AWJ

Nope, not me. Not yet.... Need to sell my carbon fiber pos hood first... and my wheels - then I'm going for the reserve. ;)

Actually, that car is outfitted with a hydraulic system. It has come a far way since I first saw it. That is the 4th set of wheels I've seen on it. He has tweeked the bomex kit out more. The fiberglass interior is new. As well as the tv's. The sub wall must go. The car is total show and nothing I'd be into but it does have respectable a/v if it was toned down a little. I like the valve covers too. The rest is naw... I never thought I'd see the day it was up for sale though. His crew used to have a website that got massive flames and they would come and flame back on members of whatever site posted up and started it ... I think they went through supraforums once or twice with flame wars... pretty funny stuff. This topic never dies - I see this car pop up everywhere like every six months or so. LOL

David, the goodrich lines have the female compression side fitting that is supposed to fit over the furrule and male side oem compression nut on the hard line. Like you said, no big deal. Unfortunately for me at the time, this did not work. The Supra TT stainless lines did not fit onto my oem furrule. So I hacked it. That's basically all there is too it. I have heard both accounts - on several sites - sometimes, the lines go on just fine. Other times, the ferrule needs to be filed or in my case - cut off. This is the case on both the supra mkiv NA and SC3/4 from various accounts. Who knows? Glad to have your input and see that it went just that much smoother for you. I agree, the difference in braking is night and day and very necessary when you have 345+ horespower to the tarmac. When I drive other vehicles - even my own, I think there is something wrong with the brakes now. I'm used to stopping on a dime with my SC.

Jzz30 - I understand what you are saying. I actually did some hand lay up in College as a part of a plastics engineering course. I really should have known better. But being out of school practically seven years, I'm slipping. I'm really considering going back. Anyways, If the washer nozzles were the only issue; I would not be or have been so upset. You do make a good recommendation though. I recently came across a body guy that could do this, if he were willing. Sometimes, people don't even want to deal with that stuff though - especially in the region I live. Can you recommend any certain type black super glue? I know there is a loctite black glue floating around here somewhere I might try. As far as putting clear over it, it already has a gel coat. UV resistant? I highly doubt it. I may try to go over it with some Meguiars and see what that does. Did I mention swirl marks and scratches? Yea - that too. Sadistic - you are a good man - as are all our members. I would advise your business and any others to stay as far away from GTP as possible. I ordered a CF elite front end from them as well. Called many many times. The order was placed in November - the 29th 2003. Come March 15 2004 I still don't have a hood and the only answer I get is maybe next week. I asked to get the contact information of the manufacturer. "Oh well they are in Asia so we can't do anything." Thats a load of crap. I work for a Japanese company. My boss spends 75% of his time in Japan. I have no problem getting a hold of him nor does he of me. All it takes is an established communication, wich, I would think if a company is doing business - there would be lots of communication - especially when money is concerned. Duh. So I set a deadline - give me an explanation on the status of this part by march 15 via phone or e-mail. Apparently, that is too hard for them to do. I had actually called and spoke to some chick who was the most helpful to that date. She said she would call me back that Friday in 3 hours. She never called. Wich is why I set the March 15 ultimatum. I got no type of response March 15 and I filled a claim dispute with my credit card company. So I incurred interest because I do not pay for parts I do not receive. Wich brings another issue - a business should not charge a credit card until parts ship. They charged my card back in December I had to argue to get them to send the parts I ordered that were in stock. Not to mention the charges for long distance I incurred being on hold for them to figure out they want to tell me to call back next week. Anyways, after I file dispute, I get an e-mail march 17 (two days after my request - I was out of town) saying - "Sorry I didn't call back. My drink spilled on your phone number. " WTF - that is the most pathetic bs I've ever heard. Aside from the pathetic bs I deal with from subbordinates on occasion. "If you want your money back, I understand." I didn't even bother with a reply. Formal dispute has been filed as I indicated in my letter. They must think I'm - I don't know what they think. They could have pulled my number from their records and called me. Unless her drink spilled on their hard drive. Space cadet. Ultimately, I'm glad the cf front bumper never came. I got my money back and can use it to paint the oem front bumper. From now on - the body of my car stays OEM. End of story. (watch me get a full body kit now.) Yea - Sadistic, my best advice for you and anyone else is to stay as far away from GTP as possible. Don't even bring their site up on your browser. My goal is not sympathy. Just to let others know my experience. I told them who I was from the beginning. I guess they didn't believe me. It has become one of my goals to let everyone I come across know my experience with this company. I know there are users based in Cali that promote this company. Other Lexus and SC owners that pushed this product. All I can figure is the parts were given to them for free. Perhaps it would be different if I were west coast. But I'm not. I still would not recommend anyone buy the stuff even if it was given to me for free though. I appreciate your offer Sadistic. I'm not sure I will ever buy another body panel without seeing it first in person though. My oem hood would be much better than this. I still have it, when my car gets repainted this winter, so will the oem hood. I may just go back and forth between hoods as I see fit. Unless someone is willing to buy this CF hood and do what they can with it. I will not misrepresent it. Make an offer. I will modify it to fit correctly. Anyone who wants to try and make it look good, may do so as they see fit. Who knows. We'll see. It might just turn out ok. I'm just very disappointed. Thanks for the input guys. Boycott GTP.

