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Olympic Mathlete
Feb 25, 2011

:h:

How in the gently caress has that happened then?? :aaa:

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IOwnCalculus
Apr 2, 2003





Presumably that car must've been in a big accident in the past that wasn't repaired well enough (or arguably shouldn't have been repaired at all).

Pomp and Circumcized
Dec 23, 2006

If there's one thing I love more than GruntKilla420, it's the Queen! Also bacon.
Beats me! The alignment shop was as surprised as I was. There's no evidence of damage to the body shell, I think maybe it spun into a curb and rippled slightly enough that we couldn't see it. Me and the alignment guys checked over that car for almost an hour, and all agreed: "don't know how, but it's hosed".

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
Man, I've never seen that second diagram of wheelbase difference before and I've gotten a lot of alignments done.

Time to distract my alignment guy and tab through his computer when I put the Civic on the rack.

Also, white chassis paint? Brave man.

PaintVagrant
Apr 13, 2007

~ the ultimate driving machine ~
RIP Soarer, like an asymmetrical winged Icarus you flew too close to the rising sun. :japan:

Pomp and Circumcized
Dec 23, 2006

If there's one thing I love more than GruntKilla420, it's the Queen! Also bacon.

Seat Safety Switch posted:

Man, I've never seen that second diagram of wheelbase difference before and I've gotten a lot of alignments done.

I went to an alignment-only place that does lots of alignments for custom builds, race cars, kit cars, etc. Regular alignment shops just gave me a "not in the system. does not compute. shall I 'do the tracking' for you?". The shop I used had a Hunter system, and they were happy to use my alignment specs and procedure as provided by Toyota. The guy switched to that second page after looking over the car and deciding 'something's not right'.

There is also a third diagram, which renders your wheel alignment in 3D, with the deviation from standard exaggerated, and a 'ghost' of the ideal alignment. So the tech can watch their changes happen in real-time as they adjust various adjustments. My 3D diagram looked like someone had crumpled the car into a ball.

Pomp and Circumcized fucked around with this message at 18:05 on Feb 8, 2016

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
Yeah, I've seen the 3D diagram before. My preferred alignment shop isn't so much a race shop as a seedy ghetto shop that lets me go into the back because they probably don't have insurance.

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
Hey, double post. Suck it propriety, we're going into overtime.

So I saw a $900 '91 LS400 about three hours away that looks super nice, but the dude says it needs a heater core and "possibly a fuel pump" as he can't start it, and his hick mechanic can only start it "when he puts fuel in the intake."

I somewhat doubt his diagnosis of fuel pump, since it's not hard to swap the fuel pump on those (or pretty much any, barring Saab) cars. I also read "fuel in the intake" as "fuckload of ether."

Is it pretty much a 100% chance of being bad caps in the ECU (like the Soarers), or is the capacitor plague on Lexuses fairly overblown?

Pomp and Circumcized
Dec 23, 2006

If there's one thing I love more than GruntKilla420, it's the Queen! Also bacon.
There is a resistor pack 'fuel pump controller' which can often fail on the older Lexuses. It's pretty cheap to replace with a junkyard park, you can short the "B" and "FP" (battery and fuel pump) terminals on the diagnostic connector to give +12v directly to the fuel pump for testing.

Bad ECU caps normally start by manifesting random codes, you'll get rough running and unstable idle and all sorts. I've never heard of an ECU being unable to start the car, but it's possible. Note that it's not usually the caps themselves that show symptoms, it's the other components which have been burnt, and the burnt traces from the corrosive electrolyte. If it's capacitors, best case is $5 of capacitors and some IPA to clean up any goo, worst case is some trace replacement or a replacement ECU (cheap, many go aftermarket as these ECUs are not flashable or moddable in any way).

'Capacitor plague' didn't affect these cars, it came later in the 90's. It's just 25-year old capacitors that are being run to their limits. Even modern* electrolytics have a MTBF of 2000-3000 hours.

If it's an otherwise good car, then go for it. Running examples in the UK are around £400-£500, but I've yet to see one without some body damage or rust or hosed interior or something. I'd say a good, clean exterior and interior would be worth more than a running car - 1UZ's are cheap and reliable.

And yeah, fuel pump swap is easy on a SC, not sure about a LS but I assume it's almost identical.


*'modern' is a loose term, I mean...it's some foil and wet paper rolled together and stuffed in a can


Edit: note that all of the above knowledge relates to the Soarer/SC, but the cars are almost identical other than the body style, so I hope this knowledge transfers over to the LS.

Pomp and Circumcized
Dec 23, 2006

If there's one thing I love more than GruntKilla420, it's the Queen! Also bacon.
I've just had a quick check through my many, many pictures, to see if there is anything I missed, and I'm pretty sure we're now up to date with these loving cars.

I transferred the LPG system over to the white car, making a few adjustments on the way.



This is with both engines partially torn down, to swap the drilled-out intake between the two cars. I also verified that the white car does indeed have a well-hidden starter motor.

This is the final picture I have of the two cars together - the green one went away the next day.



