Bartering: Traded computer work for 1992 ES300!!
09-18-12, 05:01 PM
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Bartering: Traded computer work for 1992 ES300!!
Sup guys!!
First of all, you may know me from THIS thread which is the project thread for my other ES300.
Welp, one of my Dad's buddies had this 1992 ES300 in Green which he was trying to get rid of (too many cars in his drive way I guess). It needed a little bit of work (rear valve cover gasket, suspension, etc..). He had it for sale but people kept asking him if they could pay him in payments or trade him another vehicle for it, however he just wanted it to go to a good home and didn't want to do payments with anybody.
Turns out, this guy (owner of the car) just bought a brand new computer and is completely computer illiterate. Good thing is, I have been in the computer business for years. We made a deal that I would buy him a brand new printer (HP Photosmart 7510), set it up at his house and teach him how to use it and anything else he wanted to know for a day. So I spent $162.55 on the printer, and spent the day doing computer work and training for him and walked (or rather, drove) away with the pink slip and this car.
The car is that it is originally from Hawaii and was shipped over here by his Uncle. It's only got 133k miles on it and drives really smooth!
The work that's been done on it:
- All 90K service, including Breaks and Transmission Rebuild
- Timing Belt
- New Radiator
- New Distributor
- New Spark plugs
- New Battery
- New rear tires (lots of tread left on front tires)
What needs to be done Mechanically:
- Rear Valve Cover Gasket
- Suspension (all four struts)
- Front Left Axle
- Alignment
- Knock Sensor
- Drain/Fill all fluids
What needs to be done Aesthetically:
- Antenna (ripped off in a car wash
, motor still works though)
- Dash Cluster Lights (RPM needle is completely out)
- Body Work (big dent in front left fender, someone backed into the car in a parking lot..)
- Buffing out scratches and other marks
- Leather on drivers seat has rips and a hole and passenger seats is scratched
- Needs new floor mats
The car currently sits in my driveway with some cardboard under it to catch little drips of oil here and there. My plan is to get everything done to it and clean it up real nice. I don't plan on getting a new paint job (even though it could use it) and I am not sure if I want to have the big dent fixed or not,; that will depend on how much the cost would be.
I do plan to sell it once I am done.
Here are some pictures of the car:
Engine bay ain't too bad!
You can see the dent on the front left fender here:
Surprisingly, the leather on the top of the back seats aren't ripped!
And the rest of the back seats are pretty clean as well.
The front seats are another story....
Steering wheel too...
A/C is still really cold, but the vents are all broken in one place or another.
Need to get new fabric or possibly re-glue the fabric around the speaker port...
I am super excited to have this little project to work on!
My first question for you is this:
Besides KYB Struts, how does Sensen or Monroe compare?
~Smee
First of all, you may know me from THIS thread which is the project thread for my other ES300.
Welp, one of my Dad's buddies had this 1992 ES300 in Green which he was trying to get rid of (too many cars in his drive way I guess). It needed a little bit of work (rear valve cover gasket, suspension, etc..). He had it for sale but people kept asking him if they could pay him in payments or trade him another vehicle for it, however he just wanted it to go to a good home and didn't want to do payments with anybody.
Turns out, this guy (owner of the car) just bought a brand new computer and is completely computer illiterate. Good thing is, I have been in the computer business for years. We made a deal that I would buy him a brand new printer (HP Photosmart 7510), set it up at his house and teach him how to use it and anything else he wanted to know for a day. So I spent $162.55 on the printer, and spent the day doing computer work and training for him and walked (or rather, drove) away with the pink slip and this car.
The car is that it is originally from Hawaii and was shipped over here by his Uncle. It's only got 133k miles on it and drives really smooth!
The work that's been done on it:
- All 90K service, including Breaks and Transmission Rebuild
- Timing Belt
- New Radiator
- New Distributor
- New Spark plugs
- New Battery
- New rear tires (lots of tread left on front tires)
What needs to be done Mechanically:
- Rear Valve Cover Gasket
- Suspension (all four struts)
- Front Left Axle
- Alignment
- Knock Sensor
- Drain/Fill all fluids
What needs to be done Aesthetically:
- Antenna (ripped off in a car wash
, motor still works though)- Dash Cluster Lights (RPM needle is completely out)
- Body Work (big dent in front left fender, someone backed into the car in a parking lot..)
- Buffing out scratches and other marks
- Leather on drivers seat has rips and a hole and passenger seats is scratched
- Needs new floor mats
The car currently sits in my driveway with some cardboard under it to catch little drips of oil here and there. My plan is to get everything done to it and clean it up real nice. I don't plan on getting a new paint job (even though it could use it) and I am not sure if I want to have the big dent fixed or not,; that will depend on how much the cost would be.
