Crown GRS182 chotto dake vip

just picked up a stunning white on black 2006 crown 3.0 with new custom pearl white paint job...

car was already lowered on coilovers with a lip kit and had the side b pillar mirror garnish things on it, plus already had fenders rolled nicely all the way around.  already had the side mirror blinker covers too.

Present/new:
*so far i have had 3k hid's installed in the fogs
*digi tv override (so you can use while in motion)
*some interior neons (black lights) for night time cruising (although they are mostly turned off and i mostly sleep or drink at night ;) )
*various bulbs replaced; driving, license, interior
*12" RF T2 sub, custom ported box, 1500 RF mono amp

Future:
*i just received my new vip modular wheels in the mail this past weekend and am just waiting on my tires (in the mail) and air cup susp with new bc coils (in the mail) to put everything on
*mode parfume regalia kit (sorta pricey though, may have to wait some)
*exhaust or at least new tips
*window tint (so the haters can't see me)
*rear roof spoiler, or side visors, or maybe both who knows?
*pin stripe,, what color¿¿¿

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ahhhhhhh i love crown's. cant wait to see where this goes

just checked my mail and i had 2 big boxes from Platinum VIP,, one said tank, and the other said susp parts  :D

also got in my audio channel summing device so my sub will sound proper...

now just waiting for my damn tires to show up and i can get er all together.

debating doing black tint or not.  i swear the windows are slightly smoked right now, but i'm thinking i want it blacked out, and the front windshield will be a little tinted as well...

Should be a good build!

:dance:

SOO sick. I want a crown so bad

Whoa...can't say I've ever really paid attention to a Crown. That is gorgeous!!

Excited Much?? Yes I am!

I see sojah didnt waste any time after getting to japan. Nice pick up!

wow. nice pick up. How is Japan treating you?

yeah man, one might say it was something i had been planning for while ;)

my wife really helped me out, cuz without her i don't think i'd be able to have bought this car plus do half the mods i'm starting. or at least it would have taken a lot longer and a lot more $$.  but its so funny seeing her try to translate english car speak to japanese car speak when she hates cars and knows nothing about them,, (hard to come up with the word transmission when someone is explaining to you about a transmission in another language when you have no clue what the hell a transmission is).

i'm getting the susp installed this sunday - like wednesday,, japan is crazy about needing your car for a few days at a time, but i get a little kei car as a loaner so its not the end of the world.

japan is nice, okinawa (where i live) is a small tropical island with some crazy nice beeches and its awesome to believe i'm getting 'paid' to live here.

SO BLACK TINT OR NO BLACK TINT???

and thanks for all the positive comments...  there shall be more to come in the very near future  :D

by next week i will have the phantom cup susp installed on my new bc coilovers and hopefully my trunk will be done so i will put up some pics of that as well.

nice pick up. i wish theyd sell em over to the US. id definitely pick one up..

Dope! How much does it cost used over there? If you don't mind me askin

That Crown Athlete is the best looking version IMO. I picked up a small build it yourself Tomy RC of a white one like that at Tokyu Hands once for like ¥1500 or so, was cheap. 

Sick car, can't wait to see it come together.

with the yen conversion rate being extra shitty to $$ right now you can find a decent used one for like 15-25k depending on condition, options, mileage.  i saw a real low mileage one with extra options for around 25$ and i almost pulled the trigger on a majesta of same chasis and similar year/mileage but it was like 30k and i only wanted to do a 24 month loan so this would have been some outrageous payments.  i picked this one up for 1,650,000 yen which at the time of conversion was around 21,500.

this car had a brand new professionally done paint job, and the interior was a mix of original mint condition pieces and seats had a brand new extra plush black leather cover installed (front and rear).  so even though the car had like 65k miles on it, i would give it a 9.5 interior and a 9.5 exterior.

the majesta i was considering was a lot less mint condition so my decision came down to a mint lesser model or a less mint more expensive higher model.  my previous car was an 05 LS430 UL (ultra package) with all the extra goodies so it was really tough for me to swallow my pride and go with a close to base model car, but the overall condition and the fact that it already had rolled fenders and a lip kit seemed like it would save me some time and confusing ass translations at various shops.

^ ^ ^ yeah man don't get me wrong i love the majesta but for some reason i felt like the grill and headlights (front end) flowed better on the crown athlete.  the previous generation majesta i thought was better and until i saw this generations in a side by side comparo had all intentions of picking up a majesta, but this athlete just seemed to have better more vip lines to me, imho.

mines has the backup camera and big dvd screen and smart key, but i really wanted the cooled seats (although i picked up an ice cold seat cover with built in ac fans for $100) and parking sensors in bumpers on account of some of the ridiculously small parking spots around here.  i already backed it into a palm tree on the first weekend i owned it but it is barely noticible unless you are me (BTW i can't be the only one that allows something small like this to eat away at my soul) and know exactly where to look at.

damn i love crowns. nice looking car!

i got all these pics i want to share on my photobucket and FB page but shiz is blocked from my work,, when i'm home i don't even want to see a computer so maybe this weekend i'll indulge myself with some teaser pics...

BTW i just read a bunch of your 101 threads and agree with about half of them. i think we lost our way in the vip scene in recent years though... vip used to be and should still be seen as clean, elegant, adding to original style... i do love some of these crazy builds i see out here in japan but sometimes it just looks way too tacky... by putting every piece of stuck on part you can find on your car doesn't make it any more vip. there is a thin line to me between vip and just being iced out. BTW this is my 4th vip inspired (inspired to me means just that, they were not complete with every vip mod on the market or cover of a vip mag, i usually try to go a different direction with each one, but ultimately i want my cars to be elegant vip styled/inspired) car, not counting the 3 i owned and modded before waking up in japan one day ;)

my last LS 430 started out exec but with one wheel ride height combo got a little bit aggressive looking, but ended up exec again i figure.  my 2gs 400 before this was just gangsta in my opinion, my y33 gloria before this was just straight pimp,, so with this one i want to do be elegantly aggressive but just overall i want it to ride clean.  ;)

this is why i'm having such a hard time deciding between the following mods and which combo of them i will ultimatley go with:

*black tint
*side window visors
*mirrored side pillar garnishes (already on)
*rear roof spoiler
*rear trunk lid spoiler (already on)
*side pin stripe sticker (thinking maybe pink, been thinking this color for a few months, but i am pretty color blind though) (the lugs will prolly be neo chrome so it may match, who knows¿¿¿)

awesome!!!!!

Congrats on the whip,it looks real official:biggthumpup:

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dropping her off soon to finish the stereo, then tomorrow for air cup/coils install.

