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Halon 09-27-2010 08:23 PM

Project Green Bean (aka: Teh Bean)
 
10 Attachment(s)
NO SH^T!!!

Well the Talon is gone. So time for my new project. Like I had said previous, I was looking for a more "mature" toy. Something a little more comfy, little more displacement, etc.

So today I received my "new to me" 1992 Lexus SC300. Had it shipped from Normal, IL. Here's the actual ebay add that I won :)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...AQ:MOTORS:1123
Just driving it home, I already love it. I didn't feel every single crack/pot hole in the road, the engine just seems smooth and has a nice tone to it. The engine looks like it was recently detailed, it's clean enough to eat off of. There's a couple door dings, and a small amount of sun/paint fade on the front bumper, and a very small amount of surface rust underneath the car, but overall I was suprised with how clean it was! I think this is going to be a perfect fit for what I was looking for, in my price range. The leather must be recently re-covered also because it's in brand new condition (which ever other one I've looked at usually atleast the drivers seat is worn).

Some basic info of the car:

1992 Lexus SC300
Exterior: Royal Jade
Factory 5-Speed
2JZ-GE stock Inline 6 (10:1 comp)
Heated Leather Seats
Memory seating
Only Mods are:
- Supra brakes
- Supra rims
- Eibach Pro-Kit w/ Supra struts/shocks
- Pionner CD-Deck
- 2 Kenwood amps
- 2 10" Kenwood subs
- Capacitor
- 8K HID's

Other than that, pretty much stock. The bads of the car are:
- A/C doesn't work
- LCD Climate Control screen is bad (replacement screen already in my garage)
- Brakes feel warped
- A few minor cosmetic things that will be dealt with over time


The basic plans for the car are
- Replace 8K HID bulbs with something more normal (probably 4300)
- Rip out ghetto bass, sell on CL, and put a new cleaner stereo setup in
- SC400 front lip
- Borg Warner S300sx 84/75 (.91A/R Divided T4)
- Standalone (probably AEM)
- Tranny situation is still up in the air (6-spd vs. Auto)
- E85
- Stock Motor, Stock Comp Ratio (10:1)
- MAP Ultimate Duty L19 Headstuds
- Whatever else is needed to support that turbo setup.

My goals are to first just make sure all necessary maintenance is done, and the car is running in as tip-top of shape as it can be. Once that is done, make it a comfy street car, but with enough power that it can still get some occasional street ownage, and the occasional drag strip visit. I know DB's dyno seems to read different between AWD and RWD, but going by the lower numbers that we are used to, I'm aiming for the equivalent to 600hp on that dyno, which would be something like 700hp at MAP or something like that.

I plan on trying to take my time, not rush this project, and get it done over a period of time (not happening over night). Sometimes on the Talon, I feel like I rushed certain things, but on this one I want to make sure I take the extra time to do things as good as I can.

It's kind of interesting because I'm starting on a new platform that I knew nothing about 3 months ago. I've been reading up a ton, and it's tough starting over as a complete newb again. Pretty sure I've already annoyed the hell out of Shane, and am probably on track to soon do the same to Mo and Cher. But I just want to say a big thanks to those guys for listening to my questions.

Anyhow, enough rambling, on to some pics. Enjoy :)


Purchased Mods

LCD Climate Control Display (repair)
MAP Ultimate Duty L19 Headstuds
S300sx 84/75 Turbo - .91AR Div T4 (thanx MAP)
Hallman MBC (Talon left-over)
China-bay GPS Double-Din head unit (ebay)



Halon 09-27-2010 08:25 PM

Re: Project Lex
 
8 Attachment(s)
And more pics. This is all I have for now. Plan to give the exterior a good clean/wax when I have some time.

A//// Guy 09-27-2010 08:40 PM

Re: Project Lex
 
WOOT! Finally they got it to ya! haha

That things way cleaner than the other pics showed. That interior looks like new! Nice!

slowbubblecar 09-27-2010 08:45 PM

Re: Project Lex
 
Nice. I don't think there is much of a difference in dyno numbers between MAP and DB if you are 2wd. At DB, my car put down about what I expected on a dynojet.

awd-drifter 09-27-2010 08:47 PM

Re: Project Lex
 
For that price, damn that is a sweet deal Brandon! thing looks P.I.M.P!

polishmafia 09-27-2010 08:49 PM

Re: Project Lex
 
The interior looks spotless, and the rest of the car looks much better than the eBay listing. Have fun, this looks like an awesome project!!!

scheides 09-27-2010 09:50 PM

Re: Project Lex
 
Can't wait to see what you do with this thing. The fact that you were mega into DSMs and this car comes from Normal, IL is just plain creepy.

craig 09-27-2010 09:51 PM

Re: Project Lex
 
Looks good, cant wait to see it once the turbo set up is on it.

95talonracer 09-27-2010 10:31 PM

Re: Project Lex
 
Nice that it actually came today! Cant wait to see where it goes. 2jz FTW!

Febo 09-27-2010 10:46 PM

Re: Project Lex
 
Woo, my 2JZ brother!!!

