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@Akha5802 Sorry if I missed it somewhere but how much have you invested so far into it? Starting purchase price, total parts costs, any labor costs & so on. Absolutely love it & its definitely one of a kind !
@Akha5802 Sorry if I missed it somewhere but how much have you invested so far into it? Starting purchase price, total parts costs, any labor costs & so on. Absolutely love it & its definitely one of a kind !
I would say restoring the car with paint is around 13k, this is with overdone mainance and interior restoration. As far is with all the modifications and the isf conversion, facelift, etc, im at 17k with EVERYTHING. But right now im replacing my head gasket because it went out so i plan on doing a small build on the engine, lighter pulley, replacing all the hoses. Then next I plan on finally getting some coilovers and replacing all my bushings to polyetherine from figs so that should end up being 20k total for everything after that.
Been a while, long story short water pump went out while driving and took out the head gaskets and since the car had 234k miles I replaced the engine with a 74k mile. On that Engine every single gasket, clips, hoses, etc, has been replaced. Coolant flushed and has new oem coolant with new oem oil. All sensors replaced and the car drives like butter! Still waiting for my lightweight Crank and Water pump Pully then I plan on porting my upper/lower intake and throttle body.
Finally found the right part number and ordered some OEM LED door stills and since I have the sports package it was prewired so all I had to do was plug them in! The door projectors were just plug and play. I wanted something simple yet different. Let me know what you think! Came out exactly the way I imagined
Since my car didnt come with any engine covers other than the main cover. I purchased some used in great condition and had the side ones trimmed a bit so they clip right on the engine bay without rubbing on the tower bar or making them look ugly.
Long story short my dumb*** didn't relocate my muffler and burned a part of my bumper and my ISF tips can no longer clip on, but I was going to weld tips anyway. For now I don't know what exhaust setup I want to go for so I just took out the mufflers and gave them nice tips. Sounds amazing yet not raspy. Just a bit of drone on 2500rpm. Will install a diffuser because I want to and will completely cover the burned part of the bumper which Im glad did not pass where the tips go. Also I finally installed my OEM style carbon lip. Say what you want but im not a fan of the ISF lip spoiler. Looks goofy imo. Best spoiler from oem in my opinion is the 2006 to 2008 (i think) OEM lip that curves aroung the logo and has a good lip going back to the trunk.
Next up is Diffuser, ISF LED sequential reflectors, and in the future is coilovers and finally when I finish my tire threads... new wheels! Still debating. I take a long time before I pull the plug on anything so be patient
What an amazing transformation, from almost junk to a beauty. And the work you put in, you should be proud. Unfortunately I've been neglecting mine, she has been mostly sitting parked in my backyard (I did take her out last Sunday). We had some strong winds and it blew off the car cover which I've been to lazy to put back on so it's been exposed to rain and the elements for a week.I might sell her in May, I don't know if I could justify just have it sit there...garage is not an option because my wife claims it as her storage It's one of those cars that doesn't do well just sitting.
Glad you are enjoying your journey, I was hoping to do some more enhancements with my son, but he's now busy with college and my work schedule is gruelling
I finally managed to order the ISF Suede armrest and it looks amazing! Part number is 5890553120C0. Top view Close up pic of the stitching Back side A before and after shot after installation
I know that it doesn't match my interior but like I said there's big plans and right now I'm focusing on the exterior and suspension/wheels tires. Once those are done I can then move on to the interior and build it the way I wanna do it. Anyways, here it is!
any chance you will sell your old arm rest? I accidentally ripped my off….
What an amazing transformation, from almost junk to a beauty. And the work you put in, you should be proud. Unfortunately I've been neglecting mine, she has been mostly sitting parked in my backyard (I did take her out last Sunday). We had some strong winds and it blew off the car cover which I've been to lazy to put back on so it's been exposed to rain and the elements for a week.I might sell her in May, I don't know if I could justify just have it sit there...garage is not an option because my wife claims it as her storage It's one of those cars that doesn't do well just sitting.
