My MKIII Supra turned into a SC !
09-22-13, 12:49 PM
#16
Welcome to the Lexus world. I really, really like what you did with those wheels. I'm over in the west side of the DFW area. I've got friends that live out by Emory that I visit as often as I can. I'm also a MKIII guy. I still own one though as a project/toy. I bought it off of Jay aka Suprahero. It was his wifes car (MKIIIVixen). I drove it back from Alabama. Jay now owns a very beautiful 97 SC300 and is on Club Lexus as well under the same username. There are pictures of my Supra in my "garage", go take a look. The mod list is there also. I think I'm going to go back to a mainly stock looking car and have some 91 5-spokes that are in need of some refinishing. Have thought seriously about having them powdercoated. PM with a price to have 4 rims and center caps done. I don't mind the drive, especially in my SC400.
Anyway, back to your SC. I'm shocked it still has the phone in it. My 97 has everything but the actual phone. I was disappointed haha. You've pretty much have already begun sorting all the issues these cars have, which is usually suspension related. No BHG's to really worry about LOL. See if you can source the front lip that 92-94's have. It really enhances the front end of the car. Lextreme can fix your instrument cluster.
It's unusual for the subs to blow. Maybe the amp is defective.
Good looking car. I'm liking the slick *** end on it with no spoiler. Keep up the good work!
Anyway, back to your SC. I'm shocked it still has the phone in it. My 97 has everything but the actual phone. I was disappointed haha. You've pretty much have already begun sorting all the issues these cars have, which is usually suspension related. No BHG's to really worry about LOL. See if you can source the front lip that 92-94's have. It really enhances the front end of the car. Lextreme can fix your instrument cluster.
It's unusual for the subs to blow. Maybe the amp is defective.
Good looking car. I'm liking the slick *** end on it with no spoiler. Keep up the good work!
09-24-13, 05:56 PM
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So I had some free time today and put the front up on jack stands and took my wheels off to get a good look around at the control arms..used some degreaser, soapy water and some rags and wiped off most of the grime where my hands could fit.... I'll do more when I start ripping it all out..
Started on the drivers side. cleaned up nicely. I was happy to find everything in pretty good condition..
and then I get over to the Passenger side... I started to wipe everything down and I get to right behind the shock there is the aluminum mount for the upper control arm and I find junkyard writing on it.. so I grab a led flashlight and start looking around.. luckily that mount with writing on it is in good condition... until I get to the lower control arm.. sometime in the cars life they replaced it... with the crappiest one they could find. this thing looks absolutely horrible and they didn't use the oem stoppers that go on the outside of the bushings..
not happy. and this will set me back until I can find a better control arm. this thing looks like it has 900,000 miles on it. I could blast it and hope for the best we'll see when i rip it out....
Started on the drivers side. cleaned up nicely. I was happy to find everything in pretty good condition..
and then I get over to the Passenger side... I started to wipe everything down and I get to right behind the shock there is the aluminum mount for the upper control arm and I find junkyard writing on it.. so I grab a led flashlight and start looking around.. luckily that mount with writing on it is in good condition... until I get to the lower control arm.. sometime in the cars life they replaced it... with the crappiest one they could find. this thing looks absolutely horrible and they didn't use the oem stoppers that go on the outside of the bushings..
not happy. and this will set me back until I can find a better control arm. this thing looks like it has 900,000 miles on it. I could blast it and hope for the best we'll see when i rip it out....
Last edited by SCstone; 10-14-13 at 06:50 PM.
10-01-13, 05:40 PM
#18
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What a bust lol... on the other hand you have a 5 speed Lexus SC in great condition. I dont have one yet but i will be coming up with one real soon. (automatic) though... 
10-01-13, 08:08 PM
#20
Nice story Cody!!
I like your sc much better than mkiii, and the fact that it's a 5speed is priceless!!
I've had n/a and 7mgte in the past also loved both of them, but sc is a little gentler more refined
beauty which I love even more I'm sure you do too
With mkIII supra it was blood sweat and tears, with the lex is more like modify, enjoy driving modify and sit back look at those curves and smile!!
Every sc owner is a very special person and have more bond with sc than any othe car enthusiast in the entire word!!!
We are most commited and satisfied crowd when it comes to our cars compared to any car enthusiast!!!
With that said congrats on your Lexus sc300 and looks like you just need bushings and check your ball joints and then check arms for cracks, if none blast paint reuse
I like your sc much better than mkiii, and the fact that it's a 5speed is priceless!!
I've had n/a and 7mgte in the past also loved both of them, but sc is a little gentler more refined
beauty which I love even more I'm sure you do too
With mkIII supra it was blood sweat and tears, with the lex is more like modify, enjoy driving modify and sit back look at those curves and smile!!
Every sc owner is a very special person and have more bond with sc than any othe car enthusiast in the entire word!!!
We are most commited and satisfied crowd when it comes to our cars compared to any car enthusiast!!!