:runcoold:  awesome...cant wait!

awesome a true jdm platform car we never got, has a build thread

bump for you bro, do it up...

Not too big on the wheel choice, but the suspension choice is the way to go.

Bring the states to Japan!

believe me i wanted to do more aggressive but couldn't find one single thing on the web (in english) about some aggressive (minus fender rework) wheels on this car.  i measured a few different sets of 20's on this car at various car lots and then plugged in the numbers into offset calculators in order to come out with the numbers i did.

in the future after mounting i will figure out how much space i have to play with by doing the normal; adding neg camber, slight pull, more stretch.  i can always add bigger outter lips laters.

i wanted to be able to ride as low as possible, and still be able to turn.

cool to see a member over there utting something together. i'm sure plenty of people are jealous of the crown.

so i got a call from the shop installing the air susp yesterday.  they told me to or rather told my wife who told me to come on down and look at something.

apparently japanese cars are different from stateside cars.  if you look in the pic above and see the large air cup silver cone thingy wrapped around the top of the coilover, well it severely doesn't fit on the crown.  the shop is going to cut out a bunch of material and then i guess weld up some metal plates so house the back half of these air cups.

the size of the crown was like the exact size of an aftermarket coilover and left 0 space for anything other than a coilover, which fit flush.

may add a day onto their 6 day install (thats japan for you) project, but on a really positive tip they built a custom plate and mounted everything to it and it will still fit flush and match the factory trunk left side removable piece.  additionally they were able to mount the x2 switches into the factory switch positions where the vsc off, power, and sport switches normally go.  they took out the sport switch (obviously not functional now for a while, car already had aftermarket coilovers on it) and used the empty space switch (think it was for the air option on the higher majesta model) to mount them in.  it looks like stock (placement wise), other than the fact that the buttons/switches themselves don't look like anything toyota would make.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^dammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmminiiiiiiiiitt

got my car back, from the shop, phantom air cup & bc coils are installed. 

first impressions after 1 day of use:

i absolutely love the ride feeling. this is the best ride i've had on coils yet in 4 cars. i'm sure it has a lot to do with the car, the spring rates, the dampening setting etc. 
the only negative for me so far is the loud compressor coming on when i start the car.  i had stock air on my previous LS430 but this is my first aftermarket air so this is something i have to get used to.  i think the pros far outweigh the con at this point though ;)

i have been riding aired up about 1" since presently i rub the inner front fender liner on bumps and dips when its all the way low. i think i'm gonna leave it at this height for a while and see if i can get used to it. BTW i can drive it aired out just fine but just bumps and dips rub inner fender liner. i'm half tempted to run like this for a while to see where it is rubbing and then address that area, but i'm a little afraid to catch the liner and have it rip off taking the lip kit and front bumper with it.

i got my rear tires on and front tires should be here tomorrow with the rest of my household goods from the states, then this weekend i should be able to put front tires on and mount the rims on the car. we shall see. pics coming tonight...

Post some pics!!

you can have the compressors mounted outside the vehicle if the noise really bothered you. but if you have a tank and you don't play with the air too much, the compressors shouldn't be kicking in. you may have a leak if your compressors are turning on often and you don't play with the cups a lot.

i just know when i left and turned off the car last night at 6 pm i lowerd the car down completely and when i started the car at 7.30 am this morning the compressor kicked on and it ran for 2-3 mins. is this normal?? i parked the car at work around 8am and am about to run out now to another office 2 hours later, so we shall see if it kicks in now. so essentially after resting for 2 hours it (compressor) shouldn't have to come on when i start the car up?

Compressor should only come on when tank pressure is below ___psi, as I understand it.

depending on the pressure switch. if it does turn on it sounds like there is a leak somewhere. what kind of fittings/switches are you running?


cant wait to se more of this build

i just checked and 3 hours is fine.  additionally when i got in this morning, i immediately raised it up about half way so this may have been what triggered the compressor, i'm going to have to test it again tonight and see for sure.  thanks for the tips and info thus far.

leave it aired up over night.

Sojah were are these pictures you are promising us?? I WANNA SEE!! =)

What was the exact order of events leading to the compressor turning on (lift car, start car, compressor turned on, etc.)? What size is the tank? Looks a little small so it might not take much to get the tank pressure low enough to turn on the compressor, maybe a few lifts. Like carlos said, if you leave it aired up over night you can see if there's a leak in the morning.

Can't wait to see pics.

slow leak somewhere??? get new fittings and check connections maybe/????

the area where the air cup would have sat needed to be modified since it was really small, but it turned out excellent.

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wheels & tires:

20x9.5    225x35x20
20x10.5   265*30*20

i'm thinking 1" larger lips around christmas time ;)   i got the instructions from vip modular on how to accomplish it, but i'm a little scurred on the silicone sealing bit.

you guizes wanted pics, well here they are finally got my computer and the rest of my household goods shipped to japan from the states, so its a lot easier doing blog work from an actual computer...


and yes before anyone says anything,, i can see that the offsets are a little on the weak side and yes there are plans to improve in this section.  i searched a lot and could not find any info in english about what kind of potential offsets this car could handle.  so i went to a few used car lots and took measurements of what they had on their cars and just sort of formulated my own measurements based off these.  my aim was to ensure that i could drive while slammed without any issues, and i think i came pretty damn close to achieving that goal so i am very very satisfied with the way everything came out thus far.   it feels good to have it all work out as planned.

however now that i know what i am dealing with i am going to get about a 10-15mm pull in the rear, trim out some fender liner, and get some 1" wider lips.  i'm just a little nervous about trying to do the new lip installs myself and the only shop out here that says they've done it before said it is not a 100% success rate, more like a 65% success rate 35% failure rate.

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ride height ^ ^ ^
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the car is filthy by the way,,, i haven't even had a chance to wash it in a week.

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looks so dope man props!

damn! youre fast. car looks great.

yeah ^ ^ ^, thanks and now comes the fun part of paying off the credit card ;)    would have been easy but i just got a letter from my previous employer saying that they overpaid me by 1 paycheck (sent me 1 too many at the end of my last job back in Jun/Jul) and now i have like 2 weeks to pay it back.  well,,,  not my fault you shouldn't have given it to me then right ;) ?  the GOV always gets their money back unfortunately ;(

its so fun to drive the car right now, i'm finding little excuses to run out to the store and back just to drive it,, "oh we need more milk for tomorrow morning's coffee, don't worry i'll go run out and get some!!"

Jelly :biggthumpup:
car looks awesome!

