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I have a 1998 GS400 which I love. I will never get rid of it.
I threw a rod last December and not wanting to part with the car picked up a 1UZFE engine from Japan with less than 45,000 miles. 37 hours later, the new engine was in and it was by far the best choice.
Engine and everything was less than $3,500 but I did it myself. I attribute the amount of time it took to the fact it was my first swap.
With the new engine, it drives better than it did when I bought it at less than 80K miles.
Howdy. I’m Alex, im from the Denver area, and the day after christmas i bought a 97 sc300. I’ve been a car enthusiast for a while so when i saw the listing on craigslist i was hype. I have a pretty fair idea of what i want to do my car, but any recommendations would be appreciated. i’m looking to go for about 550-600 whp. good standalone tunes?
Hey Guys! So my friend and I may have just got ourselves into one here. We bought a 1993 sc300 off a co-worker today for $300, clean title, 166k miles, pretty good if you ask me. SO FAR we know that it has this wrong with it...It needs: a new u joint, oil pan gasket, water pump gasket, the steering probably has a good 180* degrees of play in it before it starts turning, I jacked it up and could shake the tire left and right pretty good, so I am assuming it needs an entire steering rack but you tell me it might just be the tie rods, bushing, etc. The fuel gauge is broken, window motors are both broken, both interior doors handles snapped off, valve cover gasket is leaking, it needs a new serpentine belt, and the ac doesn't blow cold :/, that's everything mechanically wrong and on top of that the interior is another story. It needs new seats, steering wheel, center console, antenna amended finally the stereo doesn't turn on. SO, if anyone could recommend where I start, any tips, tricks, and or where to find parts for cheap that would be awesome thanks. I want to get this poor 2jz back on its feet and into a good home.
Unfortunately there isn't any one spot for SC parts, you just have to search and compare prices.
It looks like you have a decision to make. With all the issues you need to tackle it may be easier to yank the engine and work on it out of the car, especially if you have another car to drive now. The upper oil pan seal can't be done with the engine in the car and the timing belt, water pump, and cam seals and lower oil pan seal and valve cover gasket will be easier with the engine out. This will also allow you to change the motor and transmission mounts as well which probably need it based on the condition of everything else.
If the car is going to be driven daily now I would start with the steering for your sake and everyone else on the road.
Hi guys. Been lurking for a while here and decided to finally post.
I am from Europe where these cars are quite rare. So when I saw one come up for sale I jumped on the opprtunity. It was quite rough but ive been making steady progress.
The day I bought it
Anyway quite a lot has been done to the car. My biggest inspiration was Lettut who gave me the idea for the BMW 6 speed swap. That is nearly done, hopefully I can soon make a build thread about it.
Sorry, I'm so non-technology savy I don't know if I'm posting in the right spot. I introduced myself earlier but I figured this was the best place to get this burden off my back. So I just sent the e-transfer deposit and on Friday me and one of my kids will drive up and pick up our fifth SC400. It's a really rough 92 but we've got some plans for it.
It's a bit of a family affair. I've got 4 sons, so, I guess having enough 1uz's to qualify for fleet insurance isn't so crazy.
Here's the descriptions on the cars and a few random snippits of info in no particular order.
I'm driving the clean red 92 (garnet pearl, beige interior, gold trim). Mechanically stock and mostly refurbished (timing belt, water pump, coils, wires, plugs, distributors, 02 sensors, new intake hose, two new power steering hoses, KYB shocks and mounts, work split about 60/40 with me in the garage or at my buddys shop). Creature comforts have been upgraded a bit with a steering wheel swap from a ~2000ish altezza, diode dynamics fog lights and LED bulb upgrades to help the night drives, pioneer double din dvd deck and focal 5 channel amp. The 26year old factory speakers turned to dust so I found odds and sodds of my kids old system and got it running with the stock sub. No warning lights anymore, idles perfect, drives great, but it's running a little anemic so next week it's off to my buddy's garage for a new fuel filter and check up. It's been on mobil1 and premium fuel and Victoria BC lexus technicians for the first 175,000km of it's life. Short term plans are to swap the ECU's between the 92's to see if that helps with the power to see if I've got to sort that or maybe clean some injectors. Daily driver, probably 30,000km per year for me on it. In the next year we might try recovering the seats and as soon as I find another set of rims that will clear we're going to put the LS400 front calipers on.
Son # 3 is driving our other red 92, silver trim with spoiler. The paint has a slightly orange undertone so I'm not sure if its the same paint code. It's looking nice on KYB shocks, mounts and 18" infiniti rims. I'm probably stealing the rims from him next week when we switch from winter tires so I can fit the bigger brakes. He got a pioneer double din for his birthday that went in today, and aside from a ding on the driver rear fender (just a crease/dent, no rust) it's a bit of a unicorn. Clean body, no rust, clean motor and tranny, nice interior, lexus service history in Edmonton, it's got 280,000KM but it's pulling really strong. Idles smooth, no warning lights. Needed new power steering fluid and shock mounts but otherwise has been low maintenance. Driver seat needs some TLC but there aren't many more plans for this one for a while, maybe the steering rack and redo the bushings. We'll see.
