JoshWhite

Hey guys! Figured it was about time I started a build thread, since I just finished some transmission work and the build is officially underway. My goal for my SC is a Daily Driven Track Monster/Drift Missile/Budget Build. I plan on balancing taste and driveability with performance and good looks. My main focus, however, is doing the most I can with what I have for the time being.

It's worth going into my car history to show what has molded my tastes and influenced my decisions. I started out at a young age loving cars and anything mechanical. My biggest influence growing up was American Cars. I made it my goal to buy a Mustang GT with cash as my first car. At the time, I didn't care if it was auto or manual, but in time that would change as well. My first car was not at all what I expected, however, for my parents forced me to buy my grandmothers 1993 Buick Skylark. This was hardly the sportscar I had hoped for, with front wheel drive, the handling of a truck, and a limiter on the acceleration, not to mention it was a 3 speed auto which always left something wanting when you attempted to bury your foot. I initially bought it for $500 out of my hard-earned $2000 budget, which sounded good until the problems started piling up. Right off the bat, I had to replace the engine mounts, serpentine belt, transmission gasket, balding, dry-rotted tires, and brakes. I never fixed all the problems with the car, as it quickly turned into a money-hole with electrical problems (fried two radios I tried to install, had to replace the alternator, battery, other electronics were spotty). But I did my best to have fun with it, coaxing wheelspins out of the 130hp v6, attempting to drift in the gravel parking lot of my school and getting in trouble for it, and a speeding ticket . About a week before my birthday, and a few before highschool graduation, I was rearended by a teenage girl going 65mph, distracted by her cellphone . Although I managed to limp my car home, It was totalled out, and I received a whopping total of $2000 for the car. This was almost immediately absorbed by a legal situation that came up. Thankfully, I was able to get a little more through a settlement because of an injury to my neck and back, which still bothers me occasionally.

Now, to my SC. For those of you who read this far, thanks! After going for almost a year with no car and two jobs, and several cars I almost had such as a 300ZX, a 1996 240SX Zenki, and yes, even an EG Hatch , I found a posting on Clublexus for a 1994 Lexus SC300 with a factory 5spd in my area! It had a stock w-58 transmission, a Belkin Bluetooth system, and staggered wheels from a Mk.IV Supra TT. The seller has asked me to be tactful and not reveal how much the car sold for, but I will say that in spite of the minor issues I got an AMAZING deal. I really think of my car as a diamond in the rough.

The maintenance on my car was pretty well kept, and the car was in a nice part of Atlanta for most of its life. It still had a few things that needed fixing, and are still in the process of being fixed. Most of the issues to begin with were cosmetic, such as some minor quarter panel damage, minor cracking on a couple pieces of interior trim, climate control and radio backlight going out, and a need of a paint job. Soon after I got the car, one of my friends was being a clutz, and actually broke the inside passenger door handle off! I plan to visit a nearby junkyard in hopes of finding one. As far as mechanical issues, I noticed after having the car for a few weeks that under hard braking, the car pulled to the right and vibrated, and also that the steering wheel had a slight pull to the right. This may be in part due to a need of an alignment, but I also checked and found out that the front right strut needs replacing, and there may be some damage to the brake rotor as well. It also appears that both strut bushings are shredded. Down the road I plan to throw some coilovers and better brakes on, so these will eventually be fixed. The car is, fortunately, still safe to drive and should be fine until I can afford to buy those parts.

But another issue would soon arise. Since this was the first car I had regularly driven Manual on, and because it was my learning car, I missed the signs early on of the clutch slipping. Granted, me learning on it didn't help, nor did the few clutch dumps and wheelspins I could barely resist doing , but before I had a chance to finish my first semester of college, I noticed it slipping pretty bad. In fact, the day it got really bad to the point of it not being safe to drive was the same day I got laid off from my job of four years at Publix (Just my luck, huh?). I immediately started doing research and asking my more experienced friends for advice, and I decided to save money on labor and do the clutch replacement myself (It would have cost at least $800 for the job needed, not including parts, which I didn't have). because of this I was able to go higher end, and I selected a Competition Clutch Stage 3 Brass/Ceramic Segmented Disc Clutch and Pressure Plate, a Competition Clutch Ultra Lightweight Forged Steel Flywheel, ARP PRO Flywheel Bolts, Redline MT90, and a new OEM Slave Cylinder. I began the work at my schools motorsports team garage (Being a FSAE team member has lots of benefits ) With the help of several friends who helped push it a mile uphill across campus, and a few friends with mostly technical but some mechanical knowhow. We got the Swan Neck, Interior trim surrounding the shifter, heat shield and mid-pipe all off, and attempted to unbolt the middle of the driveshaft to get to the transmission, but eventually had to call it quits at 7AM in the morning on move out day. I managed to get my car home, where I plunked away at it for weeks, borrowing tools here, scouring youtube and forums for schematics there, and finally making real progress a few days ago. With the help of my cousin and a boatload of Snap-on tools and cordless impact wrenches. Until that point, all bots turning was done with a crappy short handled ratchet, which was one of the few tools I owned. I also managed to get a transmission jack, which helped immensely. We finally got the bellhousing off, though it was a pain in the *** to get to the top 17mm bolts . Amid getting covered in grease, oil, and clutch, we managed to finish last night! Its so great to be back on the road, and believe it or not my car is a lot quicker, and also a lot easier to drive. Not only are my shifts smoother thanks to the MT90, the clutch pedal has a lighter push, I have firmer shifts, and the acceleration is that much quicker, thanks to the lightweight flywheel.

