tylerlinn5

I purchased my factory manual SC300 (Ahsoka) July 25, 2018, for $3000 with 256,000 miles on her. I've been working on a few things here and there as finances permit and I've managed to cross a couple items off my list; which I will detail below.


















The vehicle came with a set of 12" Kickers and 1100 watt amp which I have since sold for the sake of trunk space. I intend to upgrade the factory speakers in the near future to make up for the sound quality.



The previous owner had installed a JVC head unit which I really enjoy; high quality, color change options, hands-free calling etc. However, there was no install kit, so exposed wires were visible above the ashtray. Very obvious was the fact that there also was no shift boot. Quite an eyesore.



My car also came with aftermarket tail lights and wheels which I honestly kind of like. I think I'll keep them both. The owner did supply the stock parts.






The passenger side door had two issues with it. The outside door handle would not open the door due to a broken metal bar (not sure what it's called) and it was missing the window motor and window mounting bracket.
I ordered a used motor from Carlos Santos and got a new bracket from Lexus parts to fix the window. I also ordered a used door lock actuator which unfortunately was missing the clip to hold it to the door handle. So the outer handle is still non-functioning.

Ahsoka had a small coolant leak coming from the heater control valve. I replaced with another used part, which failed two weeks later. I searched for any solution other than shelling out tons of cash for a new OEM part. $400 for such a simple part is absurd. I eventually found a thread from O.L.T. which detailed that a certain Ford Motorcraft self-contained HCV could be used as a replacement. I've since made the switch with new hose clamps as well for less than $30 total. No problems since.

I pulled the cruise control unit as well as the charcoal canister for weight savings. I have my EGR block off plates ready to be installed, but I have yet to make the time to do it.

A few weeks back I began work on the interior.
Here you can see how the addition of the install kit truly aids the appearance. While doing this I also routed in a hands-free mic.



I then shifted my attention to the shift boot I had to clean up the plastic bits which were a gluey mess.






I didn't want to spend any real money on a shift boot until I was sure what style I wanted so I grabbed some cheap Star Wars fabric at Wally Word for the time being to go with the mild Star Wars theme of the car. I stitched in some loops around the fabric and ran an old shoestring through it to pull it tight around the lower shift boot plastic since I did not want to glue it on and end up with another mess.



Here it is installed.



I then began work on removing the volume know since I had no need for two. I started with a fiberglass patch.



After patching from behind, I filled the front with Bondo and sanded it down.






I made the mistake of sanding off all of the previous paint layer with a Dremel tool. Don't do that. Just use coarse sandpaper, prime and then paint. I painted the small accessories and installed to check the progress.



Primed x2.



Painted x2.



Installed. I still need to repaint the ****, indicator, and hazard button with a paint marker, but I'm satisfied for now. In the future, I intend to change the Climate Control lighting to a blue that matches the JVC head unit top section and the button light to match the pink. I'll also be staining the e-brake handle black to match and gloss & sealing the console. Lastly, I have a black OEM dash I've yet to install and plan to also purchase and install all black upper panel trims and maybe even do the lower half of the interior black. I also plan to remove the stock seats and replace with lightweight black seats for weight reduction and stain the rear seats black.



FINALLY, stickers for extra HORSEPOWER!!!

Here I represent a few of my interests, mainly from the world of film; another hobby of mine is screenwriting and directing independent films.

1st is my cars namesake, Ahsoka Tano from the Star Wars universe. 2nd is the Blue Spirit from Avatar: The Last Airbender series. 3rd is a symbol from the classic Japanese film Seven Samurai by Akira Kurasawa. 4th, many of you may know, is one of the original logos for Toyota. 5th is the Rebel Alliance emblem of Star Wars.

Soon, I hope to begin working on performance, but just discovered an oil pan leak which requires attention.

Any advice on which intake header I should install? I would like to turbo in the future and I want to do a bay shave/wire tuck. Which ones perform well and aid in creating a clean, non-cluttered look?

Till next time, Tyler.