I do plan to sell it once I am done.
Here are some pictures of the car:
Engine bay ain't too bad!
You can see the dent on the front left fender here:
Surprisingly, the leather on the top of the back seats aren't ripped!
And the rest of the back seats are pretty clean as well.
The front seats are another story....
Steering wheel too...
A/C is still really cold, but the vents are all broken in one place or another.
Need to get new fabric or possibly re-glue the fabric around the speaker port...
I am super excited to have this little project to work on!
My first question for you is this:
Besides KYB Struts, how does Sensen or Monroe compare?
~Smee
Last edited by smee; 09-28-12 at 02:30 PM.
09-19-12, 12:40 AM
#3
jesus christ smee you got some of the best luck don't ya
sensen is pure crap
monroe quick struts are easy, and quick but you don't know what you'll get or how long it'll last in terms of quality
i just got brand new kyb's with all oem rubber parts.. its STIFFFF but i think its cause my lca's and tires are out, and they still need to settle i guess..
but man that things pretty clean man paint is in wayy better condition than mine
wish stuff like that would come up for my computer literacy (too bad i do lots of work and no money)
btw where in cali are you? i still plan to make a trip for you to help me clean my projectors haha
max you need to put in is like 1000$ mechanically
body... doesn't look bad, and seats yeah it might be costly unless you can get some at the junkyard
hows your other car?
sensen is pure crap
monroe quick struts are easy, and quick but you don't know what you'll get or how long it'll last in terms of quality
i just got brand new kyb's with all oem rubber parts.. its STIFFFF but i think its cause my lca's and tires are out, and they still need to settle i guess..
but man that things pretty clean man paint is in wayy better condition than mine
wish stuff like that would come up for my computer literacy (too bad i do lots of work and no money)
btw where in cali are you? i still plan to make a trip for you to help me clean my projectors haha
max you need to put in is like 1000$ mechanically
body... doesn't look bad, and seats yeah it might be costly unless you can get some at the junkyard
hows your other car?
Last edited by gabzor; 09-19-12 at 12:44 AM.
09-20-12, 09:03 PM
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jesus christ smee you got some of the best luck don't ya
sensen is pure crap
monroe quick struts are easy, and quick but you don't know what you'll get or how long it'll last in terms of quality
i just got brand new kyb's with all oem rubber parts.. its STIFFFF but i think its cause my lca's and tires are out, and they still need to settle i guess..
sensen is pure crap
monroe quick struts are easy, and quick but you don't know what you'll get or how long it'll last in terms of quality
i just got brand new kyb's with all oem rubber parts.. its STIFFFF but i think its cause my lca's and tires are out, and they still need to settle i guess..
As for struts, I actually did a bunch of research and learned that Sensen makes the struts for Volvo's and has been since the 80's, a lot of people are skeptical of them because they are cheaper but people on other forums who have tried them (and have come back after 10k + miles saying they are still running strong) say to go for it!
Seeing as I'm on a budget, I am going to sell the car in the end, and research tells me Sensen is cool beans, maybe not the best, but still cool beans... I went for it lol.
I ordered the following today:
APX Auto Parts:
- 4x Sensen Struts with Spring Seats
- 4x Boot Kit
- 4x Strut Mount
- 2x Strut Bearing
Rock Auto:
- 2x Front Coil Spring
- 2x Rear Coil Spring
Total was just over $514.67!!
I also went and ordered a pair of StrongArm hood struts on eBay (#4217L, #4217R, for '92-95 ES300 and '92-97 Camry) because, just like my '95, the original hood struts went to crap.
but man that things pretty clean man paint is in wayy better condition than mine
wish stuff like that would come up for my computer literacy (too bad i do lots of work and no money)
wish stuff like that would come up for my computer literacy (too bad i do lots of work and no money)
btw where in cali are you? i still plan to make a trip for you to help me clean my projectors haha
max you need to put in is like 1000$ mechanically
body... doesn't look bad, and seats yeah it might be costly unless you can get some at the junkyard
hows your other car?
