I am planning on doing a NA-T on my recently purchased 1995 SC300 W58.
(https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc-...l#post10608533)

The first thing I plan to do is get it up and running, legal , titled, and registered in VA. From there I plan to restore both the interior and exterior as best I can find parts.

Then the big fun of doing the NA-T swap. Lots or reading and learning to do first.

Step one was getting it through state safety inspection. I want to drive the car while I do the work leading up to the swap.

Repaired passenger window regulator by fixing a short in the motor and adding a u-bolt to the cable below the broken plastic piece that forces the window up and down. Works great.

Had a local Lexus dealer do an alignment. Had the dealer do it to make sure it was done well.

Replaced right front fender

Pulled the cat and had a buddy weld the crack at one of the flanges.

Passed both inspection and emissions. Good news. I can get it titled now.

 

I purchased a set of 8 LED bulbs from Tanin Auto Electronix to repair the burned out bulbs in my instrument cluster on my 95 SC300.

The problem was that unlike the original bulbs, LEDs have polarity. There is a positive and negative side to the LED bulb. Trying to figure out which of the copper traces on the circuit board was positive and which was negative took some trial and error. It did not help that the LED bulbs themselves had what looked like a little + on them that turned out not to indicate the positive side of the bulb. I had to use a power supply to test each bulb and mark the positive side with a Sharpy. Once I got the bulbs all marked with a positive side, I figured out which copper traces on the circuit board were positive. The picture below shows how to install the LEDs. The red X indicates the positive side of the hole where the LED gets installed. Generally the holes on the left (looking at the back side of the cluster) would have the LEDs installed with the positive side of the bulb towards the bottom of the cluster. On the right side all but one of the LEDs would be installed with the positive side of the LED towards the top of the cluster. The one LED farthest to the right (again looking from the back of the cluster) gets installed with the positive side towards the bottom of the cluster.

Hope this helps someone. Tanin did not have a help video on this and when I emailed them, would also not offer any additional assistance.

I also purchased the red LED needle replacement kit. It looked pretty good and the help video they have at their web site was good. I ended up grabbing a set of needles from a junk yard that made it look a little nicer. I suppose the Tanin needles will be back ups now.

Bruce

 

Great Start! Keep it up. Since you had to go through emissions, I'm guessing that you're in northern VA? I'm in DC. Check out my build link in my signature.

 

mrmj2u, Thanks for the feedback. After looking through your build thread, I would love to have a few minutes to talk with you. I sent a PM.

Bruce

 

I have not added any pics in a while. I have done a steering wheel change, a paint job, lots of work on the interior, a new rear view mirror ECU, struts (to hold me over until I do coil overs), tint, an ignition key with remote and programmed it, fixed all of the lights and LEDs including the climate control, added a new rubber mat to the floor mat, made the head lights crystal clear, replaced the clutch master cylinder, completely replaced all the brake and clutch line fluid, replaced the spoiler on the trunk lid and other stuff to bring it back to life.

The next big project is an engine re-build and NA-T (looking for 350 to 400 hp).

So far, here is my shopping list.
Turbo and Intercooler kit
ECU Master stand alone
ECU master adapter
440 injectors
Fuel pump
Oil line feed adapter
Engine re-build kit
Mid pipe to replace cat
Wide band O2 sensor
Head Gasket
Head studs
Clutch
Main stud kit
MAP sensor
IAT Sensor

Bruce

 

We started isolating the engine and transmission to get it ready to come out this weekend.

 

Awesome color! Great progress so far. Keep it up man!

 

I just received my new ECU, MAP, and Igniter.

ECU 89661-14501
MAP 89421-12111
Igniter 89621-41010

Starting to pull the engine next for a re-build.

 

We pulled the engine this weekend. Re-build and NA-T coming soon.

 

Excellent work!

 

I came up with a pretty good solution for pulling the crankshaft pulley.

Took a 2x6 drilled a hole large enough for the socket to the bolt holding the pulley on then a couple of smaller holes on either side to attached the the board to the pulley. Then with a breaker bar and jack handle I had to put a lot of weight on it, but it came loose.

Another cool trick was I just kept the board attached and backed the bolt out into the board that then pulled the pulley of the crankshaft.

Pics:

 

I love this shot from the side of the engine.

 

Got the head all cleaned up, lapped the valves, and re-assembled. Installed the crank shaft and pistons with new ARP main studs.

Moving along.

 

great idea for removing the crank bolt

 

We finally have the engine ready to go back in.

ARP Head stud kit 203-4205
ARP Main Stud Kit 203-5405
Osidetiger 440cc injectors
Cometic C4276-080 head gasket