DIY Maintenance- My comprehensive story.
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Lexus Test Driver
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From: College Station, Texas
DIY Maintenance- My comprehensive story.
I thought I would make a thread that shows the maintenance I did with all of the costs added. I want to show people what is possible by doing work yourself. I also wanted people to be aware of cost included. I did this work over a 3 day weekend.
A little about me..I am 25 and a working professional. My experience in wrenching has been limited to mounting wheels, oil changes and stereo installs in my original SC. To put it bluntly, I had NO experience in working on my cars engine or suspension.
Where I got my research:
Valve Cover Gaskets = http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/engine/valvecover.html
Ignition Tune Up = http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/ignition/sparkplugs.html and http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/ignit...tor_rotor.html
and http://planetsoarer.com/penski/ThePenskiFile.html
Suspension = http://garage.projectraine.com/conte...ng/spring.html
Some notes on the above links and processes...
Valve cover gasket procedure...
The links are an LS400. Yes, the engine is the same but in the SC, it sits in there a little differently. Some items that are said to be removed for the LS do not need to be removed for the SC. It will be obvious.
For the cap and rotor, I did not drain any coolant, didn't remove the collant resevior, and didn't remove any hoses. I only removed the drive belt. As far as the bottom covers for the timing belt, I did not need to fully remove those either. I was able to unbolt them and pry them back which gave me plenty of room to install the cap and rotor.
The NGK wires are identical to the thickness of OEM wires. The only difference I saw was that 1 or 2 of them were longer by 1.5 inches. This really made no difference as the covers still fit very nicely
Why did I use non OEM gaskets and such? Bottom line is I could not afford all OEM Toyota Gaskets. The VC gasket kit with all needed parts was going to be $200. I got the needed parts for way less. Also, I am in no way worried about the Fel Pro gaskets not being good. They felt good, looked good, and lets not forget, the OEM gasket had been leaking for a while. I fixed the leak. Bottom line.
Same with Bosch and Beck Arnley parts. I couldn't afford OEM and the parts are put on were quality. They easily compared to what I took off.
Suspension notes...I followed the project raine guide to a "t". I do think it is missing one step. When you get to the rears, I HAD to remove the sway bar end link just like the fronts so I could push down on the control arm, thus giving me plenty of room to remove the shock.
How does my car run and drive after the maintenance? EXCELLENT!!!!
Below is a graphic spreadsheet showing the breakdown of all costs for people to see. YOU TOO CAN DO IT! I saved nearly $1500 just by doing all of this work myself.
Tool set should be 70, not 7. Plus, LIFETIME WARRANTY!
A little about me..I am 25 and a working professional. My experience in wrenching has been limited to mounting wheels, oil changes and stereo installs in my original SC. To put it bluntly, I had NO experience in working on my cars engine or suspension.
Where I got my research:
Valve Cover Gaskets = http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/engine/valvecover.html
Ignition Tune Up = http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/ignition/sparkplugs.html and http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/ignit...tor_rotor.html
and http://planetsoarer.com/penski/ThePenskiFile.html
Suspension = http://garage.projectraine.com/conte...ng/spring.html
Some notes on the above links and processes...
Valve cover gasket procedure...
The links are an LS400. Yes, the engine is the same but in the SC, it sits in there a little differently. Some items that are said to be removed for the LS do not need to be removed for the SC. It will be obvious.
For the cap and rotor, I did not drain any coolant, didn't remove the collant resevior, and didn't remove any hoses. I only removed the drive belt. As far as the bottom covers for the timing belt, I did not need to fully remove those either. I was able to unbolt them and pry them back which gave me plenty of room to install the cap and rotor.
The NGK wires are identical to the thickness of OEM wires. The only difference I saw was that 1 or 2 of them were longer by 1.5 inches. This really made no difference as the covers still fit very nicely
Why did I use non OEM gaskets and such? Bottom line is I could not afford all OEM Toyota Gaskets. The VC gasket kit with all needed parts was going to be $200. I got the needed parts for way less. Also, I am in no way worried about the Fel Pro gaskets not being good. They felt good, looked good, and lets not forget, the OEM gasket had been leaking for a while. I fixed the leak. Bottom line.
