Alex85isF

Picked up a new (to me)
08 is-f from Copart. (don’t care for branded title) I plan to drive the **** out of this car. Use it for what it was made for.
besides I kinda wanted a “cheap” collector vehicle as a keeper.

very light hit. Check out pics below.

I myself have a background in body shop work. (Did bodywork including paint for 5years tight out of college) so I’m doing most of the work myself except for paint. (Have a reputable friend with a shop that can spray parts for me as needed)

so this is a blue mostly stock 2008 is-f with just over 105k miles on it.
frame is all straight.
even rad support is staying all original (I want to keep as much original galvanized stuff, and original spot welds as possible.

Alex85isF

Reserved for later use

Alex85isF

Reserved for final pics later

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Great find! Sounds like it will be both fun project and fun driver.

Vitveet

Nice! Good luck with everything!

V.

tronim

iTrader: (1)

bump for the progress pics

MileHIFcar

The car was totaled out for that damage on the front?.....didn't seem enough to write the whole thing off🤔....anyhow good find keep us posted as you bring the car back to life!

Alex85isF

Yup I was surprised as well. But yes the total was prity much for that little bit.
of well. I’m glad I won’t have to deal with bent frames etc.

progress so far:
Original rad support slightly pulled forward. (Was pushed back about 7/8”) easy fix.
double checked geometry with a ruler gauge from various points. Everything is now perfect up to 1/16th of an inch.

I hate aftermarket non galvanized parts, and preffer OEM spot welds. Hence I’ve decided to fix existing.

I'm glad Toyota has 2 piece rad support with removable center bar. (Makes working on front of motor a breeze in future)





will post more pics later.
Buffed VIS carbon trunk to brand new look,

removed all additional carbon bling that doesn't do anything besides looks and additional weight however little it might be.

waiting on carbon fiber hood to match trunk.
previous owner painted roof flat black, I’ll most likely resprst it later gloss. Should look good in conjunction with carbon hood and trunk.

front bumper cover (Oem from Lexus) almost $600 ouch. But I hate aftermarket. Besides aftermarket never fits quite right like an OEM.

lucked out on both headlights: used from eBay, some good fellas sold them shipped for $250 both.
(dealer wanted $1400 just for right headlight)
they’re original Lexus 08 lights.

current existing mods:
bolja cat back exhaust with 2 tips facing down into asphalt around rear axle.
(2 much in cabin drone)

i switched it to xForce cat back exhaust.
remooving fake tips as it bothers me that only 1 pipe is actually being used (with this exhaust)
ordered black stainless 4” tips wrapped in REAL carbon.

my plan was to make this a sleeper, and just as a joke match paint all carbon stuff with original color to hide it and perhaps maybe throw Is-250 badge in the back.
but the fender flares and F badge on fenders are a dead give away.
still it’ll be as sleeper as posible I guess.

already sitting on 275mm back tires and 245 up front.
what looks like 2012+ shocks and stock rear springs and swift front springs. (Will see how that turns out for a weekend car)

too bad previous owner didn’t invest into a nice (atleast 2012+ diff) will have to work on that later.

some quirks to take care of:
p032d = knock sensor 3 circuit high
will deal with it soon.

Alex85isF

More pics assembled.



headlights/bumper in place. Everything matches.
will send bumper cover off to paint next week.
(near by shop that does it professionally for a fiend of mine)

Alex85isF

So after breaking out my inspection camera.
looking for that knock sensor.
behind all that foam I’ve found a surprise.
pink shampoo.

famous Valley plate leak.

Took me 2 hrs to take it all apart.






will put it back together sometime tomorrow or after.

(I’m a GC as a day job, this is just an evening fun toy I’m doing for winter project.)
a fiend of mine that does bodywork slowed me to use his shop for few weeks, while he’s kinda slow in winter. So pardon slow progress

Alex85isF

Question to lowbuxracer.
or whomever is knowledgeable in this.

