SC430 project

[TigerFish]

7 minutes ago, Big Rat said:

@TigerFish There is some 'opposition ' that's true just can't seem to find someone to fit a valved system to my spare exhaust.

Big Rat

 

I was looking at doing that on the GS, remote controlled valve(s) to skip the mufflers. Never got round to in in the end unfortunately, I recon it would've sounded epic. There is an LS400 in the Bracknell area that sounds like it has no boxes on the exhaust, sounds lush (although my AMG exhaust note is pure filth straight out the box  )

[Big Rat]

4 minutes ago, TigerFish said:

I was looking at doing that on the GS, remote controlled valve(s) to skip the mufflers. Never got round to in in the end unfortunately, I recon it would've sounded epic. There is an LS400 in the Bracknell area that sounds like it has no boxes on the exhaust, sounds lush (although my AMG exhaust note is pure filth straight out the box  )

@TigerFish Yes it's the way I'd like to do it, friend just sold his c63 the exhaust note on that was lovely shame about the reliability about the rest of that particular car 🙄

Big Rat

[Neil E]

2 hours ago, Big Rat said:

@Neil E No probs at all matey welcome anytime we're up the old RAF Kemble in August for a mini meet if you can make it, as an aside there is a isF engine for sale on the bay guy in London it's only done 300 miles apparently loads of other stuff with it, you could shoehorn it in yours. 😏

🐀

 

I know, I may have mentioned before, there was some debate among fellow SC owners about how it could be done and what would be required altogether. A 470 bhp SC430 has a certain attraction.

Others said it could be done for a lot less but my view is that purchasing the whole accident damaged ISF would be the best bet and I suggested it would cost at least another £3k on top of that to complete the swap. That's assuming it really is possible and the owner did the bulk of the work. Essentially, lift all of the running gear and loom from the ISF and 'stick it' into the SC. I think the hardest part would be the merging of the electrics. It would make an interesting build thread.

A quick search through Lextreme suggests they did quite well with the 1UZ but not the VVTi 3UZ.  There's a lot of promising titles and part threads, part research, etc but I don't think they were able to move any further forward than the last time I looked. SRT build up-rated engines and offer upgrades at very hefty prices but they don't enjoy the best reputation. 

1 hour ago, TigerFish said:

I was looking at doing that on the GS, remote controlled valve(s) to skip the mufflers. Never got round to in in the end unfortunately, I recon it would've sounded epic. There is an LS400 in the Bracknell area that sounds like it has no boxes on the exhaust, sounds lush (although my AMG exhaust note is pure filth straight out the box  )

I really wanted a GS430 Sport or an Aristo to play with but couldn't find the right car at the right time.

There's a guy with a C63 AMG at work. We all stop to hear him leave in the evening. It sounds awesome from outside of the car.

[TigerFish]

17 hours ago, Neil E said:

I really wanted a GS430 Sport or an Aristo to play with but couldn't find the right car at the right time.

There's a guy with a C63 AMG at work. We all stop to hear him leave in the evening. It sounds awesome from outside of the car.

There were so many things I wanted to do with the GS, just too damn expensive to justify the spend. Forced induction to really boost performance would've been great, but looking at £10k+ to do the boost and beef up the brakes. Really couldn't make the numbers add up 

[Neil E]

2 hours ago, TigerFish said:

There were so many things I wanted to do with the GS, just too damn expensive to justify the spend. Forced induction to really boost performance would've been great, but looking at £10k+ to do the boost and beef up the brakes. Really couldn't make the numbers add up 

+ gearbox, diff, suspension, internals....it never ends . Yes the simple answer was to buy a late model Aristo and breathe on it a little.

My second Soarer was a quick GTT, probably should have made that even quicker but didn't get around to it.

The numbers rarely make sense, we just do it out of .........well in my case madness. I'm happy to admit it. I've made profit from some cars but the SC was always just a project because it needed to be done. Just did a quick check and the SC has cost more than £20k so far and is worth perhaps half of that on a good day. I always wanted to twin turbo a V8 Soarer, a worthy car to do it to but it would have been a very big money pit.

