tqf5159

Hey Guys!
My name is Travis, while i am a new face on the forum, i am absolutely no stranger to the massive amounts of SC content available on this site and have been visiting it for years...
I have owned my sc300 for 3 years now and boy oh boy, what a relationship it has been <3. While scouring the depths of craigslist day after day, hoping to find a worthy car for a newly aspiring car enthusiast like myself, i located a $2000 OBO "perfectly running" automatic 1995 Lexus Sc300 with 170,000 miles. I instantly drove the hour to go check out the car, got to his place. Car was sitting on grass with flat tires, a poorly done paint job, and best of all.... it didn't run. To make a long story short, i ended up towing the sc back after a happily agreed $450 was handed to the man, and wow did i leave with a smirk of my face . Instantly got her back to my family owned shop, and after 2 minutes and 5 cents of electrical, the gnawed through plug wire was wrapped and was no longer grounding on the intake. The 2jz-ge fired right up, and my sc300 was born!
Throughout the years she has remained relatively unchanged (due to financial constraints of being a waiter) , but through the grace of PA tax payers and our wonderful department of transportation, the sc300 can finally get the treatment she deserves!
I have browsed the forms for quite sometime in my 3 years of owning this car, and decided its better late than never to start my very own build thread! Some modifications that i have already done will not have accompanying pictures sadly, and please forgive my terrible photography/ snapchat pics .

The Car:

This is what she looked like the day she got towed to the family shop:


I have been very busy with college and work over the years, so progress on the SC has been embarrassingly slow. Balancing your life and your project car is... well difficult to say the least!

Managed to pick up some very cheap,17in 5 spoke wheels with 50% (20mm spacer for rears) on the tire tread for $150, for sure not my favorite but they were a good placeholder for the time. Along with picking up some wheels, i of course had to add some low. Went with Tein Street Basis coils (maxed), and although i hear a lot of complaints about quality and ride, they're not blown 3 years later, and have worked perfectly. My only complaint would be the spring rates are a tad soft and almost resemble stock ride, and i wish they could go a little lower. Planning on swapping out the springs when i get a few extra dollars.


Ended up blowing my auto tranny about a year after i purchased the car. Cooling line popped off and i didn't notice until too late. Drove the hell out of that slipping auto for months because i wanted to save up money for a r154 but then noticed its a lot more economical to do the R154 and the 1j at the same time. My cheap *** finally forked over the cash for a fresh auto tranny with a new torque converter (Only $300!). Installing these transmission are a breeze so don't fret too much if you're not mechanically inclined!

The crankshaft pulley ended up separating and falling off a few months later, leaving my car smoking and stranded on the side of the road, luckily only a 1/2 mile away from my house. The engine got so hot i was confident that it was done for. BUT, you cannot kill these engines, no matter how hard i try my 2jz-ge is pulling strong to this day. Ended up doing a full timing refresh +water pump.
If you need to remove your crankshaft pulley, good luck doing it by hand... I dont care if you had a 20ft breaker bar, its near impossible. Simply put a small breaker on the pulley and wedge it between the concrete, turn over your engine for a half second, and MAGIC.

After this incident i managed to save up some money, and actually begin modifying my sc.
These pics are right before summer was about to start, last pics of the original body/paint (which is garbage lol).




Brought her into the garage and began sanding.




Purchased some Cosmis Xt-006r's in white. They're 18x11 +8 for the rears and 18x9.5 +11?? for the fronts. Ended up wrapping the rears with 275's and the fronts with 245's. Next time i will go with a smaller tire, but hey i'm not going to complain about some extra meat.


Needed to roll the fenders all around and pull the backs. I would say the roll and pull came out rather well, just some minor bacon.

Some pics of the fitment, will most likely go with a three piece wheel next time so i can dial in the fitment a lot more. Maybe could use a more aggressive pull in the rear but this is where it will stay.






So remember that family shop i was talking about? My generous uncle GIFTED me a freaking car lift! Its old and scary, but it works just fine.
When we were installing and testing the lift, one of the lines blew while the car was raised to the max height on the lift... She was stuck up in the ceiling for a couple days, but with a little ingenuity, and about the most stress you could imagine, we got her down safely.



Had a buddy come over and give me a hand welding up the new exhaust. Its 2.5in stainless mandrel bent piping with the 2 rear cats left in. Came out nice and sounds great! Cant wait to actually be able to hear it on the street and go through some gears!



Forgot to mention, but i had a vertex rep fiberglass kit that i was taking months to install. Never again will i buy fiberglass, its not just minor fitment issues, but massive issues that i spent way to much time on. Sidemarkers were shaved simply because they wouldnt fit, the hood line was god awful, skirts fit like garbage. I would highly recommend staying away from fiberglass if you can afford it.
After i learned my lesson, i saved up a considerable amount of money through college, and pulled the trigger on a full KBD bodykit. Thank god i waited because the vertex side skirts JUST came out when i purchased the kit and couldnt be happier.
Body kits are a somewhat popular topic on the forms, so i assume everyone already knows the extraordinary quality and service KBD provides. Oddly i was shipped a cracked rear bumper, contacted KBD, and they took perfect care of me and didnt even ask for the bumper back! If anyone wants a KBD full rear bumper and is in the Pittsburgh/Altoona area its all yours! Has a small crack by the right valence thingy.

Some pics of the kit; Fitment is SPOT ON. Skirts fit flush with some homemade brackets, Bumper fits gorgeously although its a real tight squeeze to get the headlights in, rear bumper is the same story. (Vertex rep fiberglass rear lip is on the car in these pics)




Other than a few things, this is about where my build stands. I am by no stretch of the imagination an expert, just a college kid who loves JDM cars, and has the passion and resources to bring this car back to life. I have the kit primed and almost ready to be painted. Working on the bacon fenders now. If anyone has any knowledge of body work and would like to chime in on how to bondo these fenders back to smooth, feel free to chime in! Would love to hear any comments on things i could do better along with tips and tricks (mostly for body work)!

I currently work on the car on the weekends due to being away and in college, so progress will be happening slow, but i will be sure to update my build thread.
My hopes are to have the car ready and painted in less than a month, so i can meet event deadlines.

With summer rapidly approaching and school coming to an end for me, i will be working 40 hours a week, and will have more time and money to make my aspirations come true, and to better improve my build. Although i do have a 87 560 SEL that ive been wanting to give some attention to and bag.

Thanks for reading! Tune in on the weekends if you're interested and ill try my best to keep up-to-date on my progress.

Travis

RudysSC

Love the story and how much attention you're giving this car. Great wheel choice and am growing fonder of the KBD kits all the time. Keep up the killer work!