Now, why go with a Stage 3 clutch as opposed to an OEM? For someone on a budget, it seems like a foolish decision. I believe that I saved money and got my build going sooner by doing this. I plan to pack some major horsepower my car. The 2JZ is great platform for tuning! I will probably stay all motor for now, but I will probably go turbo eventually. I'm still throwing around trying to get a USDM 2JZGTE VVTI and either an R154 or Getrag V161, but that will probably be down the road when I have major $$$ and a stable, well paying job. For now, the powerplant and trans I have is great. I'm even consifering Individual Throttle Bodies! But my eventual goal is close to or over 700hp at the wheels with boost, spray, and stroke, so stay tuned!

Attatched are a few pics of the parts and work as it was being done. I will attatch a few more in another post.











Questions? Comments? Advice? Criticism? Feel free to post on the thread or pm me, I'm always open to discussion! Thanks in advance for the support !

Joey-E

iTrader: (1)

Welcome to the Forum, those are some nice plans and in time can be accomplished best luck on the build.

JoshWhite

Bump from the grave! I finished this a month or so ago, and I just got finished doing an oil conversion to Mobil1 Full Synthetic so I figured I better finish the clutch details in the thread.

Anyway, as promised here are a few more pictures of the clutch/flywheel change.



To get the car raised high enough, I teetered it up gradually. The grey jackstand seen is what was holding it up, to give myself more room I set it on Reinforced capstones. The secondary jackstands seen to the left didn't have load limits on them, so I set them up as safeties, just in case the worst happened.



I also set capstones under the wheels, for a little peace of mind




The bell housing still in the car, with 2 of the bolts off the brace in preparation to take off.




Finally got the bell housing out!



^^^ A MUST when taking out flywheel bolts and putting them back in correctly. I torqued mine a little over factory specs, because my clutch and flywheel aren't factory, and my engine won't be much longer . I believe I torqued mine to just under 50 ft/lbs and 90 degrees?

Question: does anyone know of a good cold air intake kit for the SC? I've seen a few threads here of people buying some off Ebay and modding them, but I'd like to go with an established company and filter like K&N. Any suggestions? I've also looked at the BFI DIY setup, but I'm not sure I believe the numbers on the "gains". Anyone who has one that can attest to their usefulness?

Also, what do you guys prefer as far as an aftermarket exhaust system? I've done a little research myself, and I'm thinking about converting to a high diameter single pipe exhaust to save weight, any input? Thanks!

1JZPWRD

iTrader: (59)

Good to see another fellow SC build and your off to great start!!! Post alot of pictures along the way.

JoshWhite

Thanks man! I definitely plan to document my journey with the SC with pics and updates! I'll have some oil change info and related stuff up soon!

lilSCsteve

iTrader: (71)

You're off to a good start, and keep the updates coming!

steve

kapetajr

iTrader: (3)

Great start as everyone said, On a stock engine I would say don't waste you money on a cold air intake. Looking forward to seeing more

JoshWhite

Thanks for the support guys! And kapetajr I agree, it's not staying stock for too much longer, but I'm looking at the BFI mod because it's like a total of $20 for allegedly +30hp. Still doing research on the latter. A lot of the Aussie SC400 guys seem to do this mod.

JoshWhite

Another Update!

As of late, I'm running into a few issues. First of, my starter is acting up. I can still start the car, but it takes effort. I have to both put it in (a) gear, and flutter the gas a bit to get it to turn over and start. If not, it will click once. I'm pretty sure that the motor is fine, and that it just needs a Contact Solenoid rebuild. As some of you may know, this requires you to remove the starter motor and take it apart. But unfortunately, it seems I'm going to have to get under the car again anyways.
A week or so ago, I noticed a knocking/ratting sound. From what I can tell and from other's experiences on the forum, I predicted that it was the Input Shaft Bearing. I had a mechanic friend of mine that is the Head Mechanic at Southtowne in Newnan diagnose a few things on my car, and he confirmed that this was the case (at least to his knowledge). At first, I thought it was the throwout bearing, which I had replaced when I changed out the clutch not too long ago, but the signs were pointing to the input shaft bearing. And, of course, we found a considerable oil leak, originating somewhere in the back/bottom end of the engine. My guess is that it is simply the oil pan gasket. I will look into this when I get under the car to change out the Input Bearing, but do you guys have any alternate ideas as to what it could be?

