'04 IS300 - Project (Not Really) Nice Daily

[.RJ]

The day you DGAF about keeping the black car squeaky clean is a good day

[ScottyB]

right on!

[Goodspeed]

right on!

I had this same feeling x 10 today - I hadn't even remembered to ask when I was buying the car, but I glanced at the build sticker on the door sill today and noticed that this one has the 3.91 LSD rear end (code B03B).  I'm guessing most Sportdesigns were optioned out and had them, but for overall IS300 production this is really rare.



...so I basically have a moral duty now to add judicious amounts of power in the future to do some sick burnies.  Overall though, the car is super tight and composed, it somehow feels more solid than my old one even.  I washed it, but here's some more dirty pics after today's rain

[Senor_Taylor]

Why are you so much cooler than the rest of us?

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[Goodspeed]

Why are you so much cooler than the rest of us?

[ScottyB]

i remember trying to find a 5-speed LSD IS300 in Atlanta back in 07 when i was shopping cars, before i got the 2.5RS.

even then, only a couple years after production stopped, i only found 1 in the entire state that i could line up to drive, and that was after searching for about a month. they just didn't exist.

so basically what i'm saying is that you have 2 unicorns in your driveway and i hate you

[Goodspeed]

 i hate you

[.RJ]

I'll just leave this here.

https://savannah.craigslist.org/cto/d/20...06937.html



Side note, why is every LSx swapped anything always sold before they're ever really sorted out?

[Senor_Taylor]

Because they're never sorted.

Also the type of people that do that swap are more interested in doing the swap than having the finished project. They're on to the next build.

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[Goodspeed]

I'll just leave this here.

https://savannah.craigslist.org/cto/d/20...06937.html

Boof.  It looks shoddy, but the concept is so perfect.  It's going to be hard to resist doing something similar in the future - a nice budget L92/LS3 hybrid motor, a slick new T56 Magnum, and some off the shelf swap parts have been on the brain since before I even purchased the old IS.  It's no more complicated or expensive than doing a GTE/manual swap (and possibly cheaper now that used Getrag V160/161 Supra transmissions are a damn sight near 2x the cost of new T56 Magnums).  It would be cheaper still to send the car to these guys in Texas for a built & turbo'd factory GE motor and A650E auto trans but that's still a decent chunk of a LS swap which would be the holiest of grails.

This car is just so serene and smooth to daily stock, but...time will tell if I can resist down the line.  It would be so neat to have a sleeper, M5-crushing daily in an old 1st gen IS300 that could.

Side note, why is every LSx swapped anything always sold before they're ever really sorted out?

Taylor nailed it, but I tell you what - it just makes it more special seeing the swaps that are done with a microscope.  The first LS IS300 is just such a car - built by the guy who makes the swap kit parts with a LS1 in 2010, then upgraded to a L92/LS3 a year later and built to look factory.  This car has since been a huge inspiration to me:

https://get.google.com/albumarchive/110001416800430195408/album/AF1QipPFzsT1KHNLoKQOfHr10-WCiV7ZerJQEvbEyavR

[ScottyB]

does anyone still try to swap the 1/2UZFE in there or are they just so outclassed by the LSx that it isn't even worth the time?

i've always admired the 1UZ for being so absurdly overbuilt, dirt cheap and apparently easy to wire.

[Goodspeed]

does anyone still try to swap the 1/2UZFE in there or are they just so outclassed by the LSx that it isn't even worth the time?

i've always admired the 1UZ for being so absurdly overbuilt, dirt cheap and apparently easy to wire.

Scotty, I think you just changed the game.  It looks like a full-tilt 1UZ swap kit with a brand new 350Z 6 speed trans is less than the cost of a NA-T turbo kit:

http://collinsadapters.com/index.php/swa...l-kit.html

Just add:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/JDM-Lexus-1UZ-F...fC&vxp=mtr

And some wiring ninja-ness.  



Ohmygad.  This may need to happen.

[WRXtranceformed]

I don't know about you but I still jizz in my head about that green IS I convinced to come down to the MM show so many years ago.  You know the boosted 725whp one 

[ScottyB]

Scotty, I think you just changed the game.  It looks like a full-tilt 1UZ swap kit with a brand new 350Z 6 speed trans is less than the cost of a NA-T turbo kit:

that would be super rad if you pulled it off. i've been obsessed with that engine for a while now and it just doesn't seem to have any downsides other than its small and needs boost to make "internet approved" power. but cheap is cheap and it seems to have a wiring loom that makes it very very simple (like, 12 wires) to wire up and get running.

i love me some LS engines and all...but dude, aluminum twincam V8 from the motherland ain't so bad. if you put ITB's on it i might literally die.

this wouldn't be a bad noise to wake the car up with every morning on your way to work:

[.RJ]

Damn. I like.

[Senor_Taylor]

2uz or bust.

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[CaptainHenreh]

UZ engines are from the same basic design school as the JZ. They are unkillable, overbuilt, great motors. Just don't make "enough" power.

[Senor_Taylor]

Essentially every Toyota motor ever. My 5vz was 3.4 liters and made 190hp. My 2uz is 4.7 and makes 270.

My first Taco has a 2rz which was 2.4 liter making 140 hp, which is surprisingly high considering. I bought it at 185k and it's still chugging along with no issues at 230k now. I did a valve cover gasket and an 02 sensor and changed the oil whenever. It's been in 2 or 3 wrecks now and is right as rain.

My buddy ran a 7afe completely empty on oil, lost an end cap on his connecting rod, and the engine still ran.

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[CaptainHenreh]

Essentially every Toyota motor ever. My 5vz was 3.4 liters and made 190hp. My 2uz is 4.7 and makes 270.

My first Taco has a 2rz which was 2.4 liter making 140 hp, which is surprisingly high considering. I bought it at 185k and it's still chugging along with no issues at 230k now. I did a valve cover gasket and an 02 sensor and changed the oil whenever. It's been in 2 or 3 wrecks now and is right as rain.

My buddy ran a 7afe completely empty on oil, lost an end cap on his connecting rod, and the engine still ran.

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eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh. I don't know about "every toyota motor ever" they've made some shitty stuff especially after 2005. Yes the trucks are decent, but I'm not gonna go on board with "every toyota motor ever". 

Best toyo motors:
22RE
2JZ
1UZ
4A*

Everything else comes in as "yeah pretty good", but not even in the same class as ^

[Senor_Taylor]

Essentially every Toyota motor ever. My 5vz was 3.4 liters and made 190hp. My 2uz is 4.7 and makes 270.

My first Taco has a 2rz which was 2.4 liter making 140 hp, which is surprisingly high considering. I bought it at 185k and it's still chugging along with no issues at 230k now. I did a valve cover gasket and an 02 sensor and changed the oil whenever. It's been in 2 or 3 wrecks now and is right as rain.

My buddy ran a 7afe completely empty on oil, lost an end cap on his connecting rod, and the engine still ran.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh. I don't know about "every toyota motor ever" they've made some shitty stuff especially after 2005. Yes the trucks are decent, but I'm not gonna go on board with "every toyota motor ever". 

Best toyo motors:
22RE
2JZ
1UZ
4A*

Everything else comes in as "yeah pretty good", but not even in the same class as ^

I'd argue the 22RE has been outclassed by a few motors at this point. I can appreciate the historic value of them and I'm certainly a fan, but the 2rz does everything the 22re does with way more power and is just as reliable. It just didn't come in as many iconic cars and was overshadowed by more powerful, yet less reliable motors. 

The 2ZZ needs a space in here somewhere as well, but I'm not sure how reliable they were.