My Mk3 GS430 Daily Driver Build

[BarneyTT]

12 minutes ago, Mike_Mac said:

Ah - must have been the LS, then (I was Lexus ignorant back then... 😄).

it’s been interesting, but not ‘fun’ for a while now, but that’ll change once I get stuck into the suspension and chassis!!

Will say hi for you!

Cheers👍

Haven't watched the other videos yet but sounds like a few "items" could not be filed under fun as such. Hopefully the suspension and chassis work will reinstate the fun factor along with a rather large grin.

[Mike_Mac]

I genuinely begin to wonder if it's just me this happens to! 

I'd ordered a set of genuine F-Sport Sway Bars from the USA for the GS. I was planning to install them at the same time as I re-did the Valve Stem Seals, as the 'new' ones are still leaking (that's going to be a whole other story in about a month's time).

They arrived today in the following state:

I'm absolutely NOT happy installing them with damaged powder-coating, and am also not happy patching or re-coating (they were bought as brand-new condition!) so they're going to go back (although I suspect that'll turn into a ball-ache!).

Beginning to wonder if this is just me this happens to so regularly! I'd say about two-thirds of the stuff I get online right now arrives with an issue!!

[Neil E]

That's a pain and yes I think it could become protracted though it does appear the packaging wasn't very protective so that may prevent the supplier from blaming the shipping company. Quite right to send them back but I probably wouldn't bother and that's how they get away with not doing things properly. 

Sometimes the cheapest purchases that are unlikely to get damaged arrive in several layers of protective packaging, taped and secured annoyingly well and the higher value stuff gets the least protection.

Hope you get it resolved quickly and we soon hear of tales of dramatically improved handling. 

[Mike_Mac]

Thanks Neil, and it's been very good news, luckily!  The company gave an immediate full refund (minus import charges - not sure what happens there, but it's absolutely not their issue) and when I asked how they wanted the bars sent back, they said to just keep them, as the cost to ship and import back would make it pointless...

So I cannot say fairer than that! Even if I have to suck up the import costs, that equates to a full set of F-Sport Sway Bars for about £130! I'll look to get them re-coated (properly) and then get on with fitting them. All-in, that'll be about £200!

First, though, I'll be doing the valve-stem seals next week and will be picking up a set of proper OE seals tomorrow, so that I never have to do that again!

That'll be the third time I've had the top end apart, luckily not the heads off this time and the intake manifold can stay on too, otherwise I think I'd be suffering a nervous breakdown...

(the intake may come off for other reasons next year, but only for very good ones that involve more power... 😉 )

[Neil E]

That is a very good result indeed. 

 

[Mike_Mac]

Well, i'm back where I started. Ten months ago (roughly) I was contemplating taking the heads off because I'd bent two valves on #3 cylinder on the LHS head.

Today, when stripping down the heads ready to replace the (I suspect) poor-quality valve stem seals (a bit of an epic in itself), I find that #3's spark plug is wet with oil. All the others are fine (maybe a bit lean, but that's probably the effect of LPG). The piston was also wet - the others were bone dry. The other head was spot on - all plugs identical and dry cylinders.

Either one of the valve-stem seals on #3 is faulty or damaged (chances of that?) or I've got a valve guide issue, in the cylinder that's just had two new intake valves installed...

Too much of a coincidence I suspect, so I'll still have a look at the seals and, while everything's out the way, the guide.

I suspect, though, that the LHS head is coming off and going back to the original workshop to have a look at it. 

Small mercy is that this is the easier head to take off, and there's some brackets I missed putting back on last time, as they have to be installed before the head is fitted, so I can sort that out at the same time, but I am properly threadbare at the though of another head-off task on the same engine, this time not due to anything I've done (other than as the ultimate root-cause, I suppose!).

Hopefully it won't take as long to sort this time...

[steve2006]

Did the workshop that replaced the 2 bent valves not replace the valve guides and seats at the same time?

At around £10.00 each it would have added just £40.00 on the bill but saved you all this hassle yet again.

[Mike_Mac]

2 hours ago, steve2006 said:

Did the workshop that replaced the 2 bent valves not replace the valve guides and seats at the same time?

At around £10.00 each it would have added just £40.00 on the bill but saved you all this hassle yet again.

I don’t disagree (especially about the hassle 😄 ).

I asked them to inspect, replace what was needed and set the clearances. They inspected them and reckoned they were fine - I’m not a machinist so went with what was said. The leak down test I did recently was spot on so the seats are ok, but the symptoms do suggest either a guide or seal isn’t happy!

in all fairness It may not be that but if it is it’ll be quite frustrating!

I’ll be having a look at that cylinder tomorrow (rain today) and will see what turns up...

[Mike_Mac]

So, the head had to come off so I could get a look at it. It was a lot easier second time around and I had the intake manifold off in less than 15 minutes!! There were quite a few other lessons-learned applied this time, too, such as draining the coolant from the block, not the rad (and capture it in an old coolant bottle, so I can re-use it). Annoyingly, though, one of the head bolt washers slipped off the magnet and went down an oil gallery (True Star Wars trench run levels of accuracy there!). I have a super-slim magnet on the way and it that doesn't work I'll need to drop the sump... which is annoying as it's bone dry, but not the end of the world.

This was all because I couldn't use my valve spring compressor on the LHS head when fitted - the angle of the banks was too steep. RHS looks more promising though, but i'll need to use compressed air to hold the valves in place, as feeding string into the cylinder to compress the valves did not work. Not sure if air pressure will be enough, so if it is valve stem seals, the RHS may still need to come off too. I'm 90% of the way there, though, so it's not a biggie.