Ride is looking really dope homie. 

I may be headed to Japan around Spring time, I'll hit you up with the info. 


-Smitty

Just got to Japan and already a Bauwwssssss! car is looking good.

damn smitty that would be awesome.  i'm sure we could find some stuff to get into :D

and thanks for the props

The Athlete is awesome but I love the Majesta.  So pissed we can't get them over here.

so sick! but where are you in Japan that can't do work on 3 pc wheels? haha

nice work!  So jealous cause we don't have this car here in the states.  Maybe change the lug nuts though...looks waaaay out of place.

Thanks, and in previous models/chasis the majesta has always bewn my fav until this version. The grill and lights look bad to le so i wekt with this one, but if it qas tje prev lodel i would have gone with the majesta. 

I like the lugs, but i am fairly color blind though, ;)


Okinawa is here i live and each shop i ask about the 3 pc wheel mod says mainland mainland, this is a small island and is honestly pretty far behind the mainland in a @ot of stuff.  However okinawa has friendly good hearted people who are still in touch with nature and are kind caring people.  Something a lot of the mainlanders lost a long time ago.   I love okinawa.

NICE!! throw in some spacers in the rear for the mean time but looking good!!

well i broke down and got some spacers,, i didn't want to do it but i will, at least until i get some fatter lips.  i will put them on tomorrow if i get a chance, then it will be flushy flush flush.

someone mentioned that there were no pics of the interior (in real life) so here are 2 quick ones,, notice the air switches in the factory button places where the ride height and sport/normal buttons would usually be.

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<---- is Jelly...

Looks great man, now get it washed, lol.....and yeah the Gov does always get their dough man, I know all too well.

just spent 2 hours and didn't gain much but some insight.  i put some 15 mm v2 type spacers on the rear and it looked awesome,, until i tried to drive.  although the tire just barely tucked inside the fender it rubbed on the rear quarter bumper tab thing real bad when slammed and i would have had to raise it up an inch just to drive and it occasionally still hit over bumps.  i then tried a 10mm regular spacer but it wasn't enough for the lug nut to hold onto.  i don't feel like putting in extended lugs just to test out if a 10mm will fit.  a 5mm fits fine and that extra 5mm isn't worth all the hassle to me.

i left a 5mm spacer on the rear and will pick up another set of 5's for the front.

honestly when i first put the wheels on and realized i could have gone a half inch or 15mm more aggressive front and rear i was a little disappointed, but now after seeing how good it looked with the 15mm on the rear (10mm more poke than present) and having to pick between riding slammed (tucking all but a half inch of tire) and having an extra half inch of lip,, i choose the present of being able to ride slammed,, this was more my goal from day 0 with this car and i wouldn't have been able to ride slammed unless i got a smaller tire size (more stretch) and added more negative camber (taken away more positive camber ;))...

[URL="http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00286.jpg"]
[/URL][URL="http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00288.jpg"][IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00288.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL="http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00287.jpg"][IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00287.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL="http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00290.jpg"][IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00290.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL="http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00291.jpg"][IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00291.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL="http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00294.jpg"][IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00294.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL="http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00298.jpg"][IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00298.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL="http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00297.jpg"][IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00297.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL="http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00283.jpg"][IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00283.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL="http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00284.jpg"][IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00284.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL="http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00282.jpg"][IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00282.jpg[/IMG][/URL]


15mm rear spacer and 5mm front spacer in these pics here.  i cannot  drive with the rear sitting this low with the 15mm spacer on, but i can  with the 5mm spacer on in the rear; therefore i made the executive  decision that i prefer to drive with the rear at this height and took  off the 15mm rear spacer and put the 5mm back on in the rear.  not really even a tough decision since i just want to ride low.  :D

Nice ride

lookin good bro, real good

[QUOTE=C8V6C;463636]Nice ride[/QUOTE]

thanks man,, glad you got your LS sorted...  the effort you put into the fenders really shows and i'm sure i don't have to tell you cuz you can see it every time you get in and out of it.

thanks again ULtm8mind

BTW i saw an LS600 today struggling to get into and out of a parking lot and thought how impractical that barge must be for daily use here  ;)

Can't help but feel like the car would look better without the neochrome lugnuts. The car is clean and tame but the lugs stick out like a sore thumb

[QUOTE=vipv35;463757]...... The car is clean and tame but the lugs stick out like a sore thumb[/QUOTE]

i'm glad you agree with this part ^ ^ ^,, i too felt it was a little too tame, so the bolts represent my extra tacky "ghetto" style...  i felt it was too boring so i wanted something different to catch your eye and i think it does a good job at that    ;)

[QUOTE=sojah;463852]i'm glad you agree with this part ^ ^ ^,, i too felt it was a little too tame, so the bolts represent my extra tacky "ghetto" style...  i felt it was too boring so i wanted something different to catch your eye and i think it does a good job at that    ;)[/QUOTE]

if you want something tacky, get a fusa. 









zing! :innoutrofl2:

[QUOTE=brainneeded;463854]if you want something tacky, get a fusa. 









zing! :innoutrofl2:[/QUOTE]:smiley-rofl:

I like the lugnuts but if you have to change then the only other ones u should put on are green ones to match the tint hahaha

I almost bought purple ones but checked my man hood right before it, green is a strong second choice.

I would not stoop so low as to put a fusa, i may have low standards bit i still have standards ;)

[QUOTE=brainneeded;463854]if you want something tacky, get a fusa. [/quote]

just making sure, but you were being serious about it being tacky right???  cuz out here, i have only seen one person with one, and they were trying to copy the 'american' style of car modding.  no offense to those that have them,, i'm sure they are nice and make your car that much faster, but its a completely misinterpreted style to me.







zing! :innoutrofl2:[/QUOTE]

I shot you a pm bro. Airborne.

Lemme know when you are in need of BBK sojah....i'll definitely hook it up :)

[QUOTE=sojah;463930]just making sure, but you were being serious about it being tacky right???  cuz out here, i have only seen one person with one, and they were trying to copy the 'american' style of car modding.  no offense to those that have them,, i'm sure they are nice and make your car that much faster, but its a completely misinterpreted style to me.[/QUOTE]

hahaha yes. i think its tacky and out of place with the modern vip car. maybe on a y32 or ucf10 thats period correct, but even then, i could take it or leave it, it adds nothing to it imo.

Thats the real pimp shit right thurrrr! Just in case the cup kit doesnt offer enough clearance,,, Have a japanese boy installed in the trunk!! On call to help push you over challenging road obstacles.  