Glad you are enjoying your journey, I was hoping to do some more enhancements with my son, but he's now busy with college and my work schedule is gruelling
it's not a bad thing cars always come and go, but make sure you have a full plan and a budget before anything
it's not a bad thing cars always come and go, but make sure you have a full plan and a budget before anything
Definitely true. If I do end up keeping her, I most likely won't do any other modifications, I would most likely just have the scratches on the front passenger rims repaired and have the car repainted due to paint chips in the front from rocks and maybe replace the headlight covers. Anyway, I'll make the decision if I am going to sell very soon
Update: I have had a lot of fun with this car and the amazing support from the community has pushed me to build this car. This is if I decide to sell the car (not because I hate it but I always like to change things up). Where the car is now Im waiting on a Toms carbon diffuser, polish and ceramic on the new OEM paint match paint, BR BC racing coil overs, and changing the wheels (I got it down to eather BBS RE-V rims from the ISF or Advan RZII, authentic ofcourse). For the interior I already ordered some samples of real suede so I can wrap the headliner in authentic suede. I was going to do the ISF black headliner conversion but cmon man its rat furr (as far as I know) and I don't like the fake alcantara wrap people do for 20 dollars. So Im gonna pay a lot for real suede material but I said it from the begging, I wanna finish this car my way. Ofcourse the old material will be removed and Im going to use professional glue and equipment since I have done it before. I still have to source ISF front seats (the one with suede inserts). And the golden goose that I finally found is the ISF Steering ECU, but not just any, a 2014 ISF ECU! Came out of nowhere but that's on the way as well. The final thing I want to do is the foreign aero package that came on Ix50s which is the under aero panels (besides the one thats under the engine and the gas tank. So in the end (regardless of the 234k miles), this car will end up being fully resotred and fully optioned (in jdm spec not us spec, we barely got basic options for the IS250/IS350. Once I fully finish the car if i end up selling it, It will be for 25k. Am I losing money? Yes. Will people complain that its not worth it because it has 234k miles? Yes, (those are the same people who compare a stock IS350 with 150k miles with a destroyed interior, stock, listed for 12k. Also I didn't even mention the full Ultra racing bracing and the new (used) engine that has 132k miles. On the new engine before installing it in the car it was completely disassembled and EVERY SINGLE gasket, seal, rubber, o-rings, you name it, has been replaced to ensure this bulletproof engine runs. Im also waiting on my lightweight Crank and Water pump pully that will give a moderate 10 to 15whp gain ( you don't gain the power but rather the crank hp gets transferred to the wheel due to a lighter load on the engine). And finally I plan on porting both intake manifolds and the throttle body and will maybe do a dyno to see where the car is. Will I tune the car? If I sell it, no, because my whole purpose of this build is to fully restore it (the right way with OEM parts), upgrade it with the best aftermarket items available (no offense to anyone who runs cheaper Items I just prefer to be patient and install quality parts), Maximize its handling capability without destroying its capability of using it daily (which I do) hence why im going for BC series and not something too aggressive because right now without coilovers, my fully braced IS350 slightly outperforms an ISF on the canyons, did some runs to test it, just need to stiffen the springs a tad bit and lower it both for looks and to really final tune the suspension so when you drive it you can offically say it handles close if not matches german rivals. So look forward towards the end of this year where I plan to finish the car and if I do decide to sell it eather I might auction it off or list it here for 25k. Again I dont know. Also the price isnt based on a general market its for someone who wants the car and appreciates what has been done to it. Modified with taste with no cost cutting whatsoever. Lets see what the future holds.
Forgot to mention. Im also gonna install Pionner Z series Audiophile certified woofers and tweeters with the Z serries subwoofer and amplifier. Its gonna have quality bass and a system that will make the mark Levenson look like a Walmart knockoff ( i have this system in my other car so I speak from experience). Will also take out the carpet on the car and trunk and fully sound detonate the cabin, is it overkill? yes... that's the point. and still deciding what LSD I want to put on the car.
Update: I have had a lot of fun with this car and the amazing support from the community has pushed me to build this car. This is if I decide to sell the car (not because I hate it but I always like to change things up). Where the car is now Im waiting on a Toms carbon diffuser, polish and ceramic on the new OEM paint match paint, BR BC racing coil overs, and changing the wheels (I got it down to eather BBS RE-V rims from the ISF or Advan RZII, authentic ofcourse).
I got Advan RZII on my car in the Hyperblack finsh. The color on these wheels look really good. They have that chromy finish that just pops. But if you’re interested I am selling my old wheels, WedsSport TC105X. Maybe you seen the ad already in the marketplace. But just thought I'll let you know in case you’re interested and haven’t seen the ad yet.
04-12-22, 12:00 PM
Goodbye fake tips, hello welds
It's one of those cars that doesn't do well just sitting.
