Incredible's Lexus Ls400 Modification Process
 

03/27/11: Yeah, this is a fail. EPIC FAIL.

UPDATE 10/22/11:

I got a MAJOR UPDATE on post #59.

There are no Pics, no changes to my car. Just a smarter mindset, and a better way of doing things.

Hope you guys enjoy the read (it is a bit long though).

From what I understand, 20" wheels will be a little big for this car, as the consensus seems to be that 19" is "max" for the UCF10. Check the wheel setup thread to see examples. You may end up rubbing with 20s" until you roll or cut the fenders.

Your car should be free of holes behind the LEXUS badge if I recall correctly, as they started putting prongs on the emblems on the UFC20. Like you though, I like symmetry too, and when I de-badged my '97 to replace them with the Celsior and Toyota "T," I bought a "TOYOTA" script from a Hilux to put over the holes where it used to say "LEXUS," even though the Celsior had no logos on that side.

You didn't mention lowering it at all. Your car seems awfully high, even for stock. Just my two cents, but I'd skip out on the body kit and at least invest in a spring/shock combo, if not a full coilover kit, before I added body work.

Concerning the windows, mine also rolls down the driver side with one push of the button, and I have to hold the button down for the others. I don't think this means there's anything wrong, I think it's just how they are (someone correct me otherwise).

Other than that, nice car, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with it. :thumbup:

Wow, looks like your seats are in excellent condition! Congrats on the purchase!

Interior is in surprisingly good shape considering its age.
Sounds like you have some good plans for it. Have fun, make sure you take care of any mechanical or maintenance items first.

Holy crap my 1990ls is for sale and is 1,000 times cleaner than that. Plus I have coilovers and 97 brakes on front for 3500. I say you got hosed. But the the repairs seem minor on yours and at least you have low miles. Good luck with the build.

Correct, on my '90, only the driver window has the auto-down feature, and is also the only button labeled 'AUTO'.

If CA is anything like WA, a 3500$ car would cost about what he paid from a dealer after taxes, etc.


Replacing the speakers doesn't look like a terrible ordeal. I've pulled a front and rear speaker assembly and ordered some inexpensive speakers off Amazon to get them working again. A simple speaker swap and replacing the filter capacitors in the front assemblies looks to be enough to get the system working reasonably well again. (I plan to post a thread when I'm done with the results in my '91)

My cousins believe that the 20s should fit for the car without rubbing the fenders. He also thinks that once the 20s are placed, the car will just look low as it is.

But I did want to lower the car by 1-2 inches, but my only concern is, would that ruin the air suspension? Because I like the whole feature of normal/high suspension, its pretty cool.

Thanks for the heads up with the window thing. Good to know that only the drivers is with the press of the button. But even though the rest needs to be held, it does go quiet slower than the drivers one. problem?

Thanks guys.

The interior seats are pretty clean, but the drivers seat isn't as stable as the passengers.

I do want to touch it up though and make them look even cleaner, because there are some very minor cracks, I'll post some pics of it later, if the quality is good.

Also, I found spray paint for leather seats, and I want to twotone my interior. Worth it, or will it cause problems?

sorry but you got owned on the price of that car, no question. $4500 is easy 95-97 money in decent shape.

20s imho are too big unless you're kitted out and slammed. your friend/bro is wrong in that putting 20s will make the car appear lower, they wont at all since the overall diameter will need to stay roughly the same, so you'll just have to run thinner tires to not rub. (which means more potential for pothole damage)

Quick question on the phone antenna piece in the back window. Is I one pie e and it'll Leave a hole in the window, or is it two pieces and it'll be fine?

Looks clean, cant wait to start seeying the mods!! instead of s ls400 badge you could also get a new chrome Celsior badge. and I think you also missed new lower suspension. But overall looks real good, what do you mean vinyl the lower part?

Here in southern california, within a 50 mile radius of where I live, a 95-97 Lexus LS400 costs anywhere from $5,999-$9,995 (Excluding tax, interest, license, registration, etc.)

Me paying $4,200 for the car including tax, license,registration, etc, is far from being owned.

You see the chrome line that wraps around the middle of the car that separates the upper burgundy, from the lower gray? That gray area is what I want to vinyl black. But it's gonna be real hard cause of the front bumper. So, I'm actually thinking of wet sanding it, then painting it black instead. It'll be a lot cheaper, but more work, which I don't mind.

So, yesterday I removed that phone antenna piece from the back. I got Limo tint all around the car. But I'm not too satisfied with the work, especially in the back and the back windows.

But I'm hoping that with more sunlight hitting on the windows (i had the tints done yesterday around 6pm), the tint will look better. If not, then I'm probably gonna have him either fix it for free, or pay him an extra $40 to do a double-limo on the rear windshield and the back doors (I paid $120 for the tints).

All in all, I'm probably gonna spend no more than $3k on my car, I think it could even be under $2,500, depending on what I find.

I'll post some pics of the tints in a few days, after the touch up or not.