Well first off I've been a member for a bit but never really posted. Bought a bone stock '96 SC400 a couple years ago for pretty cheap. I felt it was a good deal and I absolutely loved that very very few are seen in my area. I'd say there's about 3, 2 of which have been cobbled with ghastly body kits and primer. Anywho mine had about 184K when I bought it. Came from the Honda world and wanted to try something different. She's in fairly good condition, a couple flaws on the body and some rips in the leather. But the reason I'm "rebuilding" is the engine stated overheating for a couple weeks on and off. Checked everything coolant related then one day I started it up and heard metal hit metal. Not good. So I let her sit for a couple months deciding what I wanted to do and decided on a slightly upgraded stock rebuild. But before I bore you heres some pics.

Found an engine with 27K on it. Very dusty, needs a good cleaning. Rotates freely and came with a full harness





Not used to taking the harness out with the engine lol



Old one out for good





As she sits

 

Also got new wheels/tires and some coilovers. Hate if you want I can't afford Work/Volk or the like so I'll settle with what I can

XXR 527 18x8.75 +38 front and 18x9.75 +20 rear. Wrapped in 225/40 and 245/40 RE-11



Test fit, needs low!!!

 

Starting taking the old 1UZ apart but didnt find much carnage. At this point there was 220K on the car

Right bank looks very good


Left bank not so much, smelled pretty bad too



Nothing broken though



Picked up the rebuilt trans.



And some cleaned aluminum parts



Then attacked the bay with some WD-40



Thats where I'm at as of today. Waiting for gaskets and such to come in so i can start cleaning the engine. Bay still needs some more work. And yes I am going to replace T-Belt and water pump right away and many other wear items.

 

Nice start. You must be one of the few that got a bad 1UZFE. Those are so bulletproof for the most part. Great start BTW. Get the motor in and drop that thing now.

 

I agree I don't think I've ever seen a lunched 1U , there indestructible for the most part . Our cars do not look pretty up high. Low is the number one mod after wheels you must do ,even if just on springs n struts . My car doesn't have coil overs but still dropped with Tannabe n springs good luck with your build

 

looking good! you can tell theres a lot of work being put into the car!

 

Thanks everyone! Yes as soon as the new engine and trans are in and everything ready to go I am dropping it right away! It's in serious 4x4 status right now. I have a set of KSport Kpro just sitting in the box waiting. Haven't really seen too many people on here running them so I guess we'll see if they were a good choice. Anybody have any insight on those? Other plans as of now will be fix two small rust spots (they're pretty solid still so hopefully a simple repair) and straighten out all the dings/scratches before a new coat of paint. Probably this fall or winter for that. Also I think it needs a throaty exhaust

 

Got some new parts in. Aisin timing kit.

 

Been a long time since I've had a chance to work on the SC. Finally ready to drop it back in next weekend.

Finally went ahead and got a Dragon TC





All cleaned up

 

Progress is coming along very nice.

 

Got some work done this weekend



Back in


Front coilovers on and everything underneath reattached

 

Got some work done this weekend. Head lamps and tail lamps cleaned up





Rear coilovers and wheels on. All brakes cleaned from sitting and all fenders rolled with a slight pull in the rear. Also a much needed bath

 

keep up the good work

 

Coming along nicely! Let me know how you like that dragon tc I've been thinking about one for a couple years now lol. If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay for it?

 

I'm super excited to experience the dragon, should make a good difference from what I've read. I actually came upon this car a couple years ago sitting at a dealership. They were going out of business so they let me have it for what they gave for trade-in which was 3500. I thought it was a pretty good deal. Also have a few updates...

Removed all badges except for the two "L"s and painted those black



Also painted the ghastly chrome strip on the side window molding





And finally decided on an exhaust setup, haven't seen this on an SC yet so I'm going to try it. Picked up a Magnaflow true x pipe and two SLP loudmouth resonators