My New (to Me) Ls400

steve20vt · July 30, 2015

New to the forum I've been lurking for a bit working out what I'd need to look out for when it came to purchasing an LS.

If you've not seen my new members post I'll be honest as to the reason I wanted an LS. I just wanted a donor to put the engine into a Sierra. But that's not going to happen now.

The car was on eBay but luckily for me the seller had put it in the wrong section and the car was listed under "manuals". There was another I was watching that needed stuff doing for an mot which sold for over £500

I went down to Huntingdon to view the car I eventually ended up with, a 96 regency green four owner car that its latest owner had only had a couple of months. Always worrying when a new owner wants rid.

The description was pretty sparse so it was a gamble.

Turns out he'd bought it as his better half wanted a Lexus, but just not that one as it was about 19 years too old, he'd got the from a friend who'd had it a couple of years so I was starting to feel better.

The first thing I noticed was the poor paintwork condition, lacquer peel and badly faded paint.

The alloys were in bad shape too, I wasn't feeling too disappointed as I'd planned on scrapping the rest of the car once I'd liberated the running gear.

But inside everything was in good order and in fine fettle. The owner didn't know much about the car not graving had it very long. He'd put it through an mot four weeks before and everything on the test drive seemed good.

I could hear a slight blow somewhere from the exhaust which I pinned down to the egr pipe starting to crack. All the fluid levels were fine and clean. There was some history and a folder full of paperwork but the owner had never looked through it. All seemed good so we agreed on £600 and I came back for it a few days later.

I picked up the car which was really low on fuel so after driving it away and putting £50 of fuel and spent half an hour playing with the seats and cd changer. It was the drive home where I began to like the car more and more, everything worked, it was comfy and went really well!

The more I drove it the more I loved it. So now instead of breaking it I shall be improving it and making it suit my taste and driving style.

I have some interesting and perhaps controversial things planned for the car ;)

Some pics of the car as it stands currently.

Malc · July 30, 2015

..... looks ok for £600 squid, and the newish MOT................., wot's not to like !!!

Malc

steve20vt · July 30, 2015

I've sorted through the history, it turns out it's been serviced on the dot, the previous previous owner has included a separate booklet with all the services and parts it's had since it left the first company owner in London, it also has every mot from its first to back up the 125k miles.

I'm very pleased with it to say the least. I even found the owners handbook in the cubby hole under the passenger seat.

Tinonline · July 30, 2015

What a great story! Great car better nick than my year 2000 !

jpjsavage · July 30, 2015

Enjoy your new LS! They are fabulous cars. I'm on the look out for another one too.

Colin M · July 30, 2015

Sounds like a great buy - enjoy the car!

As Jonathan says, they are fabulous cars and they are great value for money.

Malc · July 30, 2015

.. and then there's the N reg one at £2795 ................. spend a few bob on yours and you will have appreciation of lotsa £££££

Malc

steve20vt · July 31, 2015

My little avatar minion is sporting a Fiat logo as my other projects are a 98 Fiat coupe 20 valve turbo and a Fiat Marea 2.4 diesel estate. You can see now why the LS is such a luxurious car for me to own, and why I'm so amazed that everything works.

I put it on the weigh bridge at work and it came out at 1750kg with me on board a quarter tank of fuel, so it's not quite as heavy as I first thought.

I'll be starting to tidy the body up next before it has a slight colour change, then wheels and a change of suspension.

But before any of that it's going to have a major service including All the HT side. I'll get rid of the egr and have a look at the engine mounts.

I love the sound track of a v8, but I also love the quiet so I'll be building an active exhaust system that can be controlled from the dash so I can choose the sound level.

steve20vt · August 25, 2015

I tried swapping the indicator from the ugly orange oblong lenses. And swapped the indicator bulb holder for some that take the off set Amber bulbs and then fitted those where the original side light was, then removed the fog lamp bulb and fitted the sidelight holder into the fog lamp place.

Now I can delete the original indicators.

Malc · August 25, 2015

............ not ugly at all ........ I think the originals are rather smart ........ I had mine changed back to original from DHP style clear lenses coz to my mind originality in the Mk3 is GREAT ...... as did Lexus when they spent £zillions developing the Mk3

Malc

oldhazey · August 25, 2015

Welcome to the Forum Steve :)

A fellow mk3 owner now,as i bought my mk3 for its running gear,but fell in love with the old barge as its just so ...........V8 Jap Muscle that can waft in sheer luxury if needed,and all for a rusty ford price tag B)

steve20vt · August 25, 2015

I know exactly what you mean, now I'm on the hunt for another to finish my drift project.

steve20vt · September 7, 2015

The car is beginning its transformation, I know tastes differ and the majority won't like it but that's just the way it is. If I think it looks good that's all that matters.

Now I've bought some wheels from eBay, they came off a 400 so I knew they'd fit okay, to be honest they're not really my favourite choice of wheel as I hate chrome, but they'll be getting refurbished in a different colour.

They're a Team Dynamics wheel in 18" with 245 45 tyres fitted, I've a replacement tyre coming as one is border line and i need new wheel nuts.

I had to t them on and while the chrome hurts my eyes, the handling was much better and less boat like.

I have a kind of plan for the bodywork, staying true to the 400 two tone theme but black and white.

Bottom half black, the top white pearl. Same for the wheels, wheel face black with the chrome rim bits pearl white.