My second is driving a clean body sandstone beige 95. I replaced the O2 sensors but it's looking like he's going to need a new cat, but that will come in a bit. He's going through one of those stages so he chopped the exhaust - loud through straight pipes, so mom knows when he's coming over to visit. His was a really solid 95 on some fairly expensive coilovers, big rims. He's done the typical late teen things like put one of those retro steering wheels and stereo, nice slightly vintage JL 5 channel amp in the trunk. Unfortunately the rims that came with it didn't fit over the LS400 front brakes so he's riding on my vintage BBS rims. He's handy so he's getting good at opening up the front lights. He did his, cleaned the projectors, LED bulb swap, polished the glass and resealed. So much nicer. He's going to do that for the rest of ours over time. Plans in the short term is to scavenge the exhaust from the green mule to get rid of the noise tickets in the short term while he goes to school building something in the garage. Long term we want to swap a CD009 or T56 into it, but first we want to go to school on the green mule before we cut up this one. Needs a new front windshield and a speaker here or there, but no big projects in the short term.
My oldest is in the first one we bought. An emerald jade 95, silver trim, 180,000km with dealer service history. There hadn't been one on the market for a while and one popped up in Saskatoon. Me and son #2 drove 6 hours out to Saskatoon. Engine and transmission was 8.5/10, interior 8, body was/is bad, very bad, but we made the trip so might as well not come back empty handed. I had 6 hours to figure out how to let my wife know I had bought a car without first mentioning it to her as I drove it back in a snowstorm, with a wonky rear ball joint that made the back end shimmy and shudder terrifyingly as I went over patches of black ice, but we got it back safely. Had the usual refurb on this one. Aformentioned control arm to solve that shudder, o2 sensors, kyb shocks and mounts all around. Swapped over to LS400 breaks. Did coils, plugs, wires. Has a double din pioneer (I should see if they'll sponsor a tshirt or something) and aftermarket amp. Body is still rough so we call this one the green mule. The plan is that next week this one is going into our garage, on blocks and start project work. Plan is to use the interior in the new 92 and use this one to go to school on a few bigger projects. We're looking out for a cheap 5 speed to swap into it. Are going to try to swap the exhaust manifolds towards the front and see if we can get a rough single turbo in the front, shoot for finding the cheapest, swap meet, mad max street ruffian. It's going to be rough but this is the car we always go to school on, figure out where it breaks.
Fifth one is a green 92. No exhaust (ug), but no warning lights and solid maintenance history. Supposed to be solid mechanically but no door panels and high mileage. Next week the two green ones are going on blocks beside each other in the garage. Plan is to strip the 95 and use the interior in the 92. Don't plan to touch the 95 motor except to clean up the top end, but plan to drop the transmission and swap a 5 speed. The 92 will pull the motor right out, new exhaust manifolds, probably get the harness redone, and see if we can clean up the body.
Anyhow, way too late, gotta hit the rack. I'll see if I can get one of my boys to be VP of multimedia and upload a photo or two....
I've been a long time stalker oh I mean lurker... I bought a ‘95 SC400 about a year ago for my youngest demon spawn. We both love older car, trucks, etc. etc. it’s platinum metallic or depending on the light a blueish silver so I’ve been told. It’s not in perfect shape, but for $1,200 that is to be expected. The radiator did need replacing first thing as it has a small crack in the plastic on the top, easy enough fix. It has some scratches and dents here and there as well as some clear coat issues but nothing too bad. At a glance, I thought the seat were shredded But it was just the stitching that came undone in several places. Nothing a cheap seat cover couldn’t fix for the short term.
i was fortunate enough to get into both the driver’s seat and passenger seat with that “well poo” look on my face when I went to pull the doors shut and I was left sitting there with the door handle in my hand with a still open car door. I knew they were getting close to that point with those two ton doors, but I couldn’t get them fixed before it happened. There was also an issue with the radio, I was told by the person we bought it from that and I quote “the person he bought it from pulled the factory radio out and had cut the factory wiring harness” smart money says he pulled it out and cut the harness having little or no car audio knowledge considering he and no you can’t make this stuff up!! He got his paws on a aftermarket harness, cut those wires off, figures out the pin out of the harness and soldered those to the harness wires then attempted to solder those wires to the plug on the back of the radio it’s self. Yes, that happened.
after I got ahold of a set of original factory plugs and fixing that mess the radio would would power on but no sound. Fast forward some trunk monkey time. When I pulled out the factory amp, I was instantly at a stroke level of irritation because he’d also cut off those plugs as well and attempted to wire all of those together I can only assume he did not have any understanding of how the audio system works going back and forth between the radio, amp, and crossover. I had to locate another set of factory plugs for the trunk and spend a crap ton of time soldering it all back together and MUCH to my surprise the radio, speakers, everything still worked, I do t know how everything wasn’t fried but I’ll take that as a win.
