"Project Fluffy" 1992 Lexus SC400

Among all the many projects I have I thought, what the hell, why not one more...

http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...psdvid3dl3.jpg
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...psrgds76fo.jpg
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...psazb9i6lo.jpg
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...psafdnxifp.jpg

Plans Currently,
Get it running right and fix a few things to get it road worthy. Originally we had purchased the vehicle with a few more friends to do a 24 Hours Lemons race, but due to life changes, 3 out out of the five fell out of the project so we bought them out (we picked it up for $500).
The name Fluffy comes into play because my good friend who has gone in on this project with me has a little mini fluffy stuffed animal like from the movie 'Despicable Me' and since the car was white, we were going to give it a paint scheme like fluffy and have fluffy on the dash while we raced.

It is a 1993 SC400 with the Non-vvti 1UZ and an auto trans (A340E....) with 217K...
The vehicle has had a repaint and some body work which isn't perfect but its not rusted out.
The water pump is shot, wont even push coolant, however runs great...
Oil pan and trans pan leak, but still pulls really well...
Steering wheel doesn't tilt or telescope, its like driving a school bus currently...
One of the rear brake lines has compression fittings on it, fantastic...
No radio, so I have to sing to myself...
Really bad tint on rear window (has to go, any tips?)
3 out of the 4 main light assemblies turn into fish bowls when it rains, maybe I should get a gold fish as the cars mascot...
Brake light switch is intermittent, but who needs to know we are stopping...
The power steering pump is starting to leak onto the alternator, common problem....
The driver side door hinge has failed, so I am working on my Dukes of Hazard entry and exits...
And the fuel pressure regulator nipple has broken off and a vacuum line is missing, so some fuel comes out when it runs...

So as you can see, its a project.

Most would probably have said, pull the engine and scrap the rest...
I would like to have some kind of fun with it...

I will get more pictures later.
Current plan, get the timing belt and water pump replaced and make sure she didn't blow the head gaskets.
If they heads are good we will proceed to do whatever.

(P.S. now on the lookout for a 97-99 1UZ with vvti and the harness to put into my lifted 4Runner....)

Sweet! I can't wait to see this project progress!

You and I both, Hopefully next weekend the Timing belt and water pump get done along with the reseal of the transmission pan and oil pan.
If I can get these done then at least I can move it in and out of the garage to work on other projects. (Trying to clear some of the smaller projects out of the garage and free up some shelf space and stop collecting dust on certain projects.)

Very nice and quite a find at $500. How's the interior?

Nice, I love me a project. Like the 5VZ, the 1UZ is an excellent motor.

As far as the steering column adjustment, if it's the automated one like the GX470, it's an expensive fix. I know exactly two people with GX's and both of them had that part go out. One drives it like a school bus and the other ponied up almost $3k to have it fixed. I'm sure you'll find a way to address it though. SC's are sweet.

Look on the 100 forum on Mud, there are fixes for the steering column that don't cost an arm and a leg. You might be able to just get to where you want.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 4x4mike

Very nice and quite a find at $500. How's the interior?

---

It's not fantastic but its not disgusting either, I can live with it.
We will probably ditch the rear seat and redo the parcel shelf since it looks a little ragged but I think we still want a sound system of some sort in it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by paddlenbike

Nice, I love me a project. Like the 5VZ, the 1UZ is an excellent motor.

As far as the steering column adjustment, if it's the automated one like the GX470, it's an expensive fix. I know exactly two people with GX's and both of them had that part go out. One drives it like a school bus and the other ponied up almost $3k to have it fixed. I'm sure you'll find a way to address it though. SC's are sweet.

---

Surprisingly there are a lot of part outs for these things on craigslist. And like all great Toyota products there is a pretty decent following for the SC and a fix for the steering column, I haven't read to much into it but there is a sticky for it lol!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Seanz0rz

Look on the 100 forum on Mud, there are fixes for the steering column that don't cost an arm and a leg. You might be able to just get to where you want.

---

I will check them out as well.

That is a weird looking truck. :)

Looks like you have interesting and hopefully fun times ahead.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by habanero

That is a weird looking truck. :)

Looks like you have interesting and hopefully fun times ahead.

---

I hope so. I haven't had a chance to work on it, i am trying to get the rest of the garage cleaned up so it isn't crazy to work in.

I am thinking autocross but have to talk to my friend about that.

That could be a cool idea to play with.

Steam is your friend, when removing the window tint.

Looks like a fun project!

a bit of inspiration for you.
this is an acquaintance's from AZ.
yes, it's lifted and has skid plates.
yes, he drives fast on dirt roads

Thank you for the inspiration Keith.
I searched through Instagram and came across a guy that has a lifted green one that is a little more MadMax style.
Either way I am still trying to convince my buddy to go this direction.

So not to much in the way of updating progress, being a home owner has taken away from all my car projects, but I needed to clean up the garage a bit so I played around in the car a discovered a few things.

http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...psdiqvawii.jpg

Now I guess I had forgotten that the car had a salvage title, nor did I can because it was originally suppose to be a 24 Hour Lemons car.

However, THIS kind of itched a nerve:
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...psnwanr3ib.jpg
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...pszidg1vra.jpg
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...psj3qzjryd.jpg

Can anyone guess what I am hinting at besides the wiring and rust?
Give you a hint, the car is white...
Give up? lol

Anyway the car has been sprayed a different color, don't get me wrong I LOVE the white, but the 6M2 Royal Jade Pearl is an awesome color as well. An before the previous owner got to it, the paint job actually was pretty decent.