09-21-12, 12:34 AM
#6
just checked out your new pics
you can probably patch that leather up! and the fender doesn't look too bad.. go grab some polishing compound/rubbing compound and try buffing the paint off the fender, you can probably get it fixed in one day dent repair
the key scratches will buff out easily.
btw it looks very good! and good luck with your struts hopefully they turn out better than mine (i spent around $1100) and their stiff.. hopefully they settle quicker than longer
why'd you get new springs? did you use the rock auto discount? its not much (5%)
how much were the hood struts?
and what kind of mpg are you getting with your other es and what kind of octane are you dumping (i ask because i have a 95 too)
and dammit! everyone lives norcal why!!
btw if you seem multiple Es 300's and a 95er at the yard, can you grab me extra ac vents and a cluster (i'll buy em from you)
thanks :P
you can probably patch that leather up! and the fender doesn't look too bad.. go grab some polishing compound/rubbing compound and try buffing the paint off the fender, you can probably get it fixed in one day dent repair
the key scratches will buff out easily.
btw it looks very good! and good luck with your struts hopefully they turn out better than mine (i spent around $1100) and their stiff.. hopefully they settle quicker than longer
why'd you get new springs? did you use the rock auto discount? its not much (5%)
how much were the hood struts?
and what kind of mpg are you getting with your other es and what kind of octane are you dumping (i ask because i have a 95 too)
and dammit! everyone lives norcal why!!
btw if you seem multiple Es 300's and a 95er at the yard, can you grab me extra ac vents and a cluster (i'll buy em from you)
thanks :P
09-21-12, 05:24 PM
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Either that OR if I can find a leather seat with leather thats in better condition at the junk yard... I've seen ones that only have the seem rip (which is super easy to fix compared to fixing a whole lol).
Good to know about the scratches and buffing! I'll do some research on the best ways of doing it. My '95 could use some lovin' too.
As for the fender, I'll look into how much it'd cost to get it popped out. If it costs more than a fender from the junk yard then I'll go with the latter. :P
I'll definitely do a write up and/or give a nice review of the Sensen struts! Hoping for the best!
As for springs, I thought I might as well replace them simply because they are 20 years old and because I'll probably be selling this to one of my good friends, so I felt like $140 for springs really wasn't too much more.
Hood struts were $36 (including shipping/tax) for both! Just search 'StrongArm 4217L 4217R' on eBay and you'll find them! You can also have your local auto shop order them (if they don't already have them in stock), but they will charge you closer to $30 each.
I used these hood struts on my '95 and they hold up the hood like a champ! It literally goes up on its own.
I usually get 25mpg using the cheapest gas lol. I drive 75% highway, btw.
Norcal is wassup man. 
lol dude you don't have a junk yard near you??
and the fender doesn't look too bad.. go grab some polishing compound/rubbing compound and try buffing the paint off the fender, you can probably get it fixed in one day dent repair
the key scratches will buff out easily.
the key scratches will buff out easily.
As for the fender, I'll look into how much it'd cost to get it popped out. If it costs more than a fender from the junk yard then I'll go with the latter. :P
btw it looks very good! and good luck with your struts hopefully they turn out better than mine (i spent around $1100) and their stiff.. hopefully they settle quicker than longer
why'd you get new springs? did you use the rock auto discount? its not much (5%)
how much were the hood struts?
why'd you get new springs? did you use the rock auto discount? its not much (5%)
how much were the hood struts?
As for springs, I thought I might as well replace them simply because they are 20 years old and because I'll probably be selling this to one of my good friends, so I felt like $140 for springs really wasn't too much more.
Hood struts were $36 (including shipping/tax) for both! Just search 'StrongArm 4217L 4217R' on eBay and you'll find them! You can also have your local auto shop order them (if they don't already have them in stock), but they will charge you closer to $30 each.
I used these hood struts on my '95 and they hold up the hood like a champ! It literally goes up on its own.
and what kind of mpg are you getting with your other es and what kind of octane are you dumping (i ask because i have a 95 too)
and dammit! everyone lives norcal why!!
btw if you seem multiple Es 300's and a 95er at the yard, can you grab me extra ac vents and a cluster (i'll buy em from you)
thanks :P
btw if you seem multiple Es 300's and a 95er at the yard, can you grab me extra ac vents and a cluster (i'll buy em from you)
thanks :P
lol dude you don't have a junk yard near you??
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09-21-12, 05:44 PM
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Just ordered an OEM Toyota Knock Sensor (89615-32030) for $53.27 on eBay (Brand New, genuine Toyota).
Now I have to decide whether or not I want to do the rear valve cover gasket myself or have a mechanic do it....
Now I have to decide whether or not I want to do the rear valve cover gasket myself or have a mechanic do it....
09-24-12, 04:04 PM
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I kinda want to, but then again... I really like my white one. xD
Well shoot! Thanks for the offer though... It's already ordered. 
Lol well I went yesterday and didn't come back with much. I'll go again to check out more cars.
I want a new green FL fender lol.
I want a new green FL fender lol.
09-28-12, 02:39 PM
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WASSUP GUYS! Well I have a bunch of packages waiting back at home! When I get off work, I'll post up some pictures!
I have the Struts, Coils, Hood Struts, Knock Sensor, FL Axle and other little things! This weekend should be fun.
I have the Struts, Coils, Hood Struts, Knock Sensor, FL Axle and other little things! This weekend should be fun.
