i got this SC400 a while ago, probably like 3 months now. it's got 216k miles now and needs quite a bit of TLC. so i'm making this thread to just document my adventure. already have done some stuff but the cars been running a little rough lately so i'll be posting more.

here's when i got the car.

 

same week i got the car, changed the air filter, and a little after that did the BFI mod. turned out pretty nice, car ran a little better


also changed the ballasts to my slim, water/shockproof ones i got from diode dynamics, had em in my xB for a couple years

finished product lol

 

Scindy has been making a weird chirping noise for a long time now in the rear passenger side wheel. so i took everything apart and noticed the brake pads were too big for the rotors, car has supra calipers all around and i'm guessing the rotors weren't changed? or maybe it doesn't mount up perfectly how it should. so i filed that lip down, didn't fix the problem, car still makes the noise randomly. don't know what it is still

 

this is recently, headlights were pretty yellow so i went ahead and did the full DIY on how to clean them. turned out pretty nice, also plastidipped the inside casings black, pretty messy but it's plastidip so who the hell cares, just peel it off whenever.
can barely see the difference in the picture, but the lights are so much clearer now

 

now the big problems, weather is finally nice enough that it won't take things 50 hours to dry, so i went ahead and started working on the body. filling in all the little dings and dents and the major hole on the quarter panel. the roof ones idk what i'll have to do. the windshield is cracked so maybe i can do them the same time i replace the windshield. but here's my progress so far on the body work. using fiberglass, bondo, and filler primer. still lots of sanding to do to get it nice and flat.
before the work

rust inhibitor

fiberglass with some aluminum sticky frame stuff i found at walmart for 5 bucks, give it some structure to wrap around the hole

from the bottom

lots of bondo applied

sanded and primed, basically where im at now, still sanding more to get the little bumps out, just sand, prime, sand, prime, sand prime, and repeat over and over

 

I really like those low beam mods you've done!

I've got an extra pair of low beam headlights I wanna try that with!

 

going to the junk yard tmr, to see if my air control unit is the culprit for my air not blowing, checked the motor with a 9 volt and it spun, replaced the motor resistor, took the dash apart to see if i could find some loose wires or broken conncetions with no luck. everything else works, the temperature, different zones, ac, everything works except the motor wont spin. fingers crossed

 

thanks! i wanna take the city light out and replace it with something more interesting. i know a lot of people here aren't fans of LED strip DRLs, but i'm a huge fan of those and i think if done correctly can look awesome. so i'm thinking to try something with those. we'll see. lights need to be resealed anyways cz they're foggy, didn't do a good job the first time so maybe when i redo it, i'll get some nice bright LED strips and get something cool done.

 

Went to the junk Yard and the climate control was even worse, so no buy on that. Gonna go back some day though cz there were some other things I wanted. Got new struts for the trunk and hood, just waiting on the hardware cz they didn't come with any. O2 sensors should be coming in soon, so I'll be replacing those asap to try to get rid of my code 25 CEL.

 

Wow that Rust was really bad....I like your thinking on the repair but it will come back out you needed to cut away all metal that was rusted...

 

^^^He's right. I'd recommend cutting the metal out, treat the inside so it doesn't spread, weld in the new metal. Over time that rust will push thru the bondo, bubble and start to crack. GL and keep us posted.

steve

 

this is my first time doing body work, and my first car i've worked on, so tools are sparse, and so is wisdom lol. i probably won't keep the car long enough for any more rust to pop up, but thanks for the tips guys. next car i'll definitely take those steps. for now i just covered all the rust with that inhibitor paint from the outside and inside and there's no visible rust, so hopefully that will last long enough. i noticed the other side is starting to do the same but only a tiny hole so that will get patched up with fiberglass as well, just a teeny little hole so no problem. getting an IS300 wheel from a member here tmr so i'll install that and post it up. my O2 sensors shipped out so can't wait to replace those and also the hood and trunk strut hardware shud be here soon. next up will be the rust on the roof.

 

^^^Not bad for a 1st timer, you know what's more respectable? You're willing to try and fix problems as a D.I.Y. It's all about trying. I'm thinking about trying my hands with fiberglass on a spare door panel? Wish me luck? lol

steve

 

if you've made those paper mache animals or like glued paper as a kid where you soak it in glue and then drape it on stuff, it's just like that lol. really messy, really sticky, you just gotta get past all the mess and remember that once its dry, you can clean it up. i'm going to school for game art and design and i'm a real perfectionist so doing things like that really hits the OCD spot lol. just gotta keep layering it and ignore all the little fibers that get loose and stick out all over the place.

forgot to update this actually. got a new steering wheel from a member here, not sure what year but it's an IS300 wheel, gonna try to do something with those buttons and get em removed front and back, maybe get my hands on some carbon fiber and try to mock something up we'll see. also installed new struts for the trunk and hood, no more skateboard to hold those up.

oxygen sensors came in today too but got home late and it was raining so i'll try to either do it tomorrow or thursday depending on how much time i got.

resealed the headlights, they're not fogging up anymore, kinda melted one lol but no biggy still works perfectly. trying to remember anything else... oh my license plate lights don't work, installed some LEDs in there and they're not lighting up at all, looks like i'll have to get to work on the bumpers earlier than i thought cz i can't reach the wires in there without taking the bumper off. also ordered a pack of 20 T10 194 LEDs to replace the lights in my dash and hopefully try to fix my needles and make them BLUE! more updates coming soon, this weather is being awesome right now, it was 80 on sunday.

 

Just realized its not 194 in the dash but whatever, still got other places to put those. What lights go in the dash?? Is it the neo 5 from superbrightleds?that's what I've heardjust don't know what size