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I own a 1992 SC400. I intend turning into a "track" car.I will use a company here in Summerville South Carolina called Show Zone, despite the name they build race cars, drift cars, and auto crossers. I have seen bits and pieces of the despised drag racers laying around. Show Zone is very professional and quality seems their highest priority. I want to keep it normally aspirated, but I must admit the fuel injection system is a visual, -- yuck. Also getting my hands on a set of shop manuals has been frustrating. I live in a nursing home due to congestive heart failure. I recently fixed a fellows 1982 Rolls-Royce for the fun of it. It hadn't run in years. The hardest part was persuading the owner it could be fixed. I let some of his mechanics install the new parts but I ended up haveing to do it all over my self. Being under a 6700 pound car suspended by jack stands and hydraulic floor jacks for about two weeks was a real thrill. The Rolls also had some odd electrical gremlins. I fixed everything including the electrical gremlins, without the expedient of jumpers, running new wire, or any of the other work arounds. My cardiologist and the nursing home had a fit when they found out what I was up to. Once finished the owner and his mechanics thought I was the second coming. Any way the fuel injection system on my SC400 is a real aesthetic downer.
PS The car club I hang around with is called The Dark Side, and Show Zone has a very interesting FB page displaying the level of work they do, in fact they just finished an SC300 they turned in to a full on race car..
Last edited by Matthew1; 08-05-14 at 07:07 PM.
Reason: spelling
My name is Gerard and I'm in the US Air Force. I just moved to Little Rock AFB, Arkansas! I figured there wouldn't be much to do out here so I decided I'd give cars a try. I never worked on cars, but many of my friends do so I'll be getting a lot of help from them.
Today, I picked up a manual 1995 SC300 wif dat 2JZ lol.. Should be fun!
I have been member of club for a while. Also have 99 ES300 with O/D problem. New to social media , posting, threads, and such. My SC is white , in very good shape and only has 65,000 miles on it. Interestingly, I bought it from same person who owned a 2001 Honda S2000 that I bought about 10 years ago. Small world. I am hoping to get some performance tips from this site. Would love to add some horsepower.
Its interesting reading the different types of posters and posts. My first inclination whenever I buy a new car is to rip the interior out and throw it away. Then take everything else apart that will come apart and sand/media blast everything in sight. The first car I have had much to do with was in 1972ish and it was a Porsche 914/6, our first move was to saw the windshield off. But then thats just me and the type of guys I hang out with. we raced it very successfully in SCCA C Production Sports Car. I can't remember ever losing a race with it. So, the short term goal with my 1992 SC400 is to tear it apart. I will chronicle that both here and on my facebook page. Hope to meet some like minded types here as time goes by.
Ian
I keep introducing my self, and still get e-mails asking me to introduce my self. Whats up with that, moderator? I notice that two of my introductions although there yesterday are now missing? Again whats up with that? I've never had a harder time joining a group I am absolutely dying to join and get to know people. Dear Moderator thanks for any help.
Ian
I found them they are still there Mr. Moderator. Onward, why do I keep getting the e-mails to introduce myself although I have done it several times now?
Hey all, just became the proud owner of a 1995 Lexus SC400! It's gold, 148k on the clock (pics to come soon!), and has been a blast to drive (literally just got home with it).
It's got some quirks I need to go through (speedo and gas gauge don't work, some of the dash lights don't come on, A/C light randomly flashes and I have to hit it a few times for the A/C to kick in, need inside door handles...etc) but I'm looking forward to getting her back to new and enjoying the experience along the way.
It's so great to see an active community for the car that seems very knowledgable and ready to help. I hope to add something of value to the team and get this party started!
hi i am jonathan chewy. (yes it is my real last name) I have recently bought an 95 sc300 with 187.000 miles on it i did not know it had a bad head gasket but i only paid 1000 for it so not a terrible deal i knew i needed some work im wondering which gasket kit i should get thats worth the price. im thinking of getting a felpro kit for now and when i have more money get a tt gasket and go na-t but i also am gonna go with a manual swap here is my bad boy
Hey all, just became the proud owner of a 1995 Lexus SC400! It's gold, 148k on the clock (pics to come soon!), and has been a blast to drive (literally just got home with it).
It's got some quirks I need to go through (speedo and gas gauge don't work, some of the dash lights don't come on, A/C light randomly flashes and I have to hit it a few times for the A/C to kick in, need inside door handles...etc) but I'm looking forward to getting her back to new and enjoying the experience along the way.
It's so great to see an active community for the car that seems very knowledgable and ready to help. I hope to add something of value to the team and get this party started!
what up yall, I'm new to having a Lexus I'm liking it so far. I have a 92 sc400 that's black in color with gray inside I just got last Saturday It's running great but needs a little work. I'm from Portland ,OR and would like to go to some meets and get to know more about these cars. Planning to do a tranny swap to 5 speed and a 1jz a little later.....