[QUOTE=sojah;462951]
[URL="http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00212.jpg"][IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00212.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=~~sperm~bomb~~;463958]Thats the real pimp shit right thurrrr! Just in case the cup kit doesnt offer enough clearance,,, Have a japanese boy installed in the trunk!! On call to help push you over challenging road obstacles.[/QUOTE]

dude that is too funny, although he does seem to fit pretty good in the space behind the sub box and the rear seat though.  i guess i could just throw some water and rice balls back there occasionally, maybe install a video monitor so he doesn't get too bored and try to quit on me.

well i was in tokyo all last week and came home to a wrecked island after record breaking winds via a typhoon just crushed everything in its path.  it hit 61. something meters per second which was like the highest in history for japan,, to put it in perspective katrina was like 55 meters per second.

i just took my car to get washed since our water and power are both out and after attempting to get all the salt off i went hand wash the wheels and noticed rust already.

my front left brand new vip modular is already rusting on the lip.  it had a few spots that were pitted and all 4 center caps are corroding.  only the front left wheel had bad damages with the chrome lips and the area where the bolts mount on the face had corrosion damage as well.  not even sure what to do at this point, any advice???  by the way my boat was severly damaged and i'm sorta sick to my stomach to think that my 5k wheels and 6k boat are messed up (all purchased in the last few months and wheels have only been on my car for 1 month and have zero chips or scratches).

Mother nature is such a HATER!! Thats a raw deal for sure. Only advice I have is that if youre going to get your wheels fixed, do it sooner rather than later.

Sorry to hear about that. Post some pictures of the wheels, I'm interested to see the corrosion it caused.

Sucks to hear about your wheels! But good luck with the rest of the build, keeping an eye on this one for sure.

awesome build, but pretty shitty for 1 month old wheels to be rusting....i'd def be hittin VIPmod up. :\

[QUOTE=lowlyfey34;465824]awesome build, but pretty shitty for 1 month old wheels to be rusting....i'd def be hittin VIPmod up. :\[/QUOTE]

wrd. fucking blows. hopefully some kind of resolution can be had.

damn, rust starting to show up already on the VIP Mods? I live on Guam and it rains a lot here especially its rainy season now. just about everyday im wiping the water off the lips of my wheels. scaras arent cheap also man. in fact, we have a storm forming close by us..hopefully it doesnt hit you guys again.

thanks for all the warm thoughts ^ ^ ^  :D

yeah man check out the 17 pics in this photobucket gallery i just created.

f*king looks like my wheels got herpes or something, seriously though i think it is spreading already...  is there some sort of topical solution or daily pill that can suppress it¿

what would you guys do if your wheels that had been on your car just shy of 6 weeks started to look like this?

[URL]http://s1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/wheel%20damages/[/URL]

wow....

YIKES!!! you paid 5K for those?!

what did the manufacture say?

Vip mod said to semd pics of the damages, so i sent the link right before i posted it up here. waiting on their response.

Ive never seen this happen in just a few weeks. I had a set of all chrome lowenharts for over a year here in okinawa before and nothing like thid ever happened.

yup, my amistad wheels were like that all along the lip. It is the clear coat on it. chances are cause of the agitation of dirt or rocks etc. i had to sand it all out. Japan is known to have have this problem on all wheels. Sometimes it is just natural cause cause the aluminum is oxodizing underneith the clear

I understand rust/oxidation occurs a lot faster when there is salt in the air, but man, that is crazy.. after only 6 weeks??  Surely the manufacturer will make things right. Good luck.

Most warranties will not cover "act of God".  Let's hope they can work something out

After seeing the pics I Can tell you what part of the problem is, Aluminum and steel dont mix. When steel and aluminum come in contact with each other something called galvanic corrosion occurs. So you take the wheel face which is Alu. with clear powercoat and the mounting hardware which Im guessing is chromed mild steel, throw in massive amounts of salt water and you have a recipe for rapid corrosion. Even on factory Alu. wheels you can see that most of the time they will start to corrode around the lug nuts first. I have also seen this on factory Alu. hoods where the grille is bolted on with steel bolts.Cadillac and ford explorers come to mind.
Here is an excerpt from an article I found,
 
[B]"• Aluminum galvanic corrosion occurs when two dissimilar metals come in contact with one another. If steel and aluminum make contact, the aluminum turns to white powder and the steel starts rusting. In a body shop, if an aluminum vehicle comes in and a technician must expose the bare metal, the vehicle is moved to a separate area away from the steel vehicles to reduce the risk of contamination."

LINK   [URL]http://www.glassmagazine.com/article/auto/the-ins-and-outs-corrosion-repair[/URL]

[/B]Doesn't really explain the center caps though. Are they powder coated or are they bare Alu.?

All wheels that combine Alu. and steel will corrode over time. I had a set of one piece cast cheap-shit wheels with faux mounting hardware and the first place they corroded was around the bolts.  
Im sure under "normal circumstances" you would not see such rapid effects of the galvanic corrosion. But the salt water was kind of like a FF>> on the aging process.
Kind of like how large amounts of cocaine, cigarettes,alcohol and late nights can turn your favorite 20 year old tight body stripper into a deep-voiced skeleton trying to coax money out of your wallet with saggy prune-cones and no teeth. its sad but true.


Not trying to blow your chance on a warranty claim, just trying to be informative.
V.I.P. Modular seem like some good peeps(having just ordered wheels from them recently) and Im sure you can work out a reasonable solution with them.

i wonder if they can clear coat some center caps? now im rethinking my choice of chrome. What type of lip wont be affected by salt?

I hate to see this bro surely they will come up with something for you especially since its only been 6 or 7 weeks they should want a happy customer in Japan. All it takes is one bad experience and the customer to put it out there shit will spread like a virus and not be so good for them...I hope all goes well for you

Wow, that's ridiculous. Hopefully they will make it right.

[QUOTE=sojah;466136]i wonder if they can clear coat some center caps? now im rethinking my choice of chrome. What type of lip wont be affected by salt?[/QUOTE]
polished with a thick ass clear?

Wow that's weak!! Looks like a lot of sanding on the face and lips, hope VipMod can hook you up, but such a waste of perfectly new wheels!!

dang, that damage is gonna get worse. sorry to see that happening to those wheels. do you live close by the ocean or something? salty air...

VIP modular is gonna take care of the damaged wheel and center caps for me  ;)

now i just gotta pick a good time to be without wheels for 6 weeks...  Maybe  Nov

Vip modular folks are standup guys, thats above and beyond, good for you, and very good for them, very happy u can get this resolved, and I'm sure they are happy to have there wheels on a very desirable vip platform car, congrats!!!!


