YannG

Gotcha - Thanks for clarifying that...I genuinely thought the UCF30 was the equivalent to the earlier model LS430 and the UCF31 was the facelift version of the LS430.

thanks

Ellesse

That's what I always thought too!

Hey quick question how are you ordering from YAJ? Using a third party site or just letting Google translate the page?
I've seen some interesting stuff on there now and then but unsure how to actually get it shipped to the us...

kos

iTrader: (1)

Buyee is one of the brokers you can use, pretty easy too.

CelsiorFin

I check that Buyee and there is interesting stuff but problem is postage fees because in many items page says that "This item may require use of the Special Packaging Service and/or Oversized Package Shipping Service" so how can I ensure how much is postage?
Off course postages for e.g. car bumber can be very high but that Buyee page display that "This item may require use of the Special Packaging Service and/or Oversized Package Shipping Service" text also even parts like celsior trash can -> https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/d350253338

Ellesse

Bingo, this is exactly why I was asking...!

YannG

Hey Ellesse, I just sent you a pm

YannG

Hello,

No real update, been driving the car and enjoying this gorgeous weather here in Georgia.

Little photoshop of what I hope to achieve very very soon...



Yann.

YannG

Hello All,

Another quick update - I attempted to work on the car this weekend, however ran into a very "unfortunate" issue, let me explain:

Saturday :

The plan was to finally fit the Air Lift Performance suspension struts, but as I attempted to take off the driver side front wheel this happened:



The locking wheel nut and key both broke! Funnily enough, I had good year refit/seal that exact tire about a month ago, perhaps they way overtightened the wheel and therefore left me stranded and unable to continue working on the car...(remember this is my daily...)

I took the car to Goodyear, but they were unable to help me and said I should go to the dealer. Fast forward 45mins/1hr I end up at Roswell Lexus, I explain the situtation and was told to wait in the lounge until further notice. After a 1hr30 a Lexus representative comes up to me saying they will need to drill the shattered locking wheel nut and the stud itself.

I was told to come back at the end of the day and took the complimentary rental car for the afternoon, granted it wasnt a newer LS or the LC it was still relatively fun to drive something very different to the LS.





The NX was fine, not much feedback in the steering wheel, power was dull...overall not a car I would buy, but fun to drive for free!

I went back to Lexus at 4:30 and picked up the car after asking them to do an oil change (they had a deal going on for less than $40), do my emissions along with a free complimentary car wash. I basically ended up doing no work at all on the car, spending most of my day at the Lexus Dealership and having to pay way too much money to have a stud/locking wheel nut drilled out + new stud fitted.

Sunday :

I decided to work on other things that needed to be done to the car, started off by removing the rear seats to access the sub:








unbolted the sub from the car:



As you can clearly see the sub had seen better days...



I bought re-foaming kit online and decided to give it a go:





I also decided to clean the SMOG sensor as I dont think it had ever been looked at.





As i thought, it was very dirty:



I cleaned the filter and casing the best I could and refit it:



Last but not least, a couple pictures of her and clean and waxed...







As always, all comments welcomed

Thanks,
Yann

Peacebay

Lookin good! What did you clean the smog sensor with?

YannG

I blew some compressed air on it...

I would have liked to clean it better, however that's all I had at the time

YannG

Hello all,

Took the advantage of the 3 day weekend (memorial weekend) to try and finish the work on the LS430.

I did take some pictures of the work in hopes that It will maybe help someone with their project

Unscrew the top suspension strut bolts (not completely)




Remove the stabilizer bar from the end link:



Remove the stabilizer bar from the end link:



Remove the pin and castle nut:







Old suspension vs New air bag - I made sure to not over-tighten the hoses like the manual says after having applied some tefflon tape and paste:



CLeaned up the steering knuckle and bolted everything back up to the correct torque settings



I wanted to try and keep the noise down with 2 compressors and now a muffler delete so decided to apply some sound deadening material on inside of the trunk, underneath the carpet. It was really easy to do and has definitely helped.



This is where I attached my pressure release valve:



This is where I routed the manual fill/drain valve:



Before lowering the car I jacked up the wheels to make sure no lines were being bent or pulled on:



Here is the final product with all of the air lines connected, management plugged in and compressors fully wired:



Yesterday I received my near perfect condition JDM Celsior Fog lights with the yellow capsule and decided to fit them on the car straight away! It honestly was a pain fitting them WITHOUT removing the front bumper, I would highly recommend removing the bumper.

I haven't yet wired in the sidelight but thinking ill perhaps tap into the DRL, either way I love the color and the way they look










Here are some pictures of the final product, it took me a lot of time, work and effort but got there in the end. I am very happy with the outcome as this was the first time I installed a whole air management/suspension unit all on my own in a garage.







All comments welcomed

Thanks again,
Yann

YannG

Next on my list is a set of wheels...

After 2 days of driving on air and making sure no bags were leaking I decided to head down to The Auto Loung / Susperstar Customs in GA to have them validate/confirm that my install is safe and roadworthy.

Dan from the Auto Lounge kindly let me try some 20" 3 piece wheels (9.5 front / 10 rear) which I think look amazing and would allow me to have the fitment im after.

What do you guys think?









Thanks,
Yann

Romanova

Fogs look great, are those the OEM bulbs in them? I can't imagine installing them with the bumper on... especially when the bumper comes off in 20 minutes.

Keep up the good work!

kos

iTrader: (1)

Great work! Superstar always seems to have some cool stuff they're working on.

20's don't look too bad, but for stock body I like 19" more. If you end up doing aero, you can definitely pull off 20's though.

Peacebay

Car is clean man! Even just look at that knuckle/upper control arm. I personally like the oem 18s but I know I'm probably in the minority here