Here is an update for those of you that may still be curious. I have one word of advice to you. Do not, I repeat, do not waste your money on this piece of *BLEEP*. GTP/Importfan is dishonest, lackluster, and they do not stand behind their work. These people lied to me about another part I ordered. Who knows if they even know what is going on in their own shop. The hood? Oh yea. While I was immediately impressed back in January, it may have just been my optimism. Upon closer look, many pinholes, sinks, and cracks in the under frame. So I eat 300$ and shipping. I did a little research and found several sites speciallizing in Carbon Fiber parts. Basically, they say, any CF hood for 349$ is a piece of *BLEEP*. Run, don't walk, away from this part. Another site says, we don't stand behind our work, we stand on it. If I stood on this piece of *BLEEP*, it would break into tiny pieces. Ok, beyond that. To the slight eye, the hood will pass. It only becomes an issue to those who know what they are looking at. Perhaps in the future, if I even decide to keep it, I can body fill the pinholes either with two part clear epoxy or otherwise. Then prime and paint it black. That would cover the surface defects. Problem solved right? No. The washer nozzle holes (I wish it would have come without them) are too small. So I spent two days of free time researching how to drill carbon fiber. It turns out that it is not so special, but if you botch it, the part is fuxored. So, I'm checking out those holes today after work (yea I worked on Sarturday, and sunday and - nevermind) and I notice something. Hey, those hinge mount holes aren't big enough for a 12mm bolt either. Well, I'll be a son of a... My drill is on low juice. My oem hood has already been removed and stripped (mistake). So, I'm going to wait until tomorrow after work to start drilling. I did drill one mount hole out to 12mm about 5mm depth and it worked. I'm going to go through with mounting this. I will see what it looks like and practice with it at a few low key shows. But overall, this hood is utter *BLEEP*e. Save yourself the money and the hassle. Even if you do get a c-wings cf hood, don't do it through GTP. If I did my job the way they do theirs, I'd be starving.

freds733: I must have missed this one. I'm not aware of any Stateside. I'll see if I can dig one up. Did you try google? I might recommend locating some mufflers that appeal to you and contacting a good muffler shop. They will be able to fabricate the system you are looking for. You will want to get their advice. If they are not cooperative, go elsewhere. I might suggest a high end performance shop - maybe an exotic car performance shop. Best of luck. Let us know what you come up with. Oh yea, Try contacting the folks at Greddy.

Change of venue for the 17th. We are now meeting at club pulse in Milford if anyone was keeping tabs. I will link it up if anyone is actually interested.

That is only a short term solution. If the door is out of alignment due to worn hinges or otherwise, you will start to see damage ocurring in the door jamb area of the back side of the door and inside of the cockpit - where the latch mechanism is. This will remove paint and rust.

Do a full tune up first my friend, then start trouble shooting from there if the problem still persists. It could be anything. Good luck. I'm bumping this over to the LS forum. Take care, AJ

Myabe your dash display intensity knob is turned all the way down or off?

+40 to +50

Damn Bob. That is one way to do it. Pretty cool actually. I like it. That thing really should be called a lash cap. Thanks for posting that.