U gotta find sum donuts or stockies asap 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice Ride! Damnn too bad they don't have Crowns state side =(

Damm if only that car was stateside on of my fav models

well the nice guys at vip modular (tong) are gonna take the wheels back and fix em up all nas and purdy like ;)

the lips will be changed to just polished metal with a clear coat over it... i'm thinking black,, should it be gloss of flat matte though? if i go with black lips how does color matched white faces sound, or leave it at the spf color they currently are?

i am color blind but fell in love with a 2 page spread tokyo (not auto show but something big and annual) cima in this months vip car 200th issue special edition that was all white with white faces on black lipped wheels <so so sexy>.

I'd go with gloss back lips... dunno about the faces though.

sent the wheels back to vip modular last week.  decided on color matched white faces with the normal polished lips and then everything cleared for her protection  ;)

Nice can't wait to see how the finish will look!!

what else can i say that hasnt already been said?!

that crown is obviously clean as fuuug. and that interior is boss.

damn i'm hatin'

thank you sir! ^ ^ ^

your previous SC looks clean as hell too.  lately i've been thinking about trying to score a newer SC but they are about as rare as a japanese chick with ass out here.  maybe cuz v8's don't sell well, not sure.

Coming along REAL nice! get shorter lug nuts so you don't trip over them :P

ha ^ ^ ^,, i decided on black ones this time, still pretty long though, you know how them asians like¿

BBK time?

honestly i'm not on that level yet ^ ^ ^  :D  i do heavily respect those that reach that pinnacle and whenever i see a car with nice brakes think how it just sets the car that much more apart from ones that don't have em done, but me, i'm not there yet.  shit is expensive.

Good to hear about the VIP mods, still amazed that happened.

me too ^ ^ ^

well i got some nice exhaust tips on the way and neck pads.  i was trying to source a rear window spoiler but seems like they are all made out of platinum in japan cuz i can't seem to find one for under like $350.  i may just pull the trigger on the next one i see in the the mid $300's but damn that seems salty to me.  some other little fine tuning pieces are in the works and the car will hopefully be back to parking lot pimpin status by early jan '13.  that is if the world doesn't end :D

since the crown was never stateside i can't find any parts for it stateside or any info on specs/ trial and error specs or any thing like tips or diy's, you know.  everything is in japanese and well i don't read or speak japanese  :D

my wife really helped me out at the last vip car meet i went to but there was a huge miscommunication about my air setup.  my wife isn't a car person yet, but i hooked her up with a young hot japanese girl who is in the vip girls club here  ;)-     anyways my wife was telling them i had air and they were asking why i can't dump it, i was trying to have her explain that it is air cups and then she told them i had coilovers with an air cup,, they all seemed even more confused after this.  i know they make air cups here, i've seen them advertised in vip mags, but they must be rare or something.  at the meet out of say 20 cars 17 were slammed on coilovers and 3 were on full air suspension setups, no air cups  :D         trying to explain the ride to my wife and her explainig it to them and them asking more questions to her back to me,,, was something like the telephone game from back in school.      i wanted to take pics but it was in the middle of a dark parking lot at 1am...   maybe if i had a real camera and not just one that makes phone calls i would have been okay.

white or red, so far i'm leaning towards red but may just have to try both  ;)

unfortunately since there are like 3 layers of clear on both the wheels and the center caps, they don't fit inside anymore...  i'm thinking maybe a rubber hammer or something to gently get them in but its really a tight fit (maybe some lube and copious amounts of alcohol).  if i sand down the center caps edge that might defeat the purpose of having them cleared to protect against the salty elements though,,, any thoughts?

[URL="http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00721.jpg"][IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00721.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[URL="http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00720.jpg"][IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00720.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

rear wheels are now 11" wide so yeah 20x11" on a 265x30x20  (pics of the 265x30 on 11" below)

still not as stretched as the fronts which are 20x9.5" on a 225x35x20 though


i got 2 of the 4 wheels in the mail yesterday back from vip modular who really stepped up and helped me out with painting and clearing the wheels...  i'm thinking they are now salty weather proof and ready to go back on the car (when i get the other 2 that is)...  a big thank you to vip modular they are the best wheel company i've dealt with so far and i know i can be a fairly picky/needy customer to say the least, so yeah thanks VIP...

[URL="http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00728.jpg"][IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00728.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[URL="http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00726.jpg"][IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00726.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

put them things on and take pics man...

extremely nice car man. really like the wheels.

wow love your car ! but dont really care for the lugnuts that stick out way past the wheel

I'd personally go for the reds btw

[QUOTE=ultm8mind;475827]I'd personally go for the reds btw[/QUOTE]

wrd white and white on white is bland as heck

any pics of the wheels mounted??

NICE!!!! I like the red center caps better makes it look one off from the rest!!! Just do a slight sand on the edges of the cap so they can sit properly with out damaging the paint and clear of the wheels.

I like the reds too. And I also say sand down the center caps, it's better to put the center caps at risk than possibly compromising the faces.

yeah i'm thinking red definitely. gonna go pick up some sand paper and a rubber mallet on my lunch break today.

i am hoping the other x2 wheels are in the mail today and then tomorrow they will get rubber put on them. 

only problem is that i am leaving for tokyo (strictly business ;) this weekend for another 8 days, then as soon as i return 3 days later i'm going back to osaka for 4 days (super huge annual modified car show called the osaka auto messe). i may hold off on mounting them until i return since the car will be sitting outside the entire time and i won't be able to wash the wheels off... every time it rains out here or is even humid for that matter at our house there is a coating of salt over everything; we live on the ocean with a rain forest/jungle behind us. i have to hose off my car every 2-3 days at a minimum. its nice for ocean sports (went kayak sailing again yesterday afternoon) but it sucks if you don't have a garage... remind me to get a garage next time.

Rubber mallet FTW, horray rubber mallet!!!

wheels lookin hot! red caps buddy!

Can't you get atleast a car cover?

tried that route when i lived in CO and it was more a pain than a pro.  and the car cover i had in CO only came half way down my 20" lowenharts after covering the gs400, and yes it was a recommended fairly expensive one around like $150 or so and not the cheapest on the shelf.

i just remember it was blown halfway off the car about 1/3 of the time when i woke up in the morning.  now i live in an area that routinely gets 20+mph winds day and night a few times a week.  my neighbor said i could use his garage during big storms which is awesome but still a pain for both of us, you know...

basically right now i need wheel covers, or well i did, now the wheels have so much clear coating on them they will hopefully be good now, we shall see.

strap the cover to the wheels? or to a mounting point on the ground?

