ls430 Flint Mica LS430

[Dezi]

I guess I'll start logging this build. Unsure on the full plans of this car at the moment!

 

Collection day 19th August 2023, had to obviously collect the LS with another LS

This is it, the wheels were refurbed to gun metal which suits the Flint Mica

 

97,835mi surprised this car was still under 100k, many many miles for this car to go.

 

 

 

[Dezi]

20th August 2023

Took out the license plate light and reversing camera piece to fix some rust (common spot), 4x clips, and 4x 10mm bolts.

Some sanding, Acid etch primer and some gloss black (you can't see this after the trim has been attached)

Looks untouched.

 

[Dezi]

Probably not to everyone's taste but changed the shift knob in the LS.

Link for the shift knob, have to attach the Adapter Plus+

If anyone wants to buy a LikeWise shift knob or any shift knob for the LS430.

The thread is: M8 x 1.25mm

NOTE: WeAreLikeWise is from Australia but shipping is relatively quick (9 days) and I didn't have to pay import tax 🤷‍♂️

[steve2006]

My personal opinion is I prefer the original wood shift knob, however the replacement would suit some carbon fibre wrap on the wood trim and modernise the look of the car.

[Dezi]

1 hour ago, steve2006 said:

My personal opinion is I prefer the original wood shift knob, however the replacement would suit some carbon fibre wrap on the wood trim and modernise the look of the car.

Good shout Steve, I'll put that on the list!

I quite like the look of the LS460's centre console in grey too.

[Dezi]

Bought an AliExpress head unit and have been routing a reversing camera cable from head unit to the boot.

I think none of the clips for anything in the head unit had been touched.

This was a paint to remove

More pics to come as the reversing camera took longer to wire up than expected and ran out of time.

Now the car is away getting A/C done.

[Dezi]

Dropped the car off at Aircon Direct in Ebbsfleet unfortunately the compressor is gone and the rear pipes are corroded.

 

Mark at Aircon Direct was super helpful and if you need the rear lines sorted he has replaced mine with rubber so I can retain my fridge!

 

It's still sitting there at the moment while a new Denso Compressor is on its way to his shop to be dropped in and regassed.

[Malc1]

5 hours ago, Dezi said:

he has replaced mine with rubber so I can retain my fridge!

that's brilliant then.  I've only ever read of the rear pipes just being capped and losing the fridge !

Malc

[Dezi]

On 9/7/2023 at 4:52 PM, Malc1 said:

that's brilliant then.  I've only ever read of the rear pipes just being capped and losing the fridge !

Malc

I'll update once I find out if the compressor is good and have a fridge once again.

 

He did mention that it's often they get capped instead as that's the cheaper option, but I didn't want to lose the fridge. Even though it's more of a cool box.

[steve2006]

Always a couple of lemon Fantas in mine 😀

I thought the reversing cameras were standard fitment as part of the Park Assist system, my screen automatically switches to rear view when reverse is selected along with the dipping mirrors.

 

 

[Dezi]

On 9/11/2023 at 9:46 PM, steve2006 said:

Always a couple of lemon Fantas in mine 😀

I thought the reversing cameras were standard fitment as part of the Park Assist system, my screen automatically switches to rear view when reverse is selected along with the dipping mirrors.

 

 

Oooo Lemon Fantas!

I found the issue with my reversing camera not working on my aftermarket head unit now, I had a bad connection to the ground of the reverse light! Now it's all working!

[Dezi]

After the car was sitting at AirCon Direct for a week, it got really dusty and now needs a wash.

But I have retained my fridge! my compressor was busted, which also killed the condenser and my rear lines were also corroded.

Now after basically an entire new aircon system, it's blowing ice cold on all of the vents + the fridge.

[Dezi]

LIGHTS, LED THE WORLD

I bought some AUXITO (great brand for the price) LEDs for the high beams and the Fog lights

HIGH BEAMS

BEFORE

 

AFTER

 

OLD BULB VS LED

 

FRONT FOGS

BEFORE

 

AFTER

 

All of it put together while still dusty

Links:

HB3 HIGH BEAMS: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000215548977.html

HB4 FRONT FOGS: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002008182636.html

[Redefined]

Nice one for sharing Dezi. I'll be keeping an eye on this development. I'm also charting my progress with the (older) LS430. Yours looks absolutely lovely. Flint Mica, lovely (name and) colour.

[steve2006]

I have the Toyota Celsior the same year as yours, an interesting difference regarding the front fog lights is that with UK models the side sections have no bulbs fitted but on the Japanese version they do.

They are called “cornering lights” and illuminate on the same side when the indicator is on only when the sidelight/ main headlights are also on ( so basically when dark).

They then illuminate the kerb as you turn.

[Dezi]

Headunit from AliExpress

The best way to explain how to remove the original unit.

Now this is a headache, all of the wires are mainly unplugged. I believe this is dependent on what model you buy as to what cables are required to be plugged in. I cable-tied the majority of the wires into a bunch so that they could fit in the red square in the above photo.

On my unit there's a specific trigger wire which is pink (link at the bottom of what unit I purchased) I added a little wire splicer so that I can connect my RCA with trigger to that and feed the wire under the steering wheel, along the top of the window trim through into the boot.

