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All the Internet forums are the same. Everyone is a professional fabricator. Everyone has Xray eyes and can 100% determine when welds are "bad".... Everyone's a critic! LOL!Well I'll be the first to admit, I'm NOT a professional fabricator or welder. But I CAN weld worth a damn lol.
first off lets pump the brakes, i said it as a playful manor not trying to insult you. i enjoy this build for what it is a cheap build. im not a keyboard warrior i built my car and every vehicle i have ever owned. i am by no means a professional fabricator but i did learn to weld in high school and got my MIG/TIG/ARCH welding license (QC7 testing, although this has been expried for years since i didnt renew it) before realizing i didnt wanna do that all day. i am grateful for it as it has come in handy over the years but being that i might do it once a year now a days im rusty as could be . i still disagree that you can weld though even looking at those last pics you posted, you run is to wide and the flow isnt smooth. im not now nor have i said it doesnt get the job done. that is all that matters if your happy with it, it just isnt pretty . i do 99% of my own labor on my car but im not a mechanic. i know enough to get myself in trouble and be a little dangerous (to my car and wallet when i mess up) anyways i merely was teasing you so if it made you mad i apologize wasnt my intent.
anyways back on topic. how was the wiring your using both ecu's i assume?
Hey Sakataj, you're totally right about welding all day long, a lot of guys go through the same thing. You're also not wrong about my welds. They are not pretty, but very seldom fail. Perhaps i should have phrased my earlier post "I can't weld worth a damn, but it doesn't stop me!"
Wiring has been fun. ive only gotten the basics down such as just getting it "turn key" I'm not sure yet about using the Lexus ecu. Interior items seem to function and hvac works. I don't see why i couldn't make AC work using the gm computer and adapting gm sensors. Ive recently tried finding the tachometer wire without success. Unfortunately this project is a HUGE time sucker and so is my job, my fiance, and my 2 boys which are having a birthday party tomorrow. Every spare moment i have goes to this car!
Are there certain issues I'll have with not utilizing the Lexus ecu?
Perhaps answering my own question, it sounds like the IS300 guys only lose cruise control and a coolant temp Guage. I don't think i can justify the space taken by the Lexus ecu just for cruise and a temp Guage.
More importantly, why doesn't cruise work?? The Lexus is multiplex on certain parts of the car i believe. Looking at the wiring manual i bought for this, the cruise stalk wiring diagram shows little symbols of resistors for the cruise stalk.
Why does this matter? Well this likely means that instead of one hot wire and 4 normally open sets of contacts, there's only 2 wires for all of the stalk. Multiplex operates on different resistance values as "messages" telling a computer what to do. Therefore this would likely explain why the factory stalk wouldn't work. This is only my theory, i haven't actually gotten that far yet.
As for a coolant temp Guage, as a last resort i could physically transplant a gm Guage assembly behind the Lexus Guage panel. There's only a bazillion different GM Guage clusters out there, SOMETHING has to be close right?
Them There little zigzags would be resistor symbols far as i know...
covered the rest of the gaping hole i made (too large) with a piece of sheet metal bent in my vice
air bag computer cannot sit here. thought I'd get away with it until i realized i hadn't put the rear heater vent tubing in yet... I ended up putting it under the carpet on the drivers side of the tunnel
3rd gear
4th gear
Cut a notch from the rear heat vent and re sealed with electrical tape
had to remove the u joint shield as it was eating my exhaust wrap
In case you were wondering, titanium exhaust wrap IS JUST AS ITCHY as fiberglass wrap
power washed my exhaust shields before re installing them. exhaust coming soon...
Hey Sakataj, you're totally right about welding all day long, a lot of guys go through the same thing. You're also not wrong about my welds. They are not pretty, but very seldom fail. Perhaps i should have phrased my earlier post "I can't weld worth a damn, but it doesn't stop me!"
all good man
Originally Posted by CRASHMONK
Perhaps answering my own question, it sounds like the IS300 guys only lose cruise control and a coolant temp Guage. I don't think i can justify the space taken by the Lexus ecu just for cruise and a temp Guage.
Little by little she's coming together. Using the original wheels as Jackstands, here it is in ES300 shoes. I don't actually like these wheels but the tires are pretty close to like new.
Got the car in position for exhaust, which I'm still waiting for. Still have plenty else to do.
I am wondering though, why are your rear wheels pulled so far forward (in the arches)? When the suspension compresses the wheel shifts forward and toes in, are you going to have rubbing issues there?
09-23-16, 01:59 PM
. i do 99% of my own labor on my car but im not a mechanic. i know enough to get myself in trouble and be a little dangerous (to my car and wallet when i mess up) anyways i merely was teasing you so if it made you mad i apologize wasnt my intent.
