Mimi's IS!!
 

I'm Mimi, aka the mimster, and I'm new to the forum. I recently decided to buy a is300, and I couldn't be happier. I've had it for all of a week now, and have already started to tear it apart!! A few little things needed to be fixed.

First, some pics from when I bought it. It's a 2002 graphite gray pearl with a 5 speed.
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...psfd92866f.jpg
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...ps430006ae.jpg
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...pscba79196.jpg

So two of the tabs on the rear bumper were torn somehow. Time to fix it!!

http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...psa612bdf8.jpg
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...pscd4ee953.jpg

The gap on the good side:
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...ps79935c94.jpg
The broken side
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...psa969ff70.jpg

Bumper removed!!
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4646fca7.jpg
Me being like, look how much room there is in the trunk without the spare in here!!!
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...ps03cf76c7.jpg

While I had the rear bumper off and was fabbing up some tab pieces to epoxy on, I figured I might do some other aesthetic mods while I was at it. So off came the front grill, the front bumper, and the headlights. I plan on polishing the lenses of the headlights, painting the grill flat black, as well as the inside of the headlights.
Headlights off!
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4985e832.jpg
Pried apart
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...ps620fcb24.jpg
Masked off
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...ps186c4204.jpg
Grill and headlights painted!!
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5a76ef42.jpg

So everything is drying, results to come tomorrow. I can't wait!!!!:woohoo:

wow great upgrades.... looks good. I got a few parts for this car if you're interested. :)

I might just take you up on that!!

Congrats on the IS and welcome to Club Lexus :)

Great car and nice mods to start with!

Welcome to CL. I like what you've done so far, but make sure you don't touch the inside of the lenses. I've read that they have an anti-fog coating that will be destroyed if touched. Good luck with the rest of your projects.

welcome to CL and good luck! the 1st Gen IS is the car that made me fall in love with Lexus.

great pics too... good to know you can fit atleast one body in the trunk if need be ROFL

Car looks great! You also have the darkest possible tail lights, so congrats on that. You could have popped off the corner light, instead of masking it off.

Well life got in the way, and I haven't gotten around to updating the thread until now! Not to worry, every thing turned out great.

Headlights
In the garage right when I finished them because I was super excited
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7af1a739.jpg
Outside the next day
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...ps26349387.jpg

Bumper tabs in progress. I used an old credit card for the one that goes on the ninja star, and a tin can for the other, glued on with plastic specific epoxy. Should hold up well
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...psd1f91e2f.jpg
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5b45b841.jpg
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...psbe9268f4.jpg
Marking up the piece to be cut out. I used tin snips to shape it and then a drill press to get the opening. Not pictured, but I also drilled some holes though out the flat part of it to allow the epoxy to sort of mushroom out, to help get a better bond. Also not pictured is my first attempt which failed miserably lol
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...psee404282.jpg

Also in the removal of the bumpers and fender liners I found a bunch of broken/missing stupid plastic push pins. I went to the nearby toyota dealer and they were super nice and gave me some replacements of all different sizes. Sweet!
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...ps57bf3707.jpg

I detailed the engine bay a little bit. I don't plan on any engine mods for a while, but I like it to be clean and look as good as it can.
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...ps984389bf.jpg
http://i1338.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0ec0e25c.jpg

Thanks for the welcome!!

Thanks, I am loving the car so far!!

I had already torn the headlights apart by the time I read this, but I did use latex gloves whenever I was handling them. Thanks for the tip!

I was already a toyota fan before I got the IS (I drove a tacoma for many years) but I am glad I made an upgrade to their luxury brand!! Sometimes its just nice to have heated seats!!! And yes, body transport capability is vital knowledge LOLOLOL

Thank you! Good to know! I have a hatred for light colored lights. I guess I wont have to tear my tail lights apart too!!

I like how you fixed those bumper tabs, good ingenuity!

Thanks NMTIS300!! Looks like you autocross your car! I'm hoping to get into that once the season starts up again in the spring!

Wouldn't happen to have any other shots of the front end after the headlight mod, would ya? I have a GGP IS300 as well and dunno if that's something I'd like to pursue or not.

There's a DIY on doing your own intake tube. I did it on my first is and then heat wrapped it. Total was wayy less then any aftermarket intake tube and worked way better. Go grata on the purchase!

If you don't like the feel of the way it shifts, look into the CDD delete: http://my.is/forums/f221/manual-owne...ce-cdd-155744/. You can also replace the part with a ~10mm brake union....I think. I got the one by Figs motorsports. It's more expensive, but it looks better lol.