New Member and Lexus owner

[mathew8717]

Afternoon all,

 

Just thought that i would introduce myself here before looking around and getting some advice!

I picked up my first Lexus last night, a 1998 GS300, full Lexus service history up to 2014 and a massive wedge of receipts from the main dealer for everything that the car has had done to it. it needs some small bits of work but nothing to strenuous i hope, will be looking for some advice and parts soon.

 

Reason for buying the car was that it will be my new daily driver, i currently daily drive in my Nissan 200sx s14a and love it but thats getting the full off the road refurb and paint  as of next month so needed something to get around in while thats happening, and thats where the GS has come in. I wanted something comfy to get around in after being beaten in the Nissan for the last year and a half that also looked cool and was auto because im feeling lazy, the clutch in the Nissan was a stage 4 6 puk one thats super heavy, so decided a rest of clutch work was needed.

 

I goth the GS for a bit of a bargain of a friend which made the deal even sweeter.

 

Eventually i would like to get an LPG conversion on the Lexus but not just yet.

 

Will update some pictures of the Lexus when i get to my mates unit where its being stored and worked on.

And a couple of pictures of the Nissan if anyone's interested

[bobmc]

Hi Mathew

Welcome to the club. 

Have to say, your two cars are 'chalk 'n cheese' aren't they 

 

 

 

[mathew8717]

21 hours ago, bobmc said:

Hi Mathew

Welcome to the club. 

Have to say, your two cars are 'chalk 'n cheese' aren't they 

 

hi mate, thanks for the welcome. and yeh they are a bit different ahah defiantly polar opposites, but both super cool.

 

[Shahpor]

Welcome

Nice looking car you got there, although I can definitely appreciate why you might want something a bit more comfortable

Back in the good old days, I used to have an S14.  Great car, and so much fun.  Couple of small bits from Apex, not nothing major.  I would love another at some point, but it seems unlikely at the moment

I can see you have the front mounted intercooler, so I was wondering what else you have added?

[Bluesman]

Hi Matthew and welcome to the LOC, we are a friendly bunch so please dont hold back asking questions big or small should you have any problems with your car. We always welcome ideas on how to overcome problems with our cars but as they are the finest cars in the universe they dont go wrong that often.

We always love to see pictures of your cars so don't be shy.

Happy Lexus Motoring.

Mike. Bluesman.

[steve2006]

Hello and welcome to the LOC.

My old GS300 was following me the other day.

[mathew8717]

47 minutes ago, Shahpor said:

Welcome

Nice looking car you got there, although I can definitely appreciate why you might want something a bit more comfortable

Back in the good old days, I used to have an S14.  Great car, and so much fun.  Couple of small bits from Apex, not nothing major.  I would love another at some point, but it seems unlikely at the moment

I can see you have the front mounted intercooler, so I was wondering what else you have added?

Hi Mate, glad to know that someone else on here has experienced the Nissan life, i love it. and tbh they becoming more and more inaccessible by the day because everyone drifts them into walls they get written off which is a massive shame. looking at 6k for a decent one now :'(

 

And mine is currently stage 1 with all supporting mods at around 290bhp. most of my money and time has been spent getting it solid underneath, they are probe to rust basically between the front bumper and the rear bumper! so i had to keep on top of that. the rest of the time was converting it back from a drift car to a nice road car, i managed to save one from meeting a wall and being broken for parts which im happy about.

Big plans are near tho and will be transformed soon i hope. but only being 20 im trying to save cash for a flat as well its hard to fit everything in ahah

 

Anyone interested in the nissan build process since i have had it is welcome to have a read here - http://sxoc.com/vbb/showthread.php?579477-Mats-red-s14a-long-term-project

41 minutes ago, Bluesman said:

Hi Matthew and welcome to the LOC, we are a friendly bunch so please dont hold back asking questions big or small should you have any problems with your car. We always welcome ideas on how to overcome problems with our cars but as they are the finest cars in the universe they dont go wrong that often.

We always love to see pictures of your cars so don't be shy.

Happy Lexus Motoring.

Mike. Bluesman.

thanks for the welcome mate, i will deffinatly be getting some question posts up soon and already have a wanted thread up! i will get some pics of the Lexus up soon to, as its not at my place at the moment i cant get any of it.

I need an unwelded diff (god only knows why the guys before me welded the diff) and it needs the rear ABS rings on the driveshafts replacing which are already ordered and the abs sensors are reading low so going to replace them out of precaution to.

other than that i cant wait to get it into daily driver duties!

 

 

Also noticed your both in Hampshire to, small world isnt it.

[Shahpor]

Been a while since I browsed SXOC   I will have a read.

Yeah, I had some rust issues too, but thankfully nothing too serious.  It was my suspension that was knackered.  Needed all doing including all the bushes.  I remember one time almost whacking a barrier because my front right shock failed and did no damping at all.

It is a shame they are getting so expensive;  well, from a buyers point of view anyway.  I bought mine for £3000, but we are talking over 10 years ago.

20 huh?  You are doing well, aren't you?   Insurance must be a pain.

Someone welded the diff on the GS?  That is weird.

Yep, around Basingstoke myself.

[Shahpor]

Just read the sxoc thread.

You are very handy with the spanners.

The car has had a lot of work done, and it is impressive how you have turned it around and improved it.

You are making me miss my old one now even more.

[mathew8717]

4 hours ago, Shahpor said:

Been a while since I browsed SXOC   I will have a read.

Yeah, I had some rust issues too, but thankfully nothing too serious.  It was my suspension that was knackered.  Needed all doing including all the bushes.  I remember one time almost whacking a barrier because my front right shock failed and did no damping at all.

