Andy's LS430

[DruLS]

HAHA, just noticed that the eBay listing says this is suitable for both the automatic and manual versions of the LS430. How I'd wish to find one of those elusive manual versions one day.

[The-Acre]

2 hours ago, DruLS said:

Only the best parts for my car, so of course I went with this genuine eBay radiator.

The fit was perfect everything matches to the old one and the quality seems pretty good. I think others have used this before. Beware there appears to be two different designs for these cars, one with the radiator cap and one without so this one may not work on yours.

As for the ARB bushing, car seems to drive fine but it's probably been like that since I got it. I'll let you know if I notice any difference when I change them.

Up until recently these radiators weren't available so you had to buy genuine Lexus which cost not just an arm but a leg also!  All the ones available on eBay, ECP etc were for the US fitment (like my Celsior) so had to be adapted.  

[DruLS]

1 hour ago, The-Acre said:

Up until recently these radiators weren't available so you had to buy genuine Lexus which cost not just an arm but a leg also!  All the ones available on eBay, ECP etc were for the US fitment (like my Celsior) so had to be adapted.  

I told myself I'd only use genuine parts for a car as good as this. That was until I got a quote from Lexus for a new rad.

[DruLS]

Braved the rain and my bad back to finish off with an oil change today and getting the undertray back on.

My hat goes off to mechanics out there because today I'm sore all over. Couldn't do this everyday. But at least the car is happy!

The good news is my ARB bushings are actually fine. Yesterday idiot me looked at the split that allows you to wrap them around the ARB and thought "Oh no, they're cracked!" 😂

[The-Acre]

Silly boy!  

[Spacewagon52]

Very interesting thread.

[The-Acre]

12 minutes ago, Spacewagon52 said:

Very interesting thread.

And I like the pictures that come with it.

[DruLS]

Starting with my lighting modifications tomrrow but thought I'd give my new LED indicator bulbs a go. Never tried using exterior LEDs on anything other than number plate lights before.

I wanted something a little brighter in the hopes less people would pull out on me at round abouts. My God are these things bright. Too bright in fact, the video doesn't do it justice. You could direct incoming airliners onto the runway with these. I've ordered some PWM modules so I can dim these down before I put them back in. Other than that they're very good quality. Well built, no ultra-flashing, polarity doesn't matter just like with a regular bulb. But I can't be driving around with the equivilent of HID indicators 😂

[Herbie]

There's no video displayed Andy. May be best to upload to Youtube and then paste the link in here.

[DruLS]

5 hours ago, Herbie said:

There's no video displayed Andy. May be best to upload to Youtube and then paste the link in here.

Weird, it worked for me once then not again. It still works in Safari but no other browser. Can be found on my instagram instagram.com/p/B3z2WBOnsKR/

 

[Herbie]

Wow, that is indeed bright!

[The-Acre]

I was thinking of replacing mine with LED's but that's put me off!

[DruLS]

19 minutes ago, The-Acre said:

I was thinking of replacing mine with LED's but that's put me off!

Just don't get the ones I got! They'll be plenty of more suitable ones out there. I'm going to wire a PWM module in line on these to dim them down a tad.

[steve2006]

Look for the flashing ones....that’s where I parked the car I think.

[The-Acre]

8 hours ago, DruLS said:

Just don't get the ones I got! They'll be plenty of more suitable ones out there. I'm going to wire a PWM module in line on these to dim them down a tad.

I couldn't be bothered with having to do extra wiring just to change my indicators, especially as I haven't got a clue what a PMW module is!  I replaced my centre brake light bulb with an LED and it was worse than a normal bulb so I took it back out.

[Herbie]

28 minutes ago, The-Acre said:

I couldn't be bothered with having to do extra wiring just to change my indicators, especially as I haven't got a clue what a PMW module is!  I replaced my centre brake light bulb with an LED and it was worse than a normal bulb so I took it back out.

Pulse Width Modulation unit - basically like a dimmer switch in this case, more commonly used as speed controllers for little motors, like in radio-controlled cars.

Dead simple, just +ve and -ve input, +ve and -ve controlled output. I dare say there will be expensive ones around but you can get them from China (wish.com) for a couple of quid.

[DruLS]

First one to notice the different wins......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USDM syle side markers!

Don't ask me why, but I've always been a fan of amber marker lights. I like the ones the US cars have, but they were not available here. I would have only needed the bottom bracket from the inside of a a US set of headlights where the indicator and marker lights are held. It's held in with two screws and could we swapped into a UK set. But I could only find full sets of headlights for lots of money. LHD headlights would have been useless so I'd be paying a lot of money for just the small part I wanted.

So I took it upon myself to modify my existing headlights to look similar. As you can see, I also wired in some amber running lights into the empty section of the fog light housing. I'm still undecided on these.

I took enough photos to do a write up / how to but I can't bring myself to do that right now. This took all bloody day. Taking the bumper off, headlights out, removing the lenses, moding the insides, re-sealing, re-wiring etc. I'm knackered, sore and dirty but I'm happy with the results. The camera on my phone makes these seem quite a bit brighter then they are, but in person they're just right.

This is what the car looks like with just the sidelights on. They are all Osram LED bulbs. The ones in the headlights are white and behind amber reflectors. The ones in the fog lights are amber. I was originally going to use regular bulbs (which I actually prefer), but quickly realised that changing one of these bulbs would require taking the headlight apart again so opted for the longer lasting option. Also, because of the lower current draw of LEDs, I didn't have to use a relay like I was planning to. 3 of the bulbs still use less current than a regular bulb, so they're all just spliced into the original sidelight circuit.

And this is what it looks like with everything going. I replaced the fog lights with a set of Osram Fog Breakers - yellow fog lights.

 

If anybody is actually interested in a write up I can do that, but right now I think I'm going to take some painkillers and get in the bath 😂

But on a lighter note, I acidentally pitched my soldering iron and heat gun in a battle. The soldering iron won.

Brand new she was, taken too soon.

[The-Acre]

2 hours ago, Herbie said:

Pulse Width Modulation unit - basically like a dimmer switch in this case, more commonly used as speed controllers for little motors, like in radio-controlled cars.

Dead simple, just +ve and -ve input, +ve and -ve controlled output. I dare say there will be expensive ones around but you can get them from China (wish.com) for a couple of quid.

I see.....I think!  

[The-Acre]

As you're doing a bit of playing around, I can't help thinking a little boot spoiler like I've just done would look the biz on yours.  I'm really pleased with the look of mine, it just adds a little something to the rear end.

[Herbie]

11 minutes ago, The-Acre said:

I see.....I think!  

Just cut the wires going to the bulb and divert them to the input of the PWM unit, then take a new pair of wires from the output of the PWM to the bulb 😉

[fred81]

lovely read - keep the updates coming 🙂

[DruLS]

Just had my new exhaust fitted by Tony Banks Exhausts in Leeds. The old one was shot anyway and needed replacing, so thought I'd go for something a little more sporty. They got it just how I wanted. It's not loud at all (actually idles quieter now it's not leaking) and just sounds a bit meaner. 

 

Also fitted my new interior LEDs. They're very bright. 

 

Only change I had to do was put the ones for the front vanity mirrors in backwards so they face the wrong way, otherwise they just blind you. 

[The-Acre]

Nice job!

[DruLS]

Thought I'd provide a better video somewhere I wouldn't annoy the neighbours. Sounds fantastic but still quiet during normal driving inside the cabin. Of course all this was filmed on my private road in Mexico. 

[The-Acre]

Nice sound, as long as it doesn't affect the usual serene ride and become an annoying drone.