Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

I bought this car in Jan 2008 from a used car dealer after a year of searching for the perfect SC. This car has been a love/hate relationship between modding the car and keeping it stock. I would say the car has been a restoration project for most of the time I've owned it with an occasional mod, then converting it back to stock.

2008:
The day I brought the car home




First mod after 2 months was a TSX retrofit. The bracket came from Tony (acleansc4) of Luxury Mods




About a month after the retrofit, I spun out and hit a truck. (I have the same front bumper to this day and the scratches are still there if you look closely)


I bought a Tanabe Medallion exhaust that Christmas




2009:

The car was mostly the same, but I had been changing interior parts and doing lots of maintenance work


Someone hit my car and took off


2010: I started attending more CL events and met other SC owners.

TomLee hooked me up with a set of Tein HA coilovers, and I picked up a 5zigen Fireball Mega exhaust from a LS400 that was modified to fit on to my car.


Vinh’s SC and my SC together back when he let me borrow his car to drive around


2011: I picked up some supra TT wheels from AutocoutureSC


Sometime in 2011, I got rear ended. I ended up needing a brand new rear oem bumper and an exhaust tip.


When I went to the body shop the paint match was horrible, so they had to blend into the quarter panels.




2012: More repairs to the car

Finally got around to fixing the damaged headlight frame from the accident back in 2008.


Tensioner pulley seized and snapped my serpentine belt. I ended up buying a new oem Tensioner, bolts, belt, water pump, and timing belt kit.


2013: I started collecting a lot more parts for the car

I picked up Kohinoor’s UAS/HKS Hipermax coil setup. I mostly wanted the coilovers, but for the price he was asking, it made sense to buy the entire thing. I had to have the coilovers rebuilt, but it was still worth it.


Coilovers and SSR Vienna kries installed. Sometime in 2012 I traded the supra TT wheels for these SSR wheels. In the photo it is 18x9 +12 with 225/40/18 tires installed



2014: The search for rare parts continued

I finally found some Supermade lenses. I picked them up from a local SC owner (I can’t remember his username, but he had a 98+ SC400 that was manual swapped.


I picked up this Blitz Nur Spec Touring exhaust from another local SC owner (I can’t remember his name either, but I believe he owned the widebody Autocouture SC)


2015: I found my dream wheels

I finally found some HRE 540 from an Acura NSX. The original specs were 18x8.5 +49 18x10 +43


I had them relipped to 18x9.5+37 18x10.5+36 and I ordered new colored centercaps


With my dream wheels in hand, I did something I had been dreading for years. I took my car to Kyle of Pro Shop Noble to have the fenders modded. He provided his input on how to protect my paint and suggested cutting the front lips half way before rolling, and trimming my rear quarter panels.

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

2015 Continued:

I decided it was finally time to unpack the air suspension I bought from Kohinoor and install it on my car. I ordered a new tank, all new fittings, water traps, new air lines, new relays, and new wiring.


The hardest part about an air install is trying to figure out how you want everything setup, and how to install it cleanly


Final Result:




The car looked great, but something was missing. I’ve had a set of headlights and fogs stashed away. I had to swap my TSX retrofit over, but it was well worth it.


Decided to finally address my vvt-I gear oil leak





I picked up a set of mint seats and a greddy evo2 exhaust from another local member (I can’t remember his username). His car was getting totaled due to an electrical fire.





I had to ditch the fish bowl look, so I got the windows tinted to 35% to help protect the seats




Around thanksgiving in 2015, a truck hit my car

After the insurance company did their inspection, I was able to polish out most of the marks

2016:

I got the car back from the body shop. They repainted both quarter panels, my roof, and the rear bumper. I wasn't happy with their work, so they had to fix it a few times.
First time I went to pick up my car. There was still rough edges and over spray


When I finally picked up the car:


I wasn't happy with the difference between the doors and the quarter panel, but I was sick of arguing with insurance companies, so I thought about selling my car and starting over on a 99-00 SC400. I removed everything from the car.


About a month ago I decided that I wanted to attend HRE open house on June 4th. This left me with 3 options:
1. Ride with one of my friends
2. Drive someone else's show car to attend the event
3. Put my car back together and drive it

I decided to make a few subtle changes to my car. I always thought my rear wheels were a little to sunken once aired out, so I decided to relip the wheels to add another half an inch. In the process I decided to convert back to straight flange lips since that is what the wheels originally came with.

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

My friend dropped by to pick up the wheels, and I went to go shoot some photos of his car for him






Today I started unpacking some parts like my coilovers and air bags

aswang

iTrader: (4)

Always admired your SC. Please never get rid of those wheels (unless you sell them to me..lol).