TkrPerformance 09-27-2010 11:07 PM

Re: Project Lex
 
sweet car and color

Halon 09-27-2010 11:28 PM

Re: Project Lex
 
Thanks everyone! Yeah it's a bit scary buying something online like this, without ever having seen it before. I bought my Talon the same way online, but never even saw a pic of it. At least this guy sent me tons of pics, but I still wasn't expecting any kind of gem. But really, this thing is pretty deng clean. Not perfect by any means, but after going through it, it really exceeded everything I was expecting out of it. Same when I had bought my Talon, so I got lucky twice with my online car purchases in my eyes.

And yeah the Normal, IL thing is kinda ironic :) But anyhow, just gotta get the sucker registered now, some insurance on it, and probably just enjoy it for the rest of the fall as it sits, and let the building begin over winter.

I will treat it like I did my Talon. It will stay as rust free as possible, so it will see very little, to no winter roads at all. Gotta keep her clean and as rust free as possible :)

asshanson 09-27-2010 11:59 PM

Re: Project Lex
 
Awesome project, looking forward to updates this winter.

Goat Blower 09-28-2010 12:05 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
It's clean in person, even at night. :D

Boy, the seller took it in the shorts seeing he wanted $5500 out of it. :lol:

At-Least-It's-An-Evo 09-28-2010 12:24 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
Nice! He redid the interior leather. Glad you FINALLY got it though.

turbotalon1g 09-28-2010 02:48 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
Badass, can't wait to see this

goodhart 09-28-2010 07:03 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
Bout time! haha Nice car man!

Kracka 09-28-2010 07:07 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
Looks great, the interior looks perfect!

98gstaherns 09-28-2010 07:14 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
Very clean car! Nice lil find there! So is it done yet?? lol

rose0529 09-28-2010 07:27 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
Looks good! Can't wait to see where you take it!

Kracka 09-28-2010 07:30 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
Dyno it this weekend to get a nice baseline!

At-Least-It's-An-Evo 09-28-2010 07:40 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Kracka (Post 359392)
Dyno it this weekend to get a nice baseline!

No point, it'll make a measley 180-190whp.

mlomker 09-28-2010 08:30 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Halon (Post 359320)
Pretty sure I've already annoyed the hell out of Shane

We all do, in one way or another. lol.

Looks like a fun car! I have to laugh a little about your power goals--you make it sound like 600 is modest.

At-Least-It's-An-Evo 09-28-2010 09:34 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by mlomker (Post 359399)
We all do, in one way or another. lol.

Looks like a fun car! I have to laugh a little about your power goals--you make it sound like 600 is modest.

It's a 2jz. 600 is about 'normal' if not on the lower side. ;)

A//// Guy 09-28-2010 10:29 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
Yep, easy to make power, thats whats sweet about the platform. :)

You should name her Lexy instead of Lex. Lex is a man name. haha

Halon 09-28-2010 10:31 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
Thanks all! I do plan on getting a baseline dyno. Was going to do it this weekend at the dyno day but can't because I have to go up north. So I'll just have to setup a quick little dyno session one of these days for a baseline.

Has anyone actually done back to back DB vs. MAP 2wd dyno tests to see how close they usually read?

As for the "modest" power goal, haha. It's still a lot of power for little old me. But yeah in the grand scheme of things it's probably modest because I'm not going to be shooting for 1000hp like a lot seem to do with these motors. 600-700 is plenty of fun for me.

Halon 09-28-2010 10:32 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by A//// Guy (Post 359419)
Yep, easy to make power, thats whats sweet about the platform. :)

You should name her Lexy instead of Lex. Lex is a man name. haha

I do need to come up with a name... Lex just came to mind quick, but yeah I need a good name. Something that can compare in coolness to the Green Dragon, and Saables :)

Shane@DBPerformance 09-28-2010 11:18 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Halon (Post 359420)
Has anyone actually done back to back DB vs. MAP 2wd dyno tests to see how close they usually read?

We have had Mustangs dyno here and then the next day at Hi-Tech for a dyno day and be within a few HP. But weather conditions, strapping, gear used, etc change from day to day and you can get different numbers even on the same dyno. Turbo cars are probably a bit less consistent because the load on the car determines how much boost it makes, so ours versus the street versus a Dynojet can all be a bit different in the boost a turbo car makes. We dynoed about 10 cars here 2WD that we had previously dynoed at the old Elite 2WD on their Dynojet and the numbers were all within a few HP.

Halon 09-28-2010 12:53 PM

Re: Project Lex
 
Thanks for that info. The basis of my question mainly was if I did a baseline at MAP, and had DB tune it later, is that baseline still halfway valid to see what my gains were. And sounds like the answer is yes because in 2wd they read "close", or at least quite a bit closer than awd.

Car's been registered, and plates transferred to it. Drove it to work after lunch :)

Halon 09-28-2010 04:24 PM

Re: Project Lex
 
The mod purchasing has begun!! Mod list added to first post :) Going to keep as much purchasing of parts, services, etc... as local as possible using our awesome vendors we have here!! So another thanks to those vendors, and individuals who've helped me out in one way or another so far!!

