Need help! What year LS- What manual for swap?
 

Hey, welcome.

You have to answer part of the question yourself. Do you want the first gen or second? I would imagine first gens are harder to find in good condition but I love the look. Then there's the 95-97 which is second gen except 98-00 has different headlights and VVTi which gives it an extra 40hp or so. I prefer how the 95-97 looks so that's what I like. It comes down to what you want. You can still get a good 95-00 easy as long as you have patience. Most important part - check and see that the engine has been maintained. If it looks off... Old fluids, etc. Skip it. Same if all the hoses are dry rotting. A lot of times that means seals are starting to go too. You want a good base to start with. That way you can drive the car to 400k...

I got my current 96 from an old lady. Old people tend to take care of their cars. Try to find one that's been taken care of and maintained by a family maybe. The difference between a maintained LS400 and a bad one is huge. I know from experience.

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Common issues... I only know the 95-97s but some of this applies to them all. The 95-97s often have busted cluster lights because they tend to die if left at max brightness.

Look at the ACV that is part of the power steering system. A lot of times they leak so people delete them. I found a car with, surprisingly, a working system, but don't worry about this too much. Do some research so you know what you're looking for but if there's an ACV delete, there will be a couple hoses missing. This isn't a bad thing but listen to the engine. It should be smooth.... Vrooom. Not Vroomgurglevroom. That's all I got.

Oh yeah, the steering wheel tilt mechanism always breaks but can be fixed with a ziptie. Good luck.

Are you building a race car?

98-00 cars have the vvti engine,more power.

I am with spuds, 98-2000 are the way to go...

lots to learn!
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/bui...car-build.html

a manual swap in this car is not for the faint of heart, or the shallow of pockets!

If I was doing a drift car a huge heavy 4 door sedan is the last car in the world I would want.

Start reading, as mentioned there's a lot of components to a 5spd swap, more so on '95+ thanks to the OBDii

A 5 speed swap here in aus is about a 5k aud job. If you are ready to go just buy a car with a ****ty trans for peanuts

3rz turbo 5speed is good for 400hp on a 1uz. Seen 500hp on some but it's pushing it in my mind. However there are a few near me that have have over 500 on that trans with a 1uz turbo