;)

No prob. Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

I have no idea what you guys are talking about. Aside from speakers and wiring. I had no idea this thread got so dang huge! I'm going to have to read it from page 1 when I get some time. Maybe I will be able to wire my own sounds after that. I usually don't fuss over it though. I must say, the Cerwin Vega set-up seems bad !Removed! though. I'm trying to catch a sponsorship for some a/v stuffs. It's not quite working yet though. Need more visibility.

You have to pull the entire seat out of the car in order to break it down. I would expect that you will have to modify the cushions in order for it to work, but it is a good idea. My scanner is busted. The factory service manuals tell you exactly how to do this. Basically, the seat is held down with 4 bolts. There are plastic covers over the bolts. 2 in front - move the seat all the way back - on the floor of the car, you'll see the caps. Pry them off, take out the bolts. Move the seat all the way forward now. Look down again. Take off the caps. Remove the bolts. Now pick your seat up. Hope you ate your wheaties. Especially on the driver side. As far as tear down. Look it over good. If you are mechanical at all - you will see how they come apart. Hardest part is getting the seat back recline handle off - if you even need to. Some guys pry carefully with a flathead. Others break it accidentally. If I get a chance, I will try to scan in the breakdown assy diagram. But I can not promise anything as far as that goes.

Mike, When was your last tune up? How many miles are on the car. It could be several things. Try our search feature. We've gone through this trouble shooting issue before. Anything from a dirty air filter, to a bad plug, to a loose vacuum line. You will need to make sure all systems are operating correctly first. Do this before you go adjusting things. I would recommend running a mil check or fault code. PM me if you do not have the procedure. If your pm does not work, post your email if you feel comfortable with that and I'll send you the procedure. There is also a site through alldata - what little bit is free, that give the procedure. I linked to it in the past. Best of luck.

That's the best suggestion I've heard all day.

I think the 3 bar map on his car is the air metering unit for the e-manage. I was just curious about the success with the eman on the na-t. I know it has been a problem with vvti motors. Pre vvti must not be a problem. Have you had any trouble with it, on chrome?

why would you need it at any other point other than wot? who races at half-throttle? I'm sorry man. You are not understanding. Forget about it. Put your tornado in there and watch stock SC4's run away. If it worked, everyone would do it.

Careful buddy. Lex Luthor has been around a long time. He knows what he is talking about. The man is very well respected. You can free up a little flow, but not much. The system, over all, is very well designed. Lex Luthor is not on crack.

Call up lexus corporate and tell them you bought a new SC430. It came with a jack but no spare tire. Ask them what gives in a nice manner without actually saying "Hey, what gives?". Then politely state that for the hefty price you paid for this car it should have come with a spare tire. Tell them you would be much more motivated to purchase another Lexus if they could furnish you with a spare tire kit. Especially considering the investment you feel you have made in their company. Then ask them if they are a publicly held corporation because I'm curious about that. Then come back here and tell me how it worked out. I'm realy curious about that. It would be like winning the lottery to find a SC430 spare tire kit in a salvage yard. I'm afraid your only real option is to go to the dealer or try the phone call.

Yea. Spring Break Nationals I was going to go but decided not to. I know they are doing it in Daytona. They might be doing it at the PCB too. They Tuner Bash there this year and there are always hot cars cruisin' the inlet there. I miss that place actually. I'm definitely going down there for Tuner Bash next year. Screw Daytona.

I'd say that is the best price you will find. I'm impressed actually.

Bob, it is clear in the diagram. The cam lobe through it's duration pushes the position 33 "lifter" down compressing the spring and contacting the valve stem through the shim opening the valve for the cam lobe duration and lift. The click you hear is greater than oem clearance between the "lifter" and shim. That is your clack, clack, clack on cam rotation you are hearing. Until you have the cams re-shimmed, you will hear this. My car does it too. It is part of the 80,000 and 160,000 preventive maintenance jobs. You will find the valves start to click before that around 60,000 and onward. It is normal. Mine click clack. I'm not that worried about it. In fact, every vehicle I've ever owned (all over head cam) motors do it. Some to more of an extent than others. A heavier weight motor oil might quiet it down. You can clean the head all day long every day, you will still hear the click. It is the interference between the upper valve train.