CraigIson

Update ... Seeing as the weathers took a turn for the worse again :( ... I've tinted the front fog lights yellow as i'm a bit of a sucker for yellow fogs. Dead simple job. Offers a little bit of protection to the lens from stone chips (Kinda!) (The 'L' badge has been sent to be re-plated, its not been stolen!) Yellow fogs are one of them things that are a throw back to the 'olden' days for me ... personally i like them :)

Update ... Battery box and Fuse box has arrived ... Also ... Cargo net for the boot and the Lexus tool kit (Missing from car) has arrived too.

Update ... The SC's first show! On the 23rd-25th May was Modified Nationals at the East of England Show ground. I am part of UK-Mods.co.uk which is a group of car enthusiasts who all enjoy modifying there cars (Simple as that! And yes, I know the SC is still Stock! but its the thought that counts :P) Other than giving the outside a quick clean, Nothing else has changed. But it's the first time i've had chance to get some photos of her with a decent camera.

Update ... Engine bay cleaning time! No fancy steamers or jet wash's for this! Just good old elbow grease! Trim dressing and PATIENCE! (oh and a few numb fingers!) Trim dressings used: AutoFinesse Revive and AutoFinesse Drezzle, Autofinesse Verso APC. Dressing applicator pads and Rags. I removed the Airbox + Intake pipe and ACIS system, All removable covers on the Fuse box, Relay box, ECU box, and any covers i could get off with ease. Cleaned them with a soft brush and Verso APC. Dried them, and them dressed them with Revive (for the larger covers) and Drezzle for any rubber pipes (after cleaning with Verso) This wasn't a deep clean. But it was a start to get rid of the fair few years of dust/leaves that had built up. Also gave me the chance to look around the engine for any leaks or split hoses. So far so good :) Starting to look a bit more presentable :)

Update ... PARTS! Nothing massively exciting, but anything new is always fun :) Air filter, Pollen filter, Floor Mats and some body clips (Found some that had broke in the engine bay) Old Vs New ... Next up ... Engine bay cleaning!

Update ... Headlight restoration Got hold of a headlight restoration kit by Meguiars (and some slick 50), after a quick read of the instructions. I had soon masked the lights up ready to be worked on. The lights wasn't as bad as some that i've seen around. but they was starting to go at the top on both sides. The kit comes with some sanding pads. Normally, you start with the coarsest and work your way to the finest and then use a polishing compound to remove the finest sanding marks. But because my lights had only slightly discoloured, i decided to skip all sanding, and only used the polishing compound with the supplied polishing pad (Attached to a drill) and see how much discolouration is removed this way. Before ... After ... Defiantly a improvement! and took less than 30 minutes to do both lights.

Update .... Now the weather has finally started to perk up. I've had a little play with the roof and getting the rear quarter windows to come up when the roof is down. My car doesn't have a LuxLink module. So i have to do it via the valet button in the glove box. The windows do come up, but the "Bong" alarm sounds when you try to drive with them up. so unfortunately i can only have them up when i have the roof down and the car is parked up. But i will be trying to figure out a way to get the alarm off with out any mods in the future. Also gave her a VERY quick clean. Found a fair few light scratch's on the boot lid and bonnet. Looks like the last owner had a cat that enjoyed using them to sit on ... Nothing that can't be sorted with a bit of elbow grease though :) Next up ... clean up the Headlight lens's ....

