Hi all,

I've been following these forums around for a while, mainly for information for info on our RX400h but recently purchased a 02 SC430 Black on Black. The previous owner took really good care of the car, looks almost brand new. Just wanted to put up a couple of pics and say hi. Apologize for the bad pix, they were taken with the iphone.

I wasn't planning on heavily modding the car but couldn't resist some additions:
1. Clear Bra (DIY)
2. Lexus Tourmaline Rims w/ non run flat tires
3. 6 Coats of Zaino on the exterior.
4. Injen Intake
5. Red-out rear tail lights

In the next day or so i will be upgrading the stock system..
The ML system is nice, but not quite good enough IMO, I've had pretty high end systems in all my previous cars.. And also, my mother in law owns a car stereo shop.... so why not?

I'll post a new thread on that when it happens.

 

Welcome! Nice looking SC you got there. How long did it take you to do the clear bra?

 

Really an outstanding sc . Of course I am biased I have a 2005 pebble beach black with red interior. Tell me about how you did the clear bra. Where did you buy the kit and how difficult was it to do. I have been quoted 700.00 for a paint protection film. Since your car is black is the clear bra very detectable.


Buddy

 

Nice SC and welcome to the CL family. Do you have redout tails? If so, could you post up a better pic of it? I just ordered some redout film but would like a better idea of what they will look like. Thanks!

 

Welcome to CL, you have a gorgeous car! Thanks for sharing the pics, you must have some deep pockets for all the mods you've done!

 

Beautiful car. Just remember, "black isn't a color...it's a profession".

 

Thanks for all the comments..
Regarding the clear bra, the installation wasn't too bad. But it was much harder than I initially thought it would be. To be honest, I bought the clear bra kit right after i successfully installed the invisible screen on my iphone. I was thinking, how much harder could it be?
I was pretty wrong on that assumption, you don't realize how much bigger in proportion the front end of the car is to the cell phone until you start doing it.

It took maybe ~5 hours to do the whole front (mirrors, fenders, hood, front bumper). A lot of the time is spent just figuring out what to do.. once you get a feel for it, it starts to be easier. Not to mention, i attempted to do it on my own at first. Definitely need a friend to help you out on the larger parts.

The procedure is pretty simple
Basically you need two liquid solutions in spray bottles: diluted soap and diluted alcohol. Basically the soap solution will allow the clear sheet to slide around on your car and when you get it in the right place, you peel up and spray alcohol underneath to get it to stick (alcohol dries faster). After that you squeegee out the liquid from under the film.

To mold the curved areas, you need to use a blow dryer to heat the film and stretch it over.

The hardest part is definitely the front bumper.

**Recommendations:
-I wouldn't use the included squeegee they give you with the kits, it's way too stiff and it ended up causing tiny swirl-marks on my car. I didn't realize it until it all dried and looked under fluorescent lighting. I needed to re-zaino the entire front a couple of times to get the swirling to dissapear. I would go out and buy a nicer rubber squeegee if i were to do it again.

-don't worry too much about the smaller air bubbles, they will slowly go away. Initially after doing my car i was pretty upset at the results.. I ended up feeling like it was a complete waste of time and money because there tiny bubbles all over the place.. However, after driving for a couple of days the air/liquid bubbles disappear. Squeegee the best that you can, the smaller the ending air bubbles the better your results will be, but don't beat yourself up after the installation, keep in mind it will get better as the sun begins to do it's work on it.

Total cost on the kit: ~$60 shipped from ebay..i forgot the actual amount, it was purchased several months ago (once in a while you will see a no reserve auction on the kit, it surprises me how little interest there is on sc430 parts on ebay). It was a precut kit and the pieces fit pretty nicely

I personally wouldn't pay the extra ~$650 to do the labor no matter how much nicer it comes out. If i were to do it again with a friend, i could probably finish in under 2 hours with good results. I'd recommend to give it a try if you could get a kit for a good price, there's no real way to mess up your car. You'll just waste the kit at most, but even that would require you do be pretty barbaric

I'll get pictures up when i get off work of the clear bra "line" and the tail lights when i get off work.

Overall it's not bad at all.. if you ask me it almost looks "professional"

 

@ Tromly.. deep pockets? you're actually completely wrong on that assumption. Me and my wife just had a baby and I bought the SC right before i found out she was pregnant. (~a year ago) She's been giving me grief ever since and definitely wouldn't be supportive of me if i started to blow serious cash on this car. Overall i've spent below $1k

Clear bra ~$60 ..ebay
Tourmaline Rims w/ tires $1000.. ebay (but was able to sell the stock rims for $400 to offset the pricing.. so $600 spent to upgrade rims tires).
Injen Intake $100 ..craigslist
Red out film $15.. ebay

 

Gosh I wish I was as brave as you. I should learn how to do an oil change first haha.

 

Nice job PS. Your efforts have paid off with one sharp looking car that you'll be able to enjoy for years.

 

Congratulations, welcome, and thanks for the pics !!

 

welcome to CL
Nice SC you have there

 

Congrats!! Welcome to the circle....Excellent color choice. Will definitely Clear Bra, when I repaint my front end again.

 

Petasheep,
Congrats! and welcome to CL.

I'd love to have some feedback with pics and specs on how the stereo upgrade goes. Been wanting to upgrade our '02 SC stereo for a while. Put new speakers in the front doors and it does sound better but I'd really like more functionality.

Good Luck!

 

As promised, here are some pictures of the clear bra and tail lights up close.
The tail light red out is only on the orange section of the light.. I was very happy with the results, i believe it makes the car look much newer. If you're looking from more than 3 ft away you can't even tell it's a red out, it looks very much the light is just all red.

-For installation of the red out, i recommend buying enough film such that you can lay a large enough peice over the orange and trace the shape with a sharpie. (They actually recommend you taking a exacto knife to the film while it's on your light, but i couldn't do that to my car).

-AFter you have the outline traced, simply put it back on the wax paper and cut the shape out with a scissor. Now you have a template to work with.

-Use the template to trace the shape onto a new unpeeled film then flip it around and do the same so you have a traced shape for both left and right sides. Then simply cut with a scissor and position correctly with the aid of soap water as a lubricant. finally, use a squeegy to push the water from under the film.


The clear bra is hard to see, but i tried to take as close of a picture as possible, if you look closely you can tell it's there.

Apologies for the dirty car, it's been a while since I had washed it. Its hard to have time when constantly on diaper duty.