handcuff

Awesome community and forums. I've learned a bit over the past week or so by sitting down here and reading about the SC300/400 and wanted to say thanks!

At the suggestion of my mechanic, I have just bought my first SC300. I'm posting a couple pictures here , and a few more can be found on smugmug although the pictures there are more of the 'problems' listed below than an overall view of the car. Shots were taken today in the garage, since it is raining.

It's a 1994, automatic, with 130K miles. It has had the timing belt changed, and has been kept fairly good overall. My mechanic said it was "very clean - if you don't buy it then I am going to" but I am coming from a world wherein I buy cars that are only 1-3 years old, still under warranty. This is kind of new territory for me, so I'm hoping it works out well (I don't want the wife to kill me). Mechanic has a 400 and says that these cars go forever and are a blast to drive.

This will be my daily commuter car, and while it is in pretty good condition, there are still some things wrong with it. I've looked through the forums and found many of the 'fixes' discussed. I'm listing the problems here to catalog them, and get any feedback that people would like to post. I DO have a couple things I can't seem to find, though, so will likely continue with various questions about them.

Options (I don't know if all SC300s had these or not):
Sun/Moon roof
Heated/Power seats (driver and passenger)
Memory Seats
12 disc changer in the back
Don't know which of the audio systems are in the car


The car came with a set of custom wheels. I don't know anything about them or what the value may be. While I don't dislike the wheels, I am also not overly fond of them either. If I can sell/trade them for wheels that I prefer, I would be willing to do so...I just don't know what these are worth.

List of known issues:

1. Minor body issues (no wrecks, just a door ding and a minor scratch)
2. Car vibrates a little (steering wheel wobble) at 60mph and again at about 78mph. Other speeds are smooth. After reading, I think it is probably a wheel balance issue, but figured I'd get feedback from others.
3. Memory Seat buttons do not work. There is a couple threads and messages that discuss this, so before I continue on with it I am going to follow those and see if I can resolve them.
4. Driver Door electric panel is broken multiple ways. First, the anchor points that hold the entire plastic switch frame into the door panel have broken off of the door (the little square holes that the 'hooks' go through). Then, to make it worse, the screw areas that hold the switches to the switch frame are also broken, allowing the switches to drop down too far (you can see this in the picture). My assumption is that I will have to buy a new door panel and fix it that way unless someone has a way to re-fab those holes.
5. HVAC Panel is black. I read a couple of places that you can get these refurbed by shipping them to a place in CA and paying about $190 or so. I never saw the contact info for the business, so if someone knows the proper location, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!
6. Ashtray "lock" appears to be broken. I don't know if that is correct or not, but the tray over the ashtray is constantly up. There is a little "hole" over on the left side that looks like a place where a little lock would go. I don't smoke and have wondered what else I could put in this area, rather than just fixing it. I don't smoke, but I do have electronic gadgets (GPS, phone, MP3) that I need to plug into a car outlet, so I have to keep that in mind...any thoughts? Any place to fix the switch, if that is the best way to do it?
7. The cup holder (I think that is what it is) directly in front of the center console/arm rest is broken. I think it once had a lid of some sort, which is now missing. Any place to get these, or do I just start going to my favorite junk yards?
8. Passenger side door panel also has issues. The Speaker appears to be slightly pulled out of it with the grill cover torn. I assume I can get new fabric and put it over the cover (assuming the anchor holes aren't also broken). The "map" light under the arm rest droops down, like it also isn't anchored in.
9. The seat leather is in pretty good condition for the age, from what I have seen comparitively. I was still thinking of either getting seat covers or having them redone. I hear covers are 2-300 for a pair of good ones that are made for the SC, and redoing the seats is ~500. Any thoughts? I have seat warmers in this, if that is any consideration.
10. Power antenna is broken (mast is snapped off). I will be taking it out and getting a short, black plastic/graphite antenna. Any suggestions for one that looks good on these?
11. Gear Shift leather is peeling a little

Things I will need to buy/do:

• Change all fluids, and do the "seafoam" thing I have heard about
• General tune-up with new plugs, wires, etc.
• Aftermarket Antenna
• Driver Side Window Switch controller (I don't know what this is called, how much it costs, or where the best place to get one may be. Should I be going to the dealership, or somewhere else)
• HVAC display panel
• Seat Covers
• Cup Holder
• Ashtray lock (or something better to put in there)
• A couple of keys with keyless entry (mine just start the car, I don't have the alarm buttons)

