2001 TurboCharged IS300 Project RaceCar

After owning my Stock is300 for about 9 months i decided i needed something a bit more raw. So luckily @AzogSS had a friend locally who was selling a car that just might cure my speed itch.
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The new Car

2001 Turbocharged IS300

Modifications
444 rwhp & 426 torque on 15 lbs
2jz block from non turbo supra (slightly stronger rods and pistons)
2jzgte head gasket
APR head studs
Precision 5858 billet turbo
AEM V2 full stand alone engine management
AEM Wideband and boost gauge
DW 700cc injectors
255 fuel pump
3 inch exhaust from turbo back with Greddy muffler
Boost resource turbo blanket
SRT valve body upgrade with transmission cooler
New timing belt, water pump, thermostat, plugs, hoses, serpentine belt
18x8, 18x9 rims with Hancock tires
D2 coilovers
Authentic altezza tail lights & front grill
Brand new OEM headlights, bulbs and ballast
Custom color paint job, full color change except engine bay (still black)
18% carbon window tint
All upgrades have less than 5000 miles on them except for actual motor(176,000 miles or so)



Ive got a pretty good head start on this one so im just going to learn as much about it as i can before i even think about modding it further, it's pretty well built with quality parts and it still has the clean sleeper look ive always appreciated in cars.

Stay tuned for more.

 

Nice. Auto or Stick?

 

The ole' auto. trying to find a manual would be nearly impossible. Everyone in the area have been messed with lol

 

Cool. I've always wanted one of these. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

 

Sub so clean

 

thanks fellas, i just put the single din in yesterday and the quality in sound is good as expected just from changing the headunit out. The old setup had a cassette (never seen this lol) and a CD player but no USB or AUX so i fixed both those issues.

The black paint upon further inspection has some surface scratches, probs from kids opening and closing the doors

 

Mini Update:

-Changed Front Brakes/Rotors (had some slight steering wobbles when i braked so fixed it)
-Cleaned the interior a bit more. Nothing really note worthy
-Changed dirty air filter to a new K&N Air filter


Next will be getting the car repainted, theres a bunch of mini scratches that bug the mess out of mee and will greatly restore the proud image of the car

Also hunting down a Joe Z intake

 

This is the exact setup i plan on running.. sounds filthy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teu7TqwQ8iM

 

Good looking car! I want to pickup a LS400 one day just for the heck of it.

 

LS400s are cleannnn dude. I'd get a 430 if i got another Lexus tho.. fully loaded they are bar none the nice car ive ever been inside of

 

Figured i'll give this an update

Just ordered 5 225/45/17 tires from my moms job (she gets a sweet discount and their good tires so i couldnt say no)



Also got the hood and rear lip spoiler repainted because black cars need to be super clean or they just wont look right.

Got some hail damage on my roof so that'll get fixed at some point through insurance.

Replaces brakes and rotors all around.

Need to replace 2 O2 sensors and then i'll give the car the ole wash/cut/polish so i can see if need more repainting needs to be done.

The sportdesign wheels are a nice OEM touch but they have road rash so i'll prob see about getting them blasted down and repainted before going new wheels. The Previous Owner bought a matching spare so these wheels are stupid rare now.

Besides that, ive just been enjoying getting 22mpg on the highway(compared to my trucks 12s.. )

Next is prob Suspension, car has 166K miles and that'll def need to be addressed now that im adding new tires.

Any tips on good suspension?

 

Dude sold me 3 O2 sensors for 100$ sooo i bought them just cause.

May as well replace all of them.

At some point going to change the spark plugs and the Valve cover gasket, i think im leaking just a tiny bit of oil.

Transmission flush coming shortly after that as well, i'll prob pay a shop to do that.

 

Hey man, I just found an 01 IS300 for sale. Thinking about snagging it. It's auto, but with 267k miles. Only asking 2500 for it. Any known issues or things to look at on these? I'm in the same boat of just needing a daily/backup to my tacoma.

 

Hahaha, I saw your post over in Bama, and thought of Cam

 

Lol I immediately searched for lexus on here and found it. Thanks Jimbo

 

Congrats! Always liked that body style ​

 

Haha! Thanks for the shout, well lets see here.

From owning mine for the last 5 months.. i'd say these things

-Have him take off the engine covers and have a look at the valve cover first.(PO didnt tell me mine was leaking...) I had a very slow oil leak but taking it to a shop to get it fixed would be 600$ for me. I changed the gasket and spark plugs/wires and spent around 200$ or so.

-Look at the ball joints. They are prone to failure but mine @165k are still solid

-check for road rash(heavy) on the wheels. I got new tires to replace the old ones and found out two wheels were bent. im replacing them and i'll be good there.

-Check both sides of the car to see if it's been repainted (indicates some sorta accident) may be able to drive the price down more

-Water pump/timing belt (this has to be changed every 90-100k or you gonna have a 2500$ paperweight) There should be a sticker on the engine cover showing when it was last changed. Looking at the mileage you're either due for one in 3,000 miles or 23000 miles sooo yeah that'll def drive the price down if its really close (thats like a 800-1000$ job if you take it do a dealer) (300$ or so if you do it yourself)

Other than that, i'd say the regular stuff when looking at a high mileage car. Check the condition of the seats and see if the electronics work(once again another bargining chip)

 

Update time since im on the subject of the car

-Got it professionally detailed to see what needs to be done to the paint. The previous owner apparently had dogs that loved jumping over the drivers side of the car and they parked the car underneath a tree to make matters worse. There are numerous scratches all along the side that are through to the primer and tree sap/road grime has stained the trunk of the car. The detailer did a good job getting most of the road grime out but the scratches are in there deep. I dont have that much in the car overall but a new paint job will be over 50% of the cost of me buying the car so thats a no-go. I wanna get an IS-F anyway so im just gonna roll with it

-New tires work greattt, contential makes solid tires and the discount was immense as well

- 2 replacement wheels should be here tomorrow, gonna sand them down and paint them the factory graphite so i dont have bent wheels anymore

-Valve cover gasket replacement/spark plugs/wires sucessfully installed. Car runs alot better with no oil getting in the plugs lol.

Other than that im pretty happy with the car. I bought it simply to hold me over while i converted my truck to 4x4. Once that's done i'll prob sell the car sometime next year to buy a Lexus IS-F (big 5L V8 motor). It's my dream car and while ive got money not tied up in truck mods anymore after the swap i'll be able to grab one.

 

Well time for another update on this too..

I couldn't wait till next year to replace this..

I got another is300..

2001 with a snail pushing 440whp/460~torque. Pics to come shortly

 

Updated OP to reflect new car