My ls400 build thread (daily driver)

[Mo-]

Now things are getting interesting...

[Herbie]

On 7/18/2019 at 12:01 PM, ambermarine said:

Malc 

You should never place your reg number on social media there are people out there who will use it for criminal activity.

So what does that matter?

Presumably you'll be able to prove where you were when said criminal activity took place so no problem. Plus, how many hundreds of people see your reg plate every day as you drive around - any one of those could make a note of it and use it if they were so inclined.

[Simoto]

So a few pics of the engine bay to get a before and after, while I thought about what I really wanted to. 

[Simoto]

Had a few pics that kept giving me inspiration, always loved the the rat rod look as long as it was age related, and the look of that engine bay in The first Transformers movie, that point where they lift the bonnet on the seemingly rough Camaro and there’s this amazingly detailed and clean engine bay. 

[Simoto]

So I went about killing too birds with one stone, changing the look while also refreshing old rubber and curing small oil leaks, so after a bit of searching online and a few contacts I found and got these, Powdercoated and fitted with AN10 fittings ready for future proofing the build, I’ve pretty much at this point decided what I want to do engine wise and power wise too. And because things are gett8ng done more now I took advantage of the Halfords sale too.

[Malc]

37 minutes ago, Simoto said:

So a few pics of the engine bay to get a before and after, while I thought about what I really wanted to. 

blimey, that's a rare sight for me ............. usually about 4 times a year when I refill the washbottle 

Malc

[Simoto]

So it was time to upgrade the pads as the brake warning light had come up on the dash which also meant a new sensor which I found on eBay for £10 genuine parts can’t complain. And also some bonnet struts because my head was getting fed up of loading the 20 tone thing up while I worked on the car. And some parts numbers for you guys in case you need to get parts.

[Simoto]

I also needed to change the front seat belts as they had long gone, and couldn’t hold much of anything anymore, I tried washing the belts and re greasing but didn’t do too much and was a disgusting colour that came from them so yeh sweaty lovely ness. Oooo and the drivers side belt clip bolt looked like this when I came to it, let’s just say it was a fun job to get off with a few choice words chucked in to help with the job.

[Simoto]

So finally received my Magnecore leads and ordered An fittings and hose and also the blanking plate For the valve delete, and also because the wire coatings for the wire harness have turned to brittle dust I thought not a bad idea to address that too.

[Connor2x4]

I'm not here to rain on the party but,

those rear discs look heavily scored, they should have been replaced aswell as the pads.

Also, shouldn't this be in the build thread section?

[Simoto]

Sorry it’s been a while lot of things happening.

so updates.

a few things to add to the project for the long term, goals.

[Simoto]

So got the TRD stickers on there to just to bring the rocker/valve covers to life.

now time for cleaning and new gaskets.

[Simoto]

So, got cracking on doing the valve covers, well until I realised I forgot to get a throttle body gasket. So got the right side done and also plugged up the PCV hose too.

[Simoto]

Got the gasket and also, new air filter has arrived too, everything’s coming together now. And yes I’m expecting the power to more than likely be down, but, it’s all a trial and error curve now, as there is no set patterns for tuning or tuning parts. We shall see.

[runsgrateasanut]

Certainly can feel the enthusiasm of what you are doing with your car, albeit if I'm not totally clear on some things.

Agree with someone who said to always change the discs if you are going to put new brake pads on, and then you will get maximum efficiency.  Also, don't be tempted to burn them up straight away but let them bed in slowly with sensible braking. No warped discs then.

I keep looking at one of your photo's and am puzzled by what look to be two large Radiator pipes going downward. One from the Rad and one from the engine. Maybe its just me or later engines had a different set up?  Probably me. 

Having just fitted Denso plug leads, those Magnacor look very pretty but they also look thicker than 5mm. Are they? Beware snagging when putting back the Rocker box cover. Its a trial. I've done it twice, once splicing a brand new Lead and then finding last week that one Lead (Number 7 cylinder) was rather long and abraided against the Cam belt and sprocket. Not something you can see.

So the plate is a blanking plate for the egr valve but seems to have a very unusual shape to the Rectangle. Those two blockers in black plastic. Are they brought from Japan or sourced in the UK?

I think that the powder coating is a great idea as the aluminium of the parts does get very flaky and pitted with age and the UK climate.

 

[Simoto]

6 hours ago, runsgrateasanut said:

Certainly can feel the enthusiasm of what you are doing with your car, albeit if I'm not totally clear on some things.

