VIP - its so hot right now, UCF21 build

[TMA-1]

I'm sure you're aware of this already, but don't forget that you're probably going to have to cut holes for your upper control arms to keep from knocking. (for the life of me I can't remember what its called, but the part the top of your coils attach to on the frame.)

Yep got that on the list of things to do!

looks sweet, going to turn out great. and ya, people typically tie the harness up higher or go the full 9 yards of rerouting it like you did. if you decide to zip tie it up, the tire might still hit the part of the harness where it goes from being under the rail pinch weld to above it, so some people make a cut in the rail so the transition is smoother.

not even sure if that made any sense/is easy to follow, haha

looks like you got it figured out tho

Haha I got what your saying man, I really hoped I could've tied it up higher but with 18s and goin as low as I hopefully want to I was just too paranoid about it.

[scott.k]

looks sweet, going to turn out great. and ya, people typically tie the harness up higher or go the full 9 yards of rerouting it like you did. if you decide to zip tie it up, the tire might still hit the part of the harness where it goes from being under the rail pinch weld to above it, so some people make a cut in the rail so the transition is smoother.

not even sure if that made any sense/is easy to follow, haha

looks like you got it figured out tho

[Strawhat]

Looking forward to it man. ATL/Georgia has some great VIP cars.

[DeltaAlpha9]

I'm sure you're aware of this already, but don't forget that you're probably going to have to cut holes for your upper control arms to keep from knocking. (for the life of me I can't remember what its called, but the part the top of your coils attach to on the frame.)

You mean the strut tower?

[eXerGy]

I'm sure you're aware of this already, but don't forget that you're probably going to have to cut holes for your upper control arms to keep from knocking. (for the life of me I can't remember what its called, but the part the top of your coils attach to on the frame.)

[TMA-1]

Nice start! Where are you in Atlanta?

I did live in East Atlanta Village (STi pic) but I just moved out to West Atlanta. Finally got a garage to do some work, got tired of wrenching out on the street.

Love your car btw, was following the build on Club Lexus. Would love to meetup sometime when my car is done, never seen another VIP car besides my own future tense car.

[TMA-1]

Very nice start.
Would love a VIP one day.
Something big, low and loud.

Thanks man, can't wait to get it all finished so I can do just that!

this looks good. cant wait to see the dukes on

One of the best looking wheels thats for sure

Are you holding your car up with just the lift? No jack stands?

Ha it does look like that, nah I had jackstands on both sides its just the fender liner hiding it.

Came for the Zoolander reference, staying for the LS build.

Nice start so far! Sub'd

Thanks, been checking out your build aswell. Love me some Saabs, grew up around them and have owned two. One of these days I'll get a C900 SPG, before I bought my LS there was a 89 edwardian grey one for sale but by the time I got the money it was already gone

[Prime]

Nice start! Where are you in Atlanta?

[JRodigan]

Came for the Zoolander reference, staying for the LS build.

Nice start so far! Sub'd

[Zozr]

Are you holding your car up with just the lift? No jack stands?

[BrandonMcKiernan]

this looks good. cant wait to see the dukes on

[Welfare]

Very nice start.
Would love a VIP one day.
Something big, low and loud.

[TMA-1]

Decided to finally put a build thread together for my 97 LS400, this first post will encompass everything from July to today. I've always wanted to do a VIP car since I saw my first one back in the mid 2000s in an Option magazine. I was really looking for a Y33 Q45 but all the ones in my area at the time weren't in the best shape. Ended up selling my STi and picking up a 97 UCF21 (I actually can't stand silver cars, go figure).

Pic of my old STi and the LS the day I picked it up back in July




After buying it I soon found myself knee deep in forums planning what I was gonna do.

First thing I did was yank out the old aftermarket DVD player and put something in a little newer with iPhone capability. Unfortunately whoever did the install left me a mess of wires to deal with



I decided to just redo the wiring and to make it easier I bought a male/female set of Honda S2k harnesses (adds VTEC) so if I ever change the stereo again all I have to do is unplug it and wire in the new harness



Its a little hard to see but here's the finished product, all the extra wires and crappy taps deleted and everything wrapped nice and neatly. Speaker wires on the left, power etc on the right.



Now that I had something to listen to other than crappy Atlanta radio I set my eyes to acquiring a set of wheels. I knew I wanted a full face wheel in 19s since that seems to be the best size to accentuate the big bodies of these cars.

Every once in awhile I would see an LS on 18s but realized to pull that off you'd have to be pretty aggressive, much more than with 19s. I figured if I was gonna do it might as well go big so I ended up buying a set of Locksmice Dukes which worked out since these were my #1 choice for wheels!

18x10 +12 225/35 Federal SS-595s
18x11.5 +18





Next on the parts list was suspension! After many weeks of research I decided to get some custom spring rate BC Racings, 14k front 10k back. Instead of them just putting a new spring on since its within 2k spec of the normal coilovers I got them to revalve the shocks to 14/10 so if I ever need to go 16/12 I wouldn't need to send the shocks in to get revalved, I can just pop the stiffer springs on. Took advantage of some Christmas sales and got them ordered



Finally after what seemed like forever I decided on a rear tire, bought some Achilles ATR Sport 265/35. I didn't want a crazy stretch like the front tires, just a nice one and thats exactly what I got. Whenever the front tires get trashed I'm gonna swap them out for some 225/40s to match





And a pic showing the diff between the stock rear wheel and the new setup



Anyone with a Lexus knows the issue with the fenderwell harness so this past weekend I got around to tucking it so it doesn't get chewed up by my tires since I'm aiming for some dirty lowness.



Most people push the bundle up close to the frame horn on the top and zip tie it. Thats what I was originally gonna do but I was barely getting any slack and there was no way for that to work for me. So I took a page from the SC guys and unplugged everything from the fusebox (they normally unplug from the footwell) and ran the wires into the engine bay.







The only issue with this is I had to lose a hood strut and my hood doesn't exactly close all the way now.



To solve the this I'm thinkin of cutting out a portion of the hood brace where the harness is now to give it more room. As far as the hood strut goes I'm still trying to think of something there, that hood is heavy as hell and having to bust out a piece of wood everytime I need to open the hood I find to be annoying.

So this is where I am today, plans are:

- install coilovers this weekend
- figure out hood clearance and hood prop issue
- cut out holes for UCA
- shave fenders
- fab up custom single exhaust
- finish sub wiring
- tint windows darker
- install and paint roof spoiler
- cruise the hell out