AirForceRa

Hey guys, Names Jared. Im in the Air Force Stationed outside St. Louis,MO at Scott AFB. I currently have a 2003 Cobra and 1974 Plymouth Duster. Ive had the Duster since I was 15. Cobra is a DD when weather permits. Im looking into buying a 1992 LS400 I found on craiglist. Need your guys help if the vehicle would be worth the trouble or not. Ive worked on cars since I was 15. Im not scared to tackle a project.

Here is the car....

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/2613319429.html

Ive been in contact with the owner and Im going to look at it tomorrow. He says he has all the parts that he took out minus the rear windshield. Passager and driver windows and motors have been taken out. How hard would it be to put back in? Also the owner thinks the diver side upper control arms needs to be replaced also maybe the ball joint. He used to drive the car before he started to strip it. He said the car drove great. Motor tranny and drivetrain are strong. Everything works on the car. Right now he says the battery is dead so the car wont start. I plan on bring an extra battery. Jumper Cables and basic hand tools if needed.

Giving he has all the parts for it and nothing major is wrong with it do you guys think it would be worth it? When I go look at the car is there anything I should look for? Any speical areas to look at?


Thanks alot.

If all works out I want to pick it up and in a weekend put everything back into the car an have nice car to drive to and forth to work.

SkulCracka

when said and done after getting all the parts. you would end up spending the same or less even on a car you dont have to put together. if your looking for a project sure. but not if your looking for a daily driver.

jdog0411

No way I would take that on. Like previously stated, you are going to spend about the same amount of money to get that car back together again as just buying one that is in better shape and complete. Also, if it does need a new upper control arm, a new OEM one is going to run $400-600 from the dealer. Aftermarket will be $150-200 depending and the quality is suspect. You could run into other un-forseen issues as well.

Not sure why someone would want to use an LS400 for an autocross car. Seems a strange choice to me.

deanshark

I notice he never said how many miles are on it. It really doesn't look too bad, it's mainly the interior, and a few other parts. If the engine and tranny are good I think it would be pretty decent as long as he still has every interior piece. I would offer him half of what he's asking and get a service manual to help with the install of everything. But, one thing to think about, I highly doubt he saved and labeled all the screws, bolts, and clips for all the pieces. I think it's gonna take alot longer then one weekend to put it all together. I would do it if it runs good.

SkulCracka

guess i should have focused more on time and effort.. but thats what i meant by if your looking for a project car. sure go for it. if the miles are not to high and it does run. but ya act like your not interested and offer $400. to take it away for them.

AirForceRa

Im agree with everything said. Ive been looking up how much some parts would be given what he thinks needs to be replaced.

Also where would I be able to pick up a service manual for the car? Ive used teh Haynes books for cars but could not find anything for teh lexus ls400.

Already been thinking that way.

deanshark

Haynes doesn't make a manual for the LS400, the only one would be the dealer manual. It's a hell of a lot more then a Haynes would be but well worth it, it covers everything. You can usually find them on Ebay for around $180, but I just looked and there isn't any for a 92. They're available through the dealer but they're much more expensive that way. You can probably find one online somewhere but you'd have to hunt hard.

bauceLS400

iTrader: (2)

The car looks really beat up. If he used to autocross then the motor is more than likely to be abused also. I'd say just save up a little bit more and get a nice running one. I picked mines up for $1500 and it runs good.

AirForceRa

Well a friend and I went out to go look at the car. Walked into the garage. Crap was all over the car. All the door panels, windows, inside trim and what not were everywhere. Talked to the owner. Did a couple walk arounds. Front seats are still in the car all carpet and rear seat. The front driver side tire was flat and battery dead. We pushed the car out the garage and jumped it with my Cobra. Filled the tire up and it held air. Took her around the block couple times. WOW car rides awesome. Pulled in and looked around the garage too make sure he had pretty much everything to put the car back together. I offered him $400 for it. Figured Id try. He countered says a scrap yard offered him $500 to scrap it. So I fired back OK Ill give you $500. He said OK deal. Then paused and said how bout we do $550. I was like you just said $500. He went Oh crap ok $500. lol My Buddy started laughing. So we loaded up the car with all the parts in the garage and wrote up a bill of sale and then drove the car home 45mins. Car never over heated. Nothing wrong but the windows and door panels needing to be replaced. Im going to start a new "build" thread with pics of putting it back together. Car has 172K mile on it. STAY TUNED!!!

SkulCracka

awsome........... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you hit the jack pot.

deanshark

Good deal, man. That's hilarious how he tried to raise the price $50 after he already made the deal. I would have had to walk away b/c I'd be laughing my *** off. Hope ya got every part he took out, if not there's always the junkyard. Same thing with the bolts, can get them from the JY. How did the front end feel in it, you mentioned the control arm and ball joint? Hope ya have fun, we'll be waiting for pics. If you have any questions just ask. Congrats on the purchase, I'd say you made out pretty damn good.

AirForceRa

Thanks man! I was like a lil giggy school girl driving it back. All I could think about was I just bought a $500 Lexus. lol

Thanks! I grabed everything I could find in the garage and put it in the car. This weekend Ill lay everything out in the garage and figure out what I have and need. Im hoping Ill be able to go to a hardware store to get most of the screws and what not. When I drove the it was staright and true. Yet the drive side tire had bad wear on the out side. When drive around 25mph it did shake a lil but was smooth till 60mph Around 65 it would shake a lil bit. Im hoping maybe the alinement is out. HOPE!

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

lol good deal at $500 if it runs right.