I've been a member for a while now but don't really post much. I sold my SC300 a few months back and was planning to pick up a fuel economy car for college. I searched around and couldn't find anything I like in the area so I'm back in a Lexus. Information that I've been getting from the forum helped out a lot so here I am putting up a log of my build. For the most part everything is covered in the forum but hopefully I might have something to contribute.

Onto the car. The night I picked it up after sitting on the Greyhound bus for 12 hours.



It's a 2000 SMB GS300 with 165K. It was a tough decision between this and another Black/Black Gs that I found. I've never been a fan of tan interior but the Spectra Blue Mica got the edge.





First wash when I got it back home. Overall the car ran smooth with no mechanical problems. The interior is nice and clean since I got it from a retired veteran. The paint for the most part is in a pretty good condition except for the rock chips in the front end area. The only thing that's bugging me with the car is that I need to replace the glass for the driver side mirror and cd receiver screen doesn't work.

I'm pretty much super busy and super broke from being a full time college student. My goal is to get the car maintenance up to par and then work on a little modding for a clean DD.

Here's what I've done so far since I picked it up.
- Water pump / timing belt / cam and crank seals / valve cover gaskets and flushed the cooling system
- Changed transmission fluids and rear differential fluid
- Spark plugs and wires
- Moog lower ball joint
- Driver side door actuator (cost me $20. Thanks CL for the DIY)

I'm currently working on installing a double din, back up camera and a JL12w1 sub since I can't stand it without music. I just ordered the caster bushings and going to replace it when I get back home for spring break next week. I will be doing a full inspections of all the rubbers and what not when I'm there.

Any comments or suggestions are welcome!

 

no such color

its spectra blue mica (paint code 8m6)

it is by far my fav exterior color the GS was offered in.....it looks amazing in grey and black interior (tan is ok also lol) but dont forget you can do a black interior swap like myself and a few others have done.

welcome to the GS side of the family now, she washed up very well

 

lol I misspelled it but yeah I want to swap out for black interior but it's going to cost too much.

 

Almost done with install for the double din and rear view camera




At first I was planning to put the camera in the key hole like some of the guys on here. It would look really clean but the camera doesn't aim at the right angle like how I wanted it. I searched around and found this rear view camera on ebay that might work so I gave it a shot.





The dimensions of the camera was my biggest concern before getting it but it fit spot on. The mounting part took a while to figure out but I got it to work. It would've been much easier to mount the camera to the right of the trunk bar but I want it to be symmetrical.



I was aiming for an OEM look as much as possible and I think looks decent. Figuring how to mount the rear view camera took up most of my time and its way too dark and cold out now. I Should finished up tomorrow.

 

Here's the sub mounted up. Should be done with the wiring tomorrow.

 

All done with the install for now. I'll take the double din out later to paint match with the climate control and straighten the double din up since it's a little crooked on the edges. I was in a hurry since it's pretty cold out but the rear camera angle turn out good. The video quality of the camera could be better but I'm not complaining since I only spent $20 for it.

 

Nice pick up and nice start to your DD project .

 

Are you using an open air sub and what's the model of the JL that you're using? Hows the bass and your impressions?

 

thanks. It's nothing exciting yet since I'm still getting all the maintenance done but I'll get there

Nope it's not an open air sub. Just a regular JL12w1v2 sub with an old school MTX thunder amp pushing max 300w bridged. I'm not much of a bass head and I had a similar setup on my previous SC300 so I knew what to expect. I had the whole rear deck and most of the trunk sound deadened and I'm satisfied with the setup. I have the bass set at -4 and the amp gain on fairly low so I know it can push harder. The only thing that you have to deal with is the center seat belt assembly if you want something loud.

 

Based on your set up I may try installing my 10" JL W3 in the OEM location powered by some old school RF punch amps. Like you I'm not a bass head but just looking for a little more bass compared to OEM.

 

where in Tn are you?

 

You'll definitely be impressed then. It will be way louder than stock. Make sure you sound deadened the rear deck and part of the trunk cuz it will rattle.

Going to school here in Johnson City

 

yeah your way away from me.....bout 7-8 hours, im down here in memphis

 

Got some free time for spring break so here I am putting some work in



Replaced the caster bushings. The stock one was surprisingly in a decent shape but I'm planning on lowering the car so I just changed it out.





I didn't have time to replace the tensioner pulley bearing last time so here it is. Just in case anybody need the part number it's 6203. Most auto part store should have it in stock and they should have 2 variations of the bearing. I've been using the metal seal version and it seem to work pretty well. I got this on ebay for $3 so it's a pretty cheap but important maintenance that most people seems to neglect.



Picked up a set of HID headlights with broken tab for a pretty good price so I'm swaping out the bowl and stick with the stock hid for now. I was planning on doing an ls430 retrofit but after seeing this, I think I might keep this setup for a while until I get bored of it. Should be done with the install and get a shot of the light output tomorrow.

 

Been busy with school since I got back from break and didn't get to post up the finished product so here they are.






And here is a night pic with the cutoff. There was a big improvement over the halogen so I might keep this for a while



Next step for this summer is dropping it and wheels. I might venture into a interior project but we'll see how much time I'll have.