Halon 09-28-2010 11:31 PM

Re: Project Lex
 
I've been trying to decide which tuning method to go, and have recently been talking a lot with a guy over on the lexus forums about a megasquirt system that he builds and runs on his car, and on a few others in his neck of the woods.

Anyone here have any first hand experience with any of the NEWER MS stuff? I know there's a lot of bad thoughts regarding the original MS, but I've heard some positive stuff regarding the newer versions.

Couple of the cons are that it's less widely used, so there might be less support for it, less people willing to tune it, less people capable of tuning it to it's full capability due to less on-hands experience with it. Not Plug-n-Play so harness modifications may be required unless I can find any kind of pigtail to go inbetween the two. Batch injection, this is a grey subject for me. I heard that because of this, it may have to idle a little rich, but I am no expert at that at all. Is batch injection going to really kill drivability, or is it workable? When setting up AEM systems, do people always pretty much use sequential?

Some pro's are it's about 1/3 of the cost of AEM. Don't need an external MAP sensor as it has one built in so you just run a vacuum line straight to the box. Would be wired in parallel with the ECU, not so that it acts as a piggyback, but rather acts in parallel with the ECU so that the ECU can still control A/C and stuff like that, while the MS box fully controls fuel, timing, 2-step, NLTS, knock, etc... The new TunerStudio software is supposedly pretty user friendly (from what I've read, no 1st hand experience here).

So I'm currently a little torn. If anyone has some first hand experience, or some useful input into AEM vs. MS, feel free to voice your thoughts as I'm still a ways out from ordering anything, and am all ears at this point as I'm just trying to gather as many facts and opinions for now to help me make a better educated decision when the time does come.

The guy who I've been speaking with, here's a clip of his SC300 running his MS setup (user name Shaodome over on club lexus, seems to be a bright guy):
http://www.youtube.com/shaodome

Some TunerStudio info:
http://www.efianalytics.com/TunerStudio/

FattyBoomBatty 09-29-2010 07:17 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
My car made less boost/horsepower at MAP last june and I hadn't changed anything from the previous month when I was at DB.

turbotalon1g 09-29-2010 08:44 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
^hahaha.

I'd say talk to the guy who will be tuning your car.
I don't mind MS, but I've only seen the older stuff I think its a good product if you don't have any other choices, maybe a used AEM?

At-Least-It's-An-Evo 09-29-2010 08:51 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by turbotalon1g (Post 359560)
^hahaha.

I'd say talk to the guy who will be tuning your car.
I don't mind MS, but I've only seen the older stuff I think its a good product if you don't have any other choices, maybe a used AEM?

Used AEM's are still $1100-1300 from the supra/lexus guys.

Halon 09-29-2010 09:05 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
The MS system from this guy is basically $750, and the TunerStudio software is free. Also no need to buy a MAP sensor as it has one in it from what he's said, so 1 less sensor to purchase.

My 2 biggest concerns at this point I think are:
1) having to actually splice into the harness
2) batch injector firing (again not sure if this is actually a huge deal, which is why i'm asking).


If I can find a way to be more comfortable with those 2 items, I may just go MS unless I am convinced otherwise.

FattyBoomBatty 09-29-2010 05:54 PM

Re: Project Lex
 
The fun of megasquirt is building it yourself, tuning it yourself and running it lean till it blows up. If you were ice racing this sc300, I would say totally do it. Now that you're ballin' with a toyota product, I'd get a motec ecu or something spendy like that. Megasquirt tech support is virtually non existant, so there's a huge learning curve. I built one once, and it connected to the computer and everything, but I never got it running on a car. I "tuned" a friend's MS setup to get the AFR's to a good enough spot.

Cliff notes: Easy, but dumb.

Halon 09-29-2010 08:23 PM

Re: Project Lex
 
The flip side of this is, I will not be building it. It is a build that another SC300-er has built and installed on a bunch of SC's, and has apparently got it running pretty well. I'd be buying it from him, and as such he would be the tech support. So it wouldn't be jumping in blindly, building something from scratch. There's actually working systems (working well according to him) already out there on these, which is why I'm even considering it.

Motec, umm... I'm pretty sure that will cost about the same as I paid for this car, so no. It's not some ballin car, it's an 18 year old lexus with 150k on it :D haha. I'm still a DSMer at heart, so $750 MS vs. $2000 AEM v2 is enough of a difference to make me take a step back and think.

Super Bleeder!! 09-29-2010 10:37 PM

Re: Project Lex
 
i vote used AEM

Shane@DBPerformance 09-30-2010 10:42 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
Hondata!

Halon 09-30-2010 11:26 AM

Re: Project Lex
 
Did some basic maintenance crap to it. Replaced burnt out bulbs, check oil and coolant and they both look brand new. Replaced the cracked LCD screen, and the back lighting light bulbs (I'll put up some random pics of that repair later).

I have a little to-do list yet at home, but basic maintenance crap will continue over the rest of the fall, so it's ready for some "fun" work this winter.


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