Howplum

I am thinking of trying this JB Weld HighHeat epoxy putty, probably as a temporary fix until I have time to address the issue properly. It gets good reviews, but I wondered if anyone had personal experience of using it. https://www.jb-weld.co.uk/highheatep I would than apply a VHT paint, such as the Rust-oleum Hard Hat 750o used by Phil, although I would prefer the brushable version. I have been in correspondence the the ever helpful Daniel at Lexus Parts Direct, and although the cats are NLA, he has a customer who is very particular, and he has used cats made by BM Catalysts, which are available on Ebay for about £100 each, with a 2 year warranty. Not too horrific. Apparently the studs in the manifold/cat flange, of which there are 6, are £8 each!

Phil, it was an interesting experience, but there was a lot of sitting around! I was given the impression by the studio that they had done work before for Toyota/Lexus, and in fact there were a couple of Toyotas from their Heritage Fleet there as well, but nothing exciting. Regarding the cats, apparently these are no longer available from Lexus, although they sell the fitting kits for £110, which seems a bit steep, although I can't find any alternatives at the moment.

Thank you for those very useful tips. I'm sure it will be worth removing the entire system and giving it a few more years of life, although it's a daunting prospect.

On Monday, having given the car its longest run in many years, I have now discovered that there is an exhaust leak from where the nearside catalytic converter (CC) joins the downpipe, which I gather is quite common. Still, I suppose it hasn't done too bad for 24 years. It looks as though part of the CC's flange has completely rotted away. The offside is pretty crusty as well, but isn't blowing, yet. The rest of the system looks sound, although when the engine is cold there is a drip from the rear Y piece, although it doesn't seem to be leaking. Is that normal? For the eagle eyed amongst you, the triangular plate fitted to the rear Y piece is missing because the bolts snapped when I removed it to access other areas. A portent of things to come? I understand that my exhaust should be stainless steel, apart from the CCs perhaps, so I am reluctant to replace the entire system without exploring other options first. Ideally I would like to remove the entire system, replace both CCs and have localised repairs carried out where necessary. Easy to say, but I suspect but not so easy to do. Hopefully it wouldn't involve removing the manifolds to drill out the seized studs. I have read of new flanges being welded onto the CCs, or even having the CCs replaced by straight pipe, but as new CCs are available from £65 replacement seems the best option, bearing in mind the limited mileage and pampered life the car will now lead. There are a couple of exhaust specialists nearby who make custom systems in stainless steel, so I will be letting them have a look whilst resisting any attempts to sell me a complete system. I know there a a few topics on here about this problem, but I wondered if anyone has had experience of the cheaper CCs.

Some of you may remember a topic was created a little while ago asking for an LS400 with an interior in good condition because Lexus UK has commissioned a company to do a 360o image. Well, my car was chosen, not necessarily because it is better than anybody else's, but apparently because I lived nearer the studio, although it was still a 2 1/2 hour journey to the south coast! So yesterday I set off at 7:00 a.m., having spent a couple of hours detailing the interior on Sunday afternoon, not knowing quite what to expect, although I had read somewhere that photoshoots can involve a lot of waiting around, which turned out to be true. The process is fairly straightforward. Basically they take 8 shots with a specially mounted camera, using several different exposures, and then a very clever piece of software stitches everything together after the images have been vetted. I did take a couple of external shots whilst the car was in the studio, which seemed quite forgiving of the less than perfect paintwork: Apparently someone will let me know when the final product is available, and I will then post a link.

Just in case anyone is interested, I used this company for the badges: https://invictaspraychrome.co.uk/ It cost me £60 for all five badges, including VAT and postage, which seemed very reasonable to me, especially since the only other quotation I got was £140.

So do I go the whole hog and have the wheel badges and new aerial ferrule done as well?

I replaced the fuel flap solenoid today, so that now works perfectly. The old one looked a bit corroded. The restored gold badges arrived today, so they are now back on the car. They look MUCH better, but obviously are not to everyone's taste. I'll need to paint the inside of the grille emblem matt black to tone down the "bling" factor, as per the factory finish.

Yesterday "Postman Pat" delivered my timing belt kit from Rock Auto, although fitting it might have to wait a while whilst I finish off some of my house DIY projects. It came in a box marked Aisin, although some of the parts are made by others, but all are made in Japan. However, the timing belt by Mitsuboshi did make me think of Chinese copies, but apparently they are a bona fide belt manufacturer, and have been since 1932. It looks a though the solenoid for the fuel flap is faulty so I have sourced a used one from eBay for £25. A lot better than the main stealer's price of £360!

Steve, This must be very frustrating for you. As I think I mentioned before I used this company, which I hadn't tried before: http://www.staingard.co.uk/ I actually sent them a cover off one of the rear headrests and asked them to match the underneath, where the sun doesn't shine, so to speak. The dye they sent, eventually, was a perfect match. I ordered 500 ml, which turned out to be way too much, so 250 ml would have been enough. I hope you get a resolution in the end. Howard

The screen, which is only 3.5", currently sits neatly in the space normally occupied by the ashtray.