This car gives me a chance to hopefully teach the boy something useful other than sitting in the trunk cussing and fussing. My hope is that he’ll appreciate and value this car more having put in the time, effort into turning the wrenches his self and the best part of it all, I get to spend quality time with my boy. Well I think I’ve bored you all enough with this, for now at least.
Hello! Never been a part of a car club before mostly found this forum because i was hoping to get some help from some experienced sc owners! Just got my sc300 about a month ago and ive been loving it! fantastic cars! Mines a 1994, original green with some surface rust spots and little body damage although nothing major. Mostly everything important works you know, engine, transmission, headlights, passenger seat warmer for the lady. you know essentials haha. Anyways. Been replacing some things here and there like air filters, oil, tires, and cleaned it all up right away. now im on to some of the smaller things. And heres where i had a few questions i cant figure out at the moment. A few features don't work such as Steering column tilt, Dome lights, door lock switches, antenna is always up, courtesy lights in doors, ignition keyhole light, drivers side seat warmer, lights in the sun visors, rear view mirror night mode, driving position memory system. I think that covers it all haha. ive checked fuses related to these things and they look fine. even tried swapping them around with the same results. Sorry to come on here and give a big list of problems right away :P i hope to get the chance to talk to people and learn a lot about these awesome cars! I will try and get some pictures of my car up in a couple days just so everyone can see it! Hope you're all having an awesome day!
p.s i was told some of the features like the column tilt(might be the only one) went out when the previous owner placed the car in the ditch hah!
I bought a '93 SC300 just last Saturday, and it is my first car at the age of 18 for $1900, and I'm actually quite shocked how many small things in the car still work! Originally I was hooked on the Honda Prelude while researching some cool JDM cars, until I researched up on the SC300/400. I even had the car in Gran Turismo on my PC Emulator (Didn't play the original game on the PS1) The previous owner even setup a custom exhaust on the car and it's nice and loud and sounds amazing, it attracts quite some attention. I'm also extremely new to cars mechanically, I'm inexperienced which makes me nervous, but I'm also excited to go on an adventure with my new daily. It has a new oil pan, radiator, sparkplugs, breaks, rotors. A/C just needed a new fuze which I replaced and felt like such an amazing mechanic. (Haha jk) The interior is pretty dirty, not very bad, but it does need a good wash, and I need to replace both the driver and left passenger seats. Shockingly the back seats are still somewhat good looking with only a small minor tear. Moonroof works perfectly, and so do each and every speaker in the car! Can't drive the car atm cause the Tires are actually really bald and dangerous to drive in. And I'm going to replace all the lights, One of the Tail lights aren't functional anymore. There is a small unnoticeable dent, and a small chip in the window. And looking to get a new Paint Job, I'm really striving for a pretty red color, or a nice black. And I can't forget the anime stickers I'm gonna slap on my baby!
I live in the Duluth, MN area and have a 98 SC300. I bought it a couple yeas ago in stock trim. The first purchase for the car was an AEM Infinity ecu, with patch harness and sensors. The next upgrade was an auto delete, went to a CD009. Then it needed new rear gears, so a (3.133?) diff out an older GS(?) with new axles and solid diff mounts. A new set of wheels was mandatory to clear my new Supra TT brake set. Then came the BC Racing coil overs 18k F and 14k R. I broke a couple bolts during the front swap, and that all went horribly wrong, so new upper and lower front control arms / ball joints / poly bushings. I have the rear poly bushings, but not the motivation to install them at this time as I know i will end up having to replace all the rear control arms / drop the sub-frame. The last purchase, as of this writing, is a long tube header to get rid of those factory cats in the manifolds.
In the meantime I bought a second 2JZ GE VVTi. I also bought BC rods, JE Ultra pistons, Real Street main caps, GSC S2 sticks with springs and retainers, GTE oil pump, piston oil squirters, new water pump, Drift Motion T belt tensioner, Gates racing belt, ATI super damper, ACL bearings, all ARP hardware, and a few more goodies. With any luck the machine shop, who's had my spare motor for 14 months now (whole different story, including giving me back an engine with steel shavings in the main oil galley. So they have it back again), will finally be done with the block and head work so I can get it in the car.
What is probably the next upgrade is the fuel, since I'm having pulsation issues. Apparently the stock fuel system is not ready for my 1150cc injectors and E85, but it will never support my end goals anyways. New system will include a PHR triple pump hanger with 2 Walbro 525s to start, hopefully I don't need all 3, and -8an feed and return with an Areomotive X1 regulator. The 1150cc's will not support my goal, but I had them on hand and the stock injectors were already maxed out. FIC and ID both believe I need 2000+cc injectors.
The end goal is 1032RWHP with a 6871 Comp. I want to make my goal and keep it as streetable as possible, as it will always be a dual purpose car. My track use is road course, not drag race. It will be at it's 2nd Powercruise this year and my 10th, Co**d19 better not ruin that event too. The first drive as a 6 speed New wheels and brakes New coilovers
03-22-20, 05:44 PM
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Just Got A Sc300
New to the thread and Lexus!
