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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
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