ClubLexus - Lexus Forum Discussion - Slow and steady 98 LS400 build

Some background some of which is very interesting; This might be a bit long so bear with me. Many years ago back in early 2000, I was able to pick up a silver 98 LS400 from a buddy of mine who was the service manager at the local Lexus dealership. It was his personal car and he was getting into a newer Lexus so he cut me a really great price, which I couldn't pass up. I used it as my daily driver for a few years until I started to get the itch for a newer car. I regretted it afterwards, but I ended up trading it in on a 2002 LS430.

In 2006, I got rear ended by a drunk driver and the car was a complete loss. I started looking around at cars and couldn't really find anything that grabbed me, and since I've always had a thing for the LS400's, I started looking for another one. One day, my buddy,(the service manager at the dealership) calls me up and asks me if I'm still looking for a 400 and if so, he had a surprise for me. Long story short, They just took my old LS400 in on trade and I was able to pick it up for super cheap. It only had 45k miles on it and was still in pristine condition. Fast forward to now; It's got a hair over 220k miles and runs just as strong as ever. Nearly everything works however the LCD touch screen is beginning to fade and the Nav doesn't work due to the previous owner removing it for some reason and me being lazy about replacing it.

The original plan was to freshen it up a bit and give it to my son as his first car. The front strut control arm bushings were shot, so I replaced them as well as upgrading the brakes to slotted/xdrilled rotors with Stop Tech pads. New tires were installed and all of the standard maintenance stuff was done as well as replacing all of the interior lights with LED bulbs and taking care of some interior odds and ends. It's got a fairly fresh T-belt/water pump and all of the other stuff is up to par.

Well, my son hasn't kept his end of the bargain and has let his grades slip to the point that he might not graduate this year. That means that the deal is off the table and I'm keeping the car and now I feel myself wanting to give the car a decent update.
I'm not a big fan of the VIP style or stretched tires and crazy negative camber that I see a lot of guys here embrace, so I'm envisioning something similar to what I've seen with blumagic's anti-vip build; sleek, and sporty with a nice lowered stance and clean looks. We'll see how it goes.

I need to take care of a few more things such as a leaking front main seal and power steering pump, and the outer tie-rod ends need some attention. After that, I'll be updating the interior by replacing the wood trim with something more modern and then tackling the minor body work that the car needs. (The front end is heavily chipped and road scarred from the past 20 years).
The car is completely stock and the body is clean and rust free, having been a Florida car it's whole life. I can't wait to get started!

Here she is as she sits now:
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https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...06ed9bd43d.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...4cfc965755.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...e500c9bc40.jpg