Seely's LS400s
 

New to LS400s and the Lexus world :)

Recently just bought two low mileage LS400s for pretty good deals for the 2022-2023 car market (total around $7k)

1992 Blue (172 COBALT BLUE METALLIC) w/ 162k miles
1991 Black (6K4 BLACK JADE PEARL) w/ 103k miles

Not sure about the paint codes but I got them from here:
http://ls400data.com/paintCodes.html

Both need a few things but are in pretty good shape, with straight bodies, running good and minimal rust. The black car's interior is pretty immaculate. The blue needs more work and the carpet / interior smells like sweaty balls. They both have been sitting probably could use new spark plugs, coolant, motor oil, trans oil.

As of now, the blue needs:
- brake rotors, pads, brake lines bled
- carpets cleaned
- dash and leather cleaned
- stereo and speakers
- catalytic converter
- clear-peel fixed

No plans for the blue, just restore it for now. New brake pads and rotors coming in. Then I'm going to pull the carpet out soon and also replace the cats.

For the black:
- power steering pump replaced
- need to buff the car
- head lights
- antenna works but it comes out like a string

So far planning a Wald inspired executive style build for the black Lexus.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...faeade2305.png



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Bought some new 19x8.5 Wald Duchatelet three piece rims for the black car. With +35 offset i'm pretty sure I can drop the car 1.5 inches and clear the fender. Coilovers will be coming soon, but waiting to replace the power steering pump.

I bought them from threepiece.us despite their bad reviews just b/c these rims were pretty hard to find. I would not recommend them, needless to say

they aren't very good at doing business. I +1 their crappy reviews as of 2022. They're customer service is bad and their products are expensive. One

of the lips are bent so thinking about just rebuilding all the wheels.


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welcome, not 1 but 2 LS! should be fun to play with, and start with the maintenance first before modding is generally a good idea. a good looking car wouldn't be worth much if it doesn't run right.

as for that wheel bend, take a lead hammer and pound it back. shouldn't be too bad in my opinion but you can certainly rebuilt it all for a more fresh look. still looks great as is!

Right on! The black one is actually my brother's (gave it to him as an x-mas gift)

Completely agree with that statement. We're doing all the important maintenance first, then extras later (i.e. coilovers, rims, re-clear, etc). I mentioned the immediate issues for both cars, that I can at least see so far. Luckily for me, underneath both cars look pretty clean. The bolts aren't all caked up, they don't have much rust, bushings are still in good shape, etc. so it will be less of a pain to work on.


That's interesting thanks for the tip, I didn't realize I could possibly hammer it back into shape. Although I've painted cars and done some body work before, I'm not really good with body-work especially hammering metal into shape (So b/c of lack of experience I wouldn't know where on the rim to hit it or of any techniques)

Would I just hit it right on the top of the highest point of the bend? Hopefully it's easy enough, I would be open to just fixing it. I don't need fresh brand new rims, although I'm also open to that too :) The lip and barrel bolts/nuts are rusty, I'd like to at least clean up behind the rim up a little bit and swap those bolts if its easy enough. Well see. I'll definitely post all progress as I go.

...Before doing anything, my plan is at least to take them to the local wheel shop to get a few quotes on maybe just parts only, or repairs or just a full rebuild. But just kind of sitting on them for now till we get the important maintenance work done.


Today's Update:

Pretty sure the battery went out just now on the black car. I moved it to a new parking spot across the street and it wouldn't start after I shut it off. The dash lights were just flickering when I was cranking it, starter didn't make any noise at all (Hoping nothing shorted while I did that, it looked ugly while the dash light was flashing/clicking)

I've seen the process for swapping the starter and it looks like a PITA I'm mechanically inclined but would have a mechanic do that since it looks too stressful for my back lol. Hopefully its not the starter, it didn't make any noise when cranking.. but I'm not sure, i think that's also a symptom of a bad starter.

But checked the battery voltage and it was 11.77 volts. According to the install date sticker the Lexus brand battery was put in "4/21", so its not that old. Another thing is the car hasn't been driven too much within the last two weeks since were waiting for the new power steering pump.

Without having time to investigate the problem, I'm assuming its because either
1. The alternator is getting leaked on by the significant power steering pump leak and its not charging the battery.
2. It's either that or our metro-mile insurance device killed the battery.
3. Also the battery could have been jumped many times since the car didn't really get driven too much before I bought it.

The good thing about having two is you can swap parts quickly lol I'll prob throw the other battery and do a basic test on the alternator output.

