When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hey I'm a mechanical Engineer currently working for the railroad, used to work on the assembly floor of a Harley plant. I came upon my 95 SC400 less than a year ago after trading my late brothers car for it. Was a Z guy for a long time but 1UZ has grabbed a hold of me.
Dying to get a 5/6 speed swapped in. Would love some advice on the best/cheapest way (Toyota or BMW trans preferred but Nissan welcome; I have a BMW 3 series donor). I though I saw a thread about BMW trans swapped but can't find it anymore.... Also not sure the manual trans for the 2UZ tundra is a bolt on or not.
She currently has a 60 mph sway and a viscous jerk/cluck when shifting into drive. Attacking the shift clunk I took advice from a thread on here to replace the trans mount but that didn't do it although the mount was in 2 pieces and needed replacing. After a deeper look I see I need front and read diff bushings/mounts, a driveshaft center bearing, and both driveshaft couplers.
Any advice on what I should avoid wasting money replacing if looking to do a manual swap I'd greatly appreciate it. I though the trans mount would save the life of the driveshaft so the $50 was worth a shot. I'm assuming even after swapping I'd be keeping the rear half of the shaft and the diff so one coupler and the diff mounts are a go?
Lurked the forums a little, finally bothered to make an account to post. I originally had a 1992 LS400 in Black Jade Pearl, but midway through 2018 I ended up learning that a deer will win versus my front end during a spirited drive in the hills. By August, I ended up picking up a 1993 SC300 in Red Pearl/Garnet Pearl with a factory 5spd after some assistance from a friend.
Drove it home a good 60+ miles, and quickly learned it was leaking both motor oil and the power steering ATF. Also ended up finding out that my friend and I failed to check the cooling system in my haste, so I found gallons upon gallons of thai tea looking coolant just flowing through the cooling system. Very quickly, I ended up spending more than half my purchase cost in fixing the car from initially power steering hose replacement to eventually a full gasket replacement. Once I sorted out cleaning the cooling gunk, as well as the blown head gasket that resulted from it, I got to daily my "new" car for a solid 6 or so months.
Eventually, got around to installing some non-maintenance items on my car. I'll probably regret splurging here, since I think my UCA/LCAs are on their way out based off the ball joints.
PandaApex, welcome, I'm relatively new also and can relate!! Purchased a '95 sc300 (130k miles) for $2800 6 months ago, and have almost spent the same amount fixing it.. Not even modding it.. (I'm in CA, so can't do the 2jz-gte swap or turbo upgrade)
So far have done:
Both window regulators 1 broke as I was test driving it, so decided to do both.
Fixed the blacked out climate control
Fixed the fray'd wire in drivers side (had already been fixed once)
For reliability, did the water pump, timing belt, drive belt, complete fluid flush/swap, fuel pump and fuel filter..
Was missing and smoking, so did the 2 rocker cover gaskets, spark plugs, rotor cap, rotor.. (smoke and miss gone!)
Polished headlight lens and added HID's for low and LED's for high beams.
After all that, car broke down 1 hour from my house. Mechanic said he could not diagnose until the anti-freeze leak was fixed.
Not willing to pay $500 for that, fixed that myself also!. Then did the ECM/ECU capacitor fix, so far that seemed to fix the not able to run issue. (crossing my fingers).
Now doing complete bushing swap and all new struts. Should finish this week. (not doing coil overs)
For my own pleasure, added a new stereo and new speakers and added sound proofing all around interior walls.
Purchased used G35 wheels and will put them after I get them painted and my tires wear down. After the G35 wheels, will do the LS400 BBK upgrade. Not because the engine needs it, but because I like the feeling of strong brakes.
All because I wanted a low cost, low mileage reliable car for daily commute. (the wife is NOT happy...)
Most of the guidance on what to do came from this group, they are SOOOO helpful!
