I don't think anyone can say any different about me having done everything there is to be done for the SC400 as for power adders and suspension. I have but a few words to say.

I like the way things are going. R&D takes a lot of time and work and do appreciate the work that Jbrady has done. there are a few of us that are silent lurkers that are ready to buy whenever these headders are ready to ship. I have been a big believer that when the right product is out there there will be customers. That's just the rule of the game. As for the deverlopers it's up to them to decide if a project is going to be profitable. It is not within out rights to critisize a person for putting together a product deal together. What bothers me most of these group buy or group development situations are that they don't come to fruition. I have been following this thread very carefuly and I do think that in time it will come to fruition. Mark my words that when these headders DO PROVE to be what it claims to be that there serious riders will be here to buy them. There have been too few and far between when it comes to lexus performance V8's and I do regret that there aren't too many products out there for us to choose from but having to rely on 1 delveloper to R&D one single product. But be assured that the ones that come out are of the right caliber with our cars. I have owned my SC400 for about 5 years and I have been waiting for something solid to show it's shape. Also remember that the 1st gen SC400 owners that these cars are no longer in production and for the vendors that the market is limited to whatever number of sc400 have been produced-crashed-nonenthusiast= just a handfull of us. I guess i said more than a few words but I just wanted to express my sincere gratitude for those who still R&D products for the 1st gen V8's even with their limited number of enthusiasts. Thank you. I have my fingers crossed. And as i stated in a few pages back that Ii am ready to buy... but only if they come in a pair.
Good luck to you all....... and godspeed.

 

I just joined this site, and browsed through alot of these post, I noticed in the begining though you were looking for cars to test and build off in the phoenix area, well I have a 1992 sc400 and i live in tempe, i would be interested in getting in on this, espically donating my car up for the fabrication let me know

 

Welcome to ClubLexus and many thanks for the kind offer! I'll look for JBrady to respond to your post.

 

Sounds good and thanks for the welcome

 

Wow... I usually check this thread once a day but was gone for a few and now I see there are some issues to address.

First of all. This project began because I wanted headers for my car. I located the builder after finding his work on the Tundra V8 and thought we could save some R&D time since he knew the basic engine. To build a single set he would need MUCH more money and need my car for R&D. These were not reasonable options for me. He told me the Tundra project happened because a member of that forum collected enough committed purchasers. BTW, that project has been delayed while trying to get proper harness connectors to extend the 02 sensors. One of the issues with long tube designs. R&D is rarely straight forward as what we envision in our minds must then be built in a produceable way. This is MUCH more involved than most can realize from many engineering aspects.

Ok, remember that I am NOT the manufacturer or a speed shop or anything else. I am not profiting from this project and can only make the effort I have and will continue to make to get something good built. The fabricator has not made a penny on this project and is ONLY considering it because we have grouped together and promised to buy something he builds. He may never make a meaningful profit for this effort and I certainly will not. While I do understand and simpathize with those who are eager to see these hit the market all I can say is I am trying.

Now, the original HOPE was to build a universal design that could be adapted to all Lexus V8 cars. These manifolds are RARE to find off an engine or even without heat shielding so it is HARD to design, measure, calculate and predict all the variable WITHOUT having parts to touch and work with. jmecbr900 stated that I requested money help on this forum. Actually I did not. I sent all that had emailed as committed an email and told them the need for stock manifolds and the only options I could find. A handful did contribute and I was able to locate and buy a set off a 99 GS400. A few people brought the discussion to this thread but I never asked anyone through CL for anything.

Design wise, for me, it was important to keep the stock cats in their stock location. Building a header to fit the 98+ engines meant that the earlier cars would not have that option and would need to relocate their cats under the car. This was all anticipated and well discussed with everyone that committed. What is still unknown is if there will be any interference with the part we end up building and all the potential models that it could fit. A couple of people are interested in Australia and those cars have the steering wheel on the right hand side of the car. I don't know if it is appreciated how tricky it is to do what I am trying to get done. The ONLY way to proceed is to prioritize. Since the GS400 is BY FAR the largest part of the committed group that is the engine of first priority. I will do my VERY best to get a design built that also fits pre 98 SC400s and LS400s. We MUST first get the part built and then TEST fit it on the target car.

A HUGE problem surfaced for the 98 and newer cars in that removal of the driver side manifold is VERY hard possibly requiring engine removal. The decision was made to start with just the passenger side manifold. (details are in this thread already so please read to learn more about this). On 98+ cars just replacing the passenger side manifold will allow a better than 50% solution. It makes perfect sense to fix what can be fixed. To build a drivers side manifold requires more work and the builder would require prepayment. Several people have committed to prepayment but before I am going to even open that up I want to get the single manifold built and tested. Once that is done we can decide on the next step.

