ivanj

If the tires have plenty of tread and are safe, I'd apply $ elsewhere for now. IMHO. I've found satisfaction in life increases when you improve things incrementally, given you already have a "good bones" basis. Doing everything at once smacks of gluttony; thinking of how to proceed reasonably, when you have the cash, is prudent. Make haste slowly.

If you are worry about flats get a family membership in AAA.

As far as cheap tires go I've spoken to a couple of racers who have tried out the Achilles brand that are made in Indonesia, Vietnam, and so on. Does anyone have experience with them?

PS if you like the look of drilled and slotted rotors fine. They are just not necessary for the street; I've written of the track uses elsewhere. The problem with many drilled rotors of the cheap variety is they are not engineered/machined properly. If you search you can see info perhaps videos on this.

RENEGATE28

Thank you, got it! Yeah there are certain things I want to do to the car that are much more needed. My Lexus is not in the best of conditions in the “looks” department. For example, the high mount brake light was stolen (yes I know it sounds crazy, but I assure you it happened) so I have to replace that. The antena was snapped off when my mother was driving it and she drove passed one of those residential area entrances (the pole went up and came back down as my mom drove it so the antena just snapped). There are other issues as well such as not having A/C and the Convertible aspect of the car not working. I will post some pictures before I start working on the car so I can show the before and after. I have a lot to work to do, but I’m sure it will be worth it, I truly love the Lexus sc430!

Harold57

Renegate28, yes, please do post before and after pictures.
Regarding the spare tire issue, yes there is room for a spare tire, just not a full size tire. There is a spare tire kit available or there are a few plans that are documented here on this forum about how to fabricate your own on the cheap. There are also threads discussing which spare tires will fit. (I got mine off of a Supra for less than $50. You can post on the Supra message boards asking if anyone has one for sale.) Some folks install the spare tire and others just carry a repair kit and trunk sized inflator/compressor.

leexed

On a different subject.....if anyone here has upgraded the radio head unit and retained the rest of the oem system...I strongly suggest adding a secondary mono amplifier and replacing the factory sub with a higher output unit. I mounted a 3k watt amp in the trunk area with an 8 inch skar sub woofer in the factory location with a 3/4 inch mdf spacer ring to clear the trunk floor pan brace. Vehicle still looks stock but the sound is killer. Sure it will beat hard if turned up, but at a medium volume output the music sounds very full.

Bgw70

Would you please share how you wired it into the system.
i have read where other tried this but it wouldn’t work.

Harold57

Pictures would be nice & appreciated if you can also.

leexed

Thanks for your interest... the wiring is quite simple. Most higher quality head units have a separate rca sub output. This will supply the signal for the extra amp. The amp is independent of all other factory components. The amp has its own battery power feed and gets turned on by the antenna signal feed. The amp feeds the separate sub and the output (volume) of the bass is controlled by its own sensitivity ****. Pics to follow.

leexed

as you can see..the trunk mat remains flat, the volume control is hidden, and there is no change in the back seat appearance. Quite happy with the sound quality upgrade without making any changes in any of the cars' design.

GmanSC

Wait ! Two amps control one sub ? So the extra amp only for the bass?

leexed

The original amp is used only for the door and rear side speakers as designed. The new amp strictly powers the replacement sub.The lead that connected to the old sub is simply disconnected. Ed

ivanj

1. Several of the bulbs had burned out in my instrument cluster including the Check Engine light. This kept me from passing a smog check so it put my registration in jeopardy.1. With an assistant we followed instructions posted on this board as well as a recently acquired Repair Manual set. I believe he looked at a Utoob video also. It was very easy to do; "many hands make light work." Just make sure you unhook the battery whilst installing it and don't drop the clips into the bowels of the dash. No you don't have to put the car on the hoist.Needless to say I passed the smog test. what is interesting is they used to check the quality of the exhaust. Now they just look to see if the catalyst is are installed and if the eg O2 sensors are working through the OBD2 port.Very pleased with the results. - the intensity of the cluster during the daytime is an added bonus. A real safety feature - I don't have to take my eyes off the road as often to monitor my speed. Highly recommended service - I received the cluster in less time that I thought.The only "negative" it shows the tach and the temp gauges running slightly higher than before. No concern, although warmed up the tach idle is about 900 rpm but it was about 700 before. Via the OBD2 (the post install smog test) says it is 750.

2. I sprayed all the rubber bushings with Silicone Dressing while the car was on the rack. The car runs MUCH quieter now. Since most tire cleaners are 99% silicone with a bit of fragrance I used this to dress the rubber. And I found a non-existent right side front sway bush which might have lead to the feeling of roughness and even bottoming there. SO:

3. Next step is to replace my front sway bar links. One is bad - but I'll replace them both since the cost is about $70 for the pair.

I was surprised how disproportionally thin the rear sway bay is. One guess is that most manufacturers tend to set up cars to understeer slightly for liability reasons. I'll address it once I can find the proper Lexus part number for the replacement rear bar and bushings. I've searched on the board but there does not seem to be a definitive answer.The car is incredibly rust free even though it is the Naughty SC 430.

ivanj

or Congrats!
What is the low pass frequency of the amplifier or is it a full range amp? Since you using the RCA sub output, at what frequency and slope does it cut off the high frequencies?

leexed

Can't really give you any numbers. This is a mono fully adjustable amp, I don't look at numbers, I tune it by ear! The spec sheet says...freq resp 10hz-300hz +- 1db s/n ratio >85db bass boost 10db 2 -8 ohm
Hope this helps. Ed

ivanj

Sounds like the right tool for the job! As you know the ML amp doesn't like below 6-8 Ohms.

One day I'll do the acoustic engineering for the "enclosure size" of passenger compartment and trunk including woofer and amp characteristics for both a replacement amp/woofer and just a replacement woofer. My original woofer is gone but I can wait to replace it.

Where I live I actually like the stock system with the disks, FM and the long retractable antenna.

VVTiBob

Mmmmmm.....how do you measure the “enclosure size” of a convertible with the top down, just wondering? It’s rhetorical.