I’ve read somewhere that Lexus toyota “lifetime antifreeze” actually has a bit more acid in it then standard pink stuff toyota used to use for their Camry/scions/corollas and others back in early 2000’s

if so, I’d rather swap this one for a “non lifetime” type? And swap Copland every 50-60k?
still way easier and cheaper then doing this stinkin valley.

had anyone ever had to go thru Valley leak repair more then once on same car? Is it a once and done, or something that reoccurs every 70-100k miles?

also I’ve just ordered that renewable bio synXtra 5w30 for this car. (Luckily old hood had AMSoil stickers all under the hood so atleast someone changed oil in this thing, and hopefully always used the hood stuff.

reason I’m asking about Valley plate and coolant, is that our other family car is a 19 GX460 nowhere near performance of an is-f but same/similar bottom end 2UR motor.
so swapping coolant potentially saves us from future “coolant leaks”?
my GX only had 35k miles.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

There's no hard evidence to support the claim that the old school Toyota red is any different in terms of the valley plate leak. Lots of speculation for sure. The pink stuff isn't a lifetime fill at all. First change is at 100k miles and then every 50k after that first change according to the factory maintenance schedule. Mine had a very small amount of leakage, so I wasn't too worried about it, and I finally addressed it at about 170k miles. That's why I really doubt the pink stuff is the problem. No one can say when it will happen, or even if it will happen with any consistency. If it were because of the pink stuff, there would be a typical window of failure, but we haven't seen that across the membership on this board. Some have had massive leaks that puddled up the entire valley. Mine was a few drips and probably could have been left alone and not been a problem for many more miles to come. Some have said the sealant on theirs looks just like the sealant on the rest of the engine, others have popped off the cover and found black sealant (just like the magic stuff the FSM specifies) with the rest of the engine in a gray colored sealant (like I did).

I really wish there were a solid answer to this issue. I almost wish it were possible to cut a groove around the plate and put an o-ring style seal in it, but that would require a pretty talented machinist to want to solve the problem. I get why the factory likes to use sealants (cheap, easy, and quick for the assembly line), but this one really cries out for a long term fix.

flowrider

iTrader: (9)

Many threads on this forum will answer your question about sealant type and assumed longitivtiy.

Hear's the Big One:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...ley-plate.html

And another concerning the sealant:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-f-2008-2014/964567-11-f-valley-plate-leak-wrong-sealant.html

The original ISF wheels are location specific. All four are different. Your fronts are mounted on the wrong side.

Alex85isF

Thanks for the heads up. I saw that tire thread on this one was non directional, didn’t know wheels are though.
will swap them when I’m back there. Now that’s a new one….


that happened when I was doing exhaust, and brakes.
was gona try and get some 2 piece set up. But I can’t believe how expensive stuff like that is for F cars.
Ended up ordering all 4 rotors from Brembo, turns out it’s just even $400 for all 4 (my STi rotors were smaller and way more expensive back in the days)

Alex85isF

I’ve read the countless threads over the weekend on this forum on Valley plates, and perhaps that’s what makes me worry way too much lol.
but this sounds like a cool idea.
even something more rudementary.
careful groove using 2 sided guide n the plate itself. Dosn’t have to be too consistent, just a continuous groove to hold some of that silicone gasket maker material. Torqued to no more than 4-5 lbs when applied. Then torqued to spec 15 lbs just to compress already cured material in the groove a tiny bit?
hell, someone with a 3d scanner and a CNC router should be able to do this on a Valley plate.


PS. Have you ever heard of Valley plate needing to be done twice? After some period of time?
it’s really cool to see some stories on these forums with people tuning their IS-Fs literally into the ground (350k+ miles) and some other guy with 460k miles and still ticking.


by the way, I’m sure you’ve done a few of these Valley plates yourself now. Do u put that crusty foam insulation (above plastic evaporate box) and right under intake manifold? Or toss it?
is it really needed against heatsoak? This is NA car. So can’t imagine it suffering from heatsoak much. But whats ur take on it?