Same with Bosch and Beck Arnley parts. I couldn't afford OEM and the parts are put on were quality. They easily compared to what I took off.
Suspension notes...I followed the project raine guide to a "t". I do think it is missing one step. When you get to the rears, I HAD to remove the sway bar end link just like the fronts so I could push down on the control arm, thus giving me plenty of room to remove the shock.
How does my car run and drive after the maintenance? EXCELLENT!!!!
Below is a graphic spreadsheet showing the breakdown of all costs for people to see. YOU TOO CAN DO IT! I saved nearly $1500 just by doing all of this work myself.
Tool set should be 70, not 7. Plus, LIFETIME WARRANTY!
Last edited by FireCode; Sep 1, 2010 at 09:02 PM.
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 1,257
Likes: 1
From: Hell
Good post lol...............I did the EXACT samething with an excel spread sheet and I HATE opening it everytime I add something, because the amount keeps going up lol. I will post mine tomorrow
Thread Starter
Lexus Test Driver
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From: College Station, Texas
Post it up man. That way, people can see the true cost of things. There are always questions of how much does it cost to maintain these things...
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 1,257
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From: Hell
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Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 1,257
Likes: 1
From: Hell
Well........I have officially spent more than my SC is worth lol.......Oh and FireCode, I loathe you for making me look at this lol. The sad thing is........I should not have had to spend anywhere near that on tools, except for 2 years ago some jackass broke into my garage and cleaned me out!
Thread Starter
Lexus Test Driver
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From: College Station, Texas
[QUOTE=Sup2jzgte;5758773]Well........I have officially spent more than my SC is worth lol.......Oh and FireCode, I loathe you for making me look at this lol. The sad thing is........I should not have had to spend anywhere near that on tools, except for 2 years ago some jackass broke into my garage and cleaned me out!
DANG!!! What was the final total? Did you buy a car in rough shape and completely rebuild it? Was this over a course of a couple of years? You should have one solid car now!
DANG!!! What was the final total? Did you buy a car in rough shape and completely rebuild it? Was this over a course of a couple of years? You should have one solid car now!
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 1,257
Likes: 1
From: Hell
Final total and going to be growing even higher is.........drum roll please............$5616.66 and thats NOT including the 2 spare engines I purchased that are sitting in my new garage, that has more security than a keyless Chasity belt. Also not included in that price are Engine Hoist, engine stand, low profile jack, 6 new jack stands, or the stuff I'm about to order lol.............ssssooooo the actual total is closer to $6300-$6400 lol.
Actually the car is was decent shape..........ALOT better than at least 60% of the SC's being sold on here. The interior is damn near mint, the exterior has average wear for a car that has spent its entire life in the North East and sat unloved on the docks of a canal EVERY WINTER
. The timing belt has NEVER been changed..........so just let your mind wander on what else has NEVER been done to this poor car until I bought it? I really hate very rich people because for the most part they dont give 2 ****s about their cars because they replace them as they wish..........and I purchased this SC from a VERY rich little old man.
All the stuff done to it is me being paranoid and wanting to get things taken care of BEFORE they break............I bought the car in June 2008 with 171,598 miles on it and it now has 181,002 lol............it drives well I really cant complain. The starter died and the alternator JUST died and thats really about it, the tranny is starting to whine like a street ***** now, but it still shifts smooth.
One of my spare engines is going into the the machine shop in Nov to get fully machined and thats all I'm saying about that lol lol.............
On my list to order within the coming weeks are
New Front LCA's
UCA's
Rack and Pinion(tie rods etc...)