Hi all This is my SC430 that i picked up a couple of weeks ago, Thought i would start a progress thread ... 2001 (51) Lexus SC430 - Silver - Originally from Liverpool - 35,000 at pick up. Silver Exterior, Black leather with Walnut trim. Completely Stock ... The Day i picked her up .... Bye Bye Clio ... Hello Luxury! :P Everything appears to be mechanically sound. She's just in need of a bit of TLC to get her back to looking like new. Absolutely love the car, Engine and gearbox are fantastically smooth. Ride is a little soft but hey, Its how its suppose to be for this type of car (Im been used to a MK3 Renault clio on hard coil overs for the last few years, So anything seams soft compared to that!) ... So far, so good :) Things to do ... 1. Remove corrosion and repaint the two radiator locator brackets. At same time replace/protect any bolts with slight corrosion. 2. Replace Fuse box (Next to battery). Previous owner couldn't figure out how to remove the lid, So he took a screwdriver to the side and smashed the casing ... 3. Battery box is missing. Find a replacement. 4. Full underside rust proofing (As underside looks like it has never seen rain before!!! would like to keep it looking like this!) 4. Small dint to be removed from Bonnet and Passenger side rear arch. 5. Gold Emblems to be cleaned up and re-plated if needs be. 6. TPMS valve stems are damaged (Threaded part) are worn/damaged to the point a valve cap won't fit. 7. Mark Levinson 6x9's in both doors have perished and will either be repaired or replaced. Or all speakers replaced with higher quality units, But retain the OEM Head unit. 8. Figure out why the head light washers aren't working (Possible seized motor). Passed its MOT before i picked it up, so should be working! 9. Alloys have just been refurbished, But not exactly to a high standard, so will be redone at some point. One alloy has a crack in it (apparently) so this will be looked into/replaced/fixed 10. Restore Head Light lens's as slightly yellowed at the top on both. Replace yellow side light bulbs with whiter bulbs (To match HID's) that are "E" marked (Not L.E.Ds as I've been caught out by a MOT tester before over this) 11. Cam belt, Serpentine belt, Water Pump and Thermostat to be replaced (all 13 years old so being water pump and thermostat being preventatively replaced) along with a full service with transmission fluid, Brake fluid and Power steering fluid change. 12. Replace tyres as they are 6 years old. Also a full alignment check as steering wheel is slightly off centre. 13. Check if recalls have been done ... 14. Full interior clean with leather feed and treatment. 15. Full Paint Correction for exterior (As she's never been polished before going from how rough the paint feels!) 16. iPod connectivity to head unit 17. All air filters to be replaced (Air con to be cleaned and re-gassed) ... Basically, I want to get her back to looking and working like she's just come off the production line :) After all this ... (This is were some of you might fall out with me!) ... Unfortunately The plan is ...(eventually) get her sat on Air Ride, US rear bumper (Deleted fog lights) with deleted reflectors front and rear (or possible body kit change, but nothing OTT) and some very large, Very wide, Very cambered wheels and things like pressed number plates, custom exhaust (Currently a little too quite for my personal taste) ... Effectively going down the V.I.P Style route .... However, these plans will probably change!

Update ... Yes you can get the rear quarter windows up by using the method above. But some owners find that when they start driving, the roof "Bing' alarm sounds and carries on till they stop driving and will carry on doing so till they put the roof back up. It does seam to be hit and miss if the alarm sounds ... It looks like a suck it and see job.

So far I've tried it with the headlights on/off. Pressing and Holding the wash button. Pressing the wash button and the screen wash button at the same time. but i can't seam to get it to work no matter what i press. No motor sound or water being squirted inside the bumper. (I can lift the jets out of the bumper and they seam to be clean and move freely) So I'm guessing its either a fuse (Which looks fine) A relay somewhere (But i can't find it). The Pump. Or the switch on the dash :/ Its just passed its MOT when i picked it up. And for the MOT they have to be working ... So i'm thinking I'm doing it wrong, or it was over looked on the MOT ...

It does have it written in the owners manual on page 247 I've only owned the car for 5 days now, And as you do. Ive read the manual cover to cover hehe Basically ... 1. Make sure the roof is down and the ignition is on. 2. Press the Valet/Trunk lock button in the glove box to LOCK the roof in the down position. 3 Within 10 seconds of pressing the valet button/locking the roof down. Press the OPEN main switch for the roof on the dash TWICE. 4 Then PRESS AND HOLD the CLOSE side of the main switch (with in 10 seconds of step 3) until the rear windows come up. I'm not 100% about the 'within 10 seconds', But when i do it i simply do a PRESS .... PRESS .... PRESS AND HOLD kind of pattern. The manual says to operate the switch slowly, but it gives no indication to what slowly is! It took me a few attempts to get it the timing right. I just turned the ignition off and put the valet switch back to open. But if needs be, i can make a little video of how i do it. I believe it also works in reverse. So if the roof is up and you want the rear quarters down. You lock the roof up, and then press open, open, hold close. i will be trying this tomorrow so i will keep you posted. I'm pretty sure the roof can be put back up with the windows up too. But i can't remember if, when the roof is going back up it re lowers all the windows till the roof is back up, and then puts the windows back up (I can check this tomorrow)