Mods I am thinking of doing:

• The first one I am considering is changing out the exhaust. I hear it gives you horsepower while increasing your MPG. I've read a bunch about the difference with the 400's, but haven't seen anyone post either HP or MPG changes with the 300's. Anyone out there care to comment? Is it worth doing for the 300, other than getting a more rich sound from the car?
• I'd like to try something to make it a little quicker off the line, but don't need to blow me back in the seat. This is a daily commuter, and was purchased as kind of a whim rather than getting the typical Civic/Corolla. I can justify mods over a year or so, but can't justify heavy expenses over the first couple months. Also, since it is a daily car, I'd prefer to keep the MPG high.

Please feel free to comment, make suggestions, flame, etc. So far, I am really enjoying the car/project, although I keep having slight pangs of buyers remorse - thinking I should have just gotten the civic.

Baoser

Congrats on the buy, and welcome to Clublexus =)

miwise

I thought my memory seats were broken when I first bought my car too. 3 rules of engagement:
1, car must be in Park
2, Car must be in the On position (a/c fan is on in this position), not in ACC.
3, Hold down the set and the button to be programmed, you will hear a beep.

If all of these have been done, then it should work unless there is a blown fuse or the computer for the seat is out (uncommon I believe).

The antenna: You can replace just the mast of the antenna pretty easily (probably easier than replacing the whole thing). They sale the replacements on ebay. I bought one from there and it worked. I would probably try to get an oem one. They are cheap on ebay.

Vibrations: If they are only appearing at certain speeds, it is most likely the balance of the wheels (or a bent rim). It would vibrate at all speeds or speeds above approximately 40mph if it were mechanical.

Seats: Where did you find seats for 500 dollars. The cheapest I've found is about 650 or so.

handcuff

The same mechanic who recommended getting this car (friend of the family) has an SC400. His seats are a little worse than mine, and he has someone that will redo the front and back seats for $5-600 or so (works with their shop, so its a business-to-business price). I only want my fronts done, but figure the price will be just barely lower.

I did talk to him today about some of the other wear-and-tear items on my car that need to be replaced (biggest one being the driver-side window switch panel), and he said it was very fixable...made me feel a bunch better. The electronics may need to be replaced, but the panel plate is fixable.

Anyone use the wood grain center console items from ebay? If so, how do they look? I was looking at one for my car, if they are worth the price.
Here's a link to one I was looking at.

DriftNsc3

Congrats on the new car man! Looks like a good find.

Miwise- what part of Louisisana do you live in?

T0ked

iTrader: (2)

Most of the broken parts you speak of can be purchased in our classifieds sections. Most if not all of these parts come up for sale quite frequently especially when they have a whole car for part out. You should just replace the cupholder and ashtrays. They're quite cheap. The window switch comes up too. Look out for the member Aliga who parts out frequently. There is no diffrence between the 400 or 300 with these parts.

As for the HVAC panel, someone on ebay sells replacement panels. you'll have to open uo the display and replace the LCD with some fancy soldering, but you don't have much to lose since its already blacked out.

With these cars at this age, several things to look out for. All rubber parts; motor, tranny mounts, control arm bushings should be inspected. They can all contribute to vibration. Although your description does sound like a rebalance is in need.

As for performance... simplest thing to do is let her breathe easier. do the BFI mod for the intake and some kind of exhaust. Nothing too big or you'll hurt your low end. I did the BFI and have Borla exhausts. Nothing extravagant but got me an extra 1-2mpg and a much meaner sound.

The gear shift handle... been looking for some time to find someone who can reupholster them. For now, I have a black handle which hides the fading better.

Most of the ebay wood kits don't match well. HTe wood in the SC is a satin finish. The ebay stuff is high gloss.

Welcome and I know you'll find lots of good info on the SC3 in this forum.

sc250tt

nice car man welcome to the club anymore pics?

iasc300

iTrader: (1)

welcome to the club

handcuff

Thanks for the comments, everyone. I am liking the car more and more as I have driven it for the past few days. I did get the vast majority of my needed replacement parts from one of the members here (Gazi Ali - "aliga") at a very good price - Thanks! Now, just waiting to get those in so I can put it all together.