Completely redo all bearings
Actually the car is was decent shape..........ALOT better than at least 60% of the SC's being sold on here. The interior is damn near mint, the exterior has average wear for a car that has spent its entire life in the North East and sat unloved on the docks of a canal EVERY WINTER
. The timing belt has NEVER been changed..........so just let your mind wander on what else has NEVER been done to this poor car until I bought it? I really hate very rich people because for the most part they dont give 2 ****s about their cars because they replace them as they wish..........and I purchased this SC from a VERY rich little old man.All the stuff done to it is me being paranoid and wanting to get things taken care of BEFORE they break............I bought the car in June 2008 with 171,598 miles on it and it now has 181,002 lol............it drives well I really cant complain. The starter died and the alternator JUST died and thats really about it, the tranny is starting to whine like a street ***** now, but it still shifts smooth.
One of my spare engines is going into the the machine shop in Nov to get fully machined and thats all I'm saying about that lol lol.............
On my list to order within the coming weeks are
New Front LCA's
UCA's
Rack and Pinion(tie rods etc...)
Completely redo all bearings
Thread Starter
Lexus Test Driver
iTrader: (1)
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,547
Likes: 0
From: College Station, Texas
Final total and going to be growing even higher is.........drum roll please............$5616.66 and thats NOT including the 2 spare engines I purchased that are sitting in my new garage, that has more security than a keyless Chasity belt. Also not included in that price are Engine Hoist, engine stand, low profile jack, 6 new jack stands, or the stuff I'm about to order lol.............ssssooooo the actual total is closer to $6300-$6400 lol.
Actually the car is was decent shape..........ALOT better than at least 60% of the SC's being sold on here. The interior is damn near mint, the exterior has average wear for a car that has spent its entire life in the North East and sat unloved on the docks of a canal EVERY WINTER. The timing belt has NEVER been changed..........so just let your mind wander on what else has NEVER been done to this poor car until I bought it? I really hate very rich people because for the most part they dont give 2 ****s about their cars because they replace them as they wish..........and I purchased this SC from a VERY rich little old man.
All the stuff done to it is me being paranoid and wanting to get things taken care of BEFORE they break............I bought the car in June 2008 with 171,598 miles on it and it now has 181,002 lol............it drives well I really cant complain. The starter died and the alternator JUST died and thats really about it, the tranny is starting to whine like a street ***** now, but it still shifts smooth.
One of my spare engines is going into the the machine shop in Nov to get fully machined and thats all I'm saying about that lol lol.............
On my list to order within the coming weeks are
New Front LCA's
UCA's
Rack and Pinion(tie rods etc...)
Completely redo all bearings
Actually the car is was decent shape..........ALOT better than at least 60% of the SC's being sold on here. The interior is damn near mint, the exterior has average wear for a car that has spent its entire life in the North East and sat unloved on the docks of a canal EVERY WINTER
. The timing belt has NEVER been changed..........so just let your mind wander on what else has NEVER been done to this poor car until I bought it? I really hate very rich people because for the most part they dont give 2 ****s about their cars because they replace them as they wish..........and I purchased this SC from a VERY rich little old man.All the stuff done to it is me being paranoid and wanting to get things taken care of BEFORE they break............I bought the car in June 2008 with 171,598 miles on it and it now has 181,002 lol............it drives well I really cant complain. The starter died and the alternator JUST died and thats really about it, the tranny is starting to whine like a street ***** now, but it still shifts smooth.
One of my spare engines is going into the the machine shop in Nov to get fully machined and thats all I'm saying about that lol lol.............
On my list to order within the coming weeks are
New Front LCA's
UCA's
Rack and Pinion(tie rods etc...)
Completely redo all bearings
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 1,257
Likes: 1
From: Hell
I agree alot of people just buy the sc and dont bother to give it TLC BEFORE going crazy with all kinds of mods...........I picked up a few spare engines so I could work on them and still drive the SC.
My other project is going to be another 70's muscle car
..........I have a few to choose from and time so I'm not sure which one YET
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