I brought my GS300 Sport about a year and a half ago. It had 50k on the clock and was totally original and pretty much mint condition (see pic). I've put 20k miles on it since and as a result the usual wear and tear is beginning to show -

• The sport rims are corroding and kerbed
• Few very minor stone chips
• Leather could do with treating (although still good!)
• Cracked foglight

And unfortunately a few months back I reversed into a wall at my girlfriends and cracked the rear cluster, scraped the bumber and dented the quarter panel.

So I have decided to go all out and get the thing back to its original condition and I need a bit of help.

First off I am looking to get the damage on the rear sorted out which will require a new bumber, drivers side light cluster and bodywork done.. then resprayed. I am based near Stansted Airport and I'm looking for a recommended body shops that aren't going to cost an absolute fortune but at the same time can get the car looking as good as new. I am happy to source the parts myself but if anyone has or knows of the above parts that are available please let me know.

Secondly I think one of the rims (Original Sport Rims - 10" x 18" on the rear) is beyond reconditioning - which im getting diamond cut by Lepsons in Kent £280+VAT so if anyone knows of one for sale (or free!) then I would be looking for a front and rear one but must be in good condition.

Next is a set of Tyres - Just been quoted £622.75 inc VAT for front and rear Dunlop SP 9000 - is this a good price or what tyres would you recommend? At the moment I have Pirelli PZero Rossos but they dont seem to last long!

New Discs and Pads all round -

Recondition the Leather -

Professional Valet -

Apart from the damage on the rear the bodywork is immaculate.

Full service and not sure whether to take it to Lexus or a Japanese performance car specialist and see if they can tweek it a bit on a budget.. ideas?

The Aim is to have the cleanest, most original looking best condition GS 300 Sport (which is a 1998 'R' reg)

Once this has all been done I think I will keep it forever.

If anyone can help me it would be most appreciated.. i'll post pictures and see you at a meet one day when its all done!

Thanks for reading and helping if you can..!!

i hope the wheel refurb cost is for all the wheels??

Yes

I use Toyo Proxes T1-R on my Mk-II GS - they're excellent - quiet, grippy and seem to wear well.
I got mine from Camskill this time - they do next day delivery, and I get them fitted locally...

while you have the wheels off hammerite the calipers a colour you like.. looks miles better afterwards

lepsons charging me 340 plus vat for my 5 doing
going to be a pain to get them down there from leeds

i got a full set of rosso's on they have lasted me 3 years so far

Paid £200 for a pair of Sp9000s for the front (245/40r18). Leaves £400 for the backs. Seems steep to me.....

I hope you can get all you want done for £2K. Recon you might have to curb your desires a bit and set priorities but you never know.....

Good luck with the re-furb
Tony
(Mk1 GS300 Sport)

...Things are on the move.. apart from the car which is sitting on axle stands as the wheels were collected for their refurb yesterday. I found a place that seemed to be £100 cheaper than anywhere else for the tyres.. they are web based www.fasttyres.co.uk and have depots everywhere...

I got Dunlop SP 9000 - 275/35/18 x2 and 245/40/18 x2 for £520 inc VAT and delivered to the refurb place. thought that was pretty good so I would recommend them.

I also got a full service done yesterday by a friend of a friend.. Toyota mechanic, did the lot.. oil, filters, plugs, cambelt, alternator belt everything.. gave the car a good checking over and charged me £275 for the lot.. parts (not cheap stuff) and labour. Thought I did pretty well there too.

Just need to get the rear bumper and tail light sorted now for next week.. I'm very much looking forward to getting it back on the road in all its former glory..

Sorry if I've bored some people who have actually taken time to read this.. I'm gonna keep putting progress posts anyway and some pictures soon.

While i'm here... where shall i get replacement carpet mats..? its got the grey interior...

Cheers all.

Well done, keep up the very good work and keep the money saving tips coming too

Sounds like a good start so far.

From what I can gather, Lexus are pretty reasonably priced for the mat sets.

Good Luck to you. Sounds like an ambitious plan.

With regard to performance tweaks on the GS300, "engine tuning" and "budget" are not words that usually go together.

You could perhaps get a custom exhaust made up, aftermarket headers, which would allow the engine to breathe better, but it's not likely to significantly increase bhp with the standard engine.

Your only real option with your engine is supercharging or turbocharging. Then you need to upgrade brakes/suspension too.

If you had a mk2 with VVTI, you could have got a camcon fitted like Scarface did to his IS300.

.....Everything was going so well it was only a matter of time before things went up!

Ordered second hand bumper and tail light from Star Cars and Parts in Peterborough on Tuesday, £145 for parts and delivery. The delivery was supposed to be next day as they were going to the body shop that was doing the work.. They delivered the Light yesterday but no sign of the bumper, so chased them and Parcel Force up and neither could really give me an answer as to where the bumper was. Anyway its turned up this afternoon and the bodyshop guy has phoned to tell me the bumper is in a right mess, paint flaking off.. cracks, scratches and would take him a day just to prepare for paint.

