uncleterry

Thanks :) Yeah altezza grilles seem to be difficult to get hold of anywhere other than Japan or the US, I got lucky with this broken one in that I could fix it up!

Yeah I just filled up with petrol and kept seeing it from the pay bit, looks so much better than the altezza triangular badge. I had thought the is300 mesh three bar grille was my favourite but I think on here with the stock bright headlamps this is the becoming my favourite. I think I need a splitter now though... always thought the front bumpers looked a bit too short... and I might have spied something that may potentially fit...

Oh I see. So there are no holes in the hub? Couldn't remember if I saw any or not.

Hey all, I talked about this in my main car thread but wanted to ask see if anyone knew over here too. Taking my wheels off on Saturday I noticed my brake discs weren't screwed onto the hub. Obviously its held by the wheel when fitted but there are threaded holes that look as though they should help alignment - I noticed the brakes were rubbing on and off when rotating the wheel with it up in the air and after I refitted it more carefully, one bolt at a time (unlike the tyre place who probably did them up last) it was much more even. I had my front discs and pads changed earlier this year at my Uncles garage and was there while he did them, I would have noticed if there were bolts left over so I'm guessing they were left off at some point before I owned the car. Bit annoying if this is the case. Anyone know where I can get some of the exact retaining bolts/screws meant to be in there? No idea if they're hex or torx etc etc, if anyone can tell me the size etc if they have had to fit them before... if not I'll give Lexus a ring and see if they have any.

I posted this in my thread but thought I'd put the pictures here too - done the same mod to my altezza grille now with the Lexus badge added. Really happy with it. Still considering spraying both black as well, but I think I'd need tinted headlamp inners to match. Which means I'd need to buy a spare set of lamps - not risking it and breaking a lens then not being able to drive it!

I was part of the engineering team for engine lubrication. I was mainly involved in engine oil pump design. :) Cheers. Ah cool. Never had much involvement with powertrain. Ive worked mostly in body and interior trim there in the past. So, I had planned to sort out the slide pins this Saturday. Got all of the bits from Lexus the other day, but I was a bit too hungover Saturday morning and couldnt get the caliper bolts undone so I gave up a bit too quickly. I did notice however that the brake discs weren't screwed onto the hub. Obviously its held by the wheel when fitted but there are threaded holes that look as though they should help alignment - I noticed the brakes were rubbing on and off when rotating the wheel with it up in the air and after I refitted it more carefully, one bolt at a time (unlike the tyre place who probably did them up last) it was much more even. Anyone know where I can get some of the exact retaining bolts/screws meant to be in there? No idea if they're hex or torx etc etc. Later on once I'd recovered a bit I had a go at my grille. I got the altezza one cheap as it had a clipping leg snapped off. So I made a new bit out of 6mm thick plastic and araldited it in place. Doesn't look great at the moment, wanted to get it back on the car, but i'll probably clean it up and paint it another time. While I was at it I got my spare Lexus front badge and did the mod to fit it to the Z grille. Took a lot of dremmelling then test fitting then re-dremmelling, but it sits nice and snug now and the cable ties ensure its not going anywhere. Went to a stance show here in Essex today, was ok but of course I parked out in the non-show car area :) It gave me a good opportunity to get some pictures of it in the sun though. So changes so far are - Altezza grille with Lexus badge modified to fit, blue/white 8500k main beam bulbs, new numberplates, Momo gear shifter, and I put my modified airbox back on today with its K&N filter in. Sounded really nice on the drive back :)

Just a few updates - changed the main beam bulbs for some brighter ones with a blue coating, hoped they'd reflect in the lamps a bit more than they do though. New number plates as the rear got an advisory for de-lamination, and its a normal sized one now. Also ordered slide pins and matching seals/boots to do a weekend soon, and a 6R4 touchup pen for a few areas. Next, steering wheel boss, possibly still grille mods (although struggling to find a cheap Lexus front badge as I don't want to butcher the original...) and I'm considering a front splitter...

Yeah guessed that haha. What area/dept did you used to be in there if you don't mind me asking? On another note, finally fixed my Lambda sensor issue today. Denso took ages to get the part through, but its top quality part and so much cheaper (£50) going directly compared to going via Lexus (£150?) for the same part... Also got the proper sized socket for it and a set of thread taps for lambda sensors now, just in case I need them again in the future. Hopefully not!

Yeah, sounds about right. I will have to go and ask him. I still go to some local VW and non-make specific meets, don't get much attention though in a stock Lexus :p Thanks for the welcome :) Yeah got a few other bits planned, got the feel for doing a few things now the weather is good! Got some main beam bulbs on order, should come in this week, and I plan on changing the steering wheel in the next month or so. Trying to get a definitive answer on the airbag resistance so ive got all the bits before I start! Welcome to the club, Michael, and some amazing drawings and sketches you have there! :)Do you spend much time working in Dunton by any chance? Hey thanks. I used to be in and out of there quite a bit, work for a consultancy though so never had my own permanent desk. Still have a few friends working in there though. Why do you ask?

