andynoel78

Hi all:

A few months ago, my girlfriend and I bought a 2003 SC430, 170,000mi for $11,000 (which was our max price point). The thing was in outstanding condition cosmetically; original paint all around, with all the bugs now worked out. It was intended to be "her" daily driver--but in reality, it's my project car.

Since we've had it, i've started doing some "modifications" to it, in an attempt to make it look more "modern" to mimic the changes Lexus made to the '06-'10 SC430. I’m also converting it to a Pebble Beach Edition. I'm about 70% there, and wanted to share what i've done so far!

Here’s the “before” shot of the exterior, taken when we first got it. Notice the tail lights with the orange directional reflectors, and the “pie plate” wheels. These were stock on the ’02-’05 SC430s.



I bought the complete set of tail lights for the ’06-’10 SC430, as well as the new wire harnesses and amber directional bulbs to make it all work.





I also bought a set of new OEM wheels and center caps that came on some of the ’09-’10 Pebble Beach Ed. SC430s. Wheel part number: 08457-30813



I also bought and applied the Pebble Beach Ed badges to the front fenders.



The only exterior upgrades I haven’t done yet are the swapping of the front headlights, bumper and grille components to those of the ’06-’10 SC430. They’re on order though!



The interior is where I’ve done the most “unique” upgrades… Here is a “before” shot. Note the saddle-colored plastic window trim on the door, black colored shifter face, and most importantly, the boring looking gauge cluster. The gauge cluster lacks Lexus’ trademark ‘optitron’ look, with the blacked out face until the car’s turned on. Not sure why Lexus thought we wouldn’t notice the boring gauge face, considering the SC is Lexus’ flagship model.



In 2006, Lexus figured it out, and re-designed the gauges. The ’06-’10 SC430 clusters now adopted the ‘optitron’ technology. The only issue is that the two clusters are NOT, and in NO WAY, a direct plug and play. How so? Here’s a few major reasons…
(1.) The warning indicator lights don’t match up; many of them are unique to each model year.
(2.) The tachometer “movement,” in terms of degree rotation, doesn’t match up, so a lot was needed to calibrate the needle movement to accurately display the right tach readings.
(3.) The stepper motors that move the needles aren’t compatable, so I had to transplant and wire the old motors from the old cluster circuit board into the new cluster type circuit board. Literally, behind that cluster there are TWO clusters; the original, and the new. With wires going between them.
(4.) The P-R-N-D-4-3-2-L indicators for the 5-speed transmission of the ’02-’05 needed conversion to display “appropriately” on the P-R-N-D-S indicators of the ’06-’10 6-speed clusters.
(5.) The LCDs for the mileage aren't compatible. The one on the old cluster is triangular in shape, to fit data on Canada built clusters (it just appears rectangular on the old type cluster because the face plate covers the top). So, i had to transplant the old LCD into the new cluster. Which caused trouble as the triangular LCD blocked the icons for CRUISE and LIGHTS ON. It was hard to make those icons still light up.

But after countless hours, three donor clusters, yards upon yards of wiring for each of the warning lights, and a week’s worth of f-bombs, I DID IT!!!!!!!!

And yes, those are crystals on the "L" emblem on the airbag... The woman requested it!
And i "may or may not" have wired in a switch (hidden below the gauge bezel) that i can toggle to REMOVE the "1" in my real mileage, so it appears at the moment that the car only has 73,000miles.









I didn't take many "in the process" pictures, but i did take this one. It was the moment when i realized i'd found the (+) and (-) power leads that ignite the white SMDs for illumination of the gauges in the new cluster.



The next things I upgraded were the trim pieces. The shifter panel on the ’06-’10 was painted silver to match the rest of the interior trim. Here’s a picture of an ’06-’10.



So, I painted mine. I couldn’t just go out and buy the shifter panel from the ’06-’10 because the “gates” are different due to the pre- ’06s having a 5-speed and the post, having a 6-speed. This is how it came out!







I also managed to find the part number for the metal Pebble Beach Ed. badge “plate” that covers the coin holder on the ’06-’10 Pebble Beach Ed. SC430s. It just sticks on with double sided tape. Part number: PT4132-4041



And lastly, I painted the window switch trim pieces silver to match. For some reason Lexus left these un-painted for the ’06-’10, but I like it.





Well, that’s it for now! I have the updated headlights, D4S bulbs, rear caps, front bumper and associated trim pieces on order. When I get that done I’ll be sure to update. And like most, i'm chasing down the "no longer in production" black Pebble Beach floor mats... damn i love them.

So what do you guys think? Any questions/comments are appreciated!

430keeper

Great work!! I love the silver door switch covers....what kind of paint did
you use ? What paint code ? How hard was it to remove them for painting ?

andynoel78

Thanks for the compliment, 430keeper!!

The door trim pieces come out with gentle prying with a flat-head screwdriver.