It is a shame they are getting so expensive;  well, from a buyers point of view anyway.  I bought mine for £3000, but we are talking over 10 years ago.

20 huh?  You are doing well, aren't you?   Insurance must be a pain.

Someone welded the diff on the GS?  That is weird.

Yep, around Basingstoke myself.

think they all have rust issues somewhere, its finding it and doing preventative maintenance thats key! and im sure that the oem shocks are prone to issues like you had, lucky yours sounds like it didn't end badly.

Got any photos of your old one at all? was it a zenki or a kouki?

as for the price i got mine relativity cheap 20 odd months ago now but the only way the prices are going is up. tho you will never see a return on these price wise afetr all the work, but we dont do it for a profit, its to have fun!

and yeh only 20, will be 21 in February. the 14 was my second car that i had and i got it when i was 18, was a hell of a jump from a 1.4 seat Ibiza! and you would be surprised by the insurance its nowhere as bad as it could be, the Lexus is more to insure than the Nissan

3 hours ago, Shahpor said:

Just read the sxoc thread.

You are very handy with the spanners.

The car has had a lot of work done, and it is impressive how you have turned it around and improved it.

You are making me miss my old one now even more.

and im not afraid to have a go, only way to learn these things is to have a go and it hasn't gone that wrong so far, best thing to learn is these forums, people with lots more knowledge and experience who are willing to help others and give advice is whats amazing. eventually i may give the Lexus the same underseal treatment as the 14 has had with all the powder coating and so on, altho i have plans for another s-chassis in the not to distant future 

[Shahpor]

Not much to see I am afraid.  Standard looking Zenki.  Here are some photos I have:

 

When I got it, I knew the turbo was knackered, so replaced it.  What I didn't know was that the cast exhaust manifold was cracked as well.  Luckily, the dealer I bought it from agree to pay for a replacement.  Unfortunately, that meant a standard Nissan one instead of s stainless manifold.

I remember one time, when I was fitting braided steel hoses for the turbo oil feed, I was doing up the banjo bolt to the block when the ratchet suddenly lost its tension.  That sinking feel occurred instantly as I knew I had stripped the thread in the block.  Sure enough, when I started the car, oil poured everywhere.  After a lot of faff, I got a local machine shop to tap and helicoil the thread, while also machining a new banjo bolt out of a standard one.  Good old days indeed.

Still, I do miss going around corners sideways

I do envy your 'do it yourself' attitude.  You build log in impressive, and I look forward to seeing what you do next to it.

[mathew8717]

On 9/2/2016 at 10:53 PM, Shahpor said:

Not much to see I am afraid.  Standard looking Zenki.  Here are some photos I have:

 

When I got it, I knew the turbo was knackered, so replaced it.  What I didn't know was that the cast exhaust manifold was cracked as well.  Luckily, the dealer I bought it from agree to pay for a replacement.  Unfortunately, that meant a standard Nissan one instead of s stainless manifold.

I remember one time, when I was fitting braided steel hoses for the turbo oil feed, I was doing up the banjo bolt to the block when the ratchet suddenly lost its tension.  That sinking feel occurred instantly as I knew I had stripped the thread in the block.  Sure enough, when I started the car, oil poured everywhere.  After a lot of faff, I got a local machine shop to tap and helicoil the thread, while also machining a new banjo bolt out of a standard one.  Good old days indeed.

Still, I do miss going around corners sideways

I do envy your 'do it yourself' attitude.  You build log in impressive, and I look forward to seeing what you do next to it.

thats a clean looking zenki there! i do love a zenki, and its in the best color to! as much as i love a modified one going around i equally love seeing clean standard ones! would love a clean low mileage one! garage find from an elderly gent would be the dream find!

and you wouldn't believe how common that stripping of the thread in the block is, i cant remember how many people i know that have has the exact same issue as yours and had to helicoil it!

 

and update with the barge, i have brought the ABS rings and have also sourced an unwelded diff for a reasonable price, (cant believe some places wanted £150 +£50 delivery for a diff, that just seems ridiculous to me, and im used to expensive Nissan parts!) so they will all be fitted by my mate at his workshop, i would do it myself but i dont have the tools to change the abs rings so would only take it to him to do that bit anyway so since he has a lift i will get him to do the lot. then his brother will be doing the MOT and its swap the insurance over in mid October.

I have some photos but there not great, will get some more when its back at my place!

[Shahpor]

Yeah, it is probably quite rare to find a standard one these days.  Maybe because they are so good when modified.   One of the mods you can't see that I had done was an atmospheric dump valve.  I thought I might get a little annoyed with the hiss sound after a while, but nope, I loved it!

I can imagine that stripping that thread does happen quite a bit.  Damn aluminium blocks!

Good to hear that the GS is coming along.  Some photos at some point would be good.

[mathew8717]

as requested i now have some pictures of the £250 GS Bargain, went up to the unit to take a wheel to get a Tyre fitted so got some pics while i was there.

it does need a clean, its covered in crap and cobwebs, and a little hoover inside, tho the interior is mint!

 

 

 

 

Diff is now fitted, abs rings are swapped and its just having one of the front abs sensors looked into then its MOT time.

Its even got HR Owen floor mats fitted, dunno if it was for sale at a HR Owen dealer at some point.

 

i did notice that the exhaust tips are different on each side tho, ones round and one is ovel, and it has had some questionable exhaust repair on the back, the last receipts that i have say that it had a new exhaust system from Lexus in the last couple of years, i hope it wasn't them that did that!

 

also had a look at the coilovers on it and i need to get them off and clean them up to preserve them and keep them in tip top condition, adjust the ride height to get it level and a full alignment to.