Here's the trigger wire with a spade crimped on

 

The head unit I bought:

KK5 8G 128G: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002744790134.html 

 

[Dezi]

10 minutes ago, steve2006 said:

I have the Toyota Celsior the same year as yours, an interesting difference regarding the front fog lights is that with UK models the side sections have no bulbs fitted but on the Japanese version they do.

They are called “cornering lights” and illuminate on the same side when the indicator is on only when the sidelight/ main headlights are also on ( so basically when dark).

They then illuminate the kerb as you turn.

Oooo! That's kinda cool actually damn the Japanese get everything!

Ventilated rear seats are something we're missing too.

[Dezi]

21 minutes ago, Redefined said:

Nice one for sharing Dezi. I'll be keeping an eye on this development. I'm also charting my progress with the (older) LS430. Yours looks absolutely lovely. Flint Mica, lovely (name and) colour.

Thank you! it's got some ways to go, lots of stone chips and dents 😆.

 

I'll keep a look out for your thread 🙂 

Edited September 14, 2023 by Dezi
corrected wording

[Redefined]

I've already taken your tip for the rwar number plate. I too have a touch of rust there and always wondered how I'd get it done.

With the aftermarket stereo though, just be aware that they do go bad after so long, so obviously look after your original for if that time comes.

Wheels... I really want a wheel upgrade. But don't like to advertise the fact that I find the standard LS430 wheels rather dull and boring. Had my lenses refurbed a few weeks ago and they look mint - but I need to get some 3m clearcote on em.

Regards the HD lights @Dezi that's a rather cool thing as I really miss mine from the Subaru. Looking forward to seeing how you get on with yours (and how easy are they to fit). I think mine is misnamed (V8, Suits You Sir) and in the wrong section. I never thought for a second that we have a dedicated 'Lexus Builds' area on this forum... 😆

[Dezi]

2 minutes ago, Redefined said:

I've already taken your tip for the rwar number plate. I too have a touch of rust there and always wondered how I'd get it done.

With the aftermarket stereo though, just be aware that they do go bad after so long, so obviously look after your original for if that time comes.

Wheels... I really want a wheel upgrade. But don't like to advertise the fact that I find the standard LS430 wheels rather dull and boring. Had my lenses refurbed a few weeks ago and they look mint - but I need to get some 3m clearcote on em.

Regards the HD lights @Dezi that's a rather cool thing as I really miss mine from the Subaru. Looking forward to seeing how you get on with yours (and how easy are they to fit). I think mine is misnamed (V8, Suits You Sir) and in the wrong section. I never thought for a second that we have a dedicated 'Lexus Builds' area on this forum... 😆

Ah awesome! I wanted to get rid of that license plate rust ASAP before it spreads to the rest of the boot.

Yeah was thinking about that, so I've kept it stored away until that happens.

Wheels, I'm actually torn with wheels, I want to find some 19s or 20s but don't know what to get. Originally I was going to get WORK VSXX from Driftworks which I may still do just haven't gotten to that point yet of my build.

I'll LED them all eventually! haha

I'll see if I can find your thread 🙂 

[Malc1]

Dezi …… back to your aircon …… what was the final bill ££££ to sort that all out ? 

Malc 

[Dezi]

On 9/15/2023 at 7:32 AM, Malc1 said:

Dezi …… back to your aircon …… what was the final bill ££££ to sort that all out ? 

Malc 

Ah yes!

£500 for Condenser, Rear pipes converted to rubber, labor for fitting Condenser, Compressor, and Rubber hoses.

£430 for my aircon compressor from AutoDoc.

[Dezi]

Drove down from London to Cornwall for the weekend, and the car was perfect.

AC all the way 250mi+ and still need to drive back but it was so comfortable, it's my first car with air suspension and I'm not sure I can go back to coils.

I'll find out MPG tomorrow morning and post an update.

[Dezi]

Forgot to post this, managed 27.5mpg, would have been better if traffic was better.

307miles with 1/4 tank to go until empty, I'd say that's pretty good.

 

Bonus pic after a tactical refill in Cornwall to get me all the way home:

[Dezi]

RUST!

I missed my opportunity to take a before picture. But the rust on my sunroof was really bad, luckily it never transferred to the metal on the car, just isolated on the glass itself.

 

Easy to do, but I highly recommend it if you have some rust.

 

Tilt your sunroof and switch the car off.

 

Peel off the rubber wind-shielding things on your sunroof, looks like an accordion. 

The Torx25 bit with the washer is holding the sunroof there, there are 2 on each side, one on the front and one on the back.

 

Front view with screw out

 

Rear with screw out

 

Then lift up from the inside and get someone else to lift out the way

 

Scraped the majority of the rust off the metal and taped up the rubber seal oh and make sure to cover your glass you don't want over spray onto your glass!

Here's a close-up of the rust after the spray

 

Then you're done, you may need to lift the sunroof from the inside before fully tightening the bolts in just so the sunroof sits flush with the roof. Otherwise, I noticed that it does sink in if not lifted potentially causing some wind noise.

As you can tell, I started this sunroof job quite late into the day, and by the time I needed to wash the car it was already dark.