In reply to Crackers :
Is this you?
In reply to Crackers :
Is this you?
Yup, that would be me.
Just a teaser pic while I'm mocking up ride height.
Still not quite enough low... Rear arch is literally sitting on the tire.
Any lower and my jack won't fit under the front cross member. We'll call it good there.
Yaaaasssss
Glad to see this project is still moving forward! Something else made me think about it a week or two ago, and I wondered if it was still moving forward.
If I had to chose between the two ride heights, I would go for the higher of the two. The car looks a bit nose down in the second one.
Either way, the car is looking amazing and way glad to see it back on top of the forum.
Yes, looking most excellent.
Thanks guys, I'm trying to arrange my death, by looking at another parts car in the next day or two.
Surely another car is going to get me killed by future Mrs Crackers unless I can hide it somewhere. LOL
In reply to NOHOME :
There's a couple things going on in that picture, the obvious one being the missing lower quarter I cut off making the back end look higher than it really is, also the fender is a little low on this side.
These have a kind of odd shape to them, if they don't have a bit of rake the roof at the rear sits lower than at the windshield and just doesn't look right IMO.
Just preference I guess. 
What is the plan to recreate the rear wheelwell radius flare? Graft from something or metal-fab something from scratch?
Pete
I like it low, but both have amazing stance. Looking forward to more progress.
Well, parts car already sold. :( boo!
In reply to NOHOME:
I have a tipping wheel and soft lower roller on order, and I'm not on any medication. End result will likely make both things regrettable.
The original rear arches don't have any pinholes, yet. They are thin enough that welding them back in would be a real bitch so I'm replacing them. They are at least in good enough shape to use for templates.
In reply to Crackers :
Just cut them neat to show lots of tire, bend and weld 1/8 or 3/16" rod and weld (says the guy who knows this will be maddening).
Parts car unsold! If I suddenly disappear, call the police, because there's been a murder!
In reply to Crackers :
Not too worried for ya, I suspect your significant-other keeps you around for the same reason the rest of us don't die in our sleep: We fix E36 M3.
Crackers said:
Any lower and my jack won't fit under the front cross member. We'll call it good there.
It would be some work, but grafting the lips from a couple spare front fenders onto the rear wheel wells would look good.
In reply to stuart in mn :
Actually, that would be the esy button maybe flip them front to back side to side for better profile.flow.
However, not much room between the back of the door and the tire.
So, I'm not 100% sure if I got what was looking for, or just made a lot of work for myself, or if I just made a lot of work for myself and wasted a bunch of money, but Lexus SC300 #2 is in my possession.
It was actually at a salvage yard that had 3 of the same color SC300, and one had apparently just sold that morning. When they realized I was asking about one of the others, they contacted me and I made a pilgrimage to a pretty cool small salvage yard.
One of the guys was using this to run around the yard.
Isn't this the same thing Moog (MCM) imported from Japan last year? I didn't think they'd be available here.
Anyhow, #2 is a fitting designation for this particular Lexus.
I was mostly hoping for an engine donor, but this one is at minimum going to need a refresh if not a bunch of machine work. But, it's an early model with the stronger rods in her bottom end and has all the accessories and pieces missing from SC300 #1.
At some point, I had a tote with my ECU, gauge cluster, and HVAC computer get filled with water when the lid disintegrated, this has all those parts, plus a matching key, which #1 didn't have.
I'll also be able to harvest some of the inner cowl vent pieces I "destructively disassembled" before I realized I could re use them in the wagon. I was planning to fabricate new pieces, but having replacements will probably save me a weeks worth of work.
Plus, now that I have a TIG welder, I'm happy for the opportunity to take a different approach to the wipers using the cast aluminum chassis its mounted on instead of the steel chassis I was trying to to build before abandoning it because of aesthetic issues (on an unseen part no less) and buying a Dakota assembly to modify that will also now, be abandoned.
And now, I'll have a spare set of calipers, axles, rack and pinion, diff, transmission and HVAC box, as well as enough brake line to delete the ABS without using mismatched brake line or a bunch of unions.
With the spare axles and diff I think I'm going to pull the covers off and weld the spiders on whichever one looks more scary for rallyX duties.
Speaking of which, I've wanted a set of these factory 15" wheels for rallyX duties, and they're all in good shape, so really this got me all the parts and spares I wanted all in one package. I just didn't the #1 thing I bought this for. A running motor. Hopefully, with some luck I can rebuild this one pretty cheap.
I hope that all sounds convincing, I'll have to rehearse it a few times before I try to justify this to the missus, although I might skip the welded differential etc.
Oh, and amusingly, SC #2 was only about a mile from where I bought SC #1 which brought me by here.
Like most cars, the wheel arches are the first thing to rust out on these so finding fenders with arches better than the ones I just cut out are not only unlikely, they would also likely be out of budget. Also, I just wouldn't want to cut up good fenders for this.
Worst case scenario, I relocate and weld the originals back in. They're not *that* bad. Honestly, I wouldn't bat an eye if someone else wanted to weld them back in.
Either way, I want a factory looking arch.
Mr Dos is sitting at my parents place awaiting it's doom. In my my rough estimation, if I go all out honey badger mode, I can get this chopped up before the missus gets home from work, and the pieces will blend in with the rest of my scrap long enough to buy me some time to get it all hauled off.
Hopefully this will do it...
Look, Honey, I got some spare parts!
So I have spent a ridiculous amount of time thinking about what I want to do with the interior with this car, and I'm pretty much set on black and plaid with some stainless trim accents. Nothing that would stand out to the average person, but custom enough for real car enthusiasts to recognize.
Then this morning I ran across this celica on Larry Chen's YT channel, and damn... They pretty much nailed the aesthetic I'm after for this car. I could do without the patina, but it's it's well thought out and tasteful IMO.
Crackers said:One of the guys was using this to run around the yard.
Isn't this the same thing Moog (MCM) imported from Japan last year? I didn't think they'd be available here.
That's a Honda Ruckus, they are sold in the US.
Most of my time here lately has either been spent dealing with SC300 scrap/part sorting, recovering from minor injuries, rain dodging, or working on my mother's truck.
They were towing a gooseneck trailer when my stepdad jackknifed it and smashed the back of the cab. Apparently step dad also decided the truck didn't full coverage (in beknownst to mom) and only had liability coverage. Mom is on fixed income and step dad has had his hours cut pretty hard due to covid-19, so they don't have the cash to fix it out of pocket.
I've got it 90% pulled, but it's going to need to be jacked up from the inside because the window frame has been pushed down and the new glass physically won't fit in the hole. Which means the back seats need to come out, but for now it's covered and taped up until the glass comes in and I can pick up a porta power to jack up the roof.
Some time last week I picked up an English wheel from HF. They recently upgraded their design and seems a lot stiffer than the older style. Of course, I barely had time to set it up the day I got it, and have been busy since but I had a cancellation at work today and spent a couple hours playing with it and roughed out the rear part of the PS wheel well.
I've spent a lot of time reading about E-wheels and watching a lot of videos of people demoing their use and I'm not sure if the sources I consumed were grossly overstating the nuances, or if I just channeled my inner Rain Man, but I found it quite intuitive.
Just after cutting that last panel a thunderstorm rolled through and our power out so most of it was made in the dark. I can't handle half a sheet and operate my shear by myself and with no power to run a grinder I'm stuck waiting on the power company.
You'll need to log in to post.
