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I am amazed of the engineering of the LS, I continue to find the little details that Lexus put into in it. The forum has been very helpful and will continue to be a great resource as this car transforms to what I am visualizing as really clean build that hopefully compares to some of the sick rides in here and goes from church lady to head turner
She has 64,182 on the clock, one owner car that was garage kept. All the paperwork and service from the day it was bought was in the glovebox, all at Lexus dealership. It is in great shape aside from the usual scratch and dents and the drip moldings peeling. The interior is looks like no one has ever sat in the back seats. Other than the polyurethane cracks on the steering wheel, the wood is in good shape. Already used the threads to fix the stuck ashtray cover, napkin lol.
Attached are pictures when I first got her home. Was so excited had to take pictures even before it was even washed. Have a lot plans but will start going through all the obvious general maintenance things first along with odds and ends. Will post pictures along the way and can't wait to see how it turns out, although modifying is always endless!
I am looking to do the full Euro Celsior kit but have been told that there is at least 6 month wait on that one right now. so it will give me time to work on other things like the audio. Since this is a non nav car. What is everyone's experience with the best aftermarket upgrades for radio to look at?
Appreciate everyone in here and look forward to all the input and help as I am sure there there will be a few questions come up during the build.
Hope everyone and their families had a great Thanksgiving! Finally got some time to get into it and really see what needs to be done. Although she was really clean to begin with, started with a deep clean and condition of the leather, carpet stains, all the leaves and crap in the sills cleaned out. I have to pull the roof trim that is peeling, clean it up and replace a broken clip. The struts on the hood and trunk need to be replaced, found that out the hard way as the trunk nearly killed me when I lifted it up and bent inside to get something! Note to self... The steering wheel has cracks in the poly, been working on a few scrap pieces of wood experimenting with different levels of sanding and wipe on polyurethanes. so far, I haven't found a product that I like. Doing the fluid changes, air filter etc, found that oil pan gasket is leaking and one of the lca has leaked and dried out. I have seen people switching and running the Lexus IS lca's (another thread) but will have to read up on that w the pros and cons. The timing belt certainly hasn't been done and has some minor cracking. the hoses need replacing as well, so those are up next first and foremost. I am not to surprised with any of this, as it was all expected.
Been using some peach tree wood from the yard as a sample with how fine to sand the cracked polyurethane off the steering wheel and found that this wipe on poly had good results and looks promising. this was 2 thin coats. I know sanding the wheel in while in the car would leave for quite a detail with all the dust everywhere so removing it might be better. lol Curious, Are most of you replacing with new wheel or restoring the original, or going custom? Elvin can make the wheel in carbon fiber in different colors of my choice which I also looked at.
Been busy with other projects but finally got some time to get things moving. Finished restoring the steering wheel. took a lot of sanding through the cracked poly, re stained it, and then used a wipe on polyurethane. I think it came out amazing. (picture is when the 1st coat was drying)
Things are starting to come together nicely! A few minor details make such a big difference. Here are some updated quick pics, Wil have to do a proper photo shoot soon! More to come...
Happy new year to everyone, Been a while since posting, so many things on other projects and honey do lists. I did get a few maintenance things last year, fixed the oil pan leak, valve cover gaskets, spark plugs, seals etc. Picked up a new 3 piece trunk spoiler and front lip. The fitment out of the box is pretty good and doesn't need much other then getting prepped and painted this week. Next up, finish the audio and coilovers!
Been searching for a while, Found this one on Amazon of all places, with returns available, I figured why not give it a try. The 3 piece rear is from Shine auto in CA.
MM 05' LS430 clean simple build
Note to self... The steering wheel has cracks in the poly, been working on a few scrap pieces of wood experimenting with different levels of sanding and wipe on polyurethanes. so far, I haven't found a product that I like. Doing the fluid changes, air filter etc, found that oil pan gasket is leaking and one of the lca has leaked and dried out. I have seen people switching and running the Lexus IS lca's (another thread) but will have to read up on that w the pros and cons. The timing belt certainly hasn't been done and has some minor cracking. the hoses need replacing as well, so those are up next first and foremost. I am not to surprised with any of this, as it was all expected. 
