The *completed* ES300 Project (thewizard's new car)

[CJ]

I rode in my friend's ES300 last night and I made sure to pay attention to the details because I knew you had one. Some of the interior design is dated but everything felt solid solid solid, like how the old overbuilt MBs are reputed to be.

And everyone's giving ME shit for wanting one.  They're extremely solid, very reliable, and not unattractive.  They aren't the best to drive, but I want something that I can feel good about driving cross country.

[sportyaccordy]

Interestingly, I think that ES was designed either right before or right after the great cost cutting of the late 90s (remember when the yen went haywire?). So its either really overbuilt, or they did a good job with hiding the cost cuts. I know the V6 in that had the sludge problem (knock on wood). I rode in one a while back and it was pretty luxurious. People gripe about them being rebadged Camrys... they are way nicer inside.

[Laconian]

The deep cost cutting was with the '02 model.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

IF you didn't order the factory amp, STOP

Why not get an aftermarket 4 channel and replace all the speakers? Odds are it won't sound right w/o the stock HU anyway. And I bet going aftermarket would be about the same $$$.

Did you do a projector retrofit with the HIDs? The beam pattern looks very good for reflectors.

I don't think that gen ES had projector with factory HIDs.

[TBR]

I rode in my friend's ES300 last night and I made sure to pay attention to the details because I knew you had one. Some of the interior design is dated but everything felt solid solid solid, like how the old overbuilt MBs are reputed to be.

Let's hope wimmer doesn't see this post.

[MrH]

The brand new ones are pretty awesome. I'm loving lexus's new interior direction. Probably going to try and get my mom in one next spring/summer. It'll be a nice upgrade for her from her 05 camry

[sportyaccordy]

Yea the new interiors are awesome, I don't even care what the car looks like outside or how sporty it drives... seems like a great place to rack up freeway miles. Would def be a great commuter car. One of my uncles has the Avalon its based on... nice ride, though for some reason the ride quality kind of unsettled me. They didn't have it 100% sorted.

[Eye of the Tiger]

I want to see chrome portholes on the front fenders.

[thewizard16]

You could do it, but I don't think you will be able to make it look stock, sorry.  Pretty much need to design things from the beginning with ambient lighting in mind.  Takes a lot of prep, part design, and there's a lot to consider (reflections, can you see the LED strip, etc.)

I decided to do it anyway because I like a challenge. I realized when I was trying to plan for drilling holes, ordering lenses to diffuse/dim, etc. that there was no way to pull off a stock-like placement and have it look stock, so I decided to order better components and hide things as well as possible. I'm actually pretty happy with how it turned out, I'll have to post pictures later. Just sitting in the car now you can't see any of the LED chips (I used RGB SMD LEDs, which are small and easy to hide) but the light is soft and even, and can be changed to virtually any color. The controller is hidden, the lights are hidden, and the wires are run behind trim and such so it's not really noticeable. And of course, it can be turned off independently in case you don't want the soft glow. I just finished it today, but I think I like it.

IF you didn't order the factory amp, STOP

Why not get an aftermarket 4 channel and replace all the speakers? Odds are it won't sound right w/o the stock HU anyway. And I bet going aftermarket would be about the same $$$.

Did you do a projector retrofit with the HIDs? The beam pattern looks very good for reflectors.

I replaced the amp outright with another factory one. It's a 4.1 system so the amplifier situation if I had gone aftermarket would have been a bit more expensive/time consuming, so I figured I'd keep that stock. The sound system is pretty nice, and the new unit I replaced the old h/u with has an infinite amount of sound adjustments, so I've gotten it to where it sounds pretty good... but I might do the Infinity swap like I did on the Camry in the future if I get bored.

I didn't do a projector retrofit on this, but I looked around for it and couldn't find one that didn't look terrible. As qik pointed out, the ES300 actually had HID reflectors stock as an option, but no projectors until the next gen. The beam/cutoff is surprisingly good for non-projectors and I took pains in making sure they were aimed properly, so for now the original reflectors stay.

To be honest, I don't like the soft lighting. My friend's Camry has that weird Plasmacluster or whatever the fuck it's called, plus a light that shines on the shifter (same with the newer Priuses as well). My mom's 7 has that soft lighting as well, and I don't like it either.

I prefer having less light in the cabin distracting me from the road ahead. I really liked not having a center stack when I drove the car around without a headunit for a few weeks a few months ago. The lack of light in the car apart from the gauges was very nice.

Then again my car is very easy to operate by touch alone, since it has 3 knobs and 3 buttons for the HVAC.

If you do do it, I wish you luck! As H says, it seems like it would be hard to get everything hidden properly.

The light shouldn't be distracting if done right, and that was what I had the most trouble with. I had a hell of a time finding a place that would put a very dim/soft even glow on the console without being in my eye sight and distracting while I drive. I eventually found a placement (and built my own way to focus the light/block any glare) that works, but it does take persistence. I have a newfound respect for the people who place lighting in car interiors. I fought with it off and on for the last several days, but I think I have a placement for things that is totally unseen to the untrained eye while still getting the right results. I really like a very soft ambient light in the cabin just because it does make it easier to see your hands when you do hit the buttons and such, but it's really easy to add too much light if you're not careful.

