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Well I am starting a new thread for my new SC400, I sold my 98 SC300 1JZ a week ago. It was a blast but on to the next one as they say.
So the new car was bought from MAK89 here on the forums. I had been watching his ad for some time and always admired how clean the car was. So with cash in hand I decided to make it mine. For the record, Mark ( Mak89 ) was an awesome seller and the transaction was very smooth. He was very forthcoming with all the information on the car and was very quick to answer any question. When I hit him up, he sent me a mega email with 30 pics and 2 youtube video links. Pretty much all I needed.
I flew over to Tampa on 2/19/15 and Mark scooped me up and did the deal. I left there and went straight to the Sound shop to buy and install a nice double din for the ride home. So that's officially my first mod lol. Got an awesome deal on a Pioneer AVH-2700BS with a backup camera. Install is very clean, the guys at 5 star car audio are great. Check them out if you are in the Tampa / Clearwater area.
While I was waiting for the install to complete, I was browsing the local Craigslist and found some beautiful Polished Varrstoen Es2 Wheels for sale. 19x9.5f and 19x10r with 245/35 and 265/35 falken tires. I called the guy and to my luck he still had them. Left the Audio shop and headed there and scooped the wheels and headed home.
It was a nice 9 hour drive home back to New Orleans, but uneventful and very smooth. Mark had taken awesome care of the car and it showed in those 9 hours. Props again to Mark!
So as far as my plans for the future of the car......
The Engine and trans are great, I will be replacing water pump, timing belt, cam seals, spark plugs, very soon as part of the scheduled maintenance. I am not sure if I want to do a gte swap or do full bolt ons to the 1uz vvti with a R154 swap. Not sure right now, but I know if I do the manual swap the wifey wont be so happy lol.
The car will be going to the body shop late this week to get the front and rear bumpers repainted, the front lip is off color from some repairs Mark did. No biggie. The rear has a tow hitch mark right above the plate. Again no biggie.
I also am planning on a brake swap, as I am used to the TT brake setup and the stock SC brakes just don't compare. I have been researching the Z06 brake setup that LRD had done, am waiting on a reply to see if the brackets are still available. I think the ISF rotors with the Z06 calipers would look crucial behind the Polished ES2s....For the rear I will just go tt rears with drilled rotors to match the front.
Interior wise the car needs nothing. Mark did an excellent job doing the black conversion. Its def a highlight of the car. Bravo to Mark once again. I may add some white accents , nothing overboard, just small accents to create a little contrast on the inside.
All in all, the car is fine as it sits. I could do nothing and the car is still very well done. But whats the fun in that? So here is the mod list below....As of now. I will keep this post updated as things happen. Thanks for checking it out!
Exterior
Shine Auto Kit
Custom vented Fenders
Car was repainted a few years back. GS300 White pearl. Beautiful !
Suspension
Tein Flex Coilovers
Ikeya Adjsutable front and rear upper control arms
Rear Megan adjustable toe arms
Interior
Black converted Interior, ( Mix of OEM and SEM pieces )
Fresh Tint
Reupholstered Front and rear seats. Beautiful
IS250 Floor Mats
ISF Shift ****
Pioneer Double Din, Appradio, Backup camera
Got the wheels on, took some trial and error in the rear due to the tire size. Kept rubbing on the pass rear. Love the easy adjustment on the Tein flexes.
My first wash and wax with her. Damn she cleaned up nice.
Totally forgot to mention another huge highlight of the car....Mark kept a binder of all the service records and receipts for parts. Even have a receipt for the tint done! That was definitely a huge selling part for me. I will be keeping it up as well.
Nice pickup, looking forward to watching this build go down.
Feel free to PM me about anything you have questions, as I have almost every bolt-on possible for 98+ 1UZ's and the car is a beast. I had the luxury of the previous owner doing a lot of the work ("bcsc400"), so check out some of his old threads if you want some details on the amazing exhaust my car has.
..few things I would reccomend for your car are the eBay BFI, 3.76 LSD (if you can get your hands on one), and PPE headers mated to a custome exhuast (again, bcsc400's threads have a lot of detail about this). With these mods this SC feels twice as fast as my previous '99 400 that was stock.
Finally, since it looks like I'm going to be keeping my car (no interest in it), I'll likely be doing an R154 swap at some point as well. I'd be interested in knowing how that works out for you if you decide to go that route. I'll be favouriting this thread. Good luck!
02-23-15, 01:32 PM
Projekt 400 Degreez ( 99 sc400 )