How big is your yard, any room for a one car aluminium/rst tube frame "garage" lined with sailcloth? Would be really easy for any semi-good welder to fab up, and secure foundations wouldn't be too hard to lay... 

Just a thought.

A shipping crate is the best plan right now and i have seen a bunch so they must be obtainable fairly easily. Not sure how my neighbors would feel about it though.

Got my exhaust tips on but im not crazy about the bkue tips, i may paint them later on. Got the rear roof spoiler on and painted as well.

Figured out how to use this huge vip  modular sticker too

[IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG00741.jpg[/IMG]

good place for it

I feel your pain. My wheels are currently being thrashed by salty road conditions of winter.I think the white faces will look great. Oh yea, red caps for sure.

Very cool build! I think the red caps on the VIP modular's is a classy look for sure....can't wait to see more!

mbn

So its been almost 3 full weeks since i   got two wheels in the mail and still waiting on rge other two.

What kind of moron would thief two wheels out of four and of different widths too.

How else could you explain their disappearance, unless the USPS is just that bad...

Dang, i thought u got the whole set that blows, have they shipped replacements yet?

VIP modular has a case open now with the USPS since they were insured by VIP modular.  but this really sucks.  even if they were to make another set it may be hard for them to get the custom white color again and especially to match it again.  plus how long is that gonna take like another 3 months before i have wheels back on my car.  its been like over 4 months already (close to 5 i think).  

stupid USPS always loosing shit.

but seriously though, where do 2 huge boxes with wheels in them go?  who in their right mind would thief just 2 wheels, so are they just sitting somewhere in a warehouse.  how did they even get separated from the other 2 boxes that made it just fine in record time???

So at best ur looking at another month for wheels?  
And not trying to upset u but i have an honest question.....what happens when they come in and they didnt match the color right? 
Everyone waits for wheels and its weird cuz they wait for wheels from japan, your waiting on wheels from here and it just feel likes bizzaro world(seinfeld episode) it will work out....u still have a car that no one else here has

one month is if the other two magically show up.  if vip modular has to make two more and then color match them and then send them who knows how long that will take.  if the color isn't 100% matched its not the end of the world to me mainly since i got a front and rear already so those will be on one side of the car and the other two will be on the other side of the car.  i'm willing to bet that the current wheels are like 95% matched anyways since this color was a difficult one to match apparently.

yeah i could have gone for a japanese set of wheels but honestly it would have been easier and cheaper to order them through a stateside vendor...  trying to set up my cards right for an SC430 from late summer to early next year at the latest and i will prolly go ssr, work, k-break, or leon-hardritt on for those wheels,, really feeling the ssr sp1's on an sc430  ;)

i think it is ironic too about my situation.  i actually really like vip modular wheels and rocked an older set of vr01's on my last ls430 and loved them,, plus not a lot of japanese have them out here and you guys know the definition of vip so yeah they are more rare here.  if someone on okinawa wanted them they would have to go through the vendor on mainland japan and special order them so it makes them all the more rare here.

Dang, you got some bad luck with wheels.

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Yea dog! thats just what I was thinkin. T-shirt nintendo phantom jersey german stage-off solution delusion. Yea dog yea!

i'm thinking its time for a new body kit

the mode parfume gamu regallia is my fav but at like 5k not sure its a wise investment.  i found this kit here (j-unit) on sale half off, gonna see if its still available.  what do you think of just the 3pc kit, not sure i want the side fenders at another 1k, so just fogs, front, rear, and sides.

[URL="http://www.j-unit.biz/products/img/grs180_184/zoom_01.jpg"][IMG]http://www.j-unit.biz/products/img/grs180_184/zoom_01.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

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[URL="http://www.j-unit.biz/products/img/grs180_184/main_grs180_184.jpg"][IMG]http://www.j-unit.biz/products/img/grs180_184/main_grs180_184.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

That looks good!! Not a fan of the double fog lights tho, but I still like the kit

The double fogs are sick, i like the kit, but if you dont do the whole kit, what will you do?

i like the fenders, it's a MUCH more subtle vent that what people have been doing. but for an extra stack, idk.

Really dig the front. Hate the gills on the skirt.

I totally agree, i love the front and rear bumpers but the side skirts are like late 90's bmw side fender knock off esque to me  ;)   i wonder how hard it would be to get different side skirts, can anyone recommend another brand that makes some nice ones off the top of their head.  i know all the usual vip brands but can't recall any that stood out at the moment.

remember when every tuner car wanted to emulate the bmw by putting those fake looking side fenders on their integra's, civic's, and eclipse's....   i'm afraid a lot of us prolly came from those same roots, i know i almost pulled the trigger and put them on my eclipse  ;)

yeah i love those fender cutouts as well, but for an extra 1k it is a hard pill to swallow, maybe keep them on the back burner.

you could just get them filled and shaved. custom work ftw.

Just bite the bullet and do the fenders, those are sick!

J-unit for sure! that is the kit wanted for the ucf30 if I had kept it. If your doing bodywork - I'm with blackanese, get it done all at the same time.

since i live on a small island, the vip game out here is weak for sure.  if i was on mainland japan each and every shop could do or point me in the right direction of where to get madd crazy body work done.  i've yet to be able to find a shop that is willing and able (not practice but has prior experience) in doing body stuff on vip cars.  i have seen a handful on this small island that look to have work like this done; extra wide fenders, aggressive pulls, and only one with cutouts in the fender,, but short of stopping them at a stoplight and asking them in broken japanese where they got it done this is where i'm at.  and i'm at the stage now that i can't find the shops on my own so i will try and ask next time i see one next to me in traffic.

i've been to two of the best car mod shops on the island and neither has a place they can even recommend on this island that they said could do good fender work, they each said 'mainland'.

so k-break side steps FTW, now waiting on a final price quote for parts, shipped, paint, install.  shipping just from mainland to okinawa is ridiculous and same as to the states in most cases, and i'm only 1000 miles south of tokyo.

How much would a ferry ride to mainland cost?

Prolly 80-100, btw im not riding on a 1000 ferry so getting it delivered to the ferry would also cost loot, but yeah japan is very expensive to ship anything.

Its cheaper for me to but japanese parts that are already in the US and have them mailed to me here in jp, yeah i think this is kind of funny...

