Hi, I'm Mike. Been on CL a while with my 03 GS(build link in sig). By some crazy twist of fate my wife(out of the blue) fell in love with SC's, so I did what any man would do- Sold my 5spd '99 Jetta TDI and bought her an auto '95 SC300 as a bday/xmas present!

Filled it up before the 2hrs drive home:


And at home in Lansing:


222k miles(Jetta had 270k so who cares), paint is pretty rough, driver side quarter needs work, interior is rough, and needed steering rack bushings like none other:




VW sold for $2500, scored the SC for $1200. Wife is really happy, so am I. Plans? Nothing crazy. Have lots of na-t parts so eventually boost. Wheels, suspension, and somewhere along the line bump out all the dents/dings and atomize some paint. The GS comes first though!

It'll be nice for me to have a fresh look at the Lexus world. Thanks for checking out my thread!

 

Fairly extensive damage on the quarter panel. I've already pulled it about 1" near the rear bumper cover after this pic was taken. There's been previous work on it and some cracked filler. Generally speaking I have three avenues of approach in repair:

1. Bump and filler. Probably not the best end-state outcome aesthetically, but fairly easy.
2. Over fenders. Still needs some metalworking to make things fit right, slightly more intensive process imo.
3. Replace entire quarter panel. Time consuming and extensive, would cost more in parts/materials than I paid for the car. Done right it'd probably look the best in the end though.

I've yet to make up my mind what I want to do... Trying to stay out of the modding rabbit hole until I get some headway on the GS. Not an easy task haha.

 

Since I had a single din head unit laying around I decided to just put that in the SC for now. Ordered a Metra kit for $10, but you can prob guess how that went haha. No power to the H/U. Tossed the factory radio back in and called it good for now.

Also waiting on a set of Weds Farmas I scored a few weeks ago for $600 shipped:


They're only 18x8's but they'll be fine for daily use. Got a new set of tires and some spacers waiting for when they arrive too lol. Originally I was looking at a set of LS430 5 stars, but these were actually cheaper. Weds wheels for all the things!

 

Did some quick rough out work on the quarter panel and coated it in some free rattle can primer & white paint. Had to pull it around 1" near the back bumper. Fall semester is over and I do not have adequate climate control inside my garage, so this will have to do for now.






Yesterday I figured I would swap factory wheels from my GS300 since it's tucked away for winter. Then decided to add 25mm spacers all around. It looks... "Okay". They are way better than the ugly chrome stocks the car came with at least.













The Weds wheels also came in but I haven't mounted tires yet. It's going to start snowing any day now so that can wait. This car desperately needs an altitude adjustment but yea... Winter

 

Congrats on your recent pick up. Not bad. Smart move with the bushing replacement. I'm sure once the summer breaks-you're going to be full swing into a great SC resto? Keep us updated. Thanks.

steve

 

Yep, since it's a daily driven car I'll have to wait for the snow to leave before I get too into the body and paint work. I want to get the timing belt service etc outta the way soon as well. And depending on what I decide on my GS, I can ether cannibalize the na-t setup and give the SC some boost, or maybe just purchase another engine altogether.

For now I'll just wing it and let the car develop it's own personality.

 

Off to a great start man, glad to see a SC revival.

 

New shop for activities. New bumper from APT. Not much else going on lately. Waiting on my r154 for the GS. And aero for it. 46* in Lansing right now and grass. Really happy about that.

 

Brisk early morning cruise.


Did some maintenancey things tonight that aren't interesting so no pics. Plugs, vacuum lines, fixed a power steering low pressure leak. Thinking I might paint this car once KBD ships out sides/rear.

 

I thought you bought this car for your wife? Looks like your are having more fun with it lol. Good progress so far. I like what your doing to the GS. I want to do something fun with my 01 GS. Thing ,it runs so nice I hate to start molesting her.

 

She enjoys building cars too!!

Just mod smart and it'll handle anything you want. My GS has over 20k miles on boost and never once broken down(I road trip like crazy too!)

 

The rest of the APT kit arrived recently. Hoping to mount everything this week since weather is going to be awesome. I want to toss on the Weds and cruise!


Heavily considering a wide body setup for the SC. I'm just not completely sold on the look w/ the rears bubbling out. Used to own a wide S13 back in the day so maybe it's time to pay homage?

 

To each their own. To me the widebody SC looked over exaggerated. Look like the batmobile from the Michael Keaton days.

 

I bumped out a lot of the major dents on the driver side quarter, but it's really rough. And there is pre-existing filler work in other areas. It's falling into the time and effort it takes to replace the whole quarter panel, hence why I'm considering overs.

I'm capable of both repairs, but for time money spent, and minimizing invasive procedure overs would be great.

 

Weds Farmas on. Rest of the aero soon, and some better pics.