[Neil E]

One task I failed on with the SC was to add paddle shift. I know it can be done and I got to the point where I had most of a solution to achieve it but I backed down because it would have required an air bag change. 

Disconnecting the controls

Removing the grub screws that retain the air bag (disconnect the Battery and wait a few minutes of course)

 

Disconnecting the original wooden rim steering wheel.

IS250 steering wheel with paddle shift has a 2 stage air bag. The SC has a single stage. 

I located the wires to push the gears up and down and was working on the clock spring wiring to control it but although I found a single stage bag that fitted the wheel I decided it would be a step too far and would invalidate insurance so backed away.

Here's the IS250 steering wheel in place, alas, it wasn't to be.

This is how Skipper do it.

Still very envious.......

And this is the custom wheel I had made up instead. It's a modified original SC430 steering wheel so uses the original air bag. It really improves the driving experience. Many owners wouldn't part with the wooden steering wheel, it's pretty to look at but does nothing to help the feel of the car on the road and the wooden rim is just too thin.

It's really improved the drive but I still want paddle shift. It's another example of Lexus falling well short on the SC.

The Soarer above was so far ahead of its time in the early 90's yet this last in the line of Soarers was left lagging behind in 2006. No key-less entry, radar cruise, no rear camera, soft closing doors, ultrasonic mirrors, air suspension, no rear legroom, electric seat belt adjustment.

It's a great car, it just should have been made to trounce the competition in the same way the Soarer did. Rant over.

[dougie175]

Quick question mate. How many notches less do you run your rear coilovers compared to the fronts for your setup?

Will be having a play with my setup over the next few weeks and thought i would start by going a bit softer on the rear. 

[Neil E]

23 hours ago, dougie175 said:

Quick question mate. How many notches less do you run your rear coilovers compared to the fronts for your setup?

Will be having a play with my setup over the next few weeks and thought i would start by going a bit softer on the rear. 

It may not be like for like as the spring rates could be different. I do vary it a little as it's so easy to change but typically, for normal driving, it's 3 clicks off the firmest setting at the front and 4 clicks off the softest setting at the back but do keep in mind that the Conti's are 285 30 19 on the rear so there's not much air between the rim and the road.

It barely leans at all on the firmest rear setting but it's quite uncomfortable on anything but the silkiest of roads. Perhaps I'm showing my age.

[dougie175]

Yeah think I will try a bit softer on the rear its just a ball ache to strip all the interior out to adjust each time! Need some nice holes like you but need to find something to clip into the carpet as covers for the holes!

[Neil E]

This is how one of the SC owners (Steve) did it with large round covers. It's a really cool car with air suspension.

The disc style covers could be trimmed or painted.

 

 

 

 

 

[dougie175]

Yeah they are bob on nice idea and ideal for a bit if fine tuning. 

Not sure i could use that idea on mine however as i have a feeling my holes will be vertical instead of horizontal so would need to clip into the side carpets. Don't even think my carpets are flat so would need to be shaped. Think i just need to remove my not carpets until I've finished tinkering cant imaging I'll be doing and regular adjusting. 

Would that guy not make a set of discs for yourself?

[Neil E]

I'm going to make my covers a little smaller probably from fibre-glass and then cover/colour it to match the carpet, I just haven't got around to it.

I would love that air suspension. The ride height is spot on and is completely adjustable for humps and bumps. 

[dougie175]

Yeah air suspension would be the ideal just a shame its silly money! The setup above looks a very neat and tidy solution

If you take your covers someone that does flocking they may be able to match the colour and flock them to look very similar to the boot carpet, maybe a bit extreme but you obviously have an eye for detail.

I am in the process of removing my boot struts to have them uprated and with the carpet pulled down I have realised I can actually get my hand down the back of the side carpet to adjust the coilovers, obviously I cant see them but simple enough to count clicks so no need for covers and holes on the IS just 4 clips that can be removed without tools and a bit small hand work and the coilovers can be adjusted on demand

[Neil E]

On 7/27/2017 at 7:24 PM, dougie175 said:

If you take your covers someone that does flocking they may be able to match the colour and flock them to look very similar to the boot carpet, maybe a bit extreme but you obviously have an eye for detail.

