Neil E

It's coming along nicely. Do you have a finish date in mind? I ask as a well spoken chap called Harry from central London phoned earlier, said he was having second thoughts about something and might need a very fast getaway car early Saturday afternoon.

Had a look for a complete black interior but no luck so far. I remember stumbling upon a European site that had lots of Lexus spares about a year ago but I can't find it. It might be worth calling the breakers yards like Dewsbury Auto Salvage.

Looking forward to seeing your progress. I would expect to find a complete black interior out there somewhere on one of the breaker yard/salvage sites. If you're not keen on the colour of the interior, there's little point trying to restore it I suppose. I do like the black leather with silver but I think the light interior on the dark coloured cars suits them best. I have found leather cleaner and a lot of effort does work but it takes ages. Before I owned it, my car was serviced regularly by Lexus but neglected in other ways. Scuffed wheels and light bodywork scratches, filthy seat belts, etc.Traffic film remover and tar remover is cutting through the grease on the belts gradually, again a lot of effort. A good car upholsterer could probably restore all the soft stuff but it is difficult to keep the light carpet looking fresh when the car gets a lot of use.

Hi Graham, I knew you were over here too. With the plans you have, you should start a build thread. What size wheels and tyres are on the black beast?

Just a little update. I've started rebuilding the sub and amp rear seat arrangement and in the process trying to better match the leather colour. Cutting a sizable piece of vinyl and dying it to dry overnight. Wet it looks a very close match. Dry, it looks quite close to the arm rest colour on the door card and on the centre armrest but not close to the darker shade of the seats and the main pad on the door card. The light plays its part but it's difficult to find a good compromise ivory shade. Recovering the newer sub enclosures. Reassembly commenced. More to do to finish it off but the top cover hides the ICE beneath it. Looking at the side profile. I must try to find a better looking side skirt.

Looks super cool. Those wheels really work on the car and I love the way it sits low on them. If I had known a few were attending yesterday, I would have taken the SC.

Yes good point Colin, I see Ultra Racing do some. Figs Engineering are worth a look for suspension help too. I still need to source an up-rated rear anti roll bar. I think the ISF bar fits but I'm not sure about the drop links. On the audio question, I only very rarely use my rear fill speakers so didn't replace them with anything. I like the sound stage up front where it belongs. Alpine make 5.25 speakers in the same range as the ovals you chose. I can't recommend the R series Alpine enough, they are outstanding for the money. These E series match your front speakers. This is what the originals look like. You have to part raise the roof to get to some of the fixings to remove the rear door cards. If it's not documented here in the build thread, you know where to look. The 16 ohm free air ML sub is quite small and shallow. Finding a better replacement could be tough but with say a small class D amp that accepts speaker level inputs you could swap to a 4 ohm sub like the Alpine type R. If I remember correctly they make an 8 that can be wired to present an 8 ohm load. Otherwise use an output line convertor + amp and sub or repair the ML sub. They go quite low, up to a reasonable sound level, the front and rear mids distort before the sub runs out of gas. For decent bass there 's no substitute for an enclosure.

Adjustable coil-overs, strut bar, and up-rated anti roll bars all help.

Great work, what a difference it's made.

I don't know if they are admired enough to become a collectable but I can say that it's been lots of fun trying to modify it. If I was starting again, I would consider a 2JZ or 2UR transplant. The 3UZ is just about bulletproof but extremely difficult to develop into something substantially more muscular. There's absolutely no need for it, the SC is quick enough as it is, how often do you need to get to 60 in much less than 6 seconds? I just never grew up and still like the idea. Marmite chip butties..... Chris, you're now booked as the DJ and caterer for the next South West Lexus meet. The mobile disco is at your disposal. It's always going to be limited in a convertible and indeed any car environment but the Focal components made such a difference, definitely a worthwhile investment and the effort to cable them up.

If potential owners treat it as a 2 seater, it's a great car with marmite looks. When it came out, I hated the odd curves and the retro interior styling. Everything the Soarer stood for was missing and it was clearly aimed at the more traditional US SC400 faithful. Like the LS400/Celsior the Soarer pushed the boundaries both in 4 litre V8 and 2.5 twin turbo form but the SC430 didn't. The styling was too much of a departure so most of the Soarer community refused to get on board. Lexus took the decision to make the 2001 Soarer a convertible, I blame it on the SC400/Soarer fraternity who seemed to crave the convertible, indeed eventually one was created and the hype that surrounded it confirmed it a hit. In modern terms it's like the unveiling of a supercharged LC500 convertible. It had a 5 litre stroked 1UZ-FE. It made it to Surrey and Hampshire. Looks impressive but sadly didn't achieve its full potential. If only the SC430 had been given a cabin with the same dimensions as the earlier Soarer and a version with all of the latest tech, in a slightly less Italian boat influenced styled body, the RCF might be known to us today as the SCF or SC500.

