Diary of an abused SC400
01-29-16, 05:36 PM
#1
Diary of an abused SC400
First let me start of by saying hello to one and all. This thread is a log of the restoration that is taking place, im sure i will probably end up selling this car in about a year or 2 so everything is here to see. That said I'm new to the Toyota and Lexus community. Not new to foruming or DIY projects. I have always liked the styling of this gen SC aside from the taillights and the rear fenders it is a great looking car. I have a few friends and acquaintances on this site, **** you guys if you find me lol.
The PO I'm assuming bought the car with the intentions of some sort of drift shenanigans and realized the SC400 is not powerful enough for those type maneuvers.(BTW if you want a welded diff hit me up), the interior is definitely rough. The motor and transmission are basically untouched. Overall plan is just get this car back to a state where it is very presentable again. I am a college student so don't expect it to fly together although progress so far has been swift but its little things that have been fixed.
The run down:
1994 SC400 non vti
Transmission: 350Z 6spd CD009, with unknown noisy clutch
Exterior Color: Unknown.
Interior color: Rainbow.
Heat and A/C:
Entertainment system:
Suspension: poweredbymax CO(shat)
Now that you know that, lets go over the stupid **** i have found so far with this car, i just dont get it these days with **** people try:
-open vac lines near throttle body-i dunno if he noticed that it was open or pulled it off, the motor is running very strong and it is easy to miss so i can let that slide, i've done it before.
-Headlights aimed at the sky-how hard is it to find a the nearest grocery store, use the wall there, get a 8mm socket and a ratchet and adjust the headlights? 9012 bulbs are now in with proper aiming.
-Improperly lowered-tire was rubbing the main harness. That is in progress of being addressed.
-Cut o2 sensor wires-This kid was complaining about bad gas mileage, seriously....i get it the car has test pipes ok but this is an OBD1 car, its not like we have to pass smog or our cars have to be hooked up to sniffers here in NC. Our laws are actually quite lax. He did say the exhaust is V-band like that makes up for it.
Stop laughing and take a breather i got more.
-Airbag sensor wires chewed up to the point they were just chilling on the brakes-Seriously. No seriously. This is not a joke.
-Random disconnected harness resting on Serpentine belt-Stop laughing im dead serious. I found this ****.
-Unbolted fuel tank access port-Seriously this kid was driving around with literally an open fuel tank with fuel sloshing over the top and out onto the floor of the trunk. And picture this a week before i got the car he drove 160miles each way to the beach and back.
I'm sure i will uncover more, when i found the airbag sensor wire i decided to pull a apart the interior and go up and down over the engine, with the HVAC was not working i was sure it had to be something else stupid that was done. I have got the whole dash out so far i have not found anything else, except i did find the wire that powers the HVAC was cut.
sadly the hvac still is not working i do have a new sound system a clarion unit im sure the audio wiring is all hacked to **** so i will have to redo most of it, but it will be all new. I am accepting donation of parts. Especially interior pieces i dont care what color they are in I will make them the right color. The thing is surprisingly reliable, credit to good engineering by toyota so i will be DDing it as i address all these issues. I only drive about 10miles a day so not really a big deal
By the end of this coming week im pretty sure i will have complete putting the interior and sound system back together. I'll get back to working on my project car for a while then do other things to this car. I'll upload pics of the horror when photobucket decides to stop playing.
Thanks for looking.
The PO I'm assuming bought the car with the intentions of some sort of drift shenanigans and realized the SC400 is not powerful enough for those type maneuvers.(BTW if you want a welded diff hit me up), the interior is definitely rough. The motor and transmission are basically untouched. Overall plan is just get this car back to a state where it is very presentable again. I am a college student so don't expect it to fly together although progress so far has been swift but its little things that have been fixed.
The run down:
1994 SC400 non vti
Transmission: 350Z 6spd CD009, with unknown noisy clutch
Exterior Color: Unknown.
Interior color: Rainbow.
Heat and A/C:
Entertainment system:
Suspension: poweredbymax CO(shat)
Now that you know that, lets go over the stupid **** i have found so far with this car, i just dont get it these days with **** people try:
-open vac lines near throttle body-i dunno if he noticed that it was open or pulled it off, the motor is running very strong and it is easy to miss so i can let that slide, i've done it before.