Once off, I got stuck in and the valve spring compression tool I bought has been spot on (Lisle 36050) and the head will be shuttled to the same shop that did the Intake Manifold Time Serts tomorrow to have a look and see what they say. To me the guides seem fine, all the valves have the same degree of wiggle and the seals seemed on there tight too, although the exhaust valves on the suspect cylinder looked slightly rough at the edges...

We'll see, but if I find the guides are worn, I'll whip the other head off and get the lot done. I still suspect stem seals, though.

[Mike_Mac]

Well, the shop has found the exhaust guides on the cylinder in questions are worn, with the other six ok, but a bit worn too.

I've decided, therefore, to take the other head off (minimal additional work) and get them to do all 16 exhaust valve guides and just lightly lap in the intake valves (the intake guides are fine). With the added cylinder heat of LPG, I would expect higher wear rate, even with a valve-saver system in place, so this just future-proofs things, as the exhaust valves will bear the brunt.

Annoyingly, while the guides will be delivered by next Wednesday, the head bolts will only get her in early July, so even though this will take me a couple of days to zip up (maybe three depending on how much the valve clearances are affected) it'll be over a month before it's done. I've really noticed extended parts ETAs during COVID - it was the same last time!

In the meantime, I'm catching up on some of the work I completed ages ago - hence the latest video covers the refurb of the front calipers, and the one on doing the rears (epic rust) will follow soon after:

 

 

[Mike_Mac]

So having refurbished the front brake calipers. I then moved on to the rears. The epic that turned into and the final results can be seen here:

 

[Mike_Mac]

Well, I managed to get the first part of the second engine strip down edited and published (keep up at the back! 😞

The heads have just had new guides installed and given a very light skim, but there's still a long wait before the Head Bolts arrive (ETA 22 Jul) so I'm looking to fill the time with something productive - we'll see!

(bit annoyed with the audio quality on this one - the lapel mic sound took ages to get even remotely workable - may need to look at that! The video quality was down to incorrect camera settings... 😊 )

[Mike_Mac]

Gents/Ladies - your thoughts would be appreciated!

I have just dropped off a set of GS450h alloys for refurb, and was planning to have them painted shadow chrome. I was also planning on refubising the chrome inserts (5 per wheel) as they were a bit tarnished and would probably look especially so on freshly repainted wheels, but suspect that'll be quite pricey, which is probably not an issue, but it got me thinking...

What if I left the inserts off, ground down and weld-filled the upper and lower mounting tabs for the inserts, and just turned them into a set of 5 x twin-spoke alloys?

Very very rough comparison below:

What's your thoughts, both on the shadow chrome and whether I should go with/without inserts? (Don't factor cost into it - either way it'll cost money!).

[Mike_Mac]

Final mockup - what it'd look like on the car:

[ColinBarber]

Looks fine without the inserts. 👍

[Neil E]

3 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

Looks fine without the inserts. 👍

I agree, it looks cleaner and updated without the inserts. 

[Mike_Mac]

3 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

Looks fine without the inserts. 👍

 

17 minutes ago, Neil E said:

I agree, it looks cleaner and updated without the inserts. 

Thanks guys - that’s decided then.  It’ll take a bit if work to remove the mounts for the inserts, but I think it’ll be worth it

 I also have a spare wheel to practice on, as one original was warped, which will probably be a good thing.

This’ll be the next job after the engine’s back together - lots of Dremel action!!

[Mike_Mac]

Well, after almost a year of one thing and another, I think the GS is finally sorted, engine-wise!

 

I've  few more things planned in the short term, but mainly things that have already been set in motion, as I need to let the Bank Balance calm down a bit first. Lexus parts prices are not cheap...

[JDM-Fiend]

I've seen some of your videos on YouTube, good job on the work so far!

 

[Mike_Mac]

54 minutes ago, JDM-Fiend said:

I've seen some of your videos on YouTube, good job on the work so far!

 

Thanks, although it’s more like re-doing the work so far into a good job!! 🙂

[Mike_Mac]

I've just made a big step towards making the GS handle well - and it has made a massive difference!

 

 

[JDM-Fiend]

On 9/10/2021 at 10:01 AM, Mike_Mac said:

I've just made a big step towards making the GS handle well - and it has made a massive difference!

 

 

Just watched this, looks like a worthy upgrade for my GS430 eventually.

I've got a few other pressing things to sort out (discs and pads for a start) before I get onto more mods.

[Mike_Mac]

5 minutes ago, JDM-Fiend said:

Just watched this, looks like a worthy upgrade for my GS430 eventually.

I've got a few other pressing things to sort out (discs and pads for a start) before I get onto more mods.

It's a Loreal upgrade (worth it!) 😄

[Mike_Mac]

The GS's new shoes have arrived, and I like! Just need to Ceramic Coat them, then it's off for tyre fitting, balancing and mounting.

 

[Mike_Mac]

Turns out I've had a bit of an issue for a while... I recently noticed my LH exhaust was at a bit of a jaunty angle, jacked the car up to check, thinking a hanger had gone, to find the whole LH section dangling by a thread!

 

😄
Removed it and can genuinely say I noticed barely any difference in sound! It must have been blowing for ages, but the rest of the system is so muffled it wasn't noticeable. I had thought it sounded a bit nicer recently and driving home tonight on half an exhaust I could quite happily leave it like that, if it wasn't an MOT fail... sounds just about right.

So, it's booked in to get a backbox fabbed up on the 18th (no way is a stock 'box going on there - way too quiet) and I'm quite happy driving it about as is until then.

Next step will probably to take the mid-pipe resonator and secondary cat off and either replace with a smaller resonator, or just straight pipe it. Will wait and see how the new back box sounds first.