borris

Recently picked up an SC and am ready to build. Her name is Shannon if you're wondering. The years haven’t been to kind to her, but one doesn’t often go to the doctor when one is feeling fine. She has about 185k on her and clearly has not been looked after (drained the oil and despite the thick consistency and multi-colored fluid, it was also similar to spoiled milk as it had many clumps). I will be posting pictures soon so that I can have a good reference to look back on. I can only assume that the oil has only been added to over the last several years and never changed. So far I've added the Purolator oil filter and 4.5q of Valvoline 5w20 Syn Blend(or 30, whatever L recommended) along with a quart of the Lucas Synthetic Oil Stabilizer. I am hoping that if I keep that up at a "3 or 3000" rate that she should recover well. I have also purchased 4 new tires(I wish I had pics of the ones that came on her) and installed a new alternator on-site at the time of purchase. Aside from a basic tune-up(filters, plugs, and fluids) I have mixed emotions on where to begin. Drivetrain: Given the age, mileage, and overall horrible condition; it would only be reasonable to suspect a majority of components within the drivetrain. My answer to this is that I will be receiving a N/A 2j and STD 5 combo from my bro who is getting a GTE setup. It only has 90k so I will either build it and then do a swap, or swap it in and then build mine and reswap... sounds like too much work. For now it gets along with not too many special needs. I intend to save this for last, or second to last. Chassis/suspension: A smaller component with respect to the whole car. I am a big fan of powder-coating nearly everything I work on and especially chassis parts. When it is time to crawl under the car, a light pressure wash or swipe with a rag will bring everything back and look outstanding. In this case I am thinking savannah blue, but I'm not throwing candy-apple red out just yet. More importantly this is where I will be installing the coilovers, ES(or otherwise) poly-bushings, new ball joints, tie rods, bearings, shafts, and the like(wheels and tires go last) making her sturdy, durable, reliable, and capable. Aesthetics: In my opinion, this comes last. I have no desire to roll around with no handling or power in a "nice ride." I would probably start with the inside(handling little emergencies up to this point) making sure that the carpet is fresh, the leather is soft and clean, and all panels and gauges have been customized to my preference. This will leave paint and all body kit's/accessories for last. I had a mind to use a deep black with several coats of gloss, uniform color, and little to no CF accents showing. In a nutshell, those are the three phases of my project. I haven't gone into a great deal of detail mainly because some things are still in the air, although I intend to make this a complete project that will turn heads. My intended cycle will begin with Chassis/Suspension, roll into the drivetrain(keeping the auto for right now) and then the Aesthetics will be so much sweeter once all of the hard work is done and I prefer to not spoil a good paint job during an engine swap. Any and all help will be appreciated, although I have done work like this before even on a mkiii I am not very familiar with this car like I am with pretty much all Fords. So I have my wrench time, but am not very familiar with most mods, electronic and bolt-ons, specifically with this car. Ideas, recommendations, tips, and support would all be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time, and like I said I will have pics up soon. Boris

How much? boris

Just picked up a 94. In the same boat. As this car is new to me, I am replacing just about everything. I'll get back on here after I divine what the issue is, shouldnt take more than a week.

Also looking into a 5-speed conversion.... has anyone worked on a right-drive conversion?

I'm blasting this one from the past as well. Call it a habit of mine, but instead of starting a new thread that has already been done several times, I work my way from the back of the forum to make sure there isnt anything I have missed. Still waay in the back, but I'll get to the front soon enough. I've got an intro in the main newbie page, but will probably repost here is thats where it belongs. Now, a buddy of mine has a 95 mk IV and we've been going back and fourth about what he was planning on doing with his engine... as its a stock n/a. He swears that the the GTE is far superior due to the stock turbo config as noted above. Knowing that forged is the way to go with turbo when trying for max hp he was saying that it would be far too expensive to replace all parts when he can just get a used GTE and retune. At this point there are no real complaints from my side of the fence as he wants to give me his setup for my newly acquired sc300. However he is a good friend of mine so if I can spare him some overkill I will do it in a heartbeat. Just to have you reiterate... AWJ, the GE and GTE are identical outside of the oil jets in the rods, the compression of the pistons, and the head? And what is different about the head as well? is it the cams or are we going into springs and clearances? Boris

I'll bump this... I just purchased a 94 300 and only the driver's side speaker works. I could see the rear-center speaker wire dangling when I was fixing a short in the tail-light so that "may" account for one of them, but since I am replacing both interior door skins and doing some custom upholstery throughout I am sure I will eventually find out what is wrong and will post results here. In the meantime, if anyone has done any work on the speakers, please post your comments here. I think I count 5 inside the car, but havent looked to see what is in the trunk. Also, the CD changer does not work, does anyone know of any fuses or link that applies directly to this? I have checked all fuses in the firewall and engine compartment and all are fine, radio works... just on the drivers side door. Thanks!

94 sc 300

it goes on like Mylar?

possibly your struts? How bad is the vibe?

Hi there. I am new to Lexus in general, though am somewhat familiar with the 2JZ in the 94 SC 300 I just picked up. A friend of mine has a 95 mk IV and I used to have a 7M in my old mk III. I've fiddled with engine rebuilds, minor xmition work, some body work, paint and chassis work. At this point I am ready for a real project and, with the help of a friend's prodding, I picked up the SC 300. I havent broken down to any specifics and the ultimate direction for the car is still unknown, however I would like to do a full restore on the interior and possibly some custom as I am interested in doing some of my own upholstery. The exterior needs a facelift and has some topical rust in only one spot, I am thinking of going jet black with a nice gloss. Looking at going with a CF hood and trunk but painted black as well, never worked with CF though so I am open to suggestion its just that the hood is soo !Removed! heavy. I've seen CF doors online, but they're a bit expensive; has anyone worked with the CF doors for the SC? I am intending on doing a GTE build/rebuild, depending on what the best option seems to be at the time, in my garage including the transmition and complete drivetrain so that once it is done I can attempt a 1-day swap and then hopefully do a rebuild on what I pull out and recoup some of my expenses by selling the originals off. I know it will take some time and want to give it every ounce of time needed to arrive at the best result. I intend to lean on this community as much as possible and will hopefully get to a point where I can give back with Lexus specific information. Any and all comments, opinions, and assistance would be helpful. As I said before I am working on the interior now, and am looking for the left and right interior door panel to include the door handle as those are snapped off. The driver's side is completely smashed, as I have removed the right side I understand the frustration without knowing straight-off about the bold behind the false panel in the door handle, if need-be I may be able to repair the passenger side and I guess color doesnt really matter as I am thinking of reupholstering/customizing these panels anyways. Mainly what I am really asking for is where I can go for good aftermarket and oem parts. Additionally what I am in need of most is a parts car so that I can pull parts from that car, get them powder-coated/rebuilt as needed, and then just swap them back out on my car. Well I've been long-winded enough, I aspire to be a part of this community and hope to give out as much as I soak up. Thanks, Boris