Haha fantastic, yeah I can imagine she wasn't too impressed. Did they not do the IS300 in the dark green? Thanks for the welcome and glad you like it :) Hey, Witham. Was just in our local motorfactors and theres a guy ive met a few times that works in there who has an IS as well, much more modified than mine looked really good today. Keep forgetting to mention this forum to him though! Assuming he's not on here already anyway.

I have a very similar noise I believe, Sounds like something clicking into place, or in and out of place, usually when I pull up to the gate at work. So we're talking about 10mph down to zero car stopped it just clicks once or twice from the front end wheel area. Only seems to do it at the end of a journey, once the car (and therefore brakes/steering components) are warm. Bugged me for a while, had my brakes and discs changed and watched everything being greased up as it was reassembled. Will get the front end up in the air next week when I have time and check the drivers side calipers etc for anything and report back.

Thanks for the welcome. It looks great in pictures - there are quite a few scratches though, mostly on the hood where someone has closed the hood with what appears to be a hand with rings on every finger, and some stonechips on the centre of the hood. Just looked up the paint code, guessing this is 6R4 Glenarvon Pine? Will have to try and get hold of a pot and do a test...

Whoop sorry haha. Shows I don't read a damn thing just saw the silver sig car :p Ah I do like the TTE front bumper. My car looks more like an exec (with the tan half leather) so I think its more fitting. Definitely considering the L badge onto the altezza grill mod, and then spraying it all satin black as I move it over to more of a sport look... But yeah, still have both. So itll be back to the original 3 bar Lexus while I modify the other one :)

£280 - K. Note the asterix with the K, below the table it says "*Includes cars with a CO2 figure over 225g/km but were registered before 23 March 2006." So although ours may be L or M, in reality as they are pre-06 they will be category K. ... I think. Either way mine came through for this month and I paid £280. I know there was a rule change for cars registered after a certain date that was only a few (read as 5 years now... getting old clearly!) ago.

Just another question - how easy was it to get the Lexus badge on? Did you have to hack apart the original Altezza one to utilise the same clips? Only asking because Ive just seen this elsewhere... And ive been considering painting my altezza grille for a while (it came quite badly stonechipped) and think it would work best with the L logo instead!

Altezza grille looks in much better condition than mine! Looks completely different with the L badge on too. Are the foglamps slightly tinted?

Thanks :) I saw you have recently put an Altezza grille on yours in your thread too. I noticed on mine that the original Lexus one has a blanking plate on the back which closes off most of the grill aperture. The altezza one doesn't have this, so I put the Lexus one back on over winter to see if it would stop excessive cold air getting under the hood during warm-up. In reality it seemed to make no difference, but I like to change it every now and again just to see how it looks!

Thanks for the welcome! Yeah Im mostly an interior trim design engineer, also an ergonomicist and stylist... never worked in powertrain or chassis though which most people are likely to ask about! Do work with a guy who used to design accesory drives in powertrain who I can always ask questions, and I know a thing or two about both anyway, just no expert. Im also a member of the Automotive Artists Guild who often display at places like Gaydon. Some of my more recent work, if anyone fancies taking a look http://www.behance.net/gallery/Traditional-Motor-Art-(2012)/4888373

Hey thanks for the info and welcome. Yes it is, hadnt spotted that... unfortunately I will be flying out of the country on Saturday for a few days, will have to try and make the next one!

Thanks for the welcome! Just spotted the meet details in your sig - I'm up that way occasionally, might come along.

Just joined the forum, thought I'd say hello. Bought this exactly a year ago. Bought on ~65k, put quite a few miles on it so far - almost 20k I think, and absolutely love it. Dark green SE model, black and tan half leather interior. I got hold of the altezza grille from gumtree for a bargain price, have this on most of the time - it looks a bit classier than the UK spec three bar black grille in my opinion, and Ive never seen another car with it on around here. Also change the gearknob over occasionally, Ive got a selection of aftermarket ones from previous modified cars ive owned. Doubt I will do any major changes to this though, but who knows :) Changed the numberplates today (back one was delaminating and got an advisory on the MOT) and Ive currently got a lambda sensor heat circuit code - waiting for a direct Denso replacement to come in this week hopefully this will sort it! I also bought a spare airbox which I drilled and was running a K&N panel in - sounded really nice but I put it back to stock when the code came up just in case. If everything returns to normal after the sensor swap and code clear than I'll put the drilled box back on :) Bit about me - I'm an automotive design engineer based in Essex. Owned a modified vw for about 5 years which i learnt a lot on. Rebuilt the engine in my uni living room with a friend, not many original or stock parts on it by the time I sold it! Owned a Toyota Corolla before the Lexus, so a bit of experience on the brand. Not sure if there are any meets down here in Essex? Thanks!