When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Nice upgrade. When I bought mine the one thing the previous owner had done was go HID lowbeams and fogs. I fought it at first, but ended up loving it.
I cant imagine owning this car without HIDs anymore. They perform so much better than the halogen bulbs. Its going to be the first upgrade i do to any car i own from now on that comes with halogens.
You need to seal those headlights up or they will just yellow again in 3 months. Have it clear coated.
The restoration kit actually came with a clear coat that I've already applied. It's been close to 6 months and they still look like the day I redid them. I may do a proper sanding and clear coat at some point but it's holding up so far .
Resealed both fog lights and refinished the lenses. Comparison pic below. Could also use some advice on what bulbs to use to match my 5500k HIDs. I cant do a HID conversion on the fogs because i dont want to deal with a projector retrofit.
Loving the build! So rare to see a clean 98+ SC400. Mine's a 98 as well but in black onyx. Do you happen to remember which HID lights you bought? I've been planning on upgrading my headlights for a while now.
Loving the build! So rare to see a clean 98+ SC400. Mine's a 98 as well but in black onyx. Do you happen to remember which HID lights you bought? I've been planning on upgrading my headlights for a while now.
Thanks, yea i listed the info in the post with the HID pics.
DDM Tuning (Plus package) 35 Watt ballast 5500k bulbs
Its about $60 on Amazon.
Finally got the bulbs installed and fogs mounted! I used dual led fog lights that i found on amazon, was skeptical at first but really like them now. Plenty of light for fogs in both yellow and white, we'll see how long they last. The lights are 6000k/3000k.
Been a while since I updated the thread so here is all the new stuff I've done to the car.
1. Redid the ignition system. New plugs, boots and coils. Job was surprisingly easy but unfortunately found oil in one of the cylinders that was gathering on top of the plug (blowby?). Will need to investigate, could be the tube seals...
2. New mufflers from CarXX (another tanabe medallion copycat). Was originally going to get manzo but they were out of stock for months so figured I'd take a chance on the new guys. No complaints so far, sounds deep af.
3. Compound, polish and ceramic seal the car. Used chemical guys 34 with heavy pad and finished off with 36 medium pad. Came out perfect without being too aggressive. Sealed it with Avalon King. Fun fact: if you use 32 compound on a rag and go through the rubber trim and then seal it with Avalon, you will no longer get black streaks when washing/raining.
4. Some minor interior stuff. Fixed a drooping door sill, fixed the relay for the Bluetooth/cd player switch, replaced climate control ****.
Next on the list: brakes (either BBK or just pads depending on budget), restore both front seats and SEM paint, potentially delete resonators.
Further down the line: Powdercoat the wheels in Hypersilver or maybe gunmetal with clear (hypergunmetal??), roll/shave fenders, get slightly wider tires.
Pics!
Vteruni
What a CLASS ride. Looks great. Just read your thread and love it. I also have the same wheels and dollar for dollar they cannot be beat for price and looks, just love five spokes of any kind. You had mentioned going with bigger tires and rolling the fenders. My SC300 is running 255/35 x 18 on the front and 275/35 x 18 on the rear with no rubbing at all in 15k miles and this is without rolling the fenders. My car is not lowered which will come this year. Since my wheels are not staggered (8 1/2 all around) will go with 265/35 x 18 on next set so that I can rotate my tires. You do have hub centric rings on your wheels?
Best of luck from this 81 year old enthusiast,
Bill
Thanks guys!
Bill, I'm surprised that you have no rubbing with those wheel specs. Even with my current setup, i have a tiny bit of rub on the passenger rear tire. I have no idea why. I do have hubcentric rings on my set but my wheels are infact staggered so that might be why i rub in the rear. its 8" in front with +30 offset and 8.5" in the rear with +33 offset. No spacers or anything like that. My car does have an accident on record 10+ years ago and apparently it was hit in the passenger side. This could also be the reason for the rub but i know that if i roll the fenders i can put wider tires. I want to do 235/45 or 245/45 front and 255/40 or 265/40 rear. The size of the total wheel diameter will likely change which might mess with the speedo a tiny bit but im not too worried about that, in fact if anything it might actually correct it because it currently reads about 2mph faster than what my gps shows.
Vteruni
My SC300 is a '93 and I have no idea if there is a difference in the wheel wells between your car and mine. I started off with a staggered set of 8's and 8 1/2's. I bought tires accordingly while I had my wheels at a machine shop where I had the centers bored out so that I could install Lexus "L" center caps. The caps fit fine and then he welded a ring on the inside where the caps would have a perch. Now the reason I had to buy two more wheels and elected to buy 8 1/2". He screwed up by chance both 8's. One he bored the center offset just enough that it could not be balanced on a spin balancer and the other one came out of the lathe while it was spinning. So I have the two wheels that were correct are on the drivers side and the two on the right side have the Nissan caps. I paid $250. for this car 33K miles ago not running and I love it since at my age it will be my last project.
I have written a book and did not mean to.
Have a good evening,
Bill
02-24-18, 11:35 AM
