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Coming Soon.. The Greatest Mk1 Gs300 Sport..!


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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..!!

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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 :crybaby: but you never know.....

Good luck with the re-furb

Tony

(Mk1 GS300 Sport)

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  • 3 weeks later...

...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.

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...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 :D

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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.

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  • 2 weeks later...

.....Everything was going so well it was only a matter of time before things went :tsktsk: 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...

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  • 3 months later...

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 :)

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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! :)

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