I actually had to blend two paints to get a perfect match for the silver trim. I went to my local Autozone and found the two closest colors, and blended them. They sell pretty good quality automotive paint (in spray cans) by the brand of "Dupli-Color."

The first (wet base coat) is: Dupli-Color BFM0352 Mineral Gray Metallic Ford Exact-Match
The second (light mist) was: Dupli-Color BHA0957 Seattle Silver Metallic Honda Exact-Match

I had to first wet-sand the trim pieces (1000 grit). Then followed that with a self etching primer. Baked in the oven at 140 degrees for 40 minutes. Wet-sanded again, only with 2000grit. Then applied the wet base coat (BFM0352). Very quickly, misted with the other paint (BHA0957). Then baked in the oven at 140 degrees for 2 hours. Took out, let cool for a half hour, then installed.

Painting the shifter panel was more difficult, as i had to first "mask off" the P-R-N-D-4-3-2-L icons by covering each icon with translucent scotch tape (NOT masking tape) and then use a razor blade to cut around each letter, effectively leaving tape ONLY on the icons. So when painting, the paint won't cover the icons. Also, forgo the priming and wet-sanding on this part. Just bake the paint and the bond will be permanent. When dry, peal the tape off of the icons, and you're done! Painting the coin holder cover was a slow process because it requires a lot of careful masking (this time with real masking tape) to avoid paint going inside the velvet area, etc.

Hope this helps!

texsexlex

iTrader: (3)

...great work & definitely great patience !!!!

Autoplak

OMG
And like WOW
Absolutely fantastic work.
Your location with palm trees in not MA = Massachusetts.

JohnnyCake

All I can say is HOLY CRAP -- way to go. I think many of the mods people do actually detract from the car's beauty but you have hit a home run.

mandyfig

Man, awesome conversion, attention to detail! Wow.

SunnyG

very nice work, and your detail shows!

I actually just replaced my front headlights due to age/sand pitting and replaced my front bumper due to a dent that my wife caused, but didn't think to update to '06+, so look forward to seeing how yours comes out...

JETII

Awesome work

mvetal

Nice work!Can you post some pics with gauges-where to find + and - for instrumental cluster smd .Or some pics where to wire additional wires.I want ro replace my 02' speedometer wiyh 10' sc430 speedometer-but not a master (but surely can follow pics and do the same work).Thanks!

andynoel78

Thank you everyone for the compliments and kind words! I try to keep my mods as "OEM-esque" as possible.

mvetal, I'm afraid that even pictures of my modded cluster wouldn't be enough; it looks like a complete MESS. The "principle" is simple, however; wire every SMD (LED indicator for each warning light) from the old cluster circuit board, to the respective SMD on the new cluster circuit board. The needle motors need to be removed from the old cluster, and glued/wired into the new cluster circuit board.

The BIGGEST problem was what to do with the LCD screen that displays mileage. It's hard to explain (and at the moment it's impossible to open back up to show you) but without a LOT of "understanding" of how an LCD works, how the polarized films work on each side of the LCD glass, etc... i wouldn't recommend you dive into this one without experimenting with other clusters, etc. It's taken me 8+ years of gauge cluster modding to master this one. I've done some hardcore gauge cluster mods with a 2000 Camry (converting it to the cluster of the Lexus ES300), my old RX300, RX400h, and now the SC. The SC mod was by far the most "irritating."

I can tell you the two leads (+) and (-) for the illumination on the new cluster ('07-'10, which is different than '06 evidently). If you look at the plug, the + was at one end, and the - was at the other, both on the same row of leads. I'll look into it and post a picture soon.

Right now my car's at the dealer having some engine work done to it. When i get it back, i'll remove the cluster and take some pictures, and post them here.

Anyone have some more suggestions as to what i should/could do? Thanks again!

mvetal

Thanks for your helpful answer.So I got the direction to move to.My previous mods with gauges of Pontiac Vibe 03 to 05 euro conversion was a simple plug in and i got km and Celsium .Also try to program pic controller-and changed total milage.Second try-Dodge Caliber-change US gauges to EURO-simple swap.Reason for changing -I want spedometer in euro(km).I got it cheap-and guy which sold it to me told me that his friend simply changed 05 USA gauges to 10 EURO gauges.Just plug and..Anyway some pics from you will help me a lot.
About future mods-I want to use waterprinting on certain parts.I want to make them gold carbon fibre .This http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/26145..._qi=RTM1763577 . I'm not sure about back for it-black or grey or even white.

bacardi11

iTrader: (1)

just so all you guys know you can't buy any interior part for the P.B. you would have to do what he did. that why he had to match the paint colors.
I have saddle interior I change my window switch plates to Black and my front seats heater switch to Black just a color change looks better to me.

416tt

iTrader: (1)

Hi,

what did you do to not paint over the P R N D.. letters?

Thanks

Nat

iTrader: (1)

Wow...that's awesome. Gotta to read this again when I get my SC430.