Your friend's IS looks real nice too!

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

You got a super clean SC man. Those HRE wheels are straight fire. So sexy.

I remember your car from way before and was curious why you returned it back to stock.

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

Thanks. I've been considering ordering work meister s1 in bright buff finish and selling the HRE once the meisters arrive from japan.

My friends car is actually a GS. I couldn't really tell the difference either until I saw his car all the time.

I guess the best way to explain it is to say that I'm a very stubborn and impulsive person.

I got into a car accident at the end of last year and they hit my quarter panel. I went through a dragged out argument with insurance companies and lawyers to get them to pay to fix my car. When the insurance company finally agreed to pay to fix my car the issues with my body shop of choice started. They made a bunch of errors that required me to go back and forth to have them fix multiple times. The paint match came out pretty bad in my opinion. One of my hobbies is detailing cars, so paint is a big deal to me. By the time I finally took my car home I was so pissed off I said I was going to part it out. I stayed up one night and stripped everything and converted it back to stock. After that I started shopping for mint condition black on black 99-00 SC400.

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

I worked on the air suspension today.

Wired everything up in the trunk.


For anyone who is looking to install air suspension, on the front shock towers these are the points you need to smash flat with a hammer:

Driver (Discolored portions). The indentation for the horn mount in the engine bay does the most damage to the air bags.


Passenger


I had to cutoff an endlink that stripped.


I tried removing the rear rotors today by threading in 2 bolts, then ratcheting it down by hand. I ended up stripping the bolts and cracking the rotor.


For anyone that wants to know how to adjust the e brake shoes, so the rotor can be removed. The adjuster is at the 6 o clock position on the rotor. Spin the star wheel down to loosen and up to tighten.

Installed the rear supra tt brakes and test fit my wheels


Cleaned up and called it quits for the night.

aswang

iTrader: (4)

Definitely. I'll keep an eye out for your HREs if you post them up for sale.

Ahh, yes, after looking at the front a little closer, my eyes did deceive me. It's usually the rear that gives it away for me when it comes to looking at a GS.

Sc375

them hre's thou...

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

I installed the front supra tt brakes yesterday and bleed the system with ATE type 200 fluid. During my test drive I encountered 3 problems. 1. Something sounded like it was loose, 2. there was a grinding sound while I drove, and 3. if I pump the brake 3 to 5 times while the car is idling, then the car starts shaking and sounds like it is going to shut off.

Problem 1 was caused by a wrench I left on the bleeder valve. Problem 2 was reduced by adjusting the ebrake shoes to loosen off the rear rotor. I'm going to try and grease the pads, so they can slide easier, and finally problem 3 has me stumped.

I also dialed in my ride height and tested the air suspension

My old looking easy street controller


Fully dumped in the front


Ride height:


I had to order different tires because the 275/35/18 Michelin ps2 I bought won't stretch at all, so I don't have enough fender clearance right now since my fenders aren't rolled flat. I ordered a 275/35/18 Sumitomo HTR Z III which is a little narrower. I dropped the wheels off at my friend's shop last night, so they can mount the tires first thing when it comes in today.

The rear was the only way I could tell them a part too, but a few of my friends have bought 4GS recently, so I've become more familiar with them.

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

Went to go pick up my wheels today. This is a 275/35/18 Sumitomo HTR Z III on a 18x11


Mounted the wheels:


I attempted to air out and quickly realized I didn't have enough clearance in the rear.


I had them max out my camber to -3 degrees in the rear in an attempt to clear the tire, but it didn't work. I still need 2-3mm more of the fender lip to be shaved off to clear. I'll have the work done soon.

This is how the car looks at ride height.



I'm still having issues with my brakes grinding, so I'm not going to risk damaging the car with a 1 hour drive to tomorrow's HRE open house. I think I damaged the parking brake trying to use brute force to remove the rear rotors. I couldn't locate the parts to repair it today. I was so close to having the car done. Oh well...

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

My exhaust hanger snapped earlier this week. The driveway at the new place I'll be storing the car is too narrow and steep, so I was hitting the exhaust.

Washed the car this morning. The rear fenders are awfully close to my wheel lips with the new setup.






I also just picked up a used honda odyssey 2 days ago, so I'll be going on a shopping spree at the honda dealer to buy all new fluids + parts to do the 105k service + oil seals and other gaskets.

JDM Master

nice build your sc looks clean. also u said u have not rolled your fenders so far?

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

Those fenders are clearly rolled.

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

My front fenders were already rolled. My rears were shaved half way because I only needed that much clearance at the time. By only shaving half way it left me with the option of rolling and pulling in the future.

When my current wheels were mounted I had clearance issues and opted to shave a little more.