Yamada's not-so-ugly GS Build
 

Hello ClubLexus,

I'll do my best to update as much as i can, i'll more then likely be adding things since i know i forgot things i did along the way lol


Names "Yamada" from the Bay Area, California and decided it was time to try and build a car. I had some bad luck last year and my Gold GS was hit along with the wheels. Long story short i ended up selling it for parts and picked up another GS. Almost sold the wheels as well but ended up repairing them instead


Bought another GS a few months back. Drove down to SoCal because i found this black on black, original owner.

Currently has minimal work, just enough for a comfortable daily.
Tein CS coilovers
Tein Electronic dampners
Tanabe medalion exhaust
Full LED change over.

Already ordered my new suspension setup for next year, ended up going with BC racing coilovers w/ swift springs and custom rates. I might end up building a UAS kit with my CS coilovers but im going to wait till after April to decide that. I've never been a huge fan of air ride, so the likely hood of me switching over is slim.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...psa57e3327.jpg

Didn't know where exactly to start so had fun and did the "foglight mod" and threw a set of HIDs in it to see how it looked

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ps138fde53.jpg

Also decided to do the do-it-yourself chrome grill. Came out decent but still want to go with a 2001+ grill instead
picture shows clockwise, before, during, and after

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...psc51fb655.jpg

Also did the LED's around the same time

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...psefe65be4.jpg

I had a set of black ASA 18's on it but decided to just try and keep it a stock as i could till I finished it. But this is how it looked while i decided to have them on.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...psacac5b7e.jpg

Then I ordered a new set of BCR coilovers. decided to go with a stiff set up since the one's i went with in the past were too soft for my liking. Arrived at my door on December 24th.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...psa2261345.jpg

Then on December 31st, I had Yuta Akaishi pick up my rims and took them down to Los Angeles to have them redone. Decided on relipping my rears to 18x11 and my fronts to 18x10 with est 20 offset all around. Also had the lips and faces fully polished and then translucent powdercoat on top of the faces. Giving it a nice gloss shine look.

These are how the wheels looked before i sent them to LA

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ps8ad389e4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...z/3d10064a.jpg
Second picture shows the damage from when i was hit.

Then i got a call mid March that my wheels were done. So the next day, i started my drive to SoCal.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...psd5073eda.jpg

and spent quality time in LA traffic, on a friday...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ps0fbbc40a.jpg

After driving from 5 hours to LA, sitting in traffic for 2 hours from West LA to East LA... i finally got to the shop, where the magic happens.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...psc25e655d.jpg







AND to be continued..... stay tuned.

Just for reference, this was my previous car
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...z/c79c79d4.jpg

congrats on the new purchase and not giving up after the loss of the gold gs

nice man, diggin the thread

Thanks, yeah i almost went and bought a LS430 but decided that i wanted to finish what i started, for the time being at least. Already thinking about selling my motorcycle to pick up another car to work on after this one.

thanks.


So my lower ball joints started to make noise today so looks like i'll be replacing them this sunday along with shaving my rear fenders.

Next week i should have the fronts rolled and hopefully pick up some tires. Then finally start throwing everything on! :D

glad your ok from when you got hit.

they did a good job repairing it though! no frame damage right?

with the vsxx i would've went with 19s! hahahh still looks great though!

It's actually a whole different car. Their was to much damage that i felt it wasn't worth repairing. Plus the gold GS had high miles compared to the black one i ended up picking up after.

Yeah i was thinking of going step lip and make them 19's but went a different route instead.

This is going to look hot cant wait to see the finished product. How hard was it to do the fog light mod?

Looking good!

Thanks. It wasn't hard at all, just a few spicing wires and rewiring a 5 prong. There's a "decent" write up on it. I think i just google'd "gs300 foglight mod" to be honest lol

Thanks, running into a few problems but hopefully i'll be able to work it all out.

Little update, nothing too exciting.

Sold my extra set of ASA's i had. Literally just had them sitting since i had no intention to use them. Was going to keep the for winter wheels but decided i'd rather just use my stock ones. Posted it on craigslist and got low balled to hell, but i needed money to purchase tires for my wheels.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ps4985f564.jpg

Then, on Friday, my lower ball joints started to make noise. So Sunday night, me and mr Tesla replaced both sides

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ps1b18ff3d.jpg

Then this evening, I decided i would start shaving my rears. I started off with a grinder but quickly went to the belt sander since i wasn't confident in myself with the grinder. But i ran out of sandpaper, (I didn't realize i only had the one on the sander already...) So hopefully i'll be making a trip to the store and back to work on them. Friday my fronts are getting rolled but have to venture up to San Lo in the morning.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...psecefa7d9.jpg

i saw a "Blue Moon" bottle. nice to know i am not the only one that incorporates Beer into my Builds.

keep up the work OP, what are your goals for the car?

keep the beer for after the build that way the build goes smoother (and get a better beer) lol :thumbup:

I actually don't drink beer anymore, I pretty much give it to people that help work on my car lol, i have a few 6 packs left.



I have a fresh set of VSXX's rebuilt, relipped, repolished, and repowdercoated (wow alot of "re's" lol) that i'm going to be putting on hopefully next week. The goal was to get into Wekfest LA but sadly registration/screening has already started for that event.

Although i don't drink beer anymore, i have a bottle of Hennessy Purewhite once i get it to where i want it to be :D

Another small update

Finished shaving the rears. I ended up using the grinder for 60% of the work, then finished it off with the belt sander. Tomorrow getting the fronts rolled, then tires next week.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ps4b0909f2.jpg