I am in the process of removing my boot struts to have them uprated and with the carpet pulled down I have realised I can actually get my hand down the back of the side carpet to adjust the coilovers, obviously I cant see them but simple enough to count clicks so no need for covers and holes on the IS just 4 clips that can be removed without tools and a bit small hand work and the coilovers can be adjusted on demand

No not too extreme at all.....hifi install to follow.

Good result with the clips to access the adjustment, I never really look either, I just count the clicks. I too need some stronger boot struts but received mixed reports on the well known suppliers.  

[dougie175]

4 minutes ago, Neil E said:

No not too extreme at all.....hifi install to follow.

Good result with the clips to access the adjustment, I never really look either, I just count the clicks. I too need some stronger boot struts but received mixed reports on the well known suppliers.  

Well I just boxed and sent mine away to a company who I had poor experience with previously SGS Engineering however after ringing and speaking to 1 of the guys there he gave me a lot more confidence to try them again, they will take my original struts and overfill them by their 25% recommendation to increase their strength. Will let you know how they get on.

They said if this doesn't work they will build me some custom ones that "will" work, however this does come at twice the cost and they need my struts again to use the lower section as Lexus have used a very strange and specific connection which they cannot replicate so need to use my originals and adapt them into their own custom struts. He did say if the originals don't work after they have modified them, this cost would be taken of the customer made ones so it was daft not to try that first.

[Neil E]

3 minutes ago, dougie175 said:

Well I just boxed and sent mine away to a company who I had poor experience with previously SGS Engineering however after ringing and speaking to 1 of the guys there he gave me a lot more confidence to try them again, they will take my original struts and overfill them by their 25% recommendation to increase their strength. Will let you know how they get on.

They said if this doesn't work they will build me some custom ones that "will" work, however this does come at twice the cost and they need my struts again to use the lower section as Lexus have used a very strange and specific connection which they cannot replicate so need to use my originals and adapt them into their own custom struts. He did say if the originals don't work after they have modified them, this cost would be taken of the customer made ones so it was daft not to try that first.

Yes that's the problem. They don't seem to be expert at their specialist subject. Perhaps there are countless successes that we don't hear about but they have worked on and supplied gas struts for many Lexus vehicles and quite often there's a story to go with it. I was thinking of using a linear actuator instead but the boot on the SC is something of an engineering masterpiece so I do need to be careful and perhaps give SGS a try. 

 

SC performing its 25 second party piece. Handy if you're stuck in traffic and the weather changes. 

[Neil E]

Ready for some ICE?

At different stages, I've experimented with improving the sound system. It's a weakness I have for which I probably should have sought professional medical help many years ago but it remains with me. Despite vowing to leave systems alone and claiming to be too old to care about music, it's never very long before each car I've owned is hacked, disassembled and re-wired for sound. 

The aftermarket Alpine head unit has a USB connection for apple devices, plays CDs, DVD movies, has a back up camera input, blue-tooth phone prep, etc but most important of all, pre-outs for an additional amplifier or three. The Mark Levinson (Pioneer/Harman Kardon) sound system is really very good for a standard car and unlike some, the speakers in this car all work very well. The thing it lacks most is powerful bass.

At normal listening levels the front 3-way components resolve the music signal very well and don't begin to distort until the volume is reasonably loud. Having integrated the Alpine with the car so that the ML amp still powers the fronts and the steering wheel controls work and everything mutes when required, I decided the front components would be left in place however the state of the speaker grills really did let the interior down so before we look at amps and subs, here's how to replace the speaker grills and if necessary swap the speakers.

 

Grubby speaker grill requiring replacement

Tools at the ready, using plastic pry tool set to lever off the switches and covers to access the concealed screws.

Note the switch panel needs to be released from the back and lifted gently. Then disconnect the wire plug.

There are retaining screws along the bottom of the door.

A screw hidden behind the armrest. (I'm pretending to multitask with screwdriver and camera

And another one here

More fixings at the end of the door

And some push in/pop out fixings at the hinge end of the door panel.

