Hey folks

Its about time i introduce myself. I have been reading and lurking alot in here the past month or so. Decided to get a SC430 after seeing all your cars and mods

I'm coming from the LS400 forum, but now i wanted a convertible instead. After alot of searching i found a nice one in Germany with low mileage and all service at Lexus dealer. Only 68.000km. Thats about 42.000 miles. Took down and looked at it. Very nice condition. Totally stock besides the spare tire kit in the trunk. Only a couple of very small scrathes. The engine shakes a little so that might be the mounts so ordered all three. Other than that it drives great so now i'm a happy owner of a 2002 SC430

Like always i have alot of plans for the car. Already ordered ALOT of parts. I want it to have a little more sporty look and feel but still have some comfort.

Here are some of the parts i have ordered:
G-Answer front and rear lips from Japan
06' Headlights
06' Taillights
Alu pedal set
Real carbon to cover all the interior wood.
BMC carbon airfilter intake
PPE headers
New hood and trunk dampers
New engine and trans mounts
New Oil and cabin filter
New ecru floor mats
Car cover

I am still considering on what kind of suspension i want to go with. I really want to have full control over the ride height and after having tried BC coilovers on my LS400 i am thinking about taking it further with air suspension. Dont know which brand and combination yet.

Also i haven't decided on wheels yet, but i think it will be Work VS XX 19" black gloss. Maybe 9" front and 10" or 11" rear.

But i have also been thinking on Brembo calipers but they only make for the front. I dont know what ET the wheels should be so i have to do some more searching on that to make it all fit without spacers and still have it flush with the fenders and clear the calipers.

Also ordered a used steering wheel and gear **** from ebay which are going to be custom made with carbon and new leather.

I have more plans. Complete exhaust system will be stainless steel. Some never integrated sound system and navi. I'm not sure about it yet and other things.

Well here are the pictures of my new baby. Take a good look, because this one is going to transform very soon

 

Welcome Rollaboy, car looks great.
Look forward to seeing your new car transform.

Best regards
Steve

 

Welcome to the SC430 forum! Your car appears to be well cared for. Enjoy!

 

Looking good, sounding exciting!

Please do include costs and lots of photo's & detailed write-up's on the work you do :-)

 

Welcome to the best forum online. Congatulations with your new purchase - looks great.

I see you already ordered the newer front and rear lights, but take a lot at ***************** ... I have their front and rear LED sidemarkers and am planning to get their rear lights. Member Barcardi has them all around.

Have fun with the upgrades!

 

Congrats and your sc is on the right track.

 

This is going to be another interesting build. Congrats and welcome.

 

Welcome to the board

You may need to get the 2006 front bumper/grill to make those 2006 lights to fit correctly.

 

Velkommen! Meget flot bil - tillykke med købet!

 

Thank you folks

JohnnyCake, are you also danish? Living in the US?

SlvBullet, the vendor name is sensored please send a privat message. Would be nice with some clear bumber lights, but i am also thinking about removing them and make it clean when the bumbers are going to get painted. I am also thinking about removing those square fog lights in the rear bumber. They disturb my eye

Well, a little update. Guess what i will be doing the next couple of days

Santa was early this year

[IMG]ftp://212.242.236.97/sc430/sc13.jpg[/IMG]

I also found out that my SC was not totally stock. When i took off the wheels there were 35mm spacers sitting in the rear and 25mm spacers in the front. I guess the former owner didnt want the wheels sitting all the way in under the fenders.

I sure can understand him. Here is a picture without spacer in the left side

[IMG]ftp://212.242.236.97/sc430/sc14.jpg[/IMG]

So, i took my Kranze rims from my LS400 to test fit and see how it looked. They fit perfect in the front and also in the rear i think. So now i have some ET numbers to play with.
[IMG]ftp://212.242.236.97/sc430/sc15.jpg[/IMG]

I think when the car gets lowered and the camber is moving toward the car when lowering the wheels maybe will go free of the fenders. But there might be some fender work.
[IMG]ftp://212.242.236.97/sc430/sc16.jpg[/IMG]

There is alot of space behind the wheels. About 10cm (4 inch) to play with so the wheels can be even wider than the 10" Kranze rim shown.


Here is the front. Perfect align with the fenders, so when lowering they will go free.


Weds Kranze Bazreia 9x20 ET 25 front and 10x20 ET 06 rear.

These wheels are just for testing. i want the Work VS XX 19" with black spokes on this SC i just dont know the exact ET yet. I am also wondering if i should make it 12" in the rear or just stay with 11"

I also got answer back from Brembo with the specifications on they're GT big brake kit.

Here is the clearance guide if anyone is interested: http://www.home.no/floorfiller/other...tion_SC430.xls

Thats all for now. Have a nice weekend everyone

 

06' Taillights, this is plug and play, really the best upgrade for the money!

Go go go!

Post pics before and after...

 

Mine sits with the same spacers, 25/35! Looks good.

 

One more thing, get some AL pedals!!!!

 

Haven't installed the taillights yet. And the headlights sure was not a plug and play hehe. Have searched alot on the forum but there is alot of different opinions etc so i think after this i will make a complete DIY with all info needed and i have pictures of everything so i think its gonna help alot of people.

Right now i'm a stuck as i'm waiting for new xenon 6000k bulbs D4S instead of the old 4300k D2S. But also the blinker light socket does not fit. I think i have found the right ones at sewell so now i'm just waiting for them to get shipped. But no problem, i have alot of projects going on

mandyfig> Yeah we have the same thinking. i forgot to mention i already have a set of AL pedals So they are ready to get installed as well.

But at the moment im ordering the Injen intake pipe and make som modification to it so it can be used with my BMC airfilter. i think its going to sound evil

Here i have test fitted the passenger 06' headlight. The old ones where in bad shape and i really like the new updated headlight. Its gonna look good.


This is how it looks at the moment

 

Looking good.

Was going to remind you about the 06 lamps, some modification required.

Keep taking snapshots along the way.

Do the rear LED tails...it is awesome.

Good luck.