Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. I am enjoying the car very much. It is fun as hell to drive. I have already taken it to Cars & Coffee events twice.

Bruce

 

I added a Turbosmart Manual Boost Control valve today. I made sure it was not a Chinese knock off. Took the boost from 8 psi to 11 psi. Feels good. Fun to drive.

 

This past weekend I upgraded my oil catch can. My old one was not getting the job done as I was finding oil in the intake tube leading to the turbo. I figured the old catch can was not cool (temperature wise) enough to condense the oil vapor coming from the engine prior to entering the intake tube where it was cooler. I decided to order a large aluminum catch can ($24 on Ebay) that I would install just behind the radiator where it would be nice and cool. I had to cut a custom hole in the radiator shroud to accept the new catch can.

I can remove one wing nut to pull the catch can and drain it. I can see the fill level tube on the side of the catch can through the fan shroud from the passenger side fender. Super easy.

I will update once I find out if it is doing a better job than the old one.

Here are some pics.

Bruce

 

I finally got around to upgrading the rear brakes to Supra TT. About $350.



Here is the front with LS400 calipers. About $30.

 

Looks terrific! I love how you did your catch can. I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it - that's what these money pits are all about!

 

I took the 300 out for a drive today. God do I love driving this car. It is just too much fun

Looking forward to more nice days in the Lexus.

Bruce

 

Bruce - glad you're enjoying that thing! The sounds these engines make are just out of this world.

 

You are right about that. I love the rumble mine makes and it still has one of the cats in it.

Bruce

 

[QUOTE=bbyatv;10722254]I purchased a set of 8 LED bulbs from Tanin Auto Electronix to repair the burned out bulbs in my instrument cluster on my 95 SC300.

does the dimmer still work with lead's?

 

[QUOTE=Turbo82;11002818]
Yup. Sure does. They do dim.

Bruce

 

Why did you choose to keep the distrubutor? instead of going with VVTI is300 coils. Otherwise very clean and great attention to detail. The car looks great!

 

I suppose it was a combination of things. First and foremost, Ali recommended it for 2JZ-GE between 92-95 in the very first page of his NA-T ECU Mod post. It would have added cost, complexity, and time. I also wanted to keep it as original looking as possible while still having a turbo. I could always update later if I determine it is worth it. I probably would have had to get a different ECU and I wanted to run an TT ECU that was made for the same MY as the car (1995).

In the end, the car started on the first turn of the key, and runs like a bat out of hell. I kept it as simple as I could to ensure success.

Thanks so much for the compliment on her.

Thanks,
Bruce

 

Very nice, if you do choose to make more boost and horsepower then VVTI coil are a good upgrade to prevent spark blow out at higher boost levels. I'm running Ali's TT ecu mod as well and make 500 wheel at 20 psi of boost.

I think it looks even cleaner without the distributor but with a nice billet cover on there. I followed Ali's instructions for the is300 coil install and it works great starts right up every time.

 

Very nice. I am glad to hear there is an easy mod to VVTI. If I ever decide to go higher than 14 psi, I will have to seriously think about it. Thanks for the heads up.

Bruce

 

I had my harmonic balancer come apart. As a result there was also some damage to the cooling fan. I ordered a new one (Power Bond PB1174ST) from Rock Auto and replaced it. I also had to make some minor repairs to the fan.

As you can imagine, when it came apart, it made a lot of noise.

Bruce