I did want to do the exhaust upgrade, but a total N00b like me can't seem to follow the discussions, so I don't know what would be a relatively inexpensive upgrade that would increase performance/MPG without spending a bank to get it. Any suggestions by anyone? I am not racing this car, so humble modifications are the key.

I'll do a search for the BFI intake mod, thanks for the tip!
-Scott

Jewcano

iTrader: (4)

Like they said, BFI, perhaps get a little bit more flowing exhaust *perhaps have the cat pulled. Umm also if you want get an SAFC and have it tuned to make your car run leaner. Just some small stuff to have gas mileage increase.

Lucky SC

welcome, enjoy your stay

hope it'll be a long one

twizted

iTrader: (2)

[QUOTE= So far, I am really enjoying the car/project, although I keep having slight pangs of buyers remorse - thinking I should have just gotten the civic.[/QUOTE]

Are you nuts!? I have had honda's, new old, show and daily driven and they all suck compared to my much older sc.... I havent been able to blow the thing up even though ive been trying! Give me an excuse to swap to a 2jz....

96gti2.0t

welcome to CL

handcuff

hehe...thats funny!
I gotta say that I am feeling much less apprehensive about the car the more I drive it, and the more I find out about how good of a deal I got (or at least I think I got).
My friend the mechanic who recommended me getting the car has an hour every other evening or so for the next couple of weeks to help get the car in prime condition. Tonight we did the 'seafoam' thing (although he didn't use seafoam, but instead used a professional cleaning chemical that their shop uses in most vehicles...it's a Valvoline product). Smoked pretty crazy for about 5 minutes, then trimmed out and started running smoother/quicker than before. Impressive!

A couple more questions, if you guys don't mind:
(1) I promised I wouldn't do this, but after reading everyone else's posts, I cant help myself. My friend has a new Greddy turbo (I think thats the spelling) from a 89 Turbo Supra (bought to replace an OEM turbo, but never put on the engine. Now it sits collecting dust). He has offered to give/sell it to me (he offered it to me a few days ago, but I wasn't sure if that was a give or sell offer - I asked what he wanted for it today, but we were distracted before he could answer). Anyway, I don't know if I want it yet. Still trying to find out (1) what it does to fuel mileage (2) what it does to HP/performance, and (3) if there are any other positive/negative impacts of using this thing on my car? Does it reduce the lifespan of the engine/transmission? Does it make the car less reliable? Does it require higher octane fuel (91 vs 87)?. I figured I'd ask you guys these questions and ask for input. Should I do it? Is it worth doing? Right now, I have a completely 'stock' 94 SC300, with the exception of some aftermarket rims/low profile tires that I am thinking of getting rid of to go back to stock. I don't know what engine that means, and I don't know what the specs are for this turbo other than it was to replace the OEM turbo on an 89 supra turbo.

(2) I have looked at several exhaust threads, but don't seem to be smart enough to either find the thread that answers my questions (or probably I am not smart enough to understand enough of the discussion to get the answer from it). I am looking for an exhaust that keeps the sound relatively mild under 'normal' driving conditions. I wouldn't mind having it sound a little more aggressive when WOT, but that isn't my main concern. I would like it to be relatively inconspicuous visibly and help me regain HP/fuel economy to the car, while not killing the pocketbook. What system would you guys suggest? In my reading today/last night, it seemed that some people were simply saying that by replacing one of the CATS (does that mean the catylitic converter?) much of the resistance can be removed and it returns a fair amount of power/efficiency to your car (I think this is what Jewcano also suggested). Is this the best route, or should I get a new exhaust system? Or both? What do you guys recommend (considering this is supposed to be a relatively 'economy' based project)?

(3) I read in one of the faqs that by removing the fan and putting a ~$180 electric fan kit on in it's place, you can regain 10-20 HP. Anyone tried this successfully? Are there any negatives to doing this?

(4) What kind of SAFC, as mentioned by Jewcano above, is recommended? I saw the Apex one discussed - is that the one recommended by most (or is it the ONLY one available)?

Ok. I've pestered you guys enough. Thanks for your continued advice and assistance. As I said before, the forum is awesome!
Once the rain lets up and I can wash the car, I'll take/post pictures (the car isn't nearly as nice as most of yours, but its an SC300, and its mine...that makes it exciting to me)
-Scott