ray316's 97 ls400 build thread
 

Hello Everyone My name is Ray from Wichita Ks. I own a 97 lexus LS400 coach edition Ive had for about 7 months so far and loved it. I started modding it shortly after i bought it with the intention of making it a clean VIP daily driver. I wanted to post a thread to show the progress and timeline on my build. The plans are a nice static drop on coilovers, wheels and a color change which is already in the process.

here is when i first got it bone stock beige exterior the first thing i did was tint the windows which i may re-do to a light blue tint like the newer mercedes factory tint
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shortly after I replaced the old halogen bulbs in the headlights and fogs with 6000k HIDs and changed the amber corner lights to clear ones also replaced all the factory interior bulbs to white LEDs
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some wheels came up for sale locally for cheap which I ended up picking up to refinish theyr are 18x9.5-10.5 riverside mae dish
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during refinish
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and completed with some 225/35-235/40/18 nangkangs mounted
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than I picked up some megan LP coilovers
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sadly after all the time i spent refinishing the MAE's i didnt take time to make sure they cleared the front brakes the guy i bought them from told me they would so i took his word. I didn't wanna run spacers so i ended up selling them and picked up some temporary wheels for dirt cheap brand new in boxes theyre varrstoen 1.1.2 (bbs LM reps) in 19x9.5-10.5 +12 all around. It ended up working out though I really wanted to go with 19s to begin with
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test fitted them to make sure they cleared my brakes before i mounted tires on them learned my lesson the first time
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mounted tires decided to go with a big stretch on the tires due to the aggressiveness of the wheels 215/35-235/35 federals
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after I worked out some maintanance on the car and got it running as good as possible it went to the body shop for paint and body work. The plans are a full color change, fenders rolled and pulled all around, remove all dents, shave rear emblems and antenna. Also have some parts coming in (LED red/clear tail lights, Belleza led mirror covers, new black chrome grill, new chrome moldings)
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the color i decided to go with is smoky granite mica from the newer lexus color line up
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here is the paint on the door jams
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started working on the pull on the fenders here is a test fit of the wheels at the height i wanted it may go lower though
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here is the pull in the rear
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also painted the brake calipers in sparkle silver they cae out pretty nice didnt want rusty dirty calipers with mesh wheels not a good look lol
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that's where im at so far hopefully it will be out of the paint shop by the end of this week! thanks for looking!

looks good, but you didnt need to pull the rear for those specs :uh:

post the result

Yeah I know like I mentioned they're temporary wheels I plan on getting a more aggressive set up when funds clear up so I wanted the pull done with the body work in the mean time I'll probably run a 15mm spacer to flush it out which will put me at negative offsets


will do most likely will be done by this Friday

didnt you have exhaust? wheres your 5zigen exhaust at mang, lemme have it =D

i like where this is heading............

nope never did I do plan on having one done though! i wouldnt mind having a 5zigen fireball but for the price I will most likely just go with a all custom one with quad tips

Thanks!

seen this in VSC and i can't wait for the outcome after paint. very good color choice.

Looking real good so far! How much did those wheels cost you. Im actually looking into picking up the same set

Nice work. I had those same Riverside's and was disappointed during my test fit..

I have the 5zigen. Fitment was ****ty until I started cutting to get it to fit proper...

thanks everyone!! the car is pretty much done ipicked it up from the shop last night
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Wow that look awsome!! Whats the wheel and tire spec.

I'm liking it. Nice work.

Done nicely...props:thumbup:

The color choice is :woot:

19x9.5 +12 front 19x10.5 +2 (after 10mm spacer) 215/35 front 235/35 rear

Thanks alot guys!! the car still needs a few things done it still hasnt been wet sanded or buffed so once thats done the paint will look alot better!