sc430 to - IS 200/300 steering whell

[hondansxr]

anyone know if this can be done as the 200/300 is my fav lexus wheel ? cheers

[Lexiguy]

Hi Paul

I think you have posed a difficult question looking at the lack of response.

I would imagine that only someone who has tried will know the answer, although I have seen a picture of a SC430 steering wheel which had been replaced by a full leather, flat bottom version.

There is always the alternative of wrapping it with carbon as below if you are wanting a more modern look.

...but you could decide to cut your teeth on an easier modification like below 🤣

Good luck and welcome!

Anthony

[Glyn Jennings]

Hi Paul,  I have seen this question this discussed quite a few times and the consensus has generally been no.  The problem you have is the difficulty of the air bag, different wiring connections and different function buttons.  You can get a recovered SC ones in different finishes and also with a flat bottom but they are done abroad and cost around £400.

I wrapped mine as in the picture above with 3M black carbon vinyl wrap and it was not easy. The first attempt took about 4 hours and I messed it up near the end so it had to come off.  I gave it another go the next day for the same amount of time and managed to do it.  I took the wheel off which is relatively easy. You need good lighting, patience and a calm peace of mind or you could save all that and pay a vinyl wrap installer to do it for you but even for them it is not easy.  Mine is not perfect but looks OK.  To be honest if my car had had the darker wood finish I would have left it but it had the light yellow colour which I personally really didn't like and the beauty of the wrap is you can remove it at any time to restore the factory look.

[Russ59]

19 minutes ago, Glyn Jennings said:

Hi Paul,  I have seen this question this discussed quite a few times and the consensus has generally been no.  The problem you have is the difficulty of the air bag, different wiring connections and different function buttons.  You can get a recovered SC ones in different finishes and also with a flat bottom but they are done abroad and cost around £400.

I wrapped mine as in the picture above with 3M black carbon vinyl wrap and it was not easy. The first attempt took about 4 hours and I messed it up near the end so it had to come off.  I gave it another go the next day for the same amount of time and managed to do it.  I took the wheel off which is relatively easy. You need good lighting, patience and a calm peace of mind or you could save all that and pay a vinyl wrap installer to do it for you but even for them it is not easy.  Mine is not perfect but looks OK.  To be honest if my car had had the darker wood finish I would have left it but it had the light yellow colour which I personally really didn't like and the beauty of the wrap is you can remove it at any time to restore the factory look.

Hi Glyn

Did you wrap the dash panels and panels on the door cards too and if so, how do they come off to do it?

Its something I have been planning on doing, I’ve done a bit of wrapping myself in the past from gained knowledge helping my mate who has his own wrapping and tinting business.

As you have said though about the steering wheel being difficult, I would probably let my mate do that😂😂

 

Cheers Russ

 

[Glyn Jennings]

Hi Russ,  

I did all the all the bits that had the wood finish, ie doors, dash and console. The gear knob was about £12 from China. You need a selection of plastic trim removal tools. The centre console pulls up from the back after prying up the seat heating controls.  Car need to be in at least neutral position to allow it to come up and two connectors need to be unplugged. You have to remove the radio to cover the door as well as the navigation unit for the nav door. The dash panels are really tight to prise out (there are two clips at one side within each air vent that need to be released at the same time).  The door cards have to come off and there are about 13 screws holding the wood panel on from the back.  If you look at the SC430mods installation videos on YouTube you will get a better Idea.  On YouTube or the  Lexus Club forum you will see how to do the doors. I hope this helps.

[Russ59]

1 hour ago, Glyn Jennings said:

Hi Russ,  

I did all the all the bits that had the wood finish, ie doors, dash and console. The gear knob was about £12 from China. You need a selection of plastic trim removal tools. The centre console pulls up from the back after prying up the seat heating controls.  Car need to be in at least neutral position to allow it to come up and two connectors need to be unplugged. You have to remove the radio to cover the door as well as the navigation unit for the nav door. The dash panels are really tight to prise out (there are two clips at one side within each air vent that need to be released at the same time).  The door cards have to come off and there are about 13 screws holding the wood panel on from the back.  If you look at the SC430mods installation videos on YouTube you will get a better Idea.  On YouTube or the  Lexus Club forum you will see how to do the doors. I hope this helps.

Glyn

Thanks for that, it’s now a project for next year spring time because I don’t have a garage to work in.

The centre console is so easy to take off, done it a few times, I believe I could actually do it blindfolded 😂😂

Do you have a link for the gear knob?

 

Russ

 

[Glyn Jennings]

Hi Russ, I don’t have a garage either and did mine in December last year. I wrapped all the bits in a spare room. Here is a link to the gear knob which I purchased after wrapping the panels. The only thing I found was the carbon fibre pattern on the knob was diagonally opposed to how I had done the panels so I then had to wrap the gear knob as well so it matched.  If you go for this gear knob you may want to match how that is wrapped to avoid more work. It’s strange that most carbon fibre I have seen goes from top left diagonally to bottom right but the gear knob was the exact opposite.
 

[Russ59]

6 minutes ago, Glyn Jennings said:

Hi Russ, I don’t have a garage either and did mine in December last year. I wrapped all the bits in a spare room. Here is a link to the gear knob which I purchased after wrapping the panels. The only thing I found was the carbon fibre pattern on the knob was diagonally opposed to how I had done the panels so I then had to wrap the gear knob as well so it matched.  If you go for this gear knob you may want to match how that is wrapped to avoid more work. It’s strange that most carbon fibre I have seen goes from top left diagonally to bottom right but the gear knob was the exact opposite.
 

Thanks for that, I’ll have browse.

[Neil E]

On 10/26/2022 at 12:01 AM, hondansxr said:

anyone know if this can be done as the 200/300 is my fav lexus wheel ? cheers

It fits the older SC300/400 Soarer. Examining the clock spring pin-out would be the first place to start. I looked into converting it to the IS250 paddle shift wheel but bailed out in the end. 

I don't like the slippery wooden wheel so opted for the custom version Ant describes above. 

It may not be a lot of help but there's a few pics of the steering wheel here in the short version of the build thread