Too bad crown kits dont exist in the US or i would be ordering it from there.

got my final two wheels in yesterday evening, dropped em off to get mounted, will pick them up this evening after work and then decide whether to mount tonight or tomorrow morning.  it feels like christmas morning...  ;D

BTW the body kit idea is sort of put on hold cuz paint and install about $1200, shipping is about $500-550 and the kit was only about 2600 so all in all that was around $4200 for a kit, when i already have a decent lip kit is hard to pull the trigger on.

i did go look at an s2000 (there was a reason it was so cheap) last friday and will be test driving a 2004 toyota MR-S (rear wheel drive mid engined coupe convertible, and its manual) this afternoon so the body kit funds may be getting reallocated  ;)   the MR-S is brand new on my radar and is really not a car i'm completely syched about but this dude is moving off the island and the price is extremely right to move it plus i'm looking for a convertible coupe.  had my eye on some SC's but they are around $30k here (crazy expensive for a used car in my opinion), and this MR-S is around $6500 and the dude says it is still in factory warranty so has been regularly maintained by the dealership with all records and brand new tires and brakes...

I'm so jelly, makes me wanna reenlist and head your way lol

i got out and came back as a civilian so that i could enjoy all these things...  being in the mil is alright i suppose but there are way too many rules they can enforce on you if your in...  i feel like i'm out of the cage now, well somewhat, cuz it is a small island and every american you meet here has a boss for the most part, or works on one of the basses, and if you act stupid then expect to get your card pulled.  so civilian yes, but i still gotta mind my p's and q's around certain folk.

Very true, when i was in amsterdam i wanted to "enjoy" more if you know what i mean (ha ha) but i couldnt...........so i went back as a civi twice lmao


So i totally feel ya

wow you don't see see cars everyday! nice build here!

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Wow, very nice choice on the rim color,

Y plate Crown, dope!

that looks good!!

What is the badge on the 1/4's ? Looks like you put the neo-chrome on the rears but not the fronts? Anyways, red caps, white faces look super clean and classy. Huge improvement in my opinion.  And also how are you liking the cups? Good/bad worth it/ not worth it????

God damn that's hot

[QUOTE=~~sperm~bomb~~;486485]What is the badge on the 1/4's ? Looks like you put the neo-chrome on the rears but not the fronts? Anyways, red caps, white faces look super clean and classy. Huge improvement in my opinion.  And also how are you liking the cups? Good/bad worth it/ not worth it????[/QUOTE]

thats a toyota crown badge.

thank you guys'es'es; yeah i have to admit that i was a little nervous as to how the car would actually look with white on white as i've seen some tacky looking versions of white on white...  i can honestly say that in my opinion it is a real head turner and looks very tasteful to me.

my wife actually got out of the car and had me drive by her so she could see why everyone was checking out my car...  well i was expecting the normal show off car hater, cheap pimp, attention ***** (how come the word w.h.o.r.e. is a no go¿) comments from her that she normally says about my car or similar ones we see, but surprisingly to me she said it didn't look cheap at all and said it looked pretty classy for once.  ;)   i'll take it cuz she doesn't pay too many car compliments.

not sure if i'd say it full on vip but it feels sort of executive and mildly VIP-esque with a dash of sport...  i'm very happy with the way it turned out and i just want to thank Tong and the rest of the VIP modular crew for all the work they put in.

another,, 

[URL="http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG01256_zps79cc53b7.jpg"][IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l543/b3rusty/IMG01256_zps79cc53b7.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

definitely looks good man, not too much more you can really do to it...

SOJAH HOT DAMN!! THAT LOOKS HOT!! I like how it turned out!! Glad you got the other set without the hassle of remaking a new set an trying to color match. Keep up the good work bro!!!

p.s. I'm still Jelly cause you got a crown!!! lol

like a virgin, touched for the very first time,, i'm sorry i was just at a bbq that went way late and they started playing way too much 80's music...

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i normally would have picked 5 or 6 that i really like but honestly i'm too drunk to care or decide at the moment so you pick for me.  i really didn't want to move my car from any of these spots above and would have rather just watched the sun set, but i guess it was good lighting to take pics soooooooo...

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it sure looked good in the catalog,, hope it looks better once applied.

the mats also don't come with the logo placards/name plate things with the mats like they appear to in the catalog,, no no, they are like 100$ extra each or something crazy like this...  wow this company is not cheap.


but i guess some good news is that even when i'm done with these mats i can still sell them for $700 as a recent for sale thread told me...  so i don't feel bad about spending $450 on them (shipping was like $50, japan is nutsoid about shipping costs even within country).

this thing is sweet!!!! lucky having rhd everything from garson will fit lol

Loving the white on white looks exceptional looking forward to seeing more...

thanks guys.  thinking about actually getting a real camera one of these days so i can stop using my cell phone,, it makes good calls though  ;)

wonder how good these would have turned out with a real camera¿

Awesome fu*kn build  sojah.....

super fu*kn thank you man  ;)

i love driving this car, and just looking at it too...  but thats what it is all about isn't it.  my wife just laughs but its true.

Good to see JDM rocking some USDM gear, nice build

Really dig'n this Crown. Esp. the wheel choice/color. Nice job Sojah. :biggthumpup:

Awesome shots!! Such a legit location!!

haha thanks adamls2 ^ ^ ^

i was actually there for a wedding last fall and couldn't help but think of how awesome it would be for a little photo session, plus the white on white was so ill that it reminded me of a clean white church outfit that you only break out for those special occasions.

yeah i bought a jdm car and got all my parts from the states (subs & amp rockford fosgate, susp BC coils and Phantom air cup kit, wheels VIP Modular obviously),, gotta love that reverse psychology i'm dropping on them...

BTW the body kit i was going to buy turned into about half of my new (to me) car i pick up next week.  i got a blue '04 z4 3.0i sport package bmw,, and for anyone saying it can be vip'ed check this out,   [URL]http://exchange.goo-net.com/usedcars/BMW/Z4/700030237420121207002/index.html[/URL]

i just about bought this one and had it shipped but the shop at the very last minute disclosed that it has been sitting outside for 25 months, hasn't been driven in 25 months, the pics are from 25 months ago, and all 4 tires are bald and breaks need to be replaced soon...  yeah no thanks to that 25 month bit, engine might need to be replaced soon  ;)  but you get the point with the pics of what i'm envisioning...

[URL="http://picture1.goo-net.com/030/0302374/J/0302374A20121207W00204.jpg"][IMG]http://picture1.goo-net.com/030/0302374/J/0302374A20121207W00204.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

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[URL="http://picture1.goo-net.com/030/0302374/J/0302374A20121207W00206.jpg"][IMG]http://picture1.goo-net.com/030/0302374/J/0302374A20121207W00206.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[URL="http://picture1.goo-net.com/030/0302374/J/0302374A20121207W00207.jpg"][IMG]http://picture1.goo-net.com/030/0302374/J/0302374A20121207W00207.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

BTW this is not the car i bought (the one i almost bought), but just to give you an idea of some things that may be transpiring in the coming months / year...