Why not take it for a test drive? You too could be won over by the worst car ever. I don't have to regard mine as a 2nd car as I very rarely carry more than 1 passenger.

No shortage of comments after the review. The car continues to divide opinion but Clarkson and Hammond were right, the SC430 is so awful and ugly I have to wear a hat and dark glasses to I drive it.

Good news, glad it's sorted.

Good to hear the car has returned, hope that you can start to enjoy the drive. When the suspension is set to 'high' is there a dashboard light to confirm it? With the car stood still, it's usually easy to see the car raise up. The RX and Soarer had significant height adjustment differences, the LS430 was more of a subtle lift but still visible. On level ground if you check that the gap between the tyres and the wheel arches on both sides is equal then that's probably all you can do. If the dealer has replaced the arm then they probably did a geometry check, there may be a print-out to confirm the settings are as they should be. It's a shame you can't talk directly to the technician as they may be able to fully explain the fix.

Oh I see, not on the early models apart from the Celsior but it was an option on the later LS400. The 2 cars I remember both had air, they were from 1995/6. My first Soarer was a 1991 4 ltr ltd with air, another awesome piece of kit. I wish I still had it. I hope they sort it properly and win you over as it really is a cracking car.

Yes it's great to have a little incentive and the sense of anticipation of the speed thrills ahead.That day will come but you are also sticking to the principal of getting it done in the very best way possible and as well as being something to take pride in, it should also provide the same satisfying buzz as each stage is completed. Oh speaking of pulling your finger out, I forgot to say, we need more updates and completion by May or we release the loom on the carpet pictures to Mrs Rob

Really? So are they going to replace the arm or a bush to cure the movement? If they disconnect the height controller rod in the process and it's seized at its highest point, that might actually free it up. However it gets fixed, I hope it's done soon so that you can enjoy the car. @MalcI thought all LS400 models had height adjustable air suspension? I never had a LS400 just the 2 door coupe with air and the LS430.

More good work and attention to detail. I like the way you think of everything, even down to the practical colour of the broadloom.

Good point. Hearing diminishes at both ends of the scale long before we become sensible but even approaching pension age I can still appreciate a good system. The 6x9 speakers are just providing some mid bass, the MLs are okay, some swap to Alpine 6x9 as a quick fix. I eventually took the plunge and swapped the lot for Focal. I just need to find someone under 22 to check it sounds okay now.

How cool does that look? Have to agree with Bob, blue and cream is the best combination. Looks even more traditional with the correct steering wheel but I'm not going back.

If it's in a Toyota workshop, it's in the right place, the LS was once the Toyota Celsior. The LS is a fantastic piece of engineering, hopefully someone with experience of air suspension will figure it out.

The air compressor is working as the suspension is in the air, not on the ground. All 4 height controller sender units may be communicating to the control module but if I'm right, the one at the high corner is stuck. I've seen this a few times before and every time where one corner is very high, it's been a broken or faulty height controller. I haven't been able to confirm the genuine Toyota/Lexus part number for the LS600 front right but I think it's 89405-50100

It puzzled me too. It certainly looks like a valve. The picture is from a thread on clublexus where the guys are talking about using aftermarket height control systems to go lower. I couldn't find any good info on the LS600 air suspension set up. That may point to my search deficiency or it being a rare failure or perhaps always referred to the dealer. Assuming it works in a similar way to older LS models, Soarers, GXs RXs etc. I would be very surprised if it wasn't a fault with the height controller in the corner that's raised up. Some have managed to take the sensor unit apart and revive it by delicately cleaning/freeing it up with electrical cleaning fluid but in my experience, it's best to replace them. I wonder if the car has had new tyres or an inspection requiring it to be jacked up recently. With air it's best to switch off the ignition when lifting the car so that the suspension doesn't adjust to the movement. The Soarers had a switch in the boot to turn it off when required for servicing, etc. No doubt Lexus connect Techstream or a special scan tool to it when they work on the LS600 but do all of the technicians have real world experience of air suspension?

Had a quick search but can't find very much info on the LS600 air suspension components. If it is one of the front height controllers, it should be quite easy to replace. The last one I did on an RX300 only took a few minutes.