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The Dirt Squirrel's Lady - My '93 SC400 Refurb/Build Thread
First post here on Club Lexus, but have been doing a lot of research behind the scenes. Picked up a '93 SC400 over the weekend that was in pretty good shape. Plan is to DD this 90 miles a day to help keep some of the miles off of my other truck. Mods will be clean and tasteful and still allow the car to be daily driven on the crappy Houston roads.
Current specs are as follows:
100% stock 1993 Lexus SC400, 149k miles
Timing belt and water pump changed out at 127k
COLD AC (A must here in TX)
Smooth shifting Auto.
Some dings and dents here and there
Ripped up drivers seat, but not as bad as others i have seen on the market.
Garnet red w/ tan interior
Issues that i have noticed since driving it home:
(Ill check these off as I fix them)
1. Speedo no worky (odo/Tach works)
2. dead lights in the bottom left of the gauge cluster. (im guessing burnt out bulb)
3. Needles on tach and or speedo do not illuminate
4. Air bag light on
5. Warning indicator is on for a light out (not sure if its the running lights or what)
6. Cracked front bumper cover
7. New battery drained itself overnight (cranked for 10 secs then went dead very fast and wouldnt start. Started up instantly the day before. Ill see if its the PCM, alternator, etc
8. Radio is completely dead (Stock radio with CD changer in trunk.
9. Oil seepage from the previous owner over tightening oil pan gasket
10. passenger Brake line as a hole in it (Replacing all 4 rubber lines with new)
11. Bald mismatched tires
Planned upgrades & Mods
1. New tires and probably new wheels. (looking for some IS350 takeoffs for now) (DONE)
2. nice sounding exhaust. (not sure how its going to sound in the cab since 70mph is apparently 2600rpms
3. recover seats
4. fix all issues above (Mostly DONE)
5. swap to 97+ tails
6. LEDs everywhere
7. New headunit
8. New coilovers to lower it an inch or two
9. replace the crappy factory tint (DONE)
10. Intake?
11. A turbo and a manual would be fun down the road
12. Full tune up, oil change, etc as i dont know what the previous owner did recently.
13. Enjoy it.
Running total for repairs/mods - This to help me keep tabs on everything that i have spent so far.
$6 - Fancy Schmancy steering wheel cover from wally world. (6/17/17)
$148 - Duralast Battery from Autozone (6/17/17)
$140 - New brake hoses F/R (6/20/17)
$154 - two (2) new rear tires (6/21/17)
$173 - Tune up parts (NGK plugs and wire, Bosch cap/rotor, fuel filter, air filter (6/21/17)
$160 - New alternator from O'Reilly's (6/24/17)
$34 - Oil and Filter (6/25/17)
$171 - Registration/taxes/title transfer (6/23/17)
$125 - Used bumper cover and ECU (6/24/17)
$250 - 5% tint (6/27/17)
$600 - 19" Konig Oversteers with 255/35 tires (6/27/17)
$33 - Used Pioneer stock headunit (6/28/17)
$36 - LEDs to replace the interior ones that are out (6/29/17)
_______________________________________
$2030 - Running Total as of 6/29/17
A couple of pics.
The car ran perfect(ish) on the way home and the 7-8 times I stopped it and started it. Went to start in the following morning and it tried to start for 10 seconds to no avail. After the 10 seconds, the battery died and went click click click. Jumped it and finally got it to start and run for a few seconds before the battery died again (no jumper cables connected). It was like the injectors werent firing when it was trying to start, then all of a sudden, boom it fired and ran like normal. I charged the battery overnight and will see what it does this evening. Need to find what caused it to drain the battery. I saw the radio barely flicker for half a sec with the key on the seat so maybe that has something to do with the parasitic drain. Like i mentioned earlier, the radio doesnt even turn on. Ill pull both radio fuses to see if that fixes it for now.
Off to do some research to solve some of the issues i am having. If anyone in TX has a garnet bumper cover or know where to get one, PM me.
Oh and this is the Dirt Squirrel. Its my '82-ish Toyota-ish rock crawler buggy. It needed a friend
Did a little bit of work to the SC yesterday. With the battery fully charged, i dropped it back in and it started right up and drove in the shop. Noticed the negative clamp on the battery was loose even with it fully tightened. I ditched the stock unit and replaced it with something i had on the shelf. Now both cables are nice and tight. Just checked it this morning before i left for work and it started right up without issue. Hopefully that was the issue and not a parasitic drain some where in the system. I also unplugged the radio fuse under the hood, but i dont think that was the culprit. The properly connected battery apparently fixed the dead portion of my dash lights. Now they all work, minus the illumination for the needles.