In addition to all of this I am extremely busy with personal commitments. I actually feel guilty working on car stuff with these other demands. Nevertheless it is proceeding and I will keep everyone up to date.

Questions and complaints: Everyone that signed up as committed to buy these manifolds are in my personal email list and have been receiving updates. If this describes you and you want to ask me a question or have a complaint please respond to one of those emails. As some haveprobably noticed my PM box has been maxed out more than once from this project and CL is a painfully slow system to use on dial up (yup still slow here). Answering PMs requires several minute each time. I am not trying to discourage people from writing me but please understand this is NOT a business. I will do my best to answer all questions and post updates in this thread. If you haven't committed and still feel it necessary to complain in this thread... that is your choice. As I have said before if anyone can do a better job you have my blessing. I for one would love to be able to just buy a set of manifolds and be done with it.

I am not bitter and understand that there are a lot of people that at least claim to want these parts. Hang in there folks... If you cannot... or just want to wait and see... please be patient.

 

I just wanted to share some information with those of you who are on the fence regarding the headers. According to "book time" for installation of the passenger header, this will take about 6.5 hours. You can do the math as far as how much installation will likely cost you. I usually do most of my mods myself. I am not discouraging anyone from getting the headers, just trying to keep it real. As far as book time for installation of the driver's side it is about 6.5 hours as well. The book time numbers were taken from Mitchell's repair manual.

 

Hmmm... this is odd. Did it give the proceedure? If the engine must be pulled then this suggests about 3 hours removal and 3 hours installation. That seems optimistic. This would also mean that total time would be about 7 hours to do both by pulling the engine. On my LS400 the passenger side "looks" accessable but I haven't tried to pull it yet. I will wait to have the passenger side manifold to try. If this is the case then passenger side should take only a couple hours. I guess we will have to see.

Project update. I had the manifolds for longer than expected doing measurements and planning. They were shipped last week and as of yesterday had not arrived. That is expected today. He will then begin measuring and jigging. From there construction of a prototype can begin. I will update with news so if you don't see anything reported there is nothing to report. I would say this means we are at least one month out with no guarantees. I know there are many on here that are very eager but we are making something brand new that nobody else (except Toyota) has made with production in mind. Lots of minor but tricky things to consider. Hang in there and hopefully we will all have faster cars very soon.

 

I pray to god It wont take that amoutn of time and the book time is not 13 hours total installation for both headers. I was very turned off by that. That would be around 800 dollars with my auto-guy.

 

jbrady
It did not give the procedure. I will stop by my friend's shop and try to get a better look at what the R+R entails. I will get back to you ASAP.

HI98GS

 

Jay, your car is different. The pre-98 SC400s have the earlier style manifold that has been removed by many. The question applies to the post 98 cars. With that in mind I cannot see how it could take 13 hours as the engine could be pulled and installed in much less time. If in fact it has been suggested that the factory proceedure (not necessarily the only way or even the quickest way) requires engine removal. As I stated it "looks" like the passenger side definitely does not require this on my LS400. Each side is very different and an equal time seems odd unless Lexus quotes 3 hours to remove and 3 hours to install the engine. That would leave 1/2 hour to change manifolds. 6.5 hours TOTAL for both. Again, this is in no way comfirmed and in fact I expect the passenger side to take about 3 hours on my car. We will know more as soon as we have parts to try.

 

Ok... 6 hours sounds more reasonable, but the thing is, shop labor is going to kill me. installation of any component costs hundreds and hundreds of dollars, I'm trying to find a shop that wont literally charge me an arm and a leg just to install struts! I want to have bushings done this summer but ive heard of amounts as high as over 600 dollars just to install. This car is just going to nickel and dime me to death unless I learn how to start doing some of the work myself, which is a realistic possibility.

 

is there a header for sc430??

i want the head so bad.....

 

wow dude, thats one Gangsta Supercharger!.

twin screw ay?

and that fit under the hood?

thats one sick motha..

Does that fit under the gs4's? or we gotta make some gangta hood for it?

 

Any updates? I need some more torque.

 

At this point progress is subject to the fabricator. I call weekly and my last call was discouraging because a key employee had become seriously ill. In a relatively small business each person is important and is often like (or is even) a family member. All I could do was offer my prayers and best wishes for a return to health and a return to business. Of course this project is a no money maker until he actually builds a part we can buy. So... his motivation is obviously distracted at best.

Were does this leave us? I still expect the project to move forward but the time expectation is unknown (for I would hope obvious reasons).

I will keep the board posted.