Removing the tweeter cover

Disconnecting the door marker light

And that should free the door panel. Check that all fixings have been removed and then pull the door panel upwards and off the door enough to access the door lock and opener cables.

 

Disconnect them to free the door panel

 

Remove the 4 screws that retain the speaker grill.

Removing the tweeter and mid range

And the mid-bass

Investigate adding this component set at a later date

And then replace the speaker grills as planned and reverse the sequence to put it all back together.

 

And that's the fronts replaced. 

Next task the rear speaker grills.

 

[dougie175]

9 hours ago, Neil E said:

Yes that's the problem. They don't seem to be expert at their specialist subject. Perhaps there are countless successes that we don't hear about but they have worked on and supplied gas struts for many Lexus vehicles and quite often there's a story to go with it. I was thinking of using a linear actuator instead but the boot on the SC is something of an engineering masterpiece so I do need to be careful and perhaps give SGS a try. 

I will let you know how i get on with them this time. Fingers crossed it's a success story as i really can't afford for these struts to get lost!

[dougie175]

7 hours ago, Neil E said:

Ready for some ICE?

At different stages, I've experimented with improving the sound system. It's a weakness I have for which I probably should have sought professional medical help many years ago but it remains with me. Despite vowing to leave systems alone and claiming to be too old to care about music, it's never very long before each car I've owned is hacked, disassembled and re-wired for sound. 

The aftermarket Alpine head unit has a USB connection for Apple devices, plays CDs, DVD movies, has a back up camera input, blue-tooth phone prep, etc but most important of all, pre-outs for an additional amplifier or three. The Mark Levinson (Pioneer/Harman Kardon) sound system is really very good for a standard car and unlike some, the speakers in this car all work very well. The thing it lacks most is powerful bass.

At normal listening levels the front 3-way components resolve the music signal very well and don't begin to distort until the volume is reasonably loud. Having integrated the Alpine with the car so that the ML amp still powers the fronts and the steering wheel controls work and everything mutes when required, I decided the front components would be left in place however the state of the speaker grills really did let the interior down so before we look at amps and subs, here's how to replace the speaker grills and if necessary swap the speakers.

 

Grubby speaker grill requiring replacement

Tools at the ready, using plastic pry tool set to lever off the switches and covers to access the concealed screws.

Note the switch panel needs to be released from the back and lifted gently. Then disconnect the wire plug.

There are retaining screws along the bottom of the door.

A screw hidden behind the armrest. (I'm pretending to multitask with screwdriver and camera

And another one here

More fixings at the end of the door

And some push in/pop out fixings at the hinge end of the door panel.

Removing the tweeter cover

Disconnecting the door marker light

And that should free the door panel. Check that all fixings have been removed and then pull the door panel upwards and off the door enough to access the door lock and opener cables.

 

Disconnect them to free the door panel

 

Remove the 4 screws that retain the speaker grill.

Removing the tweeter and mid range

And the mid-bass

Investigate adding this component set at a later date

And then replace the speaker grills as planned and reverse the sequence to put it all back together.

 

And that's the fronts replaced. 

Next task the rear speaker grills.

 

 Great little how too! Looks much better with the new grills too!

I have a weakness for ICE usually too but the Lexus is the first time I've managed to leave it alone. Looking forward to your progress and how much difference you feel it made

[Neil E]

4 hours ago, dougie175 said:

 Great little how too! Looks much better with the new grills too!

I have a weakness for ICE usually too but the Lexus is the first time I've managed to leave it alone. Looking forward to your progress and how much difference you feel it made

The speaker grills were £200 for all four. A bit expensive but easier than repairing with colour matched acoustic cloth.

I'll demonstrate what can be done with the useless back seats shortly and how they may serve to help the sound system. The Focals are some of the best available for under £1000 so I would expect there to be a significant difference in quality when matched with a high power amp but they remain in the box for now. I've made baffles and adapters to fit them into the doors but haven't decided if they go in or get saved for the next car. I was going to buy an LS but I'm still distracted by the ISF, then I had a little go in an RCF before I was politely reminded by the chief financial officer that mortgage free living has a greater appeal than a sporty spindle grill. 