I don't know why everytime I visit here to post my previous posts seems to disappear and then reappear. I must say as 32 year veteran of working with military computer systems, including design, I find this ones pecularities baffling. Any way, on to the good news, the title situation for my 1992 SC400 is now straightened out. But the car has not been registered in something like 4 to 6 years and getting officially recognized as existing again by the DMV is gonna be fun. I am a very stubborn and persistent person, and I have a high tolerance for nonsense, in other words I am a very mellow dude. I found when working with the Navy that getting excited just doesn't help, clear logical progress gets the job done and keeps blood pressure low. Some of course don't see it that way but they tend to be unhappy people alot of the time. The car should be in my personal possession here at the nursing home in seven days, Wednesday next week. I am going to chronicle on Facebook and on this forum every step of the process, so the first pics will go up in a week and I know that the ripping out of the innterior is already well under way, LOL. Fortunately that is my goal to basically have no interior at all. The first pics you will see are in the as found condition, and mechanically it seems quite sound, but we are gonna take most of that apart too. I have already contacted Kelford in New Zealand, and I even wrote a letter to Ed Pink about the fuel injection set up he used on the Indy Ford engine for a recent issue of Hot Rod, and interestingly he had some leads he put me onto for eight trumpet fuel injection systems for the 1NU-FE engine, I hope I got that right, I am just getting use to that designation for the engine. Obviously the pistons have to go and a more modern ring package too. But WOW Ed Pink told me were to look for what I wanted, how cool is that? Pics coming in the as found condition next.. Ian Divertie
Last edited by Matthew1; 08-05-14 at 07:03 PM.
Reason: spelling
Well, I have been in contact with Kiel Rasmussen in New Zealand and we are not going to make a final determination on cam selection until we know the final weight and rear end gear ratio. He is concerned about my need to use pump gas, but I have to. At this point he is reommending 207-D or E cams. Since its not a SBC or BBC chevy the lift and duration figures don't makes sense to me yet. I have also talked to Ed Pink about eight stack fuel injection for the 1UZ-FE, he gave some good info and i will track it down after I write this. I am also going to look more closely at the cam specs for Kelford and see if I can make them make sense. If I know what the stock lift and duration of the 1UZ-FE engine. I've answered my own question I'll look it up. Thanks for the support. Wednesday I will post pictures of the car the engine and drivetrain are great, It didn't run when I started with it, but I basically bought an entirely new ignition system and it ran. It drives OK but it has a lumpy idle, not bad but annoying. I suspect a vacuum leak, I've checked all the other obvious choices for a slightly rough idle. Aesthetically the fuel injection system is an eyesore, and thats why I am looking for an eight stack injection system. Besides Ed Pink's advice I have some other avenues I can explore. I can hardly wait to post the pics of it for you, the interior is disgusting, and it should be easy to rip out the rest.
Last edited by Matthew1; 08-08-14 at 11:33 AM.
Reason: spelling
Eventually I am looking for a friend on here, I am sure it will happen eventually. The search for the eight stack fuel injection for my SC400 continues. My builders website is www.showzone.com their quality and dedication are exceptional, they have a facebook page too. Anyway after Ed Pinks lead I finally got closer to the the REAL TRD, what a trial that turned out to be, on the basic TRD website their contact number just dumps you into corporate land. Nobody answering the phone even knows who TRD is, or what they do. Very disappointing, finally got a good number in Costa Mesa. I also contacted a couple of Japanese companies, and an engine builder in California called Zuki engines who says they specialize in Toyota engines, will see? My car has been unregistered for so long, don't worry its in good shape, I have to go to some South Carolina tax assesor and have it determined how much property tax it will cost me per year to own the car. Since its a 92, with 280,000 miles on it I don't think it'll be very much. The engine runs great except the annoying idle roughness. Its gonna get yanked and rebuilt/blueprinted anyway, and the automatic transmission is going to that great used car parts heaven in the sky. Everybody have fun out there! Oh, I am a 32 year veteran of the US Navy, who was fully disabled in Egypt after spending 10 years there as our Electrical Engineering liaison between the US Navy and the Egyptian Navy. I had a huge heart attack in Alexandria, Egypt, which destroyed most of my heart and there are no options to repair it other than a heart transplant. Elderly American doctors said they had not seen that level of heart destruction since the 1950's. The majority of my heart was with out oxygen/bloodflow for over 5 hours. So I Iive in a Summerville South Carolina nursing home. I loved Egypt, the people were so sweet and sincere. So I love cars, and airplanes. Yesterday, I took a flight a in a late 1930's PT-17 Stearman, and possessing a pilots licence was allowed to fly it for 15 minutes, what a great airplane! I found the rudder much more useful than on modern american general aviation aircraft. It was obviously a "your friend and buddy kind" of plane and the acquaintance was made quickly, honestly, and directly. My name is Ian Matthew Divertie. Ian to my friends.
Last edited by Matthew1; 08-09-14 at 05:46 AM.
Reason: add closing
Hi folks. My name's Jamie.
I just bought me a '93 SC300 5 speed with 182,000 miles for $1750.
Its the jade green color with a few black panels and lots of sanding on the paint, but hardly any rust which is good for this salty snowy area of Northeast Ohio. It was salvaged, and the front passenger fender and hood have been replaced, but I can see no evidence of any serious structural damage.
The interior is in very nice shape, the seller said the seat leathers were replaced recently with new factory leather. The center arm rest still needs replaced or re-covered. There are a few cracks and tears in some of the trim, but nothing that seriously takes away from how nice it is inside.
Mechanically, the car seemed fine when I bought it, but I have since run into some problems that I'll be posting a separate thread about. I've had it for less than a week, and it's already undriveable, so needless to say I'm a bit worried that I've made a huge mistake. That said, I know they are great cars with a strong engine, so hopefully with the help of the members here I'll be able to get it back into good shape.
As for my plans for the car, I just want to get it back to a good, reliable daily driver type car. I lean towards being cheap and driving slow, so I doubt I'll ever want to do any serious mods. I just want it to be comfortable and capable.
I do intend to post some photos here, just don't want to deal with my camera in the rain right now.
Thanks to everyone here for all the accumulated knowledge, and I hope I'll be able to contribute.
07-31-14, 08:20 AM
New SC400 member