With that said congrats on your Lexus sc300 and looks like you just need bushings and check your ball joints and then check arms for cracks, if none blast paint reuse
10-01-13, 09:26 PM
#21
I'm sorry MikeF, but the control arm doesn't look "shot", it looks like it has cobwebs on it. From the pictures it's hard to tell condition of the bushings. If those and the ball joint are in okay condition, just clean it off. 5 minutes with a scotch Brite pad should do.
Those steering rack bushings made a good difference. I ended up buying new lcas from a mk4 tt because ball joints and bushings were shot. Try popping the **** out of the lca on the part by the ball joint that looks like it has extra meat for lack of a better term to get the ball joint out of the arm without using a splitter. It's hard not to **** the boot up a lot of times with the ol pickle fork
Those steering rack bushings made a good difference. I ended up buying new lcas from a mk4 tt because ball joints and bushings were shot. Try popping the **** out of the lca on the part by the ball joint that looks like it has extra meat for lack of a better term to get the ball joint out of the arm without using a splitter. It's hard not to **** the boot up a lot of times with the ol pickle fork
10-10-13, 05:03 PM
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I woulnt say "shot" untill you can determine the condition of balljoint and integrity of the arm. I know what you mean about the meat on the LCA it took me hours to get my seperator to finally fit on it. it broke the first seperator i made I had to make another one haha.
-=- Update -=-
It's been going slow because I havn't had much time and a few setbacks. but I've removed almost all of it. the first balljoint seperator I made broke and wasnt strong enough so I had to make another so the removal took alot longer than I had planned.
ok so everything CA related is out. and so far i've cleaned most of the grime off of everything. assesing what else needs to be replaced
on the drivers side. the long 11grade upper control arm bolt was strangely bent. so ima get another one. other than that everything is great on the drivers side. ironicly enough the bushings on the LCA have been replaced but with strange non-matching bushings ive never seen before. i'm still going to use my new prothane set I just hope all the sleeves are still there.
now the passenger side... one of the camber bolts were pretty old and you cant even see the degree marks so I might get a new set. The LCA is definitly a replacement from another older car. the difference between the two are night and day. the balljoint is good and the integrity is still tact so I think I'll reuse it atleast for now. the coating is cracking and starting to rust/corrode so i'll sandblast and recoat it.
I have a question for anyone who has switched to prothane LCA bushings.. Looking at the bushings they appear to stick out and replace the oem rubber stoppers. do they? I need to know because on the passenger side the stopper is missing and i'm assuming I dont even need them now but I could be wrong. anyone shine some light on this?
-=- Update -=-
It's been going slow because I havn't had much time and a few setbacks. but I've removed almost all of it. the first balljoint seperator I made broke and wasnt strong enough so I had to make another so the removal took alot longer than I had planned.
ok so everything CA related is out. and so far i've cleaned most of the grime off of everything. assesing what else needs to be replaced
on the drivers side. the long 11grade upper control arm bolt was strangely bent. so ima get another one. other than that everything is great on the drivers side. ironicly enough the bushings on the LCA have been replaced but with strange non-matching bushings ive never seen before. i'm still going to use my new prothane set I just hope all the sleeves are still there.
now the passenger side... one of the camber bolts were pretty old and you cant even see the degree marks so I might get a new set. The LCA is definitly a replacement from another older car. the difference between the two are night and day. the balljoint is good and the integrity is still tact so I think I'll reuse it atleast for now. the coating is cracking and starting to rust/corrode so i'll sandblast and recoat it.
I have a question for anyone who has switched to prothane LCA bushings.. Looking at the bushings they appear to stick out and replace the oem rubber stoppers. do they? I need to know because on the passenger side the stopper is missing and i'm assuming I dont even need them now but I could be wrong. anyone shine some light on this?
Last edited by SCstone; 10-14-13 at 06:50 PM.
10-11-13, 07:01 PM
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-=- Update -=-
Taped off the ball joint end and used a die grinder with a wire brush and knocked most of grime and heavy spots to make it easier to blast and minimize debris in my cabinet.
heres a pic of it in the cabinet. sand is a mix of sugar sand and aluminum oxide. tried to keep the balljoint end away from the sand as much as possible so i took a glove out and stuck it out the arm holes.
BAM! spotless and rust-free.
I used the die grinder for the taped up part. came out awesome. feeling accomplished, I let the bushings live for now..
unfortunately the ball joints prevent me from powder coating the arms and sway link. I've got Flat black,Gloss Black, Flat White, Gloss White, Gloss Blue, and Clear paints to work with and I'm thinking of using throughout the car.
Taped off the ball joint end and used a die grinder with a wire brush and knocked most of grime and heavy spots to make it easier to blast and minimize debris in my cabinet.
heres a pic of it in the cabinet. sand is a mix of sugar sand and aluminum oxide. tried to keep the balljoint end away from the sand as much as possible so i took a glove out and stuck it out the arm holes.
BAM! spotless and rust-free.
