newbee lexus es250 build

so im new to the site, and the scene and looking to build an '91 es250.  i already can imagine what many of you are thinking so ill go over the "why an es250?" list.
1. got the car from a friend, whos a mechanic, so it came cheap and running well
2. low miles (under 70k)
3. interior is good condition leather with wood making it the choice over the cressida or some other rear wheel drive car)
4. the car came out of necessity ( had a baby so had to sell my z)
 
so anyway, i was wondering if anyone else had built an es250 or if they have any infor or advice.  especially regarding suspension and kits. ive done some research already, so it looks like the same year camry susp. parts will fit, but im not sure about the other stuff (kits, etc).  i know its a ff and not one of the standard platforms, so it will never be a true vip car, so i guess you can call it vip style, or vip inspired.  thanks for all the help.
 
p.s. already learned a lot from the site from other posts regarding crowns, camrys, and cressidas. so thanks to everyone

welcome to vsc and post some pics of your ride, I can imagine one slammed on some low offset rims

thanks. ill post eventually, but right now, its nothing special bc i just got it.  has some celica rims and a dvd player. thats about it

Interesting, what year is it?

im sure he posted it 91 es250

welcome . you are only limted by what you can imagine. you might be on to something and  this might be one of the sickest ES's ever  .  GOOD LUCK

[QUOTE=GS300ToM;291395]im sure he posted it 91 es250[/QUOTE]

doh!  Reading owns me.  Such low mileage on that car for being a 91.

Es 's .were nice cars in there day BUT  its was nothing more than a over priced camry  with a L sign that look cool and came standard with leater seats .. with that being said we have all went down this road and spent money on a car that we got for a great price only to fall in love with a new faster one ..lets face it we are suckers for modding ..
 
My suggestion to you is DO very little MODs ..rims and lower spings ( ALL USED BTW) if you want to build this car  . look for thecar you relly want ... and then build it you will be much happier and you will have a lot more cash when the time its right .. i know of a few guys that made there ES into a tool kit becuase they invested soo much cash into them its not worth selling ..
 
food for the brain and good luck with your build .....

thanks for all the positive feedback and ideas so far. kp is right about the money thing, and actually yes, i am trying to build this on a budget....clean, simple, and not cheap but classic.
i actually do really like the car, and yes it is just a camry with leather, power seats, wood, and the "L".  so i was hoping if anyone knew if the kits and whatnot that i find will fit.  i know that the susp should be the same but not sure about the other stuff (measurements are different according the specs ive been finding online).  any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks.
 
p.s. for those wondering, im not a h.s. kid, im actually an older guy who had to sell his z b'c it doesnt hold me newly required baby seat safely.

I dont think ive seen  91 done up before. 
 
but do it.

Don't bother with kits.  Kits are NOT the way to go on a budget.  Cut the springs, put some used wheels on there, and keep it clean.

Considering that I have the camry same generation as your es I can tell ya it won't be cheap to make it pretty. If you want a kit I have the cleanest one made for our body style but the company went out of business. However to run this kit you would need to convert to a camry front bumper and rear bumper. The side skirts should fit good or may need slight modifications. I paid $700 for the 4 piece kit. Now to the most important area. Suspension. You have two options: expensive and les expensive. Expensive would be getting a custom airbag setup price I'm not sure but it'll probably be close to $2k for a decent setup. Obviously if you know what ur doing and have connections it'll be cheaper. The less expensive alternative would be celica coilovers. Fwd celica coilovers from a 5th gen celica will fit with very slight modifications. It may not handle the greatest but it will be better than stock and you get height adjustability. Celica coilovers can be had for $1k beyond that you may pay a lil extra to get custom camber plates for the front and rear depending on ur wheel choice and if you'll need more camber. Wheel widths that you should be able to get a way with would be 8in up front depending on offset and camber. Or if you prefer a slight fender pull. I don't thing a pull is necessary up front for 8in though. But again it depends on offset. In the rear you can squeeze in a 10in wide with a pull and the right offset. I'd stick to wheels around 9.5 or less. Even at 9.5 you're pretty much at the limits of the rear wheel well but you need the right offset to pull that off back there without a fender pull. If buying new wheels then you can get the "extreme" widths and right offsets. But if buying used stick to f 7.5-8in/r 9in. Any more questions feel free to ask. As far as king pin says. Its true we do pour money into these toys but hey the more expensive the toy the more expensive it is to fix or replace. Might as well learn and get in the practice on a "cheaper" platform. Hope this helps.

[QUOTE=CamryVIP;291614]Considering that I have the camry same generation as your es I can tell ya it won't be cheap to make it pretty. If you want a kit I have the cleanest one made for our body style but the company went out of business. However to run this kit you would need to convert to a camry front bumper and rear bumper. The side skirts should fit good or may need slight modifications. I paid $700 for the 4 piece kit. Now to the most important area. Suspension. You have two options: expensive and les expensive. Expensive would be getting a custom airbag setup price I'm not sure but it'll probably be close to $2k for a decent setup. Obviously if you know what ur doing and have connections it'll be cheaper. The less expensive alternative would be celica coilovers. Fwd celica coilovers from a 5th gen celica will fit with very slight modifications. It may not handle the greatest but it will be better than stock and you get height adjustability. Celica coilovers can be had for $1k beyond that you may pay a lil extra to get