Awesome, I love seeing the before an afters.

I love what you are doing with your car. What a difference from when you got it.

I rode in my friend's ES300 last night and I made sure to pay attention to the details because I knew you had one. Some of the interior design is dated but everything felt solid solid solid, like how the old overbuilt MBs are reputed to be.

Thanks guys!

I want to see chrome portholes on the front fenders.

I would have bought a Buick if I wanted those speed holes.

[thewizard16]

Much, much frustration today. Got all the new quick struts in last week and attempted the install today. The install itself actually isn't that complicated... IF you can get the F#%$ing bolts off. Mine have ~14 years worth of gunk and New York winter rust on them and we weren't able to get them off, despite lots of effort and PB blaster. So they're going to get a daily soaking of the WD 40 rust remover or PB blaster for the next week and we'll acquire an impact wrench and give it another go next week. Basically wasted an entire afternoon fighting with bolts because I didn't anticipate how stuck they would be. The job itself doesn't look bad at all, hopefully next weekend I'll actually be able to do the damn thing.

[hotrodalex]

Welcome to my world!

[SVT_Power]

Just use a torch

[thewizard16]

Just use a torch

If I don't have an impact wrench, it's a pretty safe bet I don't have a torch... Seriously though, I would take a torch to the damn sway links in a heartbeat. They are nearly impossible to get off, I've ended up having to Dremel/saw off at least one bolt from the two I have replaced thus far.

I went and got an impact wrench and bought everything the store had that claimed to loosen rusted bolts today and managed to get the front right strut replaced this evening. I had wanted to do both but it took me a long time to get the sway link off the sway bar (see above, had to cut it off which wasn't easy) and I ran out of daylight. I'm going to attack the front left tomorrow afternoon/evening (I will not be driving it in the meantime, it's sitting a little higher on the front right now and looks hilarious).

[Raza]

If I don't have an impact wrench, it's a pretty safe bet I don't have a torch...

Not even a creme brulee torch?  What kind of medieval age do you live in, man?

[Soup DeVille]

If I don't have an impact wrench, it's a pretty safe bet I don't have a torch... Seriously though, I would take a torch to the damn sway links in a heartbeat. They are nearly impossible to get off, I've ended up having to Dremel/saw off at least one bolt from the two I have replaced thus far.

I went and got an impact wrench and bought everything the store had that claimed to loosen rusted bolts today and managed to get the front right strut replaced this evening. I had wanted to do both but it took me a long time to get the sway link off the sway bar (see above, had to cut it off which wasn't easy) and I ran out of daylight. I'm going to attack the front left tomorrow afternoon/evening (I will not be driving it in the meantime, it's sitting a little higher on the front right now and looks hilarious).

Yeah. If you're not used to using a torch, the last thing you want to do is start learning on a functional car.

[thewizard16]

Not even a creme brulee torch?  What kind of medieval age do you live in, man?

The squalor I live in is truly unfortunate.

Yeah. If you're not used to using a torch, the last thing you want to do is start learning on a functional car.

Best case scenario: I am a torch prodigy and I cleanly cut off the sway links.
Almost as good case scenario: I am a torch retard, the car is no longer functional, and I no longer have to remove the sway links.

[thewizard16]

Got the front left strut replaced this evening in a couple hours. It would have gone faster if, once again, it weren't for the damn rusted sway links. I can get everything else off because they're accessible with the impact wrench, but it won't fit in where the sway link bolt is. So I gave up much quicker this time and sawed the blasted bolt off pretty early on to save myself some time/frustration. So fronts are now done (crossing my fingers there are no problems with the parts and everything is installed as correctly as it appeared to be), but I'm going to wait until I have a second set of hands to tackle the rears. The fronts were not an easy one-man job, I could have saved a lot of time and soreness if I'd had help, and the rears are slightly more complicated on the top bolts, so they'll have to wait until this weekend.

[Soup DeVille]

The squalor I live in is truly unfortunate.
Best case scenario: I am a torch prodigy and I cleanly cut off the sway links.
Almost as good case scenario: I am a torch retard, the car is no longer functional, and I no longer have to remove the sway links.

Reminds me of a race announcer I heard a while back.

"The good news is that if you go a little wide into turn 11, you get to buy a new car!"

[SVT_Power]

Yeah. If you're not used to using a torch, the last thing you want to do is start learning on a functional car.

I first used a torch on my ol' SVT without learning elsewhere

[SVT_Power]

Just FYI, I'm not talking about a cutting torch, I'm talking about using it to heat up the nut/bolt to get it off...

[thewizard16]

Just FYI, I'm not talking about a cutting torch, I'm talking about using it to heat up the nut/bolt to get it off...