I used the die grinder for the taped up part. came out awesome. feeling accomplished, I let the bushings live for now..unfortunately the ball joints prevent me from powder coating the arms and sway link. I've got Flat black,Gloss Black, Flat White, Gloss White, Gloss Blue, and Clear paints to work with and I'm thinking of using throughout the car.
Last edited by SCstone; 10-14-13 at 06:50 PM.
10-14-13, 06:08 PM
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-=- Update -=-
This whole Control Arm bushing project is taking ALOT longer than planned. i've never had this many things go wrong with a simple bushing replacement.
The good news is I got all the bushings out. The UCA bushings were easy I used a vise, a piece of exhaust tubing and a socket no sweat.
The Drivers LCA (the "good" one on right) had somekind of aftermarket bushings from another vehicle. I pressed them out easy too.
The Passenger side (the "ugly" one on left) had oem bushings so I had to burn them out. which is always fun.
Now the fun part. The Drivers UCA Bolt was bent. In my area I only have Classic Toyota so I orderd the bolt today which will take about 2 weeks to get here... The Drivers LCA (the good one with aftermarket bushings) has no outer sleeves and they made a inner sleeves out of hard plastic which do not fit the prothane's.
heres a picture of the sleeves. the 4 on bottom are UCA and above them were the LCA's. the only one usuable and fits into the prothane's is the one on the far right.
here is a shot at the LCA's where the bushings were. the one on the left is the Passenger side that I blasted and burned. the one on the right is the Drivers side with aftermarket bushings with no outter sleeves. the prothane's are a tight fit on the left and on the right they go in with wiggle room.
So all in all I've gotta wait 2 weeks for the UCA Bolt from Toyota. and I've gotta order 2 outter sleeves and 1 inner sleeve... I hate it when people half-*** repairs. it makes it more difficult for the next owner. for gods sakes this is a lexus. but atleast when I'm done everything will be right. any thoughts?
This whole Control Arm bushing project is taking ALOT longer than planned. i've never had this many things go wrong with a simple bushing replacement.
The good news is I got all the bushings out. The UCA bushings were easy I used a vise, a piece of exhaust tubing and a socket no sweat.
The Drivers LCA (the "good" one on right) had somekind of aftermarket bushings from another vehicle. I pressed them out easy too.
The Passenger side (the "ugly" one on left) had oem bushings so I had to burn them out. which is always fun.
Now the fun part. The Drivers UCA Bolt was bent. In my area I only have Classic Toyota so I orderd the bolt today which will take about 2 weeks to get here... The Drivers LCA (the good one with aftermarket bushings) has no outer sleeves and they made a inner sleeves out of hard plastic which do not fit the prothane's.
heres a picture of the sleeves. the 4 on bottom are UCA and above them were the LCA's. the only one usuable and fits into the prothane's is the one on the far right.
here is a shot at the LCA's where the bushings were. the one on the left is the Passenger side that I blasted and burned. the one on the right is the Drivers side with aftermarket bushings with no outter sleeves. the prothane's are a tight fit on the left and on the right they go in with wiggle room.
So all in all I've gotta wait 2 weeks for the UCA Bolt from Toyota. and I've gotta order 2 outter sleeves and 1 inner sleeve... I hate it when people half-*** repairs. it makes it more difficult for the next owner. for gods sakes this is a lexus. but atleast when I'm done everything will be right. any thoughts?
Last edited by SCstone; 10-14-13 at 06:19 PM.
10-19-13, 06:40 PM
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-=- Update -=-
Got everything knocked out finally after alot of improvising.. I'm just waiting on a UCA bolt from Toyota.
I ended up making my own sleeves for drives LCA. outside is exhaust tubing i cut it so it could fit. the inner I used two pieces of tubing to get the right size. worked out pretty good.
after getting the sleeves sorted out I then sprayed everything mostly flat black.
removed the sticky crap ouf of the bottom of UCA balljoint and used some Toyota FIPG.
Installed all the sleeves and bushings in mostly with a vice and c-clamps and a rubber mallet.
put some grease in the balljoints as some were sticking esp the say bar endlinks, now they move around easily.
everything turned out pretty good. cant wait to reinstall and feel the difference.
Got everything knocked out finally after alot of improvising.. I'm just waiting on a UCA bolt from Toyota.
I ended up making my own sleeves for drives LCA. outside is exhaust tubing i cut it so it could fit. the inner I used two pieces of tubing to get the right size. worked out pretty good.
after getting the sleeves sorted out I then sprayed everything mostly flat black.
removed the sticky crap ouf of the bottom of UCA balljoint and used some Toyota FIPG.
Installed all the sleeves and bushings in mostly with a vice and c-clamps and a rubber mallet.
put some grease in the balljoints as some were sticking esp the say bar endlinks, now they move around easily.
everything turned out pretty good. cant wait to reinstall and feel the difference.
10-20-13, 03:25 AM
#30
nice work dude, finally a build i can relate too. i went thru everything your going thru like a month ago. my build isnt as detailed as yours lol im lazy. good luck, lookin forward to seein more