I just can't do one at a time - look what followed me home today

I've been talking about this car for a while so you guys are probably sick of hearing about it. But this followed me home today.

A 2001 GS430 with the Mark Levinson sound system. It's got bent valves so this is going to donate the cylinder heads to it:

I've been cleaning and organizing the garage to make room for the project (this takes up just a bit more room than the 1st gen CRX I moved out a bit ago) but hopefully can dig into it a little this coming weekend.

It's not challenge priced, but would be easy to get under that with parts sales - especially the stereo which is worth quite a bit on eBay. But it'll probably just end up as a stupidly overpowered daily driver.

I have always wanted a CTS-V but am too cheap to actually pay for one. This is actually not THAT much slower. (0-60 in ~5.8 versus the CTS-V at 5.1) Based on driving the wife's GS300, I think the handling is going to be pretty nice. I'm going to get it running then assess the rest of it for potential modifications. I'm thinking suspension, exhaust, intake, tires. But I might be too cheap for that, we'll see.

zoom

Nice riding car!!

You gonna keep it auto?

Strike_Zero wrote: Nice riding car!! You gonna keep it auto?

Sadly yes for now. If I feel adventurous and rich I might manual swap it later but I rarely keep a car for long enough to justify that kind of time and money spent on modifying one. But there's always a first - if it drives like I think it will the money spent on the kit (around a grand plus the transmission) might be worth it to me.

What? No LS1?

Loser.

I kid, I kid. Nice rig! Should be a nice cruiser once its running on all 8 again.

In reply to dculberson:

Nothing wrong with a Auto luxomobile. . . . I'm glad I kept the 7er as Auto . . .

I look forward to build thread

didn't realize they where that quick

@turboswede: That does it! LS1 swap time!! Bwahahaha

@belteshazz: No joke, they were the fastest sedan in the world when they came out in 1998 .. for about 5 minutes, I think 'till the '98 M3 sedan came out. King of the world to also-ran in months!

Edit: but really Turboswede, I like machines that do cool things. The overhead cam v8 in these cars sounds sweet and is fast, but an LS1 is a tool for moving a car like any other, sometimes it's the right thing and sometimes it isn't. I don't care if someone thinks they're "played out," I care if they work.

dculberson wrote: I don't care if someone thinks they're "played out," I care if they work.

+1

Needs more ITBs.

Youtubes - 1UZ-FE w/ITBs

While it is by no means a slow car, comparing 0-60 times like that doesnt really tell the tale. The lower the 0-60 numbers, the bigger any difference is. The difference between a 8 and 9 second 0-60 and a 3 and 4 second is massive (for example).

Vs a CTS-V we're probably talking about ~10mph in 1/4 mile trap speed stock, and probably 100lbft of torque. Thats an educated guess as i have not looked it up.

But i will say these v8 GS are underappreciated and generally faster than people think. Glad to see you bought one and i will be very interested to hear what you have to say throughout the ownership 'process'.

And i think you will find, if you actually street raced a 1998 m3 sedan, you would win..

dculberson wrote: But it'll probably just end up as a stupidly overpowered daily driver.

A far, far better fate than being de-interiored with a crowbar, slammed with cut springs, and then drifted until wrecked. Which seems to be the fate of Japanese V8 luxobarges

Don't let anyone know this, but I think the Infiniti Q41/Q45 is pretty sweet.

(Want to see heads explode? Time-travel back to the early 80s and use the phrase "Japanese V8 luxobarge" in a sentence. If that doesn't work, try "twin turbo Porsche 4x4". The word "minivan" hadn't been invented yet, so you need to translate it into their crude and archaic dialect. That one may have a time-release explosion, since the 959 was in fact a twin turbo Porsche 4x4, but it's not what we'd actually get)

Needs wheels. Other than that, nice ride. I'd love to own one.

Jealous.

I've been looking at the GS300 for a while. It's a possibility down the line.

Vigo wrote: While it is by no means a slow car, comparing 0-60 times like that doesnt really tell the tale. The lower the 0-60 numbers, the bigger any difference is. The difference between a 8 and 9 second 0-60 and a 3 and 4 second is massive (for example). Vs a CTS-V we're probably talking about ~10mph in 1/4 mile trap speed stock, and probably 100lbft of torque. Thats an educated guess as i have not looked it up.

