Creeper Story

[Dinho]

Ok I am just starting this thread to show the life of 'Creeper' my cars name (yeh i'm a bit sad but who cares lol).

I have no pictures of the way I bought it, but lets just say it seemed someone had been using it for banga racing. The smell inside wasn't great either.

I didn't have a windscreen so i took the opportunity to change the colour of the centre console from black to silver, just wanted it to look like it had more life and it fitted in line with the grey piping on the seats.

To

I chopped off the old handbrake for a Momo one

To.. and as you can see I changed the gear Knob to something a bit more classy in my opinion.

I got addicted to spraying things so I darkened the fog lights, and headlights, and also bought some darker tail lights from a member on here I believe.

For the tail lights i used tint spray, you can buy different colours, blue, smoke, red and green (e-tech range)

To

[Dinho]

More interior work as I changed the dash lights to white SMD's

Gave the seats a good clean and added some Harness pads

The inside was starting to take shape now, and I had bought a double din unit as there was no stereo when I bought the car.

Heres a few pictures of the ongoings

I did try some alcantara fabric for the screen surround which since has been changed to carbon.;

Heres another view looking in

The seats were cleaned several times with upholstery cleaner, soap and water.

Soap and water and rags does the job better in my opinion, the upholstery cleaner I used hardens the feel of the fabric on the seats.

mats from eBay, they do not compare the originals, not even close.

Now for the carbon, which some parts were tricky for me.

[Dinho]

Now to show what the outside was like before

[Dinho]

Hard work!

[Dinho]

A quick spray can job by my dad..

Customised the front grill

Was black with chrome emblem,

Passenger side touched up

No lacquer just paint

Also if you look closely enough you can see there is quarter panel damage (this from when i bought the car)..

Had a quick repair..

Here it stood at its first long awaited meet. Waited years for that day where i could drive it with a smile

And here the 'Creeper' stands, photo edited to make it look a bit more brochure like :)

I have a few small accidents during and after the work like many do. Next i will look to sort out the back bumper and reseal all door strips with tiger seal.

The next mods i'm thinking about when money allows

Wind deflectors

Subwoofer box (being made by a friend)

Upgrade Tweeters

Front TRD lip

[lexus loon]

Crikey Dinho,thats a lot of work mate and its very good,the only thing i would have left is the handbrake. that carbon wrap as i know is hard to do right?

[Dinho]

Thanks Ian, yes the carbon wrap is a pain, I wouldn't do it again thats for sure.

[Sherbertmelon]

Dinho, what paint did you use the spray that part of the dash? I've been looking to spray mine :)

[Dinho]

I used plasti-kote metallic, its good stuff.

Masking up is the pain of that job.

[Sherbertmelon]

I used plasti-kote metallic, its good stuff.

Masking up is the pain of that job.

Is that all I'd need or would I need any primer laid down first? haha masking up is the fun part for me lol

[Dinho]

Yep i just used grey primer, 2 coats to be sure. and some lacquer after the paint.

Got a job for you if you enjoy masking! lol

[HoodRich]

Wow. This surely is an inspirational thread. Since I bought my IS 2 months ago, I have done brakes, tyres, shocks, cambelt service, lowering springs, wipers....and am in two minds about doing a blow-over to get it back to showroom condition. Felt like I was doing too much as it sure is costing me a packet!

After reading this thread, it seems like I haven't done much and should push along with my little project. :-)

[Dinho]

Yes just keep going J, when you get to that point where you can see that everything is looking and feeling good you won't regret it and you will want to drive all the time.

I forgot to mention I changed to flat blade wipers also, and little things like painted the calipers and a screw type tax disc holder and found some lexus mats at a yard. Oohhh and the armrest!

Ok will have to update this again.

[stoo_pee]

Very nice work! How hard was it to change the dash lights?

[TigerFish]

Not digging the handbrake but for everything else you've done very well with it so far. Keep up the good work :)

[Dinho]

Very nice work! How hard was it to change the dash lights?

Wasn't hard, about 3 screws to take off the surround, then you take the cluster out, i'm sure someone has an illustrated write up either on here or on another club.

[Dinho]

Not digging the handbrake but for everything else you've done very well with it so far. Keep up the good work :)

Yep thats the great thing about mods, everyone has different taste :)

Most of the hardest work has been done, hope to get something else done before another meet.

[Stuart Aspey]

Hi dinho. The car's looking great. How long did it take for you to paint the dash? If I had black interior, I'd do the same. It's looking good

[Dinho]

Hi dinho. The car's looking great. How long did it take for you to paint the dash? If I had black interior, I'd do the same. It's looking good

Alright Stuart mate, thanks, it has took long while to get it to where it is now. I spent a couple days on the dash simply because I didn't have a windscreen in at the time, so one day preparing and priming, the next day putting the paint on and lacquer.

I will be touching it up soon as i've had to take the stereo out a few times which has scraped the paint.

[lexus loon]

Can i just say if anyone thinks a dash is hard to get out its NOT,i changed mine in 30 mins .Thats after making a mess of trying to paint my old dash in the car .Its awkward access ,better done out of the car.

[LexIS200Sport]

Good job Dinho, I was impressed when I saw your car in person and was fortunate enough to sit inside and have a closer look at the interior :)

[Dinho]

Thanks Ganesh, a few basic changes but something just to give it a different look.

[Stuart Aspey]

Hi dinho. The car's looking great. How long did it take for you to paint the dash? If I had black interior, I'd do the same. It's looking good

Alright Stuart mate, thanks, it has took long while to get it to where it is now. I spent a couple days on the dash simply because I didn't have a windscreen in at the time, so one day preparing and priming, the next day putting the paint on and lacquer.

I will be touching it up soon as i've had to take the stereo out a few times which has scraped the paint.

, the radio. . . I've had mine out a couple of times to install and then update the grom device. Yeah, I've got scratches that need to be touched up. . . .

[Dinho]

I plan on installing a reversing camera, so once that has been done I will give it the touch up, hopefully I won't have any reason to take it out again.

[lexusian]

hi,i was looking at doing the same thing to my headlights how easy is it? ian