I also noticed a little residual build up around the edges of the head, so I may need a new head gasket in the future. When it rains, it pours, right? My mechanic friend said that its not threatening anything as of right now, but I'll need to replace it in the future. Still not good news, anywho...

To be honest I've been pretty down late;y in respect to the SC, I still love her, but it seems like I can never do anything to improve upon her or make her more of what she could be, because I'm always stuck fixing random things. When I first bought the car, I bought it under the impression that I was getting a great deal, with the maintenance being kept up and the only apparent issues being cosmetic blemishes, but the clutch went out less than a month later, the engine burning/leaking oil, bearings in the transmission going bad, an issue I have yet to look into that could exist within the diff, in need of an alignment badly, and the car pulling to the right under braking.

I'm by no means fed up, I'm in this for the long haul. I have big plans that I refuse to give up on, but those dreams seem bleak when the car that is my one and only daily driver threatens to break down and become unusable. I guess it's relatable to having a sick baby, or losing money in an investment. Definitely down in the dumps as a result. Hopefully, once I get the Starter Contact kit and the Input Shaft Bearing, I can drop the tranny quickly and replace them, seeing as it is by now familiar territory.

As always, any advice/help is greatly appreciated, and thanks for the support and help so far.

stockhatch

iTrader: (12)

My best piece of advice is to go buy another daily. Around here you can pick up older civics dirt cheap. They are realiable as heck and then you won't have to stress about what you will drive the next day when the sc gives you problems. Hang in there man!

MacGyverQu

Sorry to hear about your frustration, but let's put this into context.

1. Are you a mechanic?
If you're not, don't be so hard on yourself. Seeing as this is your main and sole means of transportation, you could immediately lower your stress level by getting a beater and then continuing, that way you can take it easy and let the build come along.

You really only have two options, pay someone to solve all the issues ($$$$$) or get the factory service manual and take your time fixing one thing @ a time. You have engine, drivetrain, accessories and suspension (add A/C if you live in Florida, it's NOT optional here). Make sure you break things down into specific problem components, don't look @ the whole car as a huge problem. You have small, specific problems that you've already nailed down so give yourself a lot of credit for getting this far.

Every time you go under that car it gets easier and easier. Automotive knowledge (mechanical in general) is one of those skills you will ned to use for as long as you live, so soak it up. You can and will save / make yourself thousands of dollars from this skill alone and it's transferrable to many different areas. Keep me updated on your progress and try to get a beater honda or something to lower the burden of transportation until you have your SC working properly.

JoshWhite

Thanks! I have considered getting a teggy (Integra) to hold me over, that way I can get decent mpg, have something at least semi-sporty, and be able to do things that would require the car to be apart for a few days. I'm in school and trying to get another job (unemployed for close to 4 months soon ), so daily transportation is a must. As of the moment, I'm pretty broke, which is part of the reason I got so stressed haha.

JoshWhite

Thanks for the advice!

I'm not quite a mechanic, but I'm trying to be . I'm going to school for Mechanical engineering, and if things go well I hope to be a Powertrain Mechanical Engineer, and hopefully design sportcars and their components. But for now, just soaking up every bit of knowledge.

As I said in my reply to stockhatch, when I get the funds I'd like to ****** up an Integra, but that will be down the road. It'll also be hard to buy another car and not just go ahead with my engine swap . But hey, it's a work in progress.

And I agree, it gets a LOT easier every time I do something. Looking back, tackling the clutch job by myself seemed so daunting, and I spent hours under the car just looking at where everything was and trying to figure out what to do. Now though, I'm confident I could do it again in about 4(?) hours with the right tools and jacks.(my neighbor has a transmission jack and it is soooo much simpler using that). I suppose everyone started fumbling around until they figured out the ropes.

Last night I was a bit stressed from outside factors, and things seemed a little worse than they are, I suppose. Sorry if I came off a bit whiny .

Thanks again to everyone for the support. I'll be asking more questions and making more posts in the near future, so stay tuned! And if anyone is near the Coweta County area and wants to get their hands dirty and drop a tranny, I won't turn down the help .

MacGyverQu

Good luck on that ME degree. I did EE myself. Knock it out and enjoy college

JoshWhite

I have a few friends in EE, that's some tricky business. ME is a difficult degree, but if it was easy, everyone would do it. And I'm doing my best to balance work and play .