Modifying The Is 300

[smooth1]

This is just to update my post. The 2003 IS 300 has been sold. So now I can focus on the 05' again. :)

[isaiahyork]

man. this is a very helpful thread... your budget is alot larger than mine, but would u mind posting prices on some of the other mods (brakes, halos, ect.)???

Thanks man. sweet ride!!

edit: sorry, just now read the last entry.. thnx!

[smooth1]

man. this is a very helpful thread... your budget is alot larger than mine, but would u mind posting prices on some of the other mods (brakes, halos, ect.)???

Thanks man. sweet ride!!

edit: sorry, just now read the last entry.. thnx!

The thread continues. I transferred all the mods to the new 2005. Everything is the same. The car is even the same color.

I haven't posted prices so much because I kinda get everything from a wholesale dealer friend of mine. I only know what I pay him, I don't really know how much all this stuff really costs. If you want prices, I have everything listed here. You can go to any aftermarket online store and get the prices. But I agree, it's not cheap. But if you do it one thing at a time and just pace yourself, it's really not that hard on the wallet.

I'm pretty much just gearing up for the supercharger at this point.

[isaiahyork]

cool. yea, i figured you were getting some kinda deal on all these parts... or you got a badass promotion. lol. yea. i'm going to start with the really cheap simple stuff and every once in a while, throw something expensive in there.... i still need to fix my bumper (someone backed into me at my job and didnt leave a note) and the drivers side window is struggling to roll up and down, i havent touched the controls in 3 weeks cuz i dont wanna bother getting it back up.... plus the roof is making an odd sound when sliding back into place.. i think the motors dying or something... i'm not too car smart, but i'm trying :)

[smooth1]

I would paint the calipers first then. The paint will cost you about 30 bucks, the decals were 10. And man do they make a huge difference. Whatever color you pick will be great. You can do the actual brake change over later. Then I would work on lowering it. That won't be cheap, but the stance of the car is awsome!!!!!! And of course rims and tires. But that goes without saying!!! LOL!!

[isaiahyork]

i wanna paint em. but i want it to match the color of the car... red mica or autumn sunset fire or some wierd name like that. i could just do a nice dark red since i'm going to need to get it painted after the body kit anyways.

[smooth1]

You could go black calipers with red Lexus emblems on it. That would be way cool! That way if the red isn't dead on it won't really matter.

[smooth1]

Of course then I would alos go with chrome rims to set off the calipers.

[isaiahyork]

lol. i like your thinking. that would be nice looking... 40 bucks huh? the stores around here never carry anything with lexus... where's a good shop for decals?

[smooth1]

lol. i like your thinking. that would be nice looking... 40 bucks huh? the stores around here never carry anything with lexus... where's a good shop for decals?

Go here: http://www.jvdgraphics.com/infosentpage.php

Click on brake caliper stickers. then just follow the instructions, tell him the color you want and your car model. Pay the man, and in about 7-10 days, an envelope shows up with 2 sets of decals for the front and rear. ( The rear set is cool, it's the same as the emblem on the trunk.) B)

[isaiahyork]

sorry for asking so many questions, but you said you did the whole brakes project in one day. so the paint will be dry by the next day and ready to go? (only got one car and i work all the time)

[smooth1]

Yeah, I started around 9:30 am and finished everything the same day. If you get the ceramic brush on brake caliper paint, you recoat every 20 minutes until your happy. So I put the whole car on jack stands, took off all 4 tires,removed the calipers and disconnected the brake lines, using a small screw to temporarily plug the brake line, then removed the pads,cleaned the calipers off with a brush and brake caliper cleaner, making sure I got as much old brake dust off as possible, and painted the first coat, then went to the next caliper and did the same, then the next, and so on. After I removed all the brake pads and put on the first coat, I just recoated all the way around in the same direction. Figure about ten minutes to paint each coat, so the timing worked great 4 times around the car. Then I let it dry for an hour. Maybe 2. I think I had lunch then.Then I took all the discs off, and installed the steel braided brake lines.( Oh, the day before or when ever before you get to the day your gonna do this, if your replacing the discs also, I painted the center hubs of them with a few coats of high temp paint also. So the day your ready to put them on, you can without having to paint them also. If you want to go all the way, you can have them powder coated, which is what I'm going to do later. ) then put the new discs on, then installed the new brake pads, and reassembled the brake calipers on the discs. You can handle the calipers at this point, but try to keep it to a minimum. If you get any finger prints in the paint, don't panick, you can brush a new coat on them very easily when your done and it will still look great. Then I bled out the air in the lines and relocked them down.