I replaced the AC system on the white car - the compressor was making a clicking noise, and the condenser came out like this:





I ordered a SC400 condenser from the US, and had Soarer fittings TIG welded on.



Worked out £200 cheaper than buying a Soarer condenser (gently caress my life).

Bought an autoclimate AC machine for cheap as it wasn't working, repaired it for next to nothing, and used it to fill my car with sweet, sweet air duster.


(not sure where my pictures of it, or the compressor check, reseal, and install are)



Opened the gas ports on my spare shocks (this is a one-time deal, don't do this unless you mean business), and hydraulic fluid sprayed out. Guess these seals are hosed!



Had schrader fittings welded on and regassed the shocks. This will last for a while before the leak again, and force me to reseal them.





Now all that's left is for me to break down this hunk of junk when the weather improves!





Let's have a look at the final 'jobs list' for the green UZZ32, to see if I managed to complete any of it....


Boot lid all lovely, hole in rear bumper - NOPE
CD player doesn't work - NOPE
Headlights are full of water - Yeah, I opened them in the oven, cleaned the insides, resealed them, replaced the breather tubes, and now they are dry!
Active suspension feels very hard, as if the sealed nitrogen accumulators have leaked. - I got those accumulators (picture above) sorted out, but didn't end up sorting the harsh ride in time for this poor car.


That brings us all up to date. What's next?


This is next:


These unicorn $1000 exhaust headers (imported from Australia) is next

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
I don't think I've ever seen shocks with a gas port before. I assumed they were all just cartridges dropped into a housing somehow.

Pomp and Circumcized
Dec 23, 2006

If there's one thing I love more than GruntKilla420, it's the Queen! Also bacon.
These aren't shocks, they are not even really a car part. They are just regular hydraulic accumulators, the kind you may find on farm or construction equipment. They just happen to be stuffed between the wheels and the body of a car.

It's best not to try comparing them to normal suspension shock absorbers.

Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
Is this car where Toyota put all their "weird" engineers while they were busy building the LS400 in the next room?

Pomp and Circumcized
Dec 23, 2006

If there's one thing I love more than GruntKilla420, it's the Queen! Also bacon.
All the suspension and steering stuff is made by Aisin with Denso electronics, so I guess Toyota just threw them both a bunch of cash and said "we're making one hell of a car for the US market, now we have to beat it over here because we Japanese always keep the best stuff for our own market hashtag Jay Dee Emm"

8ender
Sep 24, 2003

clown is watching you sleep

Seat Safety Switch posted:

Is this car where Toyota put all their "weird" engineers while they were busy building the LS400 in the next room?

Right after they finished with the Previa, yes.

randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

e: :doh:

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 10:48 on Feb 11, 2016

Pomp and Circumcized
Dec 23, 2006

If there's one thing I love more than GruntKilla420, it's the Queen! Also bacon.
Well yes, but the post you quoted was a joke in response to a joke.

cakesmith handyman
Jul 22, 2007

Pip-Pip old chap! Last one in is a rotten egg what what.

What I'm taking away from all this is that if you want to become obsessive about a car, try to choose one that was common as muck and cheap as chips :haw:

Also that Toyota can take on Citroen at their own game if they want to.

Pomp and Circumcized
Dec 23, 2006

If there's one thing I love more than GruntKilla420, it's the Queen! Also bacon.

Cakefool posted:

What I'm taking away from all this is that if you want to become obsessive about a car, try to choose one that was common as muck and cheap as chips :haw:

Did you know that Mazda made a line of cars which were powered entirely by twirling metal nachos?

cakesmith handyman
Jul 22, 2007

Pip-Pip old chap! Last one in is a rotten egg what what.

Yes, we were derailing discussing them in Spyders thread :haw:

Pomp and Circumcized
Dec 23, 2006

If there's one thing I love more than GruntKilla420, it's the Queen! Also bacon.
Yeah, check out this SICK CROSSPOST

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172093269740

Should I loving do it?

cakesmith handyman
Jul 22, 2007

Pip-Pip old chap! Last one in is a rotten egg what what.

Holy poo poo yes, I'm astonished it fits with the bonnet down though, unless he took it out for that picture :v: I reckon you could get it for £650 max, you just have to balance the benefit of someone having started it against not having the donor if somethings missing.

Pomp and Circumcized
Dec 23, 2006

If there's one thing I love more than GruntKilla420, it's the Queen! Also bacon.
I think I'd be better off paying £500+shipping for the car, then £500+shipping for a wrecked GS430 (2nd gen GS). Plus, I'm currently in the process of buying a house and don't need two non-working cars to have to deal with.

Still, I posted it to show that it will fit into a bay designed for an engine that's about 1/4 of the size, lol.

Olympic Mathlete
Feb 25, 2011

:h:

Yeah don't buy that, you'd still have to be seen driving an RX8 and there's no cure for that.

Pomp and Circumcized
Dec 23, 2006

If there's one thing I love more than GruntKilla420, it's the Queen! Also bacon.
£500 for a 2005 coupe-ish with 60-80k miles on it, though! Where else can you get that?

Seriously - tell me! I'll soon have a 'spare' 1UZ floating around which will need a home.