Beautiful Pare!

took a heat gun and ultimately some skizzors to my front fender liners, a steak knife, and some zip ties.  two hours later and i'm successfully riding about 3/4" lower and with less rubbing.  turned up the stiffness on the coilovers and voila, its now a very low very aggressive driving great feeling less rubbing car again.  only problem is that under aggressive driving now, instead of rubbing loudly on the liner now it hits the front fenders.

i am really digging the road feel now, but i guess some would argue that i killed the suspension.  this car is about the same dimensions as the stateside lex GS and now it handles like an IS on stiff coilovers  ;)

i really like it but i'm worried my wife will quickly get annoyed and start talking trash..  lets hope not ;)     but it rubs even less now than it did before the recent changes.

present ride height is 1/2" of tire showing front and rear...  it seems to get harder and harder to get that last little bit of tire to disappear.  



got a new ported box, got the trunk completely rewired, re-tuned the entire subwoofer sound and it sounds so much better now.  my car had a busy weekend!!!

Good work, post some updated pics.....btw what's a skizzor lol j/k

looks good. would love to see white lips on those wheels. i dunno, it's just something that's been really catching my eye for a while now.

finally got the convertible,,

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dude! love the crown. one just popped up on our local "ebay" here in new zealand... im looking at getting another car this year so sentia can become a full time ultimate sunday driver:) and im in between a f50 cima, one of those, ls430 or even a slightly older majesta (00 mark) or even go euro...

but its only a grs180 with 2.5 in it... i would really want a v8 as a next car

Thanks for the PM man! Read through every page. Love this car! Got a ways to go to catch up.

Lovin the BMW also. What made you decide on the number 88? My buddy here in Misawa has that number on his evo 7 because of his son's birthday. I am still trying to decide on a number for my crown, just have the number I got when I changed the title. 

Take care. Will keep in touch~

thanks a bunch there onajihito, 88 actually sounds out to bye bye (Not sure if its spelled the same way but thats how it is pronounced) in chinese since 8 is pronounced bi or bye or something to this effect.  but 88 could mean a lot of things  ;)  depending on who you are i suppose, like double infiniti.  we have a few single '8' license plates around here and they are usually yakuza wannabe's so i figured two 8's would be twice as gangsta...  i know x4 8's is good luck to japanese people.  so x2 8's could be half good luck  ;)

i thought i put up this pic a long time ago but i guess not.  i put in the Garson neck pads, floor mats, and the red seat belt button shiny crystals (not shown) plus i believe the seat covers are beliza or something,, the drivers seat is an air cooled seat cover thats about to get moved to my z4 convertible though  ;)

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well i sold this car a few days ago and just bought a black 08' Majesta.  it is shipping in from Kobe so it will take another few days.  this is a pic of the car from the net, not the actual car that i bought.  however i did get the kouki version that is shown and plan on getting this Black Pearl kit next month.

[URL="http://www.blackpearl-1.com/english/img/jewelry/uzs18/18f.jpg"][IMG]http://www.blackpearl-1.com/english/img/jewelry/uzs18/18f.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

i also just bought a used set of aimgain G 19" wheels with like 3.5 and 4.5" lips so hopefully they won't be to rough and i can ride on them for a few months  :D

[URL="http://kurumadouraku.co.jp/goods/aimgain_image/AMG-TOYOTA-CROWN.jpg"][IMG]http://kurumadouraku.co.jp/goods/aimgain_image/AMG-TOYOTA-CROWN.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Niice those Majestas are super lush

yea i've wanted an 18 majesta for a long long time.  got the car, and got the kit on the way.  car is at the shop and i haven't even driven it yet.  i can't wait for the kit to be installed.  hopefully the wheels will be in today or tomorrow so i can get them on and slam the car down to see how much fender beautification is required  :biggthumpup:

got a super sweet set of porsche 996 double exhaust tips on the way too.  i hope they look as good on the car as i think they might.

Be nice to see man

[QUOTE=sojah;514974]yea i've wanted an 18 majesta for a long long time.  got the car, and got the kit on the way.  car is at the shop and i haven't even driven it yet.  i can't wait for the kit to be installed.  hopefully the wheels will be in today or tomorrow so i can get them on and slam the car down to see how much fender beautification is required  :biggthumpup:

got a super sweet set of porsche 996 double exhaust tips on the way too.  i hope they look as good on the car as i think they might.[/QUOTE]

They're so quiet as well. A friend of mine picked one up earlier this year and had me move it around briefly.. so silent and smooth haha

i had an 05 LS430UL in the US for 3 years before having to sell it jun 2012 to move to japan.  the LS430UL i had was my most luxurious (quiet, smooth, reliable, just plain all around pimp) car thus far that i have owned.  just before finding out i got the job in japan i was shopping around for an upgrade but didn't think the LS460's were as nice as my then current LS430UL.  i sat in an executive package LS600L and yes it was nicer, but the 460's i test drove and sat in i didn't feel were an upgrade on luxury.

where i'm going with this is that for me (in my opinion) the 18 majesta which was like 04-09 or something like this is actually an upgrade to the LS430 and a much better successor than the LS460.  the 08 majesta i got shares the same 4.3l engine that the LS430 had but is a newer more upgraded & updated car, in my opinion.  i was never sold on the LS460, but i am completely sold on the Majesta  :D

[QUOTE=sojah;514989]i had an 05 LS430UL in the US for 3 years before having to sell it jun 2012 to move to japan.  the LS430UL i had was my most luxurious (quiet, smooth, reliable, just plain all around pimp) car thus far that i have owned.  just before finding out i got the job in japan i was shopping around for an upgrade but didn't think the LS460's were as nice as my then current LS430UL.  i sat in an executive package LS600L and yes it was nicer, but the 460's i test drove and sat in i didn't feel were an upgrade on luxury.

where i'm going with this is that for me (in my opinion) the 18 majesta which was like 04-09 or something like this is actually an upgrade to the LS430 and a much better successor than the LS460.  the 08 majesta i got shares the same 4.3l engine that the LS430 had but is a newer more upgraded & updated car, in my opinion.  i was never sold on the LS460, but i am completely sold on the Majesta  :D[/QUOTE]

Excited to see what you can do with it then :D

nice pick up.