I did do some work, removing the random speaker wires run through the car to the radio and battery (because it was just to hard to get that adapter to plug into the stock harness..... -_-) and the speakers in the deck lid that had holes in them and were just layed in there not even bolted down. This car was a gem and then a hack got its hands on it -_-

Also started to remove a radar detector that was tucked underneath the knee panel under the steering wheel that says "Made for Cadillac" on it, I will try to get a picture of that later, thought that was pretty cool.

Also my buddy that is working with me on this had a nice toy for us to use...
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps8dzglmjr.jpg
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...pspptk1c87.jpg
http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...psdfaua1ey.jpg

This thing is AWESOME!
Not made for our trucks but for car work, especially if I have to drop a sub-frame for something or do exhaust work on a car this makes things MUCH easier!

The timing kit is sitting in the passenger seat as well, I have to order a new trans pan gasket and a oil pan gasket since those are leaking significantly, when I moved the car to clean, my floor looked like the Exxon Valdez spill -_-

Update: I actually took tools to Fluffy and this happen

http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...psshlaqph3.jpg

I also decided to remove the spark plugs and wires to help turn the motor over a little easier, cyl # 2 and 6 wires got stuck in the tubes:

http://i829.photobucket.com/albums/z...pszfvapdae.jpg

Lesson learns, be prepared to do double the work on the simple things when the previous owner says "well I did the work myself"

First of all I do not believe the water pump is bad based off the visual I see while turning the engine over. I believe when the owner changed out the thermostat they did not refill and bleed the system the way they should have, which I just discovered how to myself.

On the 4.0 there is a bolt on top of the thermostat housing that you a) fill the system with coolant through b) bleed the air out of through.

I presumed it was a pump because the reservoir was filled with coolant and the hoses were not getting warm when running or showing signs of coolant moving through the system.

And as for the spark plug wires a) they are cheap autolites b) they were not seated completely and were arching causing the melting of the rubber...

I still need to do the timing belt job however because the front crank seal is the cause of my massive oil leak. Also discovered apparently Lexus recommends belt replacement every 60K. Since I am in there and have a complete kit I will be replacing the timing belt, water pump, tensioner, tensioner pulley and idler pulley. I will soon be ordering valve cover gaskets, new plugs and wires (denso).

I am thinking I may purchase the second half of this car and go into this project solo. I like the idea of having a coupe from that era that is rear wheel drive.

Looking at a brake upgrade since it came with single piston front floating calipers when I believe the Supra came with 4 piston fixed calipers like our 4Runners, which I don't get since the Lexus is one heavy car.

I still want to lift it but I just want to get it driving down the road first.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Mf...2VkRz099DIr6oc

Couldn't think of a better way to share the start up video from today, that is the link to the vid in my google drive.

What it got:
-Timing Belt
-Water pump (with correct gasket and not clear silicone...)
-Spark plugs (Denso not autolite -_-)
-Spark plug wires (again Denso, and not melted autolite...)
-Valve Cover Gaskets
-Radiator (Denso, the original brass tank one finally corroded through...)
-Serpentine Belt
-Oil pan reseal
-Oil Pan fluid level delete
-Transmission pan reseal (with just the felt gasket, not felt and silicone...)
-Exhaust hung correctly (not with coat hangers attached to rear lower control arms...)
-17" after market wheels with slightly larger tires (left over from the Camry)

Took it down the road and around the block a few times, no more overheating or massive oil leaks, this whole process was fixing up a hack mechanics work...

Now its onto the electrical and figure out why the brake lights and shift light will not work, and the brake light switch was replaced...
I also have to figure out the power tilt steering, I can;t even figure out if it has the normal grinding culprit due to the motor not working at all....
I have a feeling I am about to get into a wiring mess, this thing was really hacked into, but after the test drive, its staying with me and my partner in crime.

The plan has changed and my partner in crime on the project and myself have come to the agreement, we are going to autocross it.
So after we get it so we can actually drive it down the road (also needs some lower ball joints and maybe upper arms...) we will start with some slight modifications (LS400 brake upgrade, some coilovers, some stiffer sway bars, and some seats that don't have us on the gangsta lean all the time...)

Like I needed another project in my life, but this thing is so cool!!

It must feel great to get things fixed and the engine running correctly. Great job.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 4x4mike

It must feel great to get things fixed and the engine running correctly. Great job.

---

It is! Still a few more items to tackle but it has reignited my drive to start working on my projects again.

Worked on the project a little more the other day, trying to get some electrical things figured out.
Started Here (google drive links so everyone can see them hopefully):
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1id...6eNpBOd_SIjcwq

Previous owner decided to do there own stereo install and botched it up really good...
Decided to get a little creative since finding someone willing to get a fuse block out of a part out was not worth any more of my time:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=165...k5ddNksQ98knco
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1jY...AdguL3NahSfmRU
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-l...p6qYWXPFffGqQC
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1KT...9_g9jzhUXoh60E
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ch...Lnr4lbzziTTrAe
https://drive.google.com/open?id=176...E_uVMsC29uh_7c
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1dP...xYjWp967NOir8D

Finally Brake Lights!
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1rN...RlDycD5k0nXlyM