My New 1993 GS300 Project
04-27-14, 01:30 PM
#1
My New 1993 GS300 Project
Hello CL. I purchased this 1993 GS300 from a lady about a month ago for $800. Has 160,000 miles on it. I purchased it as an investment and as a daily driver while my SC300 gets a turbo installed. I bought it with a leaking water pump and a horrible vibration due to the radiator fan not being mounted correctly. The GS actually overheated on me on the drive home right after I bought it.
The person who installed the water pump installed the wrong water pump (it was meant for 2nd Gen GS) Our radiator fans will not bolt onto 2nd Gen GS water pumps due to the shaft being too big in diameter on the water pumps. So the previous stupid mechanic installed the fan using WASHERS as spacers. The nuts were not tightened enough resulting in the fan being wobbly. On top of that, the water pump itself was not installed properly because all the water pump bolts were hang tightened. One of the bolts backed off and fell into the timing belt cover which chewed the crap out of the timing belt. I am shocked that the timing belt didn’t break on me.
I have already installed a new water pump and a new timing belt so she runs great now. Here is a list of the good and bad about this GS300.
Good:
Bad:
I will update this thread with more pics and with all the fixes and improvements that I will do to this GS. I am going to keep the car stock. I just want to restore this GS and make it look nice and functional.
The person who installed the water pump installed the wrong water pump (it was meant for 2nd Gen GS) Our radiator fans will not bolt onto 2nd Gen GS water pumps due to the shaft being too big in diameter on the water pumps. So the previous stupid mechanic installed the fan using WASHERS as spacers. The nuts were not tightened enough resulting in the fan being wobbly. On top of that, the water pump itself was not installed properly because all the water pump bolts were hang tightened. One of the bolts backed off and fell into the timing belt cover which chewed the crap out of the timing belt. I am shocked that the timing belt didn’t break on me.
I have already installed a new water pump and a new timing belt so she runs great now. Here is a list of the good and bad about this GS300.
Good:
- Clean title, never been in an accident
- Bought it with new tires
- Cold AC, hot heater
- Has a new radiator and thermostat
- Has new lower control arms
- Has new inner tie rods
- Has new outer tie rods
- No dents
- No rust
- Came with receipts and owners manual
- Nakamichi radio and working CD changer
Bad:
- Leaking valve cover gaskets (fixed)
- Old peeling tint
- Paint peeling on front and rear bumpers
- Badly stained carpet (fixed)
- Leather has rips and aged really bad
- Center console wood missing (fixed)
- Steering wheel worn badly on top (fixed)
- Front passenger window regulator bad and will not roll down (fixed)
- Rear driver window not getting power (short in the wire inside door) (fixed)
- All window switches wood veneer peeling/missing
- Driver door window trim pulled out (common problem on GS)
- Yellow headlights
- Sunroof will not slide back and misaligned
- Passenger seat off track (fixed)
- Driver seat makes grinding noises when sliding (fixed)
- Worn shift ****
- Missing cup holder (fixed)
- Only has 1 master key and the button is broken
- Antenna will not go up
- Radio has a black thing in front of screen
- Bleeding climate control
- Tachometer sticks
- Mis-matched wheels LOL
I will update this thread with more pics and with all the fixes and improvements that I will do to this GS. I am going to keep the car stock. I just want to restore this GS and make it look nice and functional.
Last edited by Luxor; 06-24-14 at 05:07 PM.
04-27-14, 01:51 PM
#2
Lexus Test Driver
Wow that's quit a list of bad things but several of those things are pretty common and can be fixed fairly easily. The car looks pretty good and for $800 you can't loose. Post some pics of your SC.
04-27-14, 05:05 PM
#4
Here is how the water pump hack job looked like when I bought it. I don't know how this fan stayed on the pulley. Those nuts were barely on there.
When I took off the timing belt cover, I crapped myself. I've never seen a timing belt look like this before. This was a result of a water pump bolt backing out and falling inside the timing belt cover and chewing the timing belt and bouncing around in there. Somehow the timing belt didn't skip any teeth from this.
When I took off the timing belt cover, I crapped myself. I've never seen a timing belt look like this before. This was a result of a water pump bolt backing out and falling inside the timing belt cover and chewing the timing belt and bouncing around in there. Somehow the timing belt didn't skip any teeth from this.
04-27-14, 07:12 PM
#5
Racer
Hope you decide on building this GS like your SC! Sick pickup! great project car
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04-27-14, 09:14 PM
#8
The water pumps looks 100% identical and bolt up, the only difference I noticed was the shaft diameter.
05-04-14, 05:20 PM
#12
Front passenger window regulator
Took the door panel, window and regulator off today to see why the passenger front window will roll down but not roll back up. Turns out the regulator is toast, the green plastic clip by the wheel is broken and the cable came off the wheel and the plastic part where the cable goes through the motor housing has also broken off. Time to hit the junk yard and find a used regulator.
06-03-14, 07:01 PM
#14
Replaced Steering Wheel
I did not like how worn and sticky the old steering wheel was, so I found a 1998 ES300 black steering wheel as a replacement. I think the airbag looks better on the ES300 wheel and the "L" emblem is bigger too. It was all plug and play.