Pulling my 1uz-fe out of the SC400
08-23-09, 05:49 AM
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Pulling my 1uz-fe out of the SC400
I bought my 1995 SC400 a few weeks ago for $800 with 232,XXX miles on it.
I bought the car as a weekend toy, and when going through it, it was a good deal for the money.
Problems:
The body has 2 small door dings and some of the clear coat is coming off of the bumper.
There is a gasket that seems to have a leak
Needed a new TPS (already replaced)
There are no seats in the car, which is okay because I'm going to put racing seats in the front and do a rear seat delete.
Needed a new radio and climate control (ordered and in route)
The engine pull
I've never pulled an engine before, but I have a good sense of direction in knowing what I am looking at a dealing with under the hood. I'm pulling the engine in order to replace every gasket and seal. I'm also considering on upgrading the head studs, valves, cams, and etc. I'm going to try to post some pictures along the way, and since I am doing most of this on my own, I'm not really doing a DIY.
Hopefully I won't run into any problems, but any tips that people have or answers to a random question would be appreciated.
I will try to update my progress as I go. Since this is my weekend toy, I'm expecting this to take several weekends to get back to order.
08/21/2009
My engines new home for the next couple of weeks
After the radiator was removed (not sure if that was necessary, but helps make more room.)
I think I gained 4 inches lol
Time for the shocker
My current issue is getting the exhaust headers off the engine. I may be able to disconnect the first set of cats since the headers are pretty short, the problem with that is that the bolts are frozen/siezed and wd-40, liquid wrench, and breaker bar have all failed, but they did succeed at rounding out the nut. I think I may need to borrow a blow torch.
Any tips?
I bought the car as a weekend toy, and when going through it, it was a good deal for the money.
Problems:
The body has 2 small door dings and some of the clear coat is coming off of the bumper.
There is a gasket that seems to have a leak
Needed a new TPS (already replaced)
There are no seats in the car, which is okay because I'm going to put racing seats in the front and do a rear seat delete.
Needed a new radio and climate control (ordered and in route)
The engine pull
I've never pulled an engine before, but I have a good sense of direction in knowing what I am looking at a dealing with under the hood. I'm pulling the engine in order to replace every gasket and seal. I'm also considering on upgrading the head studs, valves, cams, and etc. I'm going to try to post some pictures along the way, and since I am doing most of this on my own, I'm not really doing a DIY.
Hopefully I won't run into any problems, but any tips that people have or answers to a random question would be appreciated.
I will try to update my progress as I go. Since this is my weekend toy, I'm expecting this to take several weekends to get back to order.
08/21/2009
My engines new home for the next couple of weeks
After the radiator was removed (not sure if that was necessary, but helps make more room.)
I think I gained 4 inches lol
Time for the shocker
My current issue is getting the exhaust headers off the engine. I may be able to disconnect the first set of cats since the headers are pretty short, the problem with that is that the bolts are frozen/siezed and wd-40, liquid wrench, and breaker bar have all failed, but they did succeed at rounding out the nut. I think I may need to borrow a blow torch.
Any tips?
08-27-09, 10:09 AM
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Car looks good for only $800. As far as the exhaust goes, you might just hack it off... You can get manifolds for next to nothing around here and wasting your time with liquid wrench and beating the **** out of your hands just isnt worth it in my book.
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08-27-09, 07:54 PM
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I hate to admit it, but I got the car for a really great price in my opinion. I haven't surfed the internet enough yet, but are there any after market options for exhaust manifolds that are any better than the stockers? Or are most gains from removing the 17 cats/resonators/mufflers/etc?
PS. I know there aren't 17.... I'm just exaggerating.
08-27-09, 10:32 PM
#9
Headers, TQ Converter (Precision), Nology wires, stroker kit, etc. Go to Lextreme.com and search for info on there to improve the performance of your V8 Lexus.
Ryan
Ryan
I hate to admit it, but I got the car for a really great price in my opinion. I haven't surfed the internet enough yet, but are there any after market options for exhaust manifolds that are any better than the stockers? Or are most gains from removing the 17 cats/resonators/mufflers/etc?
PS. I know there aren't 17.... I'm just exaggerating.
PS. I know there aren't 17.... I'm just exaggerating.
08-28-09, 01:56 PM
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I'm going to check out that forum. I've looked around a little before. Seems like there is a lot more to offer about the performance aspect on that forum vs this one... or maybe I'm just not in the right sections. I'd love to supercharge this thing, but I'm trying to stick to a budget and I want to take care of some other things first.
08-28-09, 04:24 PM
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i did a engine swap last week took me 2-3 days cuz of heat
for some reason taking out the 400 engine aint that hard
hardest part 2 me be the wire harness n clutch fan
post some more pics interior
for some reason taking out the 400 engine aint that hard
hardest part 2 me be the wire harness n clutch fan
post some more pics interior
09-07-09, 05:31 PM
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Well.... since I couldn't get the engine pulled this weekend, I focused on some interior. I was able to get my hands on a radio, climate control, and cup holder. The tan carpet was stained to hell.... I guess the previous owner was a major coffee drinker. So I opted to use some left over fabric to recover the carpet. I'd give myself and 8 out of 10 on that job. So here are some pictures of everything put back together. I still have some interior work to do.... but that will come soon.
Before
After
Once I pass my licensure exam coming up in October, The boss (Wife) is going to be letting me purchase some racing seats and harness bar for the interior. In the meantime, I'm starting to mock up my rear seat delete for the nitrous bottles and amps. I also recovered the back deck panel that holds the speaker grills in the same black material. I'm going to cover the rear seat delete and headliner in the same black fabric. I'm going to finish the door panels with the fake leather and also with suede. The rest of the tan interior pieces will be replaced over time until I have an all black interior. I'd rather put the money into performance and necessities first.
Before
After
Once I pass my licensure exam coming up in October, The boss (Wife) is going to be letting me purchase some racing seats and harness bar for the interior. In the meantime, I'm starting to mock up my rear seat delete for the nitrous bottles and amps. I also recovered the back deck panel that holds the speaker grills in the same black material. I'm going to cover the rear seat delete and headliner in the same black fabric. I'm going to finish the door panels with the fake leather and also with suede. The rest of the tan interior pieces will be replaced over time until I have an all black interior. I'd rather put the money into performance and necessities first.
09-09-09, 03:16 AM
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I appreciate the kind words. It's motivation to keep moving forward.