Once I finished that, I clean off the calipers with a towel and glass cleaner, and put the decals on. Then I used a small piece of cardboard to hold over the tire well and the disc itself, and gave it a light coat of clear. ( If you go to heavy right away, the edges of the decals will raise and you won't like that look. So go easy at first. Then move on to the next caliper and let that set up. Once youv'e gone around the car, now you can give it a medium coat. I went around the car three times with a medium coat of the high temp clear. Now just let that set up for an hour or so. Put your tires back on, again, really try not to touch the calipers. Let the car down, it'll sit over night, and then your set. Iv'e had no problems at all with them. In fact, the calipers clean up real nice now and very easy.

Hope this helps you out. Good luck, and you have to post pics of before and after so I can see.

And btw, the whole reason for this thread is to help others out, exchange ideas, learn new stuff etc, etc. No problem. I'm glad you like my ride. B)

[isaiahyork]

i have a friend that does powder coating. he's building a sweet Studebaker... we're close so he said if i ever wanted anything done he would do it for the cost of the powder... but that takes a day or so right?

[smooth1]

yeah, but when you order the discs and they come in, just give them to him and when he gives them back then schedule you day to do the work. ( And actually, cleaning, primer, powder, and bake doesn't take much time at all. Once they cool, they are ready.)

[isaiahyork]

well, i got new disc's and shoes in feburary, so i i'll prolly just do the caliper's for now, and the discs when i get em again. and i might consider some colors pads like you did (i think the red would be nice with the black calipers and red logo), how are they by the way?

[smooth1]

EBC's are the best in my book.

[smooth1]

Iv'e been looking at some new shoes for the ride. I have bridgestones on there now, but they have a weird wobble sound to them.

Okay, this problem has been solved. I am going to switch over to the Michelin Pilots. They will be here in a few days. So I'll post the results then.

[smooth1]

I have switched all my accessory lighting over to LED's now also. Looks very cool!! I changed the dome light to a 12 bulb LED, and the license plate lights to 6 bulb LED's. ( Now they match the HID look back there!!) The trunk light is a 12 bulb LED, and the all I have left to do is the map light. ( I need to figure out how that all come apart without breaking it.)

The LED's look awsome !! I went with white LED's. And yes, they are way bright enouph. Now I want to do the dash with white LED's also. But I need to keep studying first. Apperently it's not just an easy switch over. You have to have the correct load resistor for each different color, like red LED's require a different load resistor than white LED's. So, that may be why Parking 17 can only run them at 80%. I'll get it figured out.

[dcfish]

smooth1, You'll love the pilot sports. They wear like steel. I have 55,000 on my set and will replace them in e few weeks.

[smooth1]

Yeah, I kinda let the guy talk me into the Bridgestones last time. They were descent at first, but now I think they'er crap. I have to say though, Not that I'm endorsing a company or anything, the place I went to for tires is giving me full credit of the purchase price of the Bridgestones to apply to the new Pilots. I put about 2,000 miles on the Bridgestones. All I told them was that I just wasn't happy with these tires. I was very surprised when he said what they are going to do. They aren't even charging labor. Just the price difference of the tires. I think they just earned a repeat customer.....

smooth1, You'll love the pilot sports. They wear like steel. I have 55,000 on my set and will replace them in e few weeks.

So you really like the Pilot's huh? Cool. That's nice to hear. I was wondering about the life of the tire. thanks DC.

[dcfish]

No Prob

[smooth1]

This is an update for an idea that I have been investigating.

I've been looking into a clutch pulley for the supercharger that will allow the pulley to be a free spin pulley, until I flip a switch or some kind that will egage the pulley to the drive position and spin up the supercharger. This would in effect aloow me to have the supercharger mounted in the ready position, with no parasitic drag on the motor while it's not being used.

I have to do alot of research on this first. Is the pulley strong enouph? What is the wear on the clutch? ( how long will it last?) also tuning the motor. I would need two tuning sets to account for supercharger on and off driving. Is this even possible, Is there another way that would be better, etc. etc. etc.

I am working on it though. I'm at this point not even sure it is neccassary. But before I begin I would like to find out.

[isaiahyork]

i would be really interested in your findings... i would love a setup like that. thats one this that i would be able to turn on/off at the flip of a switch too. you'd prolly save enough in gas when not useing it to pay for the setup

[smooth1]

Okay, I have the new Michelin Pilot S's on the car. VERY FRICKIN NICE!!!! They look great, they feel great. I am very happy. the only complaint I have is the same complaint I have with all the performance tires. On really course textured roads they can carry the noise. And on expansion joints the ping can get loud also. But that's it. Thankfully I live in Florida also where I can have these tires on my car year round. As much traction as these tires have, I don't think they would work that well in snow. LOL!

[Rya]

Okay, I have the new Michelin Pilot S's on the car. VERY FRICKIN NICE!!!! They look great, they feel great. I am very happy. the only complaint I have is the same complaint I have with all the performance tires. On really course textured roads they can carry the noise. And on expansion joints the ping can get loud also. But that's it. Thankfully I live in Florida also where I can have these tires on my car year round. As much traction as these tires have, I don't think they would work that well in snow. LOL!

OMG..... you're so worked up over tires. Too...