Asha'man

iTrader: (1)

Been away for a while. I've had my '95 SC400 on local Craigslist and in the classifieds here for almost a year and a half and have had almost no interest. I wanted to sell it so I could focus on my old Mustang SVO Comp Prep that I had sold in '09 and bought back in '13, but now I'm wondering if I should just keep this car too and do stuff to it. Over the weekend I fixed a mouse-chewed wire on the engine harness, which solved my check engine light and made my always-on TRAC OFF light go off as well, then I washed and waxed and detailed the car. Now I kinda want to keep it, dammit

I had originally gotten an SC400 because I'd never had a V8 car before, just turbo 4's. I actually sold my SVO the first time to get into this car. I have since come to the realization that I need boost to be happy with a vehicle (my Cummins is boosted, my daily driver TDI Jetta, and of course the SVO) so now I'm wondering if I want to swap this car. There are a couple of 1GS3's in the junkyard right now so if I were to swap I would go NA-T from the start, unless a GTE swap came up for a smoking price. At this point I'm not interested in boosting the V8 or doing anything too crazy to it; I seem to be a fan of boosted inline motors with the turbo on the passenger side (SVO and Cummins, case in point), so if I keep the car it's gonna get JZ swapped.

I've done a lot of reading and it's definitely doable. I can build an NA-T motor gradually on the cheap and I'm good with wiring, so that's not too worrisome. Only thing is going to be deciding on which tranny to go with. I definitely want to open-track the car, possibly starting this season with the two full weekends of NASA track time that I have stored up from working corners. Point being it'll be more than just a straight line car or highway monster. How usable is an auto behind a turbo JZ? I'd probably go that route initially and track down an R154 later unless a deal popped up.

This is kind of just a stream-of-consciousness thread to put my thoughts down. I'd love to hear yours, though, on any part of this "plan".

Since everyone likes pictures, and to keep this thread from being too boring....

Asha'man

iTrader: (1)

Dammit, I thought I was in the main board, not Performance/Maintenance. Mods please move! Thanks!

Asha'man

iTrader: (1)

Here's a pic of the SVO from last weekend as well, just because pics are cool. Yes, my shop is huge.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

I remember seeing this car in the classifieds, looked clean, surprised there was no interest.
The stock auto will not be happy behind a turbo JZ for long (na-t), but a turbo auto transmission would be fine (Swap). depends on what you are talking about.
With how clean it looks I would get some custom manifolds going, put a single turbo on that v8, and then r154 5 speed swap it and have down low torque and boost which will make for great track performance. engine management is a bit trickier but not impossible by any means.

Asha'man

iTrader: (1)

Custom manifolds and whatnot are way beyond my fab skills or what I would honestly want to do. If I'm gonna put that kind of time and money into it, I'm gonna want big power, and realistically that pretty much means JZ. I have a line on a wrecked 5spd SC300 locally, so if I can get that then I'll do a full 300 swap and NA-T. If not, I'll probably do a shift kit, finish my exhaust, do some wheels, and just drive it for the summer and see what happens.

scENFORCER

My 400 has been for sale for a couple months and I'm starting to think I should keep it too..

187

swap out the auto for a 5 speed, and finish the rest of what you mentioned.

SC400Zulu

My God... If money isn't a major issue, why sell a black 99?

Please keep it.

And apparently, Americans do not understand the holy grail pertaining to Lexus Coupes. The 400 I drive was for sale for 7 months before I swooped on it (far better price than the initial $9400).

These cars seem to only be important to folk who've owned them before, or want to own one. Makes it easier to swoop on rare deals for us die hards.

scENFORCER

Lol cuz as a student, money is an issue..

Joey-E

iTrader: (1)

Looks pretty clean! Should keep but I'm curious as to why there is no interest, did you have your price set high?

Asha'man

iTrader: (1)

I don't think $4k is high at all. I started a lot higher but came down. One guy who looked at it offered me $2000. As if.

bigwhite

There are a lot of options in the used car market today, everyone has a reason to want something different.

Ramblerman

Might sell now that fuel prices have dropped, I got my 96 SC400 fairly cheap after it set on the lot for awhile because every one was afraid of the V8, but you ought to keep it, value will eventually come back up on them, just gonna take awhile. 35 yrs ago I bought up all the Javelins I could for cheap, now I sell one pc of chrome for 50$

10thMtnLex

iTrader: (1)

Asha,

Keep It! Would love to have you stay in the local Lexus scene. You and Matt S. were a couple of the first CO Club Lexus members I met. Come check out one of the DriftColorado events, always fun, even if just spectating. I've still got both SC's (400/Auto, 2JZ/5-sp) and my GS.

Keep it, and hope to see 'round when the snow melts!

- Brent.

Asha'man

iTrader: (1)

What local Lexus scene? Lol there is none that I'm aware of, but even so I want to get back out and do more car stuff again. If I toss some black Saleens on the SC (that will do double duty on the Mustang) and just mob it, we'll see what happens.

Might try to make a DC event, that would be fun. You ever tried NASA road racing? Matt has an MR2 now, we need to get back out on course. Can try to hit you up if you're down to go this year.