Ahh well thats a bummer it wasn't you. Mine is silver too. And mine is also being used as a daily so its always going to be out and about :) So far every single time I've put the roof down, just to put it down to show a mate or even my mum and dad, 2 mins later it has started to pee it down! Cant wait to finally enjoy some roofless miles :P If you have Facebook, Pm me your detail's and i will add you. Could possibly see about arranging meeting for some photos in the future.

The one i keep seeing is black (If that is you lol), I'm not too sure of the reg but in its been in and around long eaton, Long eaton Tesco. Clifton Boul and University Boul when I've seen it. I only picked my SC up on Wednesday, i was in my works Tesco van home delivery van when I've spotted it. So if you get flashed of pipped from tesco van, It will be me :D

2001 SC430 ... HID dipped beams Windscreen washers work fine, But the head light washers don't work at all. Press of the head light washer button and nothing ... not even a buzz or squeak! Could be a blown fuse or seised motor? I can only find one fuse labeled headlight washer and that seams to be fine so I'm guessing its the motor. It is a new car to me, so am i doing right by only pressing the headlight wash button? or is there a sequence that i need to do for them to work? like combining pressing the headlight washer and then washing the windscreen? The car is covered under a dealer warrantee, but the dealer is over 70 miles away, so i would like to figure out what the fault is first to save time (And expense). Cheers

Scratch that! ... Figured out how to do it with out messing with relays or luxlink modules :P Cheers for the help though :)

Put me down for this, But i won't be able to get there till after 3 :/

Not you Paul_G ... Snoozy/Denise :D

I think i may have seen you around :)

Yup, one owner with full Lexus service history and cam belt/water pump change. Its in need of new tyres, which it will be booked in for asap. It does have a few very light swirl marks (i'm guessing its been took to a local hand carwash or taken through a auto wash at some point) But nothing that can't be corrected with a little bit of elbow grease :) I'm actually more excited about it than i thought i would be hehe :P

Hi all Finally found the right SC430!!! :D Its a 51 plate with only 34k on the clock. I will be picking up in 2 weeks time and i already can't wait :D I do have plans to modify certain parts of the SC (Rear window mod, Ride height, Exhaust and the rear fog lights being the first couple of things) But firstly i just want to get my hands on it and learn how everything works, and give it a dam good clean :) Unfortunately i missed the April meet at plank and legit. But now i really don't have any reason to miss future meets. Hope to see you all around some time :)

HI all How can i make make the rear quarter windows controllable so that they can be up when the roof is down? I understand there is 2 versions of Luxlink and the mk2 version gives the ability to control them (But silly hard to get hold of and costly). Is there any other ways to do so? There's a few videos on youtube of owners who have fitted a switch to control them, but i can't find any diagrams for the wiring. I know when the roofs down the windows should be down, but i would like to leave the car with the roof down, windows up, and the rear quarts up, i think it just finishes the SC430's smooth lines. Cheers

Cheers IHgs300, ... i might just book it off just so i don't miss out lol

Cheers :)

Put me down, I might not be in a Lexus though Any idea on a time? I work at the long eaton Tesco, and will be working till 3pm on that sunday.

Yeah ill be there chaps, I work at the Long Eaton Tesco so I'm back and forth past that way everyday. Would be ace to have a proper look around some Lexus examples and get a proper feel for them (and sound :D), and get your advice on what to look out for (If i don't have one by then)