. Such short-sightedness from Nissan/Infiniti as well as Toyota/Lexus back then.
All the other sporty or luxury coupes from Japan during that time only offered V6/I6 turbo or V6/I6 NA engines. Or the rotary with Mazda/Efini/Amati
The Lexus RC-F and LC500 coupes finally trumped the SC400 of its status as the sole Japanese V8 coupe offering all these years later.
Yeah I never really thought about it but I guess the SC400 is the only Japanese V8 coupe sold in the U.S. aside from the RCF and the LC500. Pretty neat to think about. These cars have so many cool traits and attributes that differentiate them from the competition, which is one of the main reasons I love these things. I feel like in the future these cars will be viewed as very special cars and will become relatively rare as well. Hence why I am going for the resto-mod build. Thanks to everyone responding to my build thread!
I have recently started using products from Adam's polishes on my SC. They make a car wash/wax formula that has been my go to wet/hose wash for my car. I have also started using their spray wax and sealant on the car as well. The formula works really well. Water beads off the paint and leaves pretty much no water streaks. The wax also has an excellent scent, kind of a fruity bubblegum kind of flavor. If anyone is looking for a new wash/wax company, Adam's has been working great for me. What polishes/waxes do you guys use on your SC's?
Also for anyone in the so-cal area, do you fellas know of any good paint shops that you have used in the past? Looking to do a respray of factory black onyx over summer hopefully.
Hey Guys. I recently ordered some speakers for the rear deck and door locations from Crutchfield. The speakers I ordered are Rockford-Fosgate Prime R14X2 for the front, and R1525X2 for the back. I have already replaced the factory amp with an aftermarket one built into my stereo headunit so they should create a nice soundstage for the car. Recently my rear left speaker and front right speaker have started to become pretty scratchy, so it was time for replacements.
I'll make sure to keep you guys posted on how the installation goes and how they sound once everything is hooked up.
04-07-18, 07:15 PM
Andrew's '98 Sc400 VVT-I Build