I might try that on the last remaining one or I might just cut it off from the get-go. None of the ridiculous combination of PB Blaster, WD 40 Rust, or CRC Freeze-Off seemed to loosen the sway link bolts enough to get them off. Worked well on the other bolts though.

[Rupert]

Isn't some of that stuff flammable?

[thewizard16]

Isn't some of that stuff flammable?

All of it! Even more reason to use the torch.

[Rupert]

Brilliant!

[Soup DeVille]

Just FYI, I'm not talking about a cutting torch, I'm talking about using it to heat up the nut/bolt to get it off...

well, thats entirely different.

[thewizard16]

All struts are now in! I think I need to check on the front sway links and make sure they're in/tightened right; there's still a flutter sound in the front right that sounds suspiciously like a sway link problem, so I'll look at that tomorrow if possible. I had a problem with a brake caliper bolt (the one that attaches it to the car, not the caliper bolt/pins themselves) coming out while driving home and scaring the shit out of me by flipping the caliper up into the wheel, but that will be corrected in the morning when I can go buy a new bolt. Not sure why it came loose, it seemed tight when it was put back in, but the bolts on that side had clearly been replaced at some point and also seemed slightly shorter than the factory bolts on the other side so who knows what had been done wrong over there. At any rate, the car rides a whole lot better now that new struts are in and once I ensure that the rear brakes aren't trying to kill me any more, I'll be happy with the project.

[Secret Chimp]

All struts are now in! I think I need to check on the front sway links and make sure they're in/tightened right; there's still a flutter sound in the front right that sounds suspiciously like a sway link problem, so I'll look at that tomorrow if possible. I had a problem with a brake caliper bolt (the one that attaches it to the car, not the caliper bolt/pins themselves) coming out while driving home and scaring the shit out of me by flipping the caliper up into the wheel, but that will be corrected in the morning when I can go buy a new bolt. Not sure why it came loose, it seemed tight when it was put back in, but the bolts on that side had clearly been replaced at some point and also seemed slightly shorter than the factory bolts on the other side so who knows what had been done wrong over there. At any rate, the car rides a whole lot better now that new struts are in and once I ensure that the rear brakes aren't trying to kill me any more, I'll be happy with the project.

Use Loctite you damn fool, holy shit

[thewizard16]

Use Loctite you damn fool, holy shit

Generally do, but to be honest if you've got the right bolts, etc. that shouldn't have happened at all, much less in half a mile. I was working at a friend's garage and didn't have loctite with me, but wasn't concerned because I was going to have it back at my house in the evening and could deal with it then since I was thinking about doing brake work anyway. Now that original bolts and whatever had been put on that side have been compared, the replacement bolt over there wasn't threaded right, so loctite may have been the only thing holding it together this whole time. At any rate, new (properly threaded for that opening) bolts are in and I loctite-ed the crap out of it, so hopefully no more issues.

I raised up the front and made sure sway links are tight because I thought I was still hearing a flutter but I'll give it another road test here in a few and see if tightening that right side fixed it. If not, something is wonky and I'll have to investigate.

[thewizard16]

Dropped it off at the mechanic yesterday because I was tired of fighting with things and probably wasn't going to fix anything more on my own at this point. They said there are two things causing noise in the rear suspension. 1- Sway bar bushings are shot and the bar is just banging against the bracket, thus causing noise. Should be an easy fix on that part but the bolts are hilariously rusted so they're hoping they can get the bolts out without shearing them. The rear control arms are also rusted solid (to the point they can't be adjusted to correct alignment issues) so they're going to check the alignment angles after doing some rear work in the hopes that the angles are good and the control arms don't need replaced, because they aren't cheap. 2- The rear calipers themselves are messed up. They checked and they are bolted/tightened all the way but are still jostling around and causing thunking/clanging noises. They apparently got out a bunch of bungee straps and put tension on the calipers to hold them in place like they should normally sit, and the clanging noise went away. Brake functionality doesn't seem to be affected, but they're skeptical of these calipers with what they're doing. We're going to replace calipers, brackets, and go ahead and do new pads while they're at it. If there is any noise coming from the front they didn't notice it, but said it could be drowned out by the rear noise right now, they'll recheck it for me once the rear is quieted down.

Additional problems uncovered/diagnosed: The hum/whine I had just started noticing a few days ago is a bearing on the AC compressor, which is probably on its way out in the near future. The ABS module is throwing some error codes which are probably being caused by a speed sensor that was damaged during strut installation, but apparently the car is old enough that the ABS module doesn't generate codes in a way they can monitor easily in real-time while driving so it's taking a little longer to track down the actual source since it could also be throwing several of the codes if it was a problem with the module itself or the power supply to it. I had heard that the ABS module on this car was a pain in the ass to work with, so I wasn't surprised it was taking them a while to figure out if it was just a speed sensor (and if so which one), but it makes it take longer/cost more to diagnose than the newer models do.

Moral: Owning old cars is for the birds.

[hotrodalex]

Doesn't sound too bad - seems like everything is diagnosed and not too difficult to fix (in theory)