Oh sure, it's not anywhere near as fast as a CTS-V, and acceleration is only part of what makes a CTS-V so great. My only reason for comparing them is that they're v8 gunslinger sedans and I am too cheap for the CTS-V .. for now. The CTS-V has close to 100hp and 100tq more than the GS430.

I tore into the stereo on the GS for a bit tonight; the CD changer isn't working and appears to be dead. That's too bad. I'll probably order a replacement since in order to add a line in you need to have a working CD changer. They're only around $50 - $100 on eBay so hopefully that fixes the problem. I did find a bunch of gospel and sermon CDs in the changer. And $.26 behind the head unit.

Just an update: the heads are at the machine shop and have been for two weeks. Apparently they were waiting for me to call, despite having told me they would call me. Oh well.

The estimate came to $434 in machine work and $108 in new valves; they should have them done in a day or two, depending on when the valves come in. They asked me about valve adjustment and I realized I had no idea they needed adjustment - since they're hydraulic lifters I ASSumed they didn't need adjustment. So I looked it up and they have shims under the lifters to adjust lash. Since I kept the camshafts they can't do the valve adjustment. I'm going to try checking it myself. They thought it was likely that the valves wouldn't need adjusting, and I hope that's the case as you have to remove the camshafts yet again in order to replace the shims, in addition to ordering shims and waiting for them to come in. If they do need adjusting, well, I'll give it a shot myself. New skills are good. I've done solid lifter adjusting but I've never done this shim style.

My cousin (hi winsordeluxe!) offered to come up for a weekend to help get it put together; that sounds like fun. I need to get it drivable since the MR2 Spyder should be coming home today and I'll be itching to start on that.

I did replace the CD changer and am going to add a line input to the factory stereo. I bought the parts to do it but de-prioritized it when other work came up.

I'm looking forward to driving this car, though. It should be fun.

Oh, I also took Saturday to fix a gas line problem I had and now have heat in the garage. It's amazing to be able to turn a knob and have warm air blowing. It should make this winter a lot more productive on the car projects front.

shim under bucket valve adjustment is no big deal. Measure and order accurately, and you're cool. can be done off the engine for added simplicity, and the adjustment lasts quite a while

August to May, nobody ever accused me of moving fast. Sunday night I put the last bolt in and turned the engine over for a bit with the fuel pump relay out to get oil circulating. I then put the relay back in and crossed my fingers, cringed, and turned the key - it fired right up. Idled unevenly for a second while the fuel pressure built up then the idle stabilized. Amazing.

I've never done a project quite this in-depth on a modern motor. There were a lot of challenges but it's done. A few times I regretted the purchase but now I'm pretty excited about the car and we'll see how it works out long term.

I took the GS on its inaugural "lap around the neighborhood" last night and the power is really good. The car is solid (no rattles noticeable at neighborhood speeds) and the stereo is awesome. It has a couple exhaust leaks at joints I didn't break open - must be due to having the exhaust loose and having to manhandle it to get it back in. I'm not looking forward to trying to get those nuts off, they're so built up with rust and crud you can't see the threads on the bolts.

The only things left are: exhaust leaks, brake rotors (rusty from sitting), oil change, add a line input relay to the CD changer wiring, and put the glove box back in. I need to clean it really well, it's dirty from sitting. Then I'll start driving the wheels off of it.

And then I get to start on the mr2 spyder. Sheesh.

Congrats!

I love it when a big project moves under its own power for the first time. That's an awesome feeling...

wheelsmithy wrote: shim under bucket valve adjustment is no big deal. Measure and order accurately, and you're cool. can be done off the engine for added simplicity, and the adjustment lasts quite a while

Especially easy if you've become accustomed to it in routine SHO maintence.....

Congrats! I have always liked those cars.

Chris

Yay! I know that car put up quite a fight to get fixed, it must be very satisfying that it works! Are you bringing it to Summit?

Nice "pickup" there....gonna be a sweet ride!!!!

I'll be the first to admit that I'm old enough to remember a certain Lexus ad wherein a vaquely British female voice called the Lexus GS "the fastest automatic sedan in the world."

And if you don't believe me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA6HUySkFss

@Sonic: I believe so! We may have three of us total - so far, Lisa is planning on joining us, and my cousin Matt might come up from Tennessee. So we'll have to pack light to fit in the GS but I might insist. ;-)

@1988RedT2: Ha ha, that commercial is deliciously cheesy.

I've always liked the looks of the GS400, sounds like an interesting project! Congrats on getting it running!