Olympic Mathlete
Feb 25, 2011

:h:

Are you looking for a home for the engine or am I? I'm confused right now.

Nothing But Hate
Oct 7, 2006
When night falls, she covers the world, in impenetrable darkness

ShittyPostmakerPro posted:

£500 for a 2005 coupe-ish with 60-80k miles on it, though! Where else can you get that?

Seriously - tell me! I'll soon have a 'spare' 1UZ floating around which will need a home.

V8 RX8 sounds GR8

Pomp and Circumcized
Dec 23, 2006

If there's one thing I love more than GruntKilla420, it's the Queen! Also bacon.

Nothing But Hate posted:

V8 RX8 sounds GR8 M8

FTFY

Applebees Appetizer
Jan 23, 2006

That motor has got to weigh a good amount more than the Renesis, so there goes that sweet 50/50 balance.

Still surprised it fits though.

everdave
Nov 14, 2005
Get the rx8 you owe us this! But seriously only you can finish a project like that

Raluek
Nov 3, 2006

WUT.

everdave posted:

Get the rx8 you owe us this! But seriously only you can finish a project like that

SPMP, don't you also have a shedworth of active suspension and computers? You could make that RX as nuts as you wanted.

Applebees Appetizer
Jan 23, 2006

Eh, I dunno if I'd want to bid on that thing. I'd wait to see if the winning bidder even buys it, then if not contact the seller and low ball them.

Pomp and Circumcized
Dec 23, 2006

If there's one thing I love more than GruntKilla420, it's the Queen! Also bacon.

Raluek posted:

...active suspension...computers...that RX...nuts as you...

:stare:

It's tempting, but probably a little too much fabrication for someone who is currently shopping for Their First Welder.

literally a fish
Oct 2, 2014

German officer Johannes Bolter peeks out the hatch of his Tiger I heavy tank during a quiet moment before the Battle of Kursk - c:1943 (colorized)
Slippery Tilde
So I got to thinking that I ought to pick up a UZZ32 before they all go to the scrapyard and decided to have a quick look around locally...

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Toyota-Soarer-1996/SSE-AD-3636709/?Cr=5

quote:

This is the last UZZ32 ever built; number 872 of 872 (research in Japan suggests that 872 were built, rather than 873). Needless to say, this is a highly collectible car, perhaps the most collectible Soarer of all, and it's in beautiful condition. Even today, its handling capability is incredible.

Holy hot dicks. I am never, ever paying that much money for it but JEEEEEEZUS.

Hey SPP, how can I tell a proper UZZ32 from another UZZ with EMV (apart from VIN)? A whole bunch of people seem to be putting the non-hydraulic ones up as UZZ32s even when they aren't

Pomp and Circumcized
Dec 23, 2006

If there's one thing I love more than GruntKilla420, it's the Queen! Also bacon.
Holy poo poo :stare:. I've talked to the owner before and everyone who knows UZZ32s knows that this is the last car. #873 existed on paper (it was a blue car, I believe), but was never produced.

Hilariously, the 1995 and 1996 cars were built in 1994, but took two years to shift. I guess this was at least part of the reason for them cancelling the UZZ32 line after 1996, even though the Soarer was in production in 2000 (when it was replaced with the UZZ40 Soarer - or the SC430 outside of Japan)

I was about to write a long post about how to recognise a '32, but helpfully someone has already done it right here to help out potential buyers: http://uzz32.info/How_to_recognize_a_UZZ32_active_Soarer

If you are serious about buying a UZZ32, that webpage has a decent amount of info which many UZZ32 owners seek to maintain.

Being in Australia (home of the UZZ32), you are fortunate to have access to a large number of cars, plus the specialist knowledge from many individuals, plus many aftermarket parts (e.g. there is a guy in Ausrtrailia who makes control arm bushes for UZZ32s - he is the only person in the world who can supply these).

Feel free to get in touch with me about any potential purchases. Good luck!

literally a fish
Oct 2, 2014

German officer Johannes Bolter peeks out the hatch of his Tiger I heavy tank during a quiet moment before the Battle of Kursk - c:1943 (colorized)
Slippery Tilde
It will likely be around Sept-Oct before I seriously look into this (if I do) thanks to some bass-ackwards driving rules here that mean I can't drive anything with a 1UZ in it until i'm off my probationary license (FIVE YEARS LATER) on August 18th.

Maybe for a birthday present to myself in October...

Awesome that that's the last car, though. What a piece of history.

Thanks very much for the link, lots of useful stuff here :sun:

Olympic Mathlete
Feb 25, 2011

:h:

waa gwaan with this lot now den?

Pomp and Circumcized
Dec 23, 2006

If there's one thing I love more than GruntKilla420, it's the Queen! Also bacon.
I've just bought a house! With a large garage and off road parking for many many Soarers. :) I might be able to make a car related post sometime this week but between work and house buying, I've not had much time to work on the cars.

Dagen H
Mar 19, 2009

Hogertrafikomlaggningen
Congratulations!

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Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
Congratulations, get ready to have a bunch of new projects.

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