ant

for parts there are some people who use an NZ dealer, and i have personally used Sewell Lexus and Carson Lexus in the USA. Their prices are a lot cheaper even with exchange rates and shipping. if you do use one of those US sites, put clublexus as the promo code in the shopping cart for further discount...

it is unusual that they rattle- how do you mean rattle? i have heard of coilovers knocking due to the pillow ball tops, and i have heard of clunking due to the springs seating/unseating/settling under certain conditons, but rattling is unusual. most shocks can be rebuilt by places, i am not sure who does it but if you google search it there are a few companies around. 245/265 isnt the profile its the width. the profile is the 2nd number on the side of the tyre e.g. 245/35/19. It is very common to have different sized tyres front to rear, and also very common to have different sized rims also which no doubt your car has. OZ Racing are very good quality rims, i am surprised they cracked. they must just be old and well-used, or have had a hard life. they shouldnt crack due to their lightness, but obviously being very light material they arent quite so good at handling potholes and the like. obviously lower profile wider tyres will provide better handling, as will the lowered height and stiffer ride given by coilovers.

theres not much in WA for these cars. theres a few US based large dealer sites such as Carson Lexus, Sewell Lexus, L-Tuned etc which do both OEM and aftermarket parts. they are trustworthy but expensive. for things from japan i used to use www.importmonster.com.au, which is a yahoo japan interface. But now the exchange rate is much worse, things end up quite expensive. but its the only way to get a lot of things. for larger items, again big bummer about the exchange rate, but i go through an ex pat aussie in Japan called Jesse Streeter - dartsun75@gmail.com Top bloke, good to deal with, and is happy to price up/track down anything you like. If you know what you want, send him the link and he will give you a delivered total. i've bought 2 sets of wheels and coilovers through him.

maybe have a poke around and check the thermostat too

yeah dealer prices are wild. for a service there (140k) its $480, but at ultra tune its $250 and small private mechanic i use, $180. yes, the belts will need changing as they were out eventually.

theres series 1 and series 2 tail lights. they both go straight across the boot though

i get mine through american dealers that sell online like lexuspartsonline.com etc. theyre prices are way better than local dealers ive found

hm i just skim read a lot of this, but it is a little confusing, so il say what i know from the top of my head.. There's the 1st Generation JZS147 Lexus GS300. This car was sold in America as a non-turbo 2JZ-GE. It was sold in its home land of Japan as the Toyota Aristo and i believe came as both turbo and non turbo 2JZ-GTE and 2JZ-GE. i think they were made from about 92ish - 97ish? These are available as imports from Japan, hence any coming in from Japan are Toyota Aristos though some have had different badges put on them. Most that are imported ae 2JZ-GTE because people like the turbo engine. Then there's the JZS160/161 model Lexus GS300, the 2nd Generation. This was sold in America and in Australia as a Lexus GS300, and in Japan as a Toyota Aristo. Again, in the overseas markets this came with a non turbo 2JZ-GE engine but with VVT-i. In japan it came as turbo and non turbo versions, though i believe they were all Auto from factory. These models of Aristo cannot be imported into Australia since they were sold here domestically, hence you need to do an engine conversion to get a 2JZ-GTE version. they were sold from 98-00, then a face-lifted model with updated taillights and grille came out and was produced from 01-04 You can do engine swaps by using a 2JZ-GTE VVT-i front cut from a Japanese Aristo and putting it into the GS300 but some dash lights etc come up unless you go the whole hog with wiring harnesses and so on. An NA-T conversion is done alot in america, both on Aristos and on things like supras. Look on clubna-t.com for some info. Doing an NA-T conversion is a good way to get about 300rwhp from the car with the turbo, injectors, ecu, exhaust, and front mount. Any mroe than this required serious engine work, and it would be better to start with a 2JZ-GTE engine for building, at least the head since it is better. Both of these turboing options are pretty expensive though, like close to 10K.

Someone buy and VIP style this thing, its a nice clean platform for it!

possibly check a site such as www.importmonster.com.au it is an online interface for Yahoo Japan auctions. you can get some cool things on there. i found a dash mat on there today for my GS300 but things arent cheap. they may be cheap in Yen but by the time you convert, add tax, shipping etc a mat would probably cost $2-300 you could ask also the places like Auto1 etc but it is unlikely they could get one though they would have some catalogues they could check. You can even get mats for imports now so it may be available.

i wouldnt stress, you could probably check back monthly on this forum and still not miss any replies haha

you cant import a car that was released locally. So no. you can import for Race/Rally only but thus it is not road registerable.

it seems a lot more popular in America than here. a few of the guys on clublexus.com have it on the newer model Lexus's. the 3M Clear Bra product is apparently not meant to be the best as it goes yellow quite quickly and there can be bad batches which go yellow almost straight away. There is another product but i cant remember its name (sorry!) that is better than the Clear Bra. All of them need waxing and taking care of quite regularly though to maintain their complete clear apprearance and even then i think depending on usage, garaging, climatic conditions etc they all go yellow eventually and need removing and re-doing. sorry i cant be of more help but perhaps try having a look or posting a topic on 'clear bra' on Clublexus.com forums (US based forum)

yeah your car looks sweet mate, guessing its on bags, or just an a/m height controller? best way to post pics is just host them yourself somewhere like photobucket.com then link to them directly from the links they provide once you load the images

yeah i am but like i say i didnt need to touch it since i just bought a panel filter to go in the air box as i couldnt be bothered with a pod since to do it properly you really need to do proper heat shielding etc

try putting them on www jzs147 com au / forums can you not raise them enough to clear the ground? thats insane man, i had base height adjustable Teins in my old S13 and a full big bodykit and it jacked it like 130mm clearance, and that was big kit!