-Headlights aimed at the sky-how hard is it to find a the nearest grocery store, use the wall there, get a 8mm socket and a ratchet and adjust the headlights? 9012 bulbs are now in with proper aiming.
-Improperly lowered-tire was rubbing the main harness. That is in progress of being addressed.
-Cut o2 sensor wires-This kid was complaining about bad gas mileage, seriously....i get it the car has test pipes ok but this is an OBD1 car, its not like we have to pass smog or our cars have to be hooked up to sniffers here in NC. Our laws are actually quite lax. He did say the exhaust is V-band like that makes up for it.
Stop laughing and take a breather i got more.
-Airbag sensor wires chewed up to the point they were just chilling on the brakes-Seriously. No seriously. This is not a joke.
-Random disconnected harness resting on Serpentine belt-Stop laughing im dead serious. I found this ****.
-Unbolted fuel tank access port-Seriously this kid was driving around with literally an open fuel tank with fuel sloshing over the top and out onto the floor of the trunk. And picture this a week before i got the car he drove 160miles each way to the beach and back.
I'm sure i will uncover more, when i found the airbag sensor wire i decided to pull a apart the interior and go up and down over the engine, with the HVAC was not working i was sure it had to be something else stupid that was done. I have got the whole dash out so far i have not found anything else, except i did find the wire that powers the HVAC was cut.
sadly the hvac still is not working i do have a new sound system a clarion unit im sure the audio wiring is all hacked to **** so i will have to redo most of it, but it will be all new. I am accepting donation of parts. Especially interior pieces i dont care what color they are in I will make them the right color. The thing is surprisingly reliable, credit to good engineering by toyota so i will be DDing it as i address all these issues. I only drive about 10miles a day so not really a big dealBy the end of this coming week im pretty sure i will have complete putting the interior and sound system back together. I'll get back to working on my project car for a while then do other things to this car. I'll upload pics of the horror when photobucket decides to stop playing.
Thanks for looking.
Last edited by Crusher103; 01-31-16 at 11:07 AM.
01-31-16, 10:49 AM
#6
Further issues found:
I dont know how this is possible but the high beam harness is melted:
Screw in the battery terminal. i wasnt paying much attention to the terminal but i noticed it was loose then when i took the battery out i noticed the screw. Again how hard is it.....
Doing some rewireing:
the beat up airbag wiring i found resting on the suspension and brakes:
the process of taking the dash out, it is back in now, but every single connector i could find a checked and double checked for cut wires or if anything was loose luckily it was all solid.....btw yes a black dash, a gray glove box, the rest of the dash it was tan. the pillars in the back are brown. The headliner is tan too, suede will be on the way.
Another issue i found but did not take a picture of was the transmission was hitting the transmission tunnel, i took a dremel tool to it and cut out a little more, then threw some high temp paint on it to try and combat rust. Now it clears the tunnel, but in doing that it revealed another problem. The Motor mounts might be in pretty bad shape. The trim can actually push the transmission out of 5th gear due to the movement.
I dont know how this is possible but the high beam harness is melted:
Screw in the battery terminal. i wasnt paying much attention to the terminal but i noticed it was loose then when i took the battery out i noticed the screw. Again how hard is it.....
Doing some rewireing:
the beat up airbag wiring i found resting on the suspension and brakes:
the process of taking the dash out, it is back in now, but every single connector i could find a checked and double checked for cut wires or if anything was loose luckily it was all solid.....btw yes a black dash, a gray glove box, the rest of the dash it was tan. the pillars in the back are brown. The headliner is tan too, suede will be on the way.
Another issue i found but did not take a picture of was the transmission was hitting the transmission tunnel, i took a dremel tool to it and cut out a little more, then threw some high temp paint on it to try and combat rust. Now it clears the tunnel, but in doing that it revealed another problem. The Motor mounts might be in pretty bad shape. The trim can actually push the transmission out of 5th gear due to the movement.
Last edited by Crusher103; 01-31-16 at 11:11 AM.
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01-31-16, 06:48 PM
#10
Like the car but after you get her straight don't be surprised if you become attached. Bought mine with the intent. Oh and mine was/is worse than yours. At least yours runs.
01-31-16, 06:51 PM
#11
We'll see because i still have to finish the I30 and its turbo build. It all depends. If that car finally becomes reliable i will DD it instead and maybe do something with this car.....although a 400whp FWD sedan isnt exactly a great DD.
