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Ok guys so I got a 5 speed sc300 a couple weeks ago and it's in pretty rough shape. I bought it thinking it just had some cosmetic issues and 121,000 on it which is fine because that's just replacing panels, but then I found out the previous owner turned back the ODO and it had 194,000 back in '09 and who knows now. So at this point I'm stuck with the car no matter what. I found a sc400 same color code with a motor knock in my area for 700 bucks. Any ideas on what I should do? I wanted a reliable daily driver and was aiming to build it to low 300's for rwhp. Here's a few pictures of both cars.
Thanks in advance, Justin
looks like its mostly there, have you swapped it yet?
you could always call the PO and discuss that you know about that issue and maybe he can make it right monetarily for the difference. alot of these cars the clusters get changed due to going bad etc.. and if he bought it previously from someone else they might not even know about it. a history check would have pointed it out though but usually the prices these cars go for no one does it. also the DMV doesn;t care much after 100,000 miles alot of times the title will already say unknown cause they are too lazy to type it in they think all old cars are worthless, which is why I stand there and make sure they put the mileage in on my titles. I don't care if it has 200k or 300k I make the person write it down so there is a trackable record of it.
I haven't swapped anything yet, I'm not really sure which route I should take, would it be worth it with the 1UZ? If so should I just swap in a r154 or the w58 I already have? Or just take the body panels I need for the 1JZ car and reman the engine and put some more aggressive components in?
The right rear quarter looks to be the worst of it. The hood has a little dent and looks a little misaligned. 200k+ isn't terrible on these cars even if you'll need to go through the suspension. I would go over the body to see if there is any significant hidden frame damage or if the blemishes the cosmetics suggest are minor.
Take it in for an alignment and, assuming the LCA's, etc don't need immediate replacing, see if the shop can get everything in spec easily. Then see how it drives. If everything checks out, I'd call it a fine starting point as CatMan says.
Of course it does need some work but it looks pretty good to me. That 5-speed car is rare and it's the best starting point for your goals. Yes, I recommend planning on an R154 swap to replace the W58 when you go either NA-T or swap to a GTE engine. The low 300whp range is very easily attained no matter which engine route you take.
I would buy the other SC, use whichever body is in best condition after swapping any missing or better parts and part out whatever is left to recoup the cost, you'll honestly end up on top. If you don't want to deal with parting out, STILL buy the other SC, pull the motor and slowly over time do a swap while you daily drive this SC.. ANY SC is worth $700, especially if its the same color as yours currently..
Thanks guys I'll keep you posted on what happens. I'll probably pick up the sc400 and just change body panels and see how everything goes and decide what to do mechanically from there.
I wouldn't bother on another car that needs help also. not sure what you guys are looking at but I am looking at just a new hood, and the bodyshop can take care of those small scrapes and the piece on the rear quarter probably for not much more than you will buy that other car for. I would just see if you can go buy his hood or a clean hood and have the whole car repainted. I would not repair that hood, the rust will come back again unless they cut it out and the labor will be more than a used hood there are a million SC hoods lying around in junkyards.
same color wont matter on these cars its hard to match the new panel color to the old car, if its more than one panel the shop will reccomend doing the whole car as it will actually cost them less time in labor vs mixing and blending it into the surrounding areas. if your cars paint color ends with "pearl" then it may be a different story cause those ones cost more. take your car in first to the place and see what they reccomend and then get your parts according to that kind of plan, at least what I would do. I had a 240sx that got hit pretty bad in the front corner in a drivethrough of all things and they ended up repainting the whole car for half of what they quoted on painting those couple panels and then blending it into the surrounding paint to where it would actually look good. I gotta say, it ended up being much nicer than it was originally even, so don't settle for mismatched colors if its been sitting in a yard it will never match your car even if its the same color, look into repairing everything and respraying the whole car the same color and you wont have to spend on the door jams or pull the motor etc...
mileage on these cars doesn't matter much past like 150k no one really cares, its not a supra even if you tell the next guy they will still want to buy it.
the only thing mileage means to me on these cars is when to do timing belts and when to change lower control arms. most other things can be ignored or replaced as you go.
I wouldn't call that in rough shape, from here it still looks like a good runner with a touch of body work. if you had a huge dent in the rear quarter panel, I would say go grab the sc400 and swap motor, assuming that one is actually in better condition, But I know SC's and any guy who can make a 1uz motor knock did not take care of that car, I wouldn't hold my breath until I saw it was actually in good condition.
Personally, i'd stay away from trying to swap a 1UZ into a 2JZ car or vice versa. Double that "stay away" if the SC4 is a 96 or 97. If the 1UZ is knocking, then clearly the old owner SEVERELY neglected the car. Its real damn hard to break a 1UZ. If they blew the bottom end, what else on the car did they neglect?
Keep the SC3 and swap over body panels/interior/etc, but stay away from the suspension and drivetrain on that SC4.
Alright I will probably do that then, just wondering if it'd be worth it. Anyways here's more specific pictures of the damage to the SC300 I currently have.
^^ I am in total agreement with everything Ali SC3 and pogoism9 said above. Focus on the SC300 5-speed. That's the keeper. 1UZ's need to be severely abused to have that kind of damage. I'll also echo the comment about higher mileage. It doesn't matter so much as the maintenance that was performed. SC's are tough cars that stay on the road.
From your pictures: replacing the right front fender and hood are no-brainers. Bolt on. Same with the plastic rear bumper. If the doors are straight, get to prepping them by eliminating the rust spots and adding primer there. The rust needs to be removed and primer added for the right rear quarter, too.
The left rear quarter is the worst part. Either a shop can repair that correctly or you may need a donor. The car seems to be fine otherwise.
This represents some minor body restoration but I've seen far worse on many classic cars older than SC's.
didn't see those pictures with more damage but its still fixable the worst being the rear quarter. its mostly there though but it will depend if that is surface rust or if it will sand off. if its through you are talking cut and weld for a proper repair, if you are lucky its not that old and hasn't penetrated the metal yet.
this is why when you get damage like that you should put some type of paint or clear on it to prevent the rusting from happening like that. looks like they should be able to revive it but you never know until you try and stick you finger or a tool through it.
take it to a body shop first and see if its something you would consider fixing before doing anything else to it, cause you can still flip it if its not the right one for you.
someone could rebuild that car either back to stock, or make it a widebody with overfenders or lots of things, it would be nice in the end if it hasn't been wrecked before.
also looks like you may need a new passenger door hinge unless someone already did the fix.
Well I bought the sc400 and got it even cheaper than I thought, bought it for 500 so after I'm done with it I'll start tearing it down for anyone who needs parts.
06-16-15, 11:22 AM
To swap or not to swap?