well the different fuel isnt going to make different smoke dude. it should be right. did you flog it with the 95 in it? it certainly wont run as well on that fuel. Blue/white smoke is normally oil smoke so you may have somehow caused it to ping and damage your rings or something in that time but i doubt that. could be valve stem seals too but again i dont think that 1 tank of 95 would suddenly kill that either! if you just bought it i would suggest the problem was there when you got it and it didnt have anything to do with the fuel...though it somehow in some wierd way could have highlighted the issue i suppose

i would strongly recommend US-based dealer sites such as Carson Lexus etc. Carson run a website called L-tuned for aftermarket parts and then they have a link to their factory replacement part section. Hell of a lot cheaper than local at least here in Australia. i bought some Lower Ball Joints from there and they are very easy to deal with a great with the communication i think there is another US based site called lexusparts.com or lexuspartsdirect.com that one of the guys from another forum has had success with.

i havent looked at mine cause i just installed a Blitz panel filter into my air box coz i couldnt be bothered messing with the intake etc but i would say its probably just some gasket goo type sealant. i would just be careful and try running some tooth floss in behind it to remove it. probably once you get one corner loose itll 'peel' away

yep theyll fit, hit up these calculators in future but ill do some for ya... This one tells you how far in/out they will sit compared to stock (provided you know stock data): Wheel Offset Calculator: http://www.1010tires.com/WheelOffsetCalculator.asp This one shows you how the rolling diameter will change compared to stock: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html Now i did you some maths: Offset wise stock wheels are 16x7.5 dont know exact offset but say +38 or so & your going to 18x8.5 +35 so they will stick out 16mm more and have 10mm less inside clearance. theres loads of room behind so dont worry about that, and youve got heaps of space out to the guards. Will fit easy. Tyre size wise, using the tyre size calculator going from stock (based on tyre placard on my car) 225/55/16 to 245/40/18 is a perfect match in Radius, Diameter and a tiny difference in circumference. Overall it will be a 0.1% difference over stock, so basically bugger all. long story short, itll be too easy and still look sunken in my opinion haha

yeah just found that joint a little while ago through jzs147 forum australia. its a pretty handy service for smaller stuff but ithink i will still use Jesse for my wheels

certainly not too low i dont think. cant you just get permits or take it over the pits like that? i guess it depends on your state. i will certainly be going an inch or 2 lower than that! the wheels are a bit dub though, dont fill out the guards too well width/offset wise. can you not just put stock springs and wheels on it, get the defect off then put the stuff back on?

cheers Steve, i was beginning to think noone ever came on here ... i've found Vipstylecars.com/forums so im frequenting there mostly now. getting the front 225/35s for my 18x9.5s for the Silvia this weekend, along with replacing the console and seats etc so it should be just about ready to roll out of the garage, get a wash, and take some glamour shots! then go in the Perth Auto Salon and/or be sold..! GS300 finance was approved and all is well so should be collecting in the next week or so. I've already had my guy in Japan pricing up parts for me so once ive got the car and paid the stamp duty i can start doing little things like clear fogs and LED tails...

the rims can crack, and more likely to do so than a high quality rim. but probably not an issue on a road car. also they are generally very heavy. and they do cheapen the car for those in the know, but those particular style wheels dont look too bad on that car imo :P

hi all, you may have noticed all the posts that i have replied to and moved up, no i'm not a bot, i am a person believe it or not haha i currently drive an S13 Silvia which is pretty highly modified, so much so that i can no longer daily drive it and it is off the road alot more than it is on the road getting various mods/upgrades. as a daily i drive a 91 Charade 3cyl 1 litre haha. below are some pics of the car at the Motorvation car show here in perth in January 08, and then below are some pictures of my new Work VS-XX i ordered custom-made from japan to fill out the flares. theyre kindof my dream wheels, measuring 18x9.5 -19 front with 5" dish, and 19x10.5 -24 rear with 6" dish. New Rims i am looking to "finish" the s13 in the next few months, put it in the Perth Auto Salon, then sell it. For my next car i am looking at a Lexus GS300. i intend to try not to get carried away on this car as i want it to be daily driven, and i also am looking to buy a house or at least rent so i want to stop spending most of my wages on my car! that said, i do have a planned mod list for the GS when i get one. plans are to make it VIP style, so i am looking at LED taillights, clearer upgraded headlights, billet grille, coilovers, VIP style quad tip exhaust, roof wing, deleted boot wing, window weather shields, intake mod such as pod filter, and some 19" wheels that are very flush to the guard with stretched tyres to suit (rim lips kissing fender lips type situation haha) though this may be not user-friendly/daily friendly, i think the cops will leave me be seeing as i will be in a lexus and even if i do get defected, it is as easy as raising the coilovers and putting my stock 16s back on! i am looking at a 98 GS300 at present, in Vermillion red. one owner, full log books, 125k kms etc. Depending on the interest rate i get with finance i may buy this, otherwise i will wait a few months till i sell the S13 and look around then for another clean example perhaps on the east coast of Australia. below is a very simple quick photoshop of the car im looking at with modified taillights, lowered, larger factory-type wheels, larger factory type exhaust.. hopefully stuff works out and i get it, or another GS in the coming months. i have a fair grasp of offsets/suspension and the like so hopefully i can help out. im not a mechanic or anything but i do like to poke around with my cars a bit too so i will help where i can on here :P cheers -Ant