The bumper was sold as just having a couple of light scuff marks on each corner as you would expect..

I've phoned Star Cars and Parts and basically told them they can have the bumper back and I want my money back.

Trouble is now I need to find another bumper that is in good condition that can be worked on and I had enough trouble finding that one! Been all over ebay and various breakers.

A LOC member gave me contact details of a guy breaking a GS300 Sport who I spoke to a while ago and was going to send the parts to me last week but I never heard from him again and havent been able to get hold of him since which is why I ended up going to Star Cars and Parts.

My car is now at the body shop and the guy has done all he can without the bumper and obviously doesnt want it sitting there..

I plead to anyone that knows of where I can get hold of a rear bumper that is gonna be in good condition?!!!?!?!??!

Help!!!
_____________________________________________________

Just been quoted by Lexus Woodford for a new bumper - £220 inc VAT...

Well It's been quite a while since I've been on here and it was back in February that I started this post about getting my car back to its former glory. I did get the major work done a while ago but this is the first time I've been sober/not hungover and given my car a clean and taken some pictures.

Anyway, I got the wheels refurbed, got them new shoes and replaced the rear bumper with a brand new one, its had a full service etc etc etc..

Still a few minor bits need doing including a good valet inside but thought I would post some pictures anyway (next post).

Hope you like

Can't see them matey.

Sunday 29th M11 junction 8 services 11am Jap Car meet if you are free, several members usually attend......

trying to repost for you as they don't seem to be coming through above..

Cheers, Ive had this problem before.. they're all showing fine on my screen though... frustrating!

AAARrrGGHHHH.... now theyre not showing at all!! its driving me mad!!!! one minute theyre there.. then theyre gone!!

Brilliant pics, i had my wheels done at Lepsons and found them to be excellent people to deal with:D

try photobucket

Cheers Wozza!! Thank you Photobucket!!

(Wozza, might as well delete the other posts of pics)

Looks very nice now I can see it
So can I see it in the flesh on the 29th ?

I shall check my diary and come back to you.. but sounds good!

Love it, man the MK1 sport is the sex.
Wish i had the wide rear alloys on mine.

great pics!

good luck with the project.

send some pics of the interior. i heard gliptones leather interior conditioner is supposed to be the bomb! im using renapur at the moment and that looks like its gonna last a while!

your body work is great! did you do any body work, ie swirl removal etc. thats my biggest bug bear at the moment.

keep at it !

finest!

looks great

lovely motor mate. I like the wide rear alloys especially on those pics. More pics plz...

nice car , looks a bit like my old one . just needs some clear side repeaters and the orange removed from the front indicators to give it that clean look . really miss mine and need to get back into a lexus . bought a landcruiser colorado and regret it deeply .

alright mate, we have one of these aswell, and we are doing a similar thing to you. we want it as close 2 factory spec as possible. so far i have brakes front and back. gas rear boot struts. and the inside and out have been valeted. i will try and get a pic up if i can, anyway ures looks lovely mate, really clean example. beautifull cars. how are the tyres?
Anuj

I think thats the best colour for the GS300 sport. nice job matey

That looks really nice, not too keen on the TTE wheel centre caps, but otherwise it looks great! The mk1 GS in sport guise is really starting to grow on me, makes me wonder even more why they decided to design the mk2 GS in house.........

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...st&p=553576

Tidy.

I'll second clear side repeaters, this was the first thing I did to mine and it looks so much better. Here are some details (posts 21 and 22 in particular):

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...showtopic=14955

As for tyres, the last two sets I've had are Falken, FK-451, which I had for about three years, and this year I fitted the FK-452.

I'll really miss my Series I GS 300 Sport , she has been a great car for over four years, but I'm sure the Series II GS 430 Sport will make me feel better in time.

..Thanks again for your comments guys, I still look at it when walking back to it in a car park and think its a handsome motor!

I have to agree about the TTE centre caps, I do prefer the originals but at the time the budget was running low and Florian at Toyota Motorsport GmbH wanted about £180 for them, I got the TTE ones for about £70 but think i'll go for the Lexus ones when I have some spare notes. Also want to get the side repeaters which I can get from anywhere but just not got round to it.

Also looked at the HID headlamps which I know have been discussed in a few forums so they're another thing on the list.

I suppose the only other thing that has been floating around in my head is getting some more power out of it and this is where my knowledge ends. Has anyone had any expierience in Turboing or Supercharging one of these, I know its a supra engine so should be pretty straight forward (for the professionals), is it worth looking at a complete engine swap or just working on whats in it (mileage is about 72k). Anyone recommend someone to talk to?

oh, and as far as tyres go that someone mentioned, the Dunlop SP9000 seem pretty damn good.. nice tread, hardly seen any wear in them and the grip is pretty tremendous in the wet and dry and I certainly dont hang around