I'm still treating it as a temporary measure. It seems to work with very little flickering, but I am hoping it will work with the transmitter tucked inside the boot lid lining. I'm still experimenting. Perhaps I could put a lighter socket inside the centre armrest, possibly incorporating a couple of USB sockets, which would place the receiver plug nearer the transmitter.

I paid my dues on Saturday, and was told that the parcel would be delivered yesterday, but still no sign.

Thank you for the clues Paul and Malcolm. The 1997 car being dismantled was registered in August 1997 and apparently the Series 2a a.k.a. MK IV a.k.a. UCF20 II was introduced around July of that year, so it might be on the cusp. However, apparently the later version had no aerial on the rear wing, a 5 speed gearbox, different wing mirrors and wheels. http://ls400data.com/history.html Having seen photos it looks as though the car has none of those changes, so presumably was built prior to the later version.

I continue to have issues, and the speedometer is now the only gauge of the four that works consistently! I have found someone on eBay breaking a 1997 model which, if I understand correctly, is the same as a 1996 model. However, there is a slight difference in the second line of the part number, in that mine has 257410-1275 and the 1997 one has 257410-3260, Visually they look identical. I have checked a couple of parts websites but they were not helpful. Does anyone happen to know if this difference is critical? The seller only wants £55 including postage, so I'm tempted to take a punt anyway.

I was thinking of something like this, possibly mounted in the glovebox: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-Car-Boat-Cigarette-Lighter-Socket-Dual-USB-Port-Charger-Mount-Panel-Auto-UK/333631423721?hash=item4dadfb84e9:g:Mb8AAOSwsrBev7Zh

Sounds like fun! I can't do much about the cable route for the monitor because the connector in the power socket includes the wireless receiver, so I can't go cutting any wires. Another good argument for switching to the Boscam unit. One for the Christmas list perhaps?

Having manged to bag a new Auto-Vox wireless reversing camera on eBay for £32, I fitted it yesterday. On my model the cable to the reversing light is red with a black tracer, so instead of using the provided Scotchlok connector I used a double bullet connector instead, which means I have the opportunity to add sensors in the future, without disturbing the wiring again. The camera bracket sits behind the top of the number plate and I just needed to drill a small hole in the panel above to feed the cable through, which I then connected to the transmitter. Tucking the transmitter inside the boot trim panel resulted in a poor connection between it and the monitor, so in the end I taped it to the left side boot hinge. Not elegant, but functional. Signal quality between the transmitter and the monitor can still be a bit iffy, so I haven't done anything about finding a permanent spot for the monitor just yet. The issue is that the receiver which plugs into the 12v socket is big and ugly, so I may put another socket inside the glovebox, once I have decided whether or not I am happy with the set up. If I find that that I need to replace the system, then I may well go for this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Boscam-Reversing-Reverse-Monitor-Waterproof-RVS-K3/dp/B0797SYRGR/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=Car+Reversing+Camera&qid=1593350344&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyQlM3QUVGRVlOMDIxJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNjY4NjY4MTdCREZIVEkxMzRONCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMzU3MDQ5MUZWUUE0Wk0yQkxJVyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU= The beauty of that system is that the monitor gets power from the reversing light circuit, so there is no need for a separate power supply at the front of the car. However, the car has now thanked me by disabling the fuel filler flap release circuit, so I will use the emergency release in the boot for the time being.

I had my letter from Parcelforce this morning, 4 days after my parcel arrived in the UK, having passed through 4 different distribution centres in Germany over 6 days! The total is approximately 25% of the price paid, so about £210 for the full Aisin kit, including tensioner. It will be delivered on Tuesday, so 22 days after ordering. To me this still seems to represent good value.

I must admit I went for the cheaper shipping option simply because I was in no hurry.

When I acquired my 1996 80,000 mile LS400 in March, I also asked Lexus Milton Keynes about changing the transmission fluid, knowing it had never been done, but they advised against it on the basis that they had changed fluid at the owners request before and there had been issues thereafter. When I checked the fluid on the dipstick it was still a nice red colour, so I decided to leave well alone, especially as the gearbox behaves perfectly. When the fluid is brown with a burnt smell is the time to be concerned, so it's best to check the fluid every time the engine oil is checked.

I'm in the same position. Having listened to messages from both HMRC and Royal Mail, my understanding is that Royal Mail deal with non European imports and will send me a letter advising how much I owe for Taxes and Duty, together with their handling fee. It's a good job it's not urgent!

I've bought 5 litres of the red antifreeze which should give just under 50% concentration, based on a total capacity of 11 litres.

I insure my 1996 LS400 with Classicline and they charge me just under £200, with limited mileage. One point to bear in mind with classic car insurance is that No Claim Discount does not usually apply because it is what insurers call a net rated policy. However, the premium will still be affected by any accidents, conviction etc., as per usual, but it does mean that if you make a claim there is no NCD to be prejudiced. However, if you make a claim the insurers may revise the premium at the next renewal date.

Both the fuel and temperature gauges on my car appear to be sealed units, so I'm not sure if the sticking needle syndrome applies.