mveale's '99 GS400 Build Thread
 

Hey all, picked up my first Lexus a few weeks ago and I've started doing some mods, so I figured it was time to start a build thread.

Plans are a clean, low, daily driver with a little bit of VIP influence.

Day 1, right after getting home from the seller's house:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...psqgsnlcuq.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...psm5oa2weg.jpg

Day 1.5, weather was nice, so I pulled the Lexus script and GS 400 badges. After that, I got the dreaded first wash (AKA: find every imperfection) out of the way. The car was in good shape apart from a few small things I already knew about.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...psrzqalvzd.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps0ecgdj4x.jpg

I put the car up on a lift and saw that someone had already deleted the first resonator, but it was still very quiet. I decided that leaving the other two resonators and deleting the mufflers would be an inexpensive way to give this car a voice...

Ordered some 4x18" Magnaflow polished stainless tips and had them welded in place of the rear mufflers:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...psykbz9m9d.jpg

Fast forward a couple days, had some 18% tint installed on everything except the windshield:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...psku7pi5eo.jpg

A couple more exhaust pictures:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...psdk9zq5dh.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps5pzjcri8.jpg


Up next are a few small things:
- Plasti-Dip the front grill (except emblem)
- Black out the chrome body line
- Apply some smoke vinyl the clear side markers I bought to replace the amber ones and install.

Next big mod is going to be coilovers. The Tanabe springs that came on the car ride great, but aren't low enough for my taste.

Stay tuned!

Welcome to the forums... Off to a great start with wheels, exhaust, and springs(car looks lowered)... :thumbup:

looking good!

Looking good so far... Good luck with the build.

Thanks for the comments, guys!

So I was over at my buddy's shop helping him build this:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...pssezox1c3.jpg

Since the GS was just sitting outside, I figured it'd be a good time to do a bit of Plast-Dipping. My grill has some of the gray flaking off and was showing chrome underneath, so Plasti-Dip was a cheap temporary solution.

I did it in a cold shop using leftover Plasti-Dip, so it didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. But since I plan on replacing the grill soon anyway, I'm not too worried about it.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...psadt2ooax.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...pstfcmxfir.jpg


Gave it a quick wash since it's supposed to be sunny for a few days. Here's how she sits:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...psj23vu8os.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps1d7jlddv.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps7bezlnu8.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...psrfgqk8tx.jpg

Bought some LED license plate lights. I've never had good luck with the LED replacement bulbs actually working that well, so I was happy to find some that are complete housings that plug & play.

They work great, but they are insanely bright! I'm probably going to find some window tint scraps and lay them over the light housing to tone them down a bit.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...psmlcuihnc.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...psj1umq30f.jpg

Nice work. can we see pictures of the underside of the magnaflow pipes.

Sure! This is the only one I have at the moment. If you want, I'll take some more detailed ones next time it's up on a lift. But basically, it's two 4" outlet diameter, 2.5" inlet diameter, 22" long tips in place of the mufflers and some 2.5" pipe to get them out where they need to be.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...psykbz9m9d.jpg


I was messing around in MS Paint yesterday, trying to get an idea of what a few aesthetic changes would look like. My plan was always to black out the chrome body line, but looking at the pictures, I think I like it better with the chrome... What do you guys think?

Picture #1 - Current picture
Picture #2 - Side markers deleted
Picture #3 - Side markers and chrome body line deleted

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...psd766b57e.jpg

Welcome to the club man nice GS

In the third picture the fog lights pop up too much imo.
You should try how they'd look tinted. :)

I prefer the second pic too. The chrome molding adds a good touch to it.

I personally like it with the chrome trim and smoked or no side marker.

A little update...

The detail department at the dealership I work for had no work the other day, so I had them cut and buff the GS. A lot of small imperfections came out. I'm really happy with it.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...psgpl2bvvp.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...psnnpmcidq.jpg[

I didn't plan on following the "drop, wheels, TTE rep" formula that seems to be so popular on these cars, but I can't stand the way the OEM front bumper looks without a lip. A cheap eBay TTE rep seemed like the best temporary solution until I can get the full body kit I want.

The fitment was okay, not as good as real parts, but a lot better than some fiberglass replica parts I've seen. I also installed some smoked marker lights.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...pspigldlyj.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...psettnggtp.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps2llwiq1y.jpg

The reason I got a good deal on this car is because of two imperfections. First, the previous owner took the spoiler off and covered the holes with electrical tape. I have an OEM spoiler on the way, so this will be fixed shortly.

The other reason is this nasty scrape on the front bumper. He claims he got hit in a parking lot and the damage wasn't severe enough for him to claim insurance. Eventually I'm going to get a new front bumper, but for now, I went the cheap route:

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...psg3prigee.jpg

I'll post some more pictures when the spoiler shows up. Then it's on to coilovers, intake, and stereo. After that's done, I'll be fixing the bumper damage and ditching the TTE rep for something more authentic.

Thanks for reading!

when you repair the front bumper have them mold the lip... it will look 10x better and flow nicely.... Good update

Thanks! Ideally, I'm going to go with something a little less common than a TTE lip, I just need to figure out exactly what that is first. Haha

Anyway, the previous owner had removed the factory spoiler and brackets and covered the holes with electrical tape. Normally, I'm not a spoiler guy, but the holes were really bugging me (and letting moisture into the trunk), so I told myself I'd either get a spoiler or a new trunk lid; whichever came along first at a good price.

Well a member on here happened to have an unused, onyx black OEM style spoiler that they wanted to get rid of, so I snatched it up as quick as I could.

Here it is installed. I smoked the third brake light with some leftover vinyl I had from another project.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...psxhhg0xyy.jpg

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...pstyaucmpa.jpg

looking good....