I have 3 Sc's. 68K miles, 130K miles and 231K miles. Not a rattle between them. Even after one dash was fully disassembled and reassembled.

 

(Looked like this 1 week later)

 

OP am glad you are slowly enjoying your SC . It may not yet be where it should be but you will get there. I really suggest that you learn how to work on small things and find out where to get parts aside from the dealership so you can save a lot.

Keep it up !

 

We finally got that taken care of today. It took a number of adjustments with wheels on/off the car and tons of test drives before settling for where it is at now. We basically found a large nearby parking lot and did our own little autocross setup to check for rubbing on hard braking into a corner and it was fine. I did notice that when turning the wheel full that it rubs on the inner front plastic fender cover so that will be addressed.

By the time we got done it was dark outside no no pics, but you are correct. The front does indeed sit a little higher than the back when it comes to wheel vs. top of fender measurements. That is fine with me as frankly I don't care what it looks like so long as it works right.

Well I have been reading a lot in the forums here so that is helping. At least I am not buying the wrong parts anymore so that's a bonus.

I did take the entire center console out myself because my parts from Lexus arrived so that is something. However, as soon as I got the radio out, I could see that the previous owner hacked the wiring together and there is no way I am going near that mess. He also used plastic side brackets to mount the radio and even when tight it rattles bad, so have to source better solution. I went to a couple of local stereo shops to get it done right but was not impressed so still looking. The shop is booked until next week for brakes so I hope to get the rattles gone before then.

 

^^ It is just slightly aggressive on rake. Oversteer is another thing to be aware of once an LSD and stiffer rear swaybar are added. With the factory SC300 alignment settings you will feel like you are driving a big FR-S... only with no traction control. The wide rear tire tread helps considerably but this is another reason to look into a modified "Lance" alignment (listed on MKIV.com) after the swaybar addition. It dials out this tendency and makes the car more neutral. The "modified" part has to do with toning down the calibration settings intended for road racing use at the expense of inner tire wear. But to be fair the factory MKIV TT alignment settings are known to be prone to inner tire wear.

But it's also the tire choice that makes a huge difference in predictability with an LSD.

On the (now discontinued) BFGoodrich KDW-2 compounds I more than once encountered some frightening sudden oversteer in the rain. They basically weren't rated for wet conditions. The Lance alignment helped a lot but further switching to the BFG Comp2 compound all around cured 95% of the rain traction issues... if you drive carefully.

Although once I've been caught off guard while shifting into 2nd on a low speed 15mph sharp turn on a wet road. The T-1 Torsen has this tendency to step left a bit while you're counter steering. Once it happens to you the first time you learn quickly how to avoid it though.

Rain safety is the only concern really. Calm and sensible non-aggressive driving in the rain with an LSD is still quite fine (mostly not powering into turns in the wet).

 

I admire your determination in getting this ride back to its glory. You definitely made it clear how much of a POS it was, even compared to your teg. Glad you did so much to get it right. I'd personally have sold it. Any previous owner who did that bad of a job on upgrades, would have been a deal breaker. Would have fixed the suspension and then sold it for something non hacked.

But this situation makes for an informative post! Much respect.

 

OP - Your thread title had been modified as per your request.

Good Luck !

 

Just like eknine said, He's caught the bug! Good to hear the OP is bringing the SC back to life.

 

As much as it seems a pain in the ... There is some good out of all this. I know from my experience, all the learning I had to do with fixing/modifying components has lead me to a great satisfaction and understanding of what the car is. At first I was thinking It would be just like my LS400 build, but I couldnt have been more wrong. There is way more potential with the sc's and so much enjoyable to drive. Even with mine being a death trap as I transfered it from my garage to my buddys shop, I had more fun in 15 min than I had ever had in my LS. I have had to say "Are you kidding me!" alot more but my smile is ear to ear. Enjoy the chunk of automotive history you own.

 

good job Gerrb you are on it
anytime my SC's get springs or suspension work its to the shop for a "lance alignment".
I like the way it sort of follows the road/track afterwards. I would imagint it would be a good place to start for autocross if thats your thing. I like it on mine for daily usage make my SC aka giant boat feel more "nimble"