So with the RCF firmly on the shelf, the Focals may just find their way into the doors quite soon.

 

[Neil E]

There's a bit more work to do to swap the rear speaker grills.

First task remove the rear seats, the bottom rest lifts up with a firm tug. Note the huge amount of leg room on offer to rear passengers.

Remove the sill covers, they just pull up.

Unbolt the bottom part of the rear seat back rest. (ignore heavy duty cable )

Drop the top, it's so much easier to work inside the car without a roof.  Until it rains

Pry off the covers to reveal the 10mm bolts at the back of the head rests. Undo them all to release the plexi-glass between them.

Pry off the backs of the headrests and undo the bolts that secure the head rest pads.

Undo the top bolts to release the seat back rest and remove it through the seat belts.

That provides access to some of the fixings that secure the rear side panels. It also permits access to the 8 inch sub-woofer.

At this point it's time to operate the roof again to gain access to the side panel top fixings. With the roof half way through the opening process, a bolt and a push plug can be removed to free the top part of each side panel.

A bolt is hidden behind the seat-belt top cover/securing point. There is a plastic surround to pry off first (not shown, sorry)

Peal back the weather strip.

And gently pull the side panel off to gain access to the speakers. There is a push fit plug at the bottom. They frequently become detached from the panel but are easily recovered with a pry tool.

4 screws secure each of the speaker grills and then it's the reverse sequence to put it all back together.

 

 

 

[Neil E]

Okay so now the speaker grills have all been renewed, the interior looks a lot better but sometimes the back seat becomes even more unusable than normal.

Here's the story in pictures to take the car a little further down the ICE road.

Gathering the kit

Measuring up for sealed enclosures

Not much room back there

Getting started by removing the rear seats.

Battery removed to commence threading the '0' gauge cable through to the cabin.

 

Removing the Battery tray.

To uncover a rubber grommet covering a suitable hole.

Disassembling the glove box and foot-well trim to thread the cable through.

It only takes a matter of minutes and it's so much easier with it out of the way.

Carefully threading the cable

The rubber grommet is heavy duty and more than adequate protection from the metal firewall.

4 bolts secure the seats, unplug the electrical connections and they are out of the car in 5 minutes.

Running the cable under the carpet alongside the sill. The sill cover and trim just lifts up.

The side panel can be gently released to provide space to thread the cable into the rear seat base area. 

Loosening the armrest to run the amp remote lead and phono leads from the back seat and rear camera cables from the boot.

With the cable all in place and secure, the 150A fuse/holder is added and the cable cut, trimmed and crimped

Don't perform the final Battery connections until everything else is complete. 

 

Adding foam to the speaker boxes before they are covered in Vinyl

 

Wiring in the rear view camera and testing before the sub-woofers are installed.

A few more panels, foam, vinyl and leather dye and it looks like this.

Or sometimes like this depending on how I have it set up. 

I've recently changed to smaller enclosures that sound slightly better so an improved and simpler install should be completed in the next few weeks. It's designed to be unbolted in a matter of 20 minutes and returned to normal rear seats. 

The drivers are JL Audio W3V3 10s powered by a DLS A5 (Big Three amplifier) It's an improvement over the standard sound but it's not quite a properly balanced set up at present however if the Focals are installed in the doors it should be quite a nice sounding system. 

[Farqui]

This thread is turning into an epic 'How To' guide pal.

Very impressive work, well done 

[Neil E]

Just now, Farqui said:

This thread is turning into an epic 'How To' guide pal.

 

Very impressive work, well done.

 

@Farqui thanks Lee. I'm no expert but it's good to share.

Particularly when I owned Soarers, I really enjoyed, appreciated and benefitted hugely from following build threads and 'how to' topics. The sharing of knowledge and community spirit helped turn the grey import Soarer into something of a cult car. It would be easy to show a few mostly completed pictures but although I've skipped through it a bit, hopefully others might benefit from elements of the picture progress. 

[dougie175]

Now that's making very good use of some pointless back seats very neat and tidy. Top work as ever