Took it for a test drive and then noticed my BRAKE warning light come on and pedal felt very mushy. Drove it back in the shop and found that the passenger side rubber hose had a nice hole in it. Replacement rubber lines are now on order for all four corners.
In an effort to pass inspection, i also got all of the lights working on the car. Had to replace the side markers with some amber LEDs i had and they work great. Also replaced a brake light. Now everything works with the exception of the 3rd brake light in the spoiler. I checked the wiring somewhat and everything looked fine. I will do some more testing this afternoon and see what i can come up with. Hopefully the inspection place wont notice it since it damn near blends in with the factory paint.
Still looking for a set of wheels for it. Found a set of Konig Oversteer 19x9.5s with tires that i feel is a decent price. Anyone know if 255/35/r19s will fit without too much issue?
It's going to come down to the offset of the wheel, but at the right offset a 255/35/19 should VERY easily fit on an SC.
I used to run 275/35/19 in the rear with a +22 offset which is pretty damn aggressive without issues only needing a roll and light pull of the fenders. Now I run 315's with plenty of room to spare because my new wheels are a higher offset.
They are +40. Stock apparently is +50. I want to stuff a fat tire in the rear for a more aggressive look. Still on the lookout for something. Been looking at that thread a lot today.
They are +40. Stock apparently is +50. I want to stuff a fat tire in the rear for a more aggressive look. Still on the lookout for something. Been looking at that thread a lot today.
You'll have no problems fitting a 9.5 +40 with 255 tires in the front or rear. The fronts you'll almost be at the tire limit, but the rears you could go 275 or as wide as you can fit on the rim.
You'll have no problems fitting a 9.5 +40 with 255 tires in the front or rear. The fronts you'll almost be at the tire limit, but the rears you could go 275 or as wide as you can fit on the rim.
So last night i changed out 3 of 4 brake hoses to the calipers. Apparently the car has had the issue on the drivers side in the past as that line was new. So i replaced the passenger side and both rears just to be safe. Just need to bleed them and get some cheap new rear tires to pass inspection, then i can drive it (legally) on the road.
Fixed my third brake light in the spoiler. Turned out the wiring pulled out of the main harness near the hinge. Instead of tearing all that open, i tapped into the brake light wiring on the passenger side light. A couple of heat shrunk connections and the entire LEDs light up nice and bright like they are supposed to.
Took it for a drive after i bled the new brake lines and noticed a vibration in the front right. Probably the junky tires i swapped from the rear to the front. Ill see if it goes away once i put new tires on. Otherwise new struts/coilovers may have to come sooner rather than later.
Also noticed a vibe when the car is in park and i rev it to 1800ish rpms. Im guessing engine mounts or trans mount. Engine doesnt seem to move too much when revving it so probably trans. Ill replace with poly.
Man don't know how much you paid but that looks like a steal, paint looks to be in good condition. Welcome to the family, picked up an SC400 around Thanksgiving last year. You think she rides nice now wait until the tune up.
Man don't know how much you paid but that looks like a steal, paint looks to be in good condition. Welcome to the family, picked up an SC400 around Thanksgiving last year. You think she rides nice now wait until the tune up.
I gave $2200 for it. Dont really want to get much more than $5k in it total. I think i can have a nice driving and performing car for that much and have it be different than all the mustang/camaro/charger douche nozzles. The car isnt perfect by any means. the paint is very nice. Only some clear coat flaking on the rear bumper cover. It does have a few dings here and there and the front bumper cover is cracked, but if i decide to keep it long term, it will get a recoat and make her all purdy again.
Welp, drove it to town to get it inspected and the battery light came on again and it died. No clue what the issue is. Getting the alternator tested to eliminate that from the equation. There is nothing aftermarket on the car. It has the pioneer factory head unit that is dead. I pulled the fuse under the hood last week. No clue what's causing the drain. I left the key in the ignition so I don't think that's it. All lights were off. Any ideas?
06-19-17, 01:43 PM
The Dirt Squirrel's Lady - My '93 SC400 Refurb/Build Thread