Hello, Everyone, My name is Zaid and I am new on this forum. Recently I bought a car BMW 5 Series M550i xDrive Sedan , From ********** Here is my picture
Hey what’s up forums! My name’s Dan, but I don’t really have a plan. I got the best deal you can get on a SC400 which would be getting it for free. Just happened to see it sitting in the back behind my girlfriend’s dad’s garage which I work at as a mechanic. It’s a little beat up, and needs a pain job but I recently got the bastard to start up! I have already started a thread in the Performance and Maintenance forum where I’ll keep everyone updated to any new developments with the car, and eventually the drift build it will become. I’ll post up some photos if anyone wants to take a look at the rust bucket... comes with the car phone option so that’s always a conversation piece haha
Welcome to both of you.... PandaApex,, it will be a continued investment and well worth it to develop a car of your choosing. And to wsaharem, you list is formidable (but similar to mine) and likely not done....
Always good to see new, dedicated owners willing to restore/repair these platforms to keep them on the road....
just spent 2 months trying to decide what my next car would be ....learned a lot about Mazda and bmw and what fails they have .a friend in Chicago told me about the sc300 and 400s .....found one for $ 2500 needing a little love ..passengers door wont open speed sensors out did a muffler delete and needed an alignment ..nice rims and coil overs on all 4 corners ....oh and valve cover leak ugh
now i find this forum......got alignment went to crap right away ....needs bushings thanks to a thread i read here last night ....thats when i decided to join .awesome help for most issues .....
oh cant put it in park ir it gets stuck ....found that out the hard way ....ill find a manual trans for it or buy another sc thats manual ....i didnt love it when i bought it but i do now and more and more every time i mash the gas ......smoked the tires twice since wednsday ...day i bought it ....dude a automatic that burns rubber wow too cool ...i feel like im 18 again ...im hooked
just spent 2 months trying to decide what my next car would be ....learned a lot about Mazda and bmw and what fails they have .a friend in Chicago told me about the sc300 and 400s .....found one for $ 2500 needing a little love ..passengers door wont open speed sensors out did a muffler delete and needed an alignment ..nice rims and coil overs on all 4 corners ....oh and valve cover leak ugh
now i find this forum......got alignment went to crap right away ....needs bushings thanks to a thread i read here last night ....thats when i decided to join .awesome help for most issues .....
oh cant put it in park ir it gets stuck ....found that out the hard way ....ill find a manual trans for it or buy another sc thats manual ....i didnt love it when i bought it but i do now and more and more every time i mash the gas ......smoked the tires twice since wednsday ...day i bought it ....dude a automatic that burns rubber wow too cool ...i feel like im 18 again ...im hooked
Damn I need to figure out how to get my SC3 to burn rubber LOL. Maybe once I fix the long 15k list of things (according to shop) I can.
1st of all I guess I would like to introduce myself my name is Kim and I live in duluth GA . I acquired my recent project as I call her from my very re reluctant and proud father about 2 months ago. In all honesty O know nothing about Lexus or the SC only that it was popular in the drift circuit. Unfortunately she is currently non operational needing a new ECU and mo recently her engine is emorrk.f.waywe from the bottom. We are ccv currently waiting on funds so we can at l eww at get her to crank sk we can assess if she is worth saving. But as he was my dads baby and I am hoping I can find some answers from you lovely people I really do love the car and wish I co ui le see her back to glory and test out her speed as currently she has only been to 70 in the trip back from Florida . From which the fuel peo bbn lens started the very next day. See blow for pictures of my baby. Send good vibes that we save her and do jot have to and her back to Dlorida for my dad to fix.
Hello all, current mech eng student here. I figured I might as well join the forums and learn more about this wonderful/easy to own car and improve it. I am patiently waiting to install the parts I've been hoarding over the winter. I have sourced a complete w58 swap, standalone ecu (ecumaster), welded diff, ls400 front calipers, and SC430 rear calipers. The sc430 calipers aren't bolt in, but I am hoping to find vital info in the forums to make it happen. If anyone has info on affordable/junkyard bbk ideas/concepts, don't hesitate to let me know! I definitely have my eyes on the Touareg 17z/18z 6 pistons for an upgrade if I get tired of the ls400 Sumitomo's.
Hello new account but I've been lurking through this forums since August of last year, decided to get a Laptop and make an account since I will be working on my 1992 SC400 a lot more and would not be able to do so without the posts and discoveries from you guys. Have yet to do much to her since I picked her up but will be changing out the spark plugs and upgrading to LS400 BBK in the near future when I am able to get the wheels to fit.
03-15-19, 04:21 PM
