cvt

This only applies to LA area So Cal.

So I went in for some work at Music Box. There’s a whole thread on Music box if you are not aware of Tommy. He does installs on exhausts, suspension, etc on various Lexus cars for a decent price.

So I was taking to him today and he said to mention in the forums that he now has a remedy for anyone with cracked headers. So basically he tells me lots of people just come in and swap the headers out for aftermarket and leave their cracked OEM with him. He takes the cracked OEM, goes to a welder and re-welds the flange so he only charges for install. He says he’ll charge around $650. Not a bad alternative if you want to stick with OEM and not have to pay $1,500 for PPEs or $3,000 for OEM.

You can look him up on yelp. Music Box in El Monte.

He just installed my springs at a really great price and I was out of there in 1.5hrs. Really nice guy too and is an owner of an 08 USB ISF!

James7

That's awesome. People have left a lot of stuff over the years, I used to feel bad leaving anything behind since I wouldn't have any room to transport stuff back home- maybe not so much anymore lol

Joe Z

iTrader: (10)

Yes he's been great to many of us over the years... Over 10 for me.!!


Also technically anyone with a cracked header at the flange can have it repaired..

As long as the welding job is a good repair.. Has to be better than OEM.


Joe Z

cvt

just a fun tid bit....his USB ISF is rocking a JoeZ exhaust.

xdejablu3x

That's awesome. I wonder if anyone else around the US does the same for a decent price? I'm curious to if anyone has ever swapped out their OEM primary cat with another one and welded it on since a lot of IS-F's are reaching a higher mileage and aging.

Rossi

iTrader: (5)

Tommy is absolutely top notch, highly recommend him.

kzlflash

iTrader: (1)

Tommy's great!

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

It would be difficult to remove the OEM cat without removing the header. No, make that impossible to remove and replace with something else. The other thing, OEM cats are good for a very, very long time. My 1993 Supra passed Georgia smog on the rollers with 25 year old cats. Zero CO even after all these years and 160k miles. Thankfully the car is no longer required to pass smog after 25 years, but it's good to know the OEM cat still works just fine. I would expect the same from the IS F, and if there is a problem, you'll see a MIL and CEL for catalyst efficiency. Part of what makes an O2 sim for these engines difficult is the ECM runs a check on the catalyst every so often and hits it with an extra rich condition to be sure the cats will clean it up. This is randomized, so your O2 sim has to be able to deal with this as the ECM expects to see a set of responses to this action. Not an easy task.

Anyway, if it were me, I wouldn't bother with replacing the cats unless I planned to put on headers (which I actually plan to do) and G-Sport GESi cats will get welded in at the same time because I don't believe it's socially responsible to force everyone else to breath exhaust fumes when there are options that don't cost power and clean up the mess. My kids (and everyone else's) have to breathe this crap, and that's not cool.

TLeexus

hey man ...if you dont mind me asking, what did tommy charnge for 4 spring install??

what kind of waiting list does he have?

Joe Z

iTrader: (10)

Lots of vouches for him from local CL Members in SoCal..

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/cl-...thread-20.html

Just give him a call to get a quote... He's pretty flexible..

Joe Z

ISF4life

iTrader: (30)

Tommy is the Man

Wh0pp3r

this, exactly this.