Looking good. Your black LS looks like my black ls and it has the same wheels. I got doo-doo spec walds and then rebuilt them. I got some rare boiz too but they're too piece welded and I haven't taken the the ridiculous amount of time to take them apart. But, one day...maybe I will.

Right on nice. Do you got pics? Were you lowered? Whats your lip and offeset size?

I'm curious how the wheels are going to clear the fenders. I'm basing my build on this wald car executive line design without much camber. I plan to drop it about 1.5" or maybe a little more depending on how that looks.

I am fairly lowered. Much more than 1.5 inches. Closer to 4.5. Offset is +12 all around. Lip size 2.5f and 3.5r IIRC
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...c6dd1d4e7d.jpg
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they did not fit under stock fenders so I got some Ulterior Motives flares. The best thing about it is I bought a literal ****ton of suspension parts to try to make it work. Stuff I probably woulda never gotten otherwise. Rear trailing arms, camber arms caster like... between serial 9 and Megan, I think I went through the whole catalog lol. I, honestly, didn't wanna do any of that. But i was rushing to put this together at the time.

But, now the car is in great condition. I gotta get the exhaust leak fixed cuz I hate it being loud. But other than some odds and ends, it's back to being a semi-daily

Tbh some of it you don't really need new though, a lot of the stock suspension parts probably last fine ..but I get it. It's kind of a nice feeling to have new parts. I have a bunch of extra parts like that for my motorcycles except some are installed and some are just sitting in my garage

Looks like a body kit in the picture. Did you install aftermarket side skirts? I'm looking to get some too, probably Wald.


Today's Update:

The Brembo front-brake discs I bought from carid.com didn't fit. The diameter is TOO BIG and so the caliper mounts could not be installed. Had to re-install the brake discs after fxcking taking it off, but good thing was it was only on-side. Kind of pissed, I waited a week for these. My fault for not verifying the dimensions but at the same time why does the website present them to you as search results under parts for "1992 LS400".. lame should have just went to O'rielly. They were also thicker so the calipers couldn't even slide over the disc all the way.

(FYI: If anyone is thinking about buying these specific ones linked, do not buy them)

Here's a size comparison picture:

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...0c42a2f19d.png

i said lead hammer bc it's soft but still has weight and won't mar the wheel like a steel hammer would. yeah you just strike the high point and get it back in shape or at least to where the tire seals. that's how my wheel shop did it for me. i wouldn't try to remove the rusted/bolts and nuts. just clean them up. you don't want to worry about resealing the wheels. in the pics they don't look too bad at all!

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...4bfbe8ead9.jpg

I've been investigating a metal rattling sound coming from the cats on the blue car. So far I can reproduce the sound by banging on the driver side cat with my fist. Also noticed the passenger side is a weld-on cat. The part number on the cat is for a Magnaflow universal cat that according to their website is not compatible with the 1992 LS400.

I'm trying to figure out whats going on there and for the driver side cat (see the picture above), i'm going to take it off soon and take a look inside. Pretty pissed about the passenger side being weld on since I lost the flange that goes to the cat-back side that bolts onto the cat.

UPDATE:

Found motor oil on each of the driver side plugs. Haven't seen the passenger side yet. (see pictures below)

The wires look in good condition. They also look like the originals. The wires read "yazaki 2001" (see pictures below)

Starting to thinking if i want to sell the car here depending on the reason there's oil on the plugs. If its piston rings or another big job it makes the car more expensive. I already have new brake rotors and pads and may even buy new cats which I can put into the blue car or if not then the black car.

Will want to start doing a leak down test.

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UPDATE:

Did a little experiment today. Tried to clean the blue car's carpets and it didn't really work. Did multiple passes on the stain with the canned carpet cleaner and scrubbing brush from Orielly's auto parts, also used a wet vac. Seems like I might have to do this many more times to get it really clean. Thinking about just bringing the car to get the carpet professionally cleaned.

Before and after:


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...5c773bca1f.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...47d2410b67.jpg
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Remove the carpet and wash it. Stiff brush + a hose + this will remove almost anything

I was considering removing the carpet. I didn't want to for a few reasons:
1. The carpet is not that bad, just a few stains here and there. I feel like I can clean it just as good like this and let it dry off in the sun for a couple days.
2. Not sure how to get the gas pedal off and too lazy to figure it out
3. Worried it wont fit back in nicely and it will look weird in some area
4. Don't want to risk breaking any plastic tabs.

So especially if I can get the same quality without taking off the carpet then I don't find it necessary, especially if there is the risk 3 & 4.

I've done it many times it is worth the effort. Not possible to rinse all the soap out via vacuum cleaner etc.

The carpet retains its shape and goes back in no problem. Gas pedal comes out with a couple of bolts.