Agree with someone who said to always change the discs if you are going to put new Brake pads on, and then you will get maximum efficiency.  Also, don't be tempted to burn them up straight away but let them bed in slowly with sensible braking. No warped discs then.

I keep looking at one of your photo's and am puzzled by what look to be two large Radiator pipes going downward. One from the Rad and one from the engine. Maybe its just me or later engines had a different set up?  Probably me. 

Having just fitted Denso plug leads, those Magnacor look very pretty but they also look thicker than 5mm. Are they? Beware snagging when putting back the Rocker box cover. Its a trial. I've done it twice, once splicing a brand new Lead and then finding last week that one Lead (Number 7 cylinder) was rather long and abraided against the Cam belt and sprocket. Not something you can see.

So the plate is a blanking plate for the egr valve but seems to have a very unusual shape to the Rectangle. Those two blockers in black plastic. Are they brought from Japan or sourced in the UK?

I think that the powder coating is a great idea as the aluminium of the parts does get very flaky and pitted with age and the UK climate.

 

So il start with the first note, thanks I do appreciate the interest what keeps me wanting to keep building even more.

As for the brakes, don’t worry that’s all done and will put up in a later post, and yes I do agree.

yes they are radiator hoses, the one on the left is the down pipe, and the one on the right is the top hose.

The magnecore lines are 8mm so the only problem is they don’t fit in the original plastic holders, but they do supply the cable separators so it’s not so bad, and because of the thickness, and the fact it’s silicone too means they don’t move. 

And reinstalling the rocker cover’s was fine, no snagging issues, as I found that I could took most of the wires out of the way, and with having the old ignition leads on at the time I wasn’t worried as they were going to be changed out anyway.

and the blanking plate is the perfect shape and covers fine and allows for the original bolt holes to be used too.

the two blockers?..... I’m not sure what you mean, I did use to Allen key bolts to put the blanking plate on with if that’s what you mean.

And I agree, the powder coat works great and gives a nice long lasting Finnish too, when I took the old covers off they did have a lot of pitting but no signs of flaking which is good.

hope this helps, any other questions, I will answer as best as I can, because I’m still trying to figure out what some things are myself.

thanks 

 

[Simoto]

Bit of a picture overload but, i love to try and show as much as I can, not only for future reference but for everyone else too.

so no filters on these pics, so you can see the big reveal of what colour I chose, and also the fitting of the left hand side rocker cover.

[runsgrateasanut]

I was having a senior moment about the Water pipes - Doh!

You have a different MAF sensor?

[Simoto]

13 minutes ago, runsgrateasanut said:

I was having a senior moment about the Water pipes - Doh!

You have a different MAF sensor?

Don’t we all haha.

i know compared to the mark1 but was never sure if it was different between countries or not.

[The-Acre]

2 hours ago, Simoto said:

Don’t we all haha.

i know compared to the mark1 but was never sure if it was different between countries or not.

That may be the case.  My Celsior has a completely different radiator/coolant reservoir setup to the UK ones.

[Simoto]

So, time to pop the leads and new spark plugs in. Nice and simple job, especially when you have a good wiring diagram to make the job nice and easy. 

Little note with the leads.

They are thicker than the originals, which does mean you need to modify the original guiding plastics to accommodate. It does come with a set of cable separators, and because of the thickness and the silicon quality they don’t move much anyway, so no worry’s of moving and touching moving parts.

plus, I have included the wiring diagram to help anyone who needs it.

  

[runsgrateasanut]

Technically the plugs need to be angled to avoid contact with other leads and plug caps. Don't suppose it will matter.

I fear you will have a job forcing down the Cover over those thicker leads. Good luck

[Simoto]

3 hours ago, runsgrateasanut said:

Technically the plugs need to be angled to avoid contact with other leads and plug caps. Don't suppose it will matter.

I fear you will have a job forcing down the Cover over those thicker leads. Good luck

Your not wrong about that, it’s something I still haven’t got round to really trying yet...... 

ohh I found a very old Haynes manual with the spark plug condition checker, great tool to find out how your engine is doing.

[Simoto]

So the original exhaust is off and the exhaust hanging brackets ready for the custom exhaust that is being installed.

testament to the quality of these systems, no rust anywhere, well until you get up towards the cats anyway.  

[runsgrateasanut]

6 hours ago, runsgrateasanut said:

Technically the plugs need to be angled to avoid contact with other leads and plug caps. Don't suppose it will matter.

I fear you will have a job forcing down the Cover over those thicker leads. Good luck

Having bought Denso from Rock Auto I would let members know that the Lead set were not numbered which surprised me.  Were they genuine it makes me ask?