Anyway some pics of the wheels fitted

ambermarine · September 8, 2015

Steve

As you say its your car do as you like .The proposed colour scheme will be different in the UK but in Japan & and the rest of Asia nothing out of the ordinary there are some superb examples of exciting imaginative 400s over there and they spend a fortune on their cars.

Can't wait to see your finished goal good luck with it.

steve20vt · September 17, 2015

Thanks amberine, my wife had to have emergency surgery last night and had been taken to hull royal infirmary which is the other side of the river Humber for us. Thankfully the OP went well and she's had a badly damaged disc removed from her spine (all she'd done was twist and turn to go back upstairs)

Anyway she's going to be fine and since I've had a couple of days off work and traveling to and from the hospital I've had a bit of time (in between looking after the baby) to have a quick look at the stalling issue I've been having recently.

A quick search turned up what I'd expected, the throttle body.

Last night it petered out as I pulled onto the drive and that was it for me, so this morning I pulled the throttle body off and gave it a thorough clean.

On idle before it was running so rich it would almost choke you. It would also be constantly adjusting the idle and coming off the throttle sometimes would only drop the revs to 1000rpm which meant I was still maintaining speed when I should be decelerating.

I'll post up some pics of the before and after, but the difference is a huge improvement. It idles sweetly without hesitation or missing, the exhaust smells so much cleaner and the throttle response is much more crisp.

Job well done and it only took about half an hour.

steve20vt · September 17, 2015

Removal was simple

Very clogged up and there was zero visibility through the body

A good clean with some generic parts washer fluid, then some carb cleaner and a blow through.

And finally a shot looking through the body to show the gap round the butterfly. Looks like an eclipse.

Mikaelse · September 19, 2015

Where does all this dirt come from?. I checked mine in my 1995 LS400 when I did the timing belt. really clean.

Mikael

steve20vt · September 19, 2015

It's perfect on the side you see when taking the pipe off, it's the intake manifold side that gets gunned up. You can thank the EGR system for causing most if not all of the muck.

oldhazey · September 19, 2015

It's perfect on the side you see when taking the pipe off, it's the intake manifold side that gets gunned up. You can thank the EGR system for causing most if not all of the muck.

Simples delete EGR system,mines been blanked off for a while now,with no issues :)

Yoda · September 19, 2015

My little avatar minion is sporting a Fiat logo as my other projects are a 98 Fiat coupe 20 valve turbo and a Fiat Marea 2.4 diesel estate. You can see now why the LS is such a luxurious car for me to own, and why I'm so amazed that everything works.

I put it on the weigh bridge at work and it came out at 1750kg with me on board a quarter tank of fuel, so it's not quite as heavy as I first thought.

I'll be starting to tidy the body up next before it has a slight colour change, then wheels and a change of suspension.

But before any of that it's going to have a major service including All the HT side. I'll get rid of the egr and have a look at the engine mounts.

I love the sound track of a v8, but I also love the quiet so I'll be building an active exhaust system that can be controlled from the dash so I can choose the sound level.

Varex boxes by any chance?

I know exactly what you mean, now I'm on the hunt for another to finish my drift project.

Don't feel bad about planning to dismantle an Ls400. I'm putting a 1UZ into my truck. The sole reason I joined here and I've had pretty good support and interest. 1Uz conversions are becoming more and more popular in all kinds of vehicles. Should you be interested I found several people / companies who break LS400's and put the engine, box and all the gubbins on a palet for you. I paid £510 delivered for mine or you can go up to about £1000 for a low miles Jap import version.

Ruud · September 19, 2015

There's a great facebook group about the 1uzfe engine. A world of knowledge there about fitting the 1uz in a different car. Also a lot of knowledge about getting more horses from it.

steve20vt · September 20, 2015

Thanks for the info. I've looked at varex silencers but they're very pricey for my style of shoe string.

I'll be using QTP electric cut outs.

I frequent lextreme and drifworks regularly and various ls400 / 1uz Facebook pages like driftmoto etc.

The 1uz would be so much more popular if there was a cheap and easy way to manualise it without resorting to adapters, but there are more people doing it.

The r154 supra box is popular in the states but very expensive over here. Nev at driftmoto sells a kit to fit various bmw boxes that are strong cheap and plentiful.

There are some seriously powerful 1uz engined cars out there making insane power. I fear if they become too popular the "scene tax" will be imposed and prices for 1uz engined cars and parts will rocket.

Yoda · September 21, 2015

I think that's already beginning to happen personally. In my research for my conversion I've uncovered a small following for this engine. When I first mention it to someone I expect them to not know what I'm talking about. But more and more when I order a part for example and they ask for a registration, I say there isn't one as it's an engine conversion, I've often had people say "oh you're doing the old 1UZ transplant!" It's fast going to come the engine of choice. Better in every way and more reliable than a Rover V8 and cheaper by miles than an LS1. It's a no brainier. The chap I bought my engine from says he sells them faster than he can break them.

Tell me more about these QTP electric cut outs. I've not head of that. I too looked at Varex boxes but for a conversion that's already costing my ££££ I don't want to spend the extra on Varex.

steve20vt · September 21, 2015

Here is an odd vid from the USA but you'll get the idea. There are cheaper Chinese copies available on eBay.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PDgB303Go6U

steve20vt · October 3, 2015

Got round to sorting my indicators out, now they operate where the side lights used to be using offset pinned amber bulbs and holders from some fiat headlamps I had kicking around.

Then fitted the 5w sidelight bulb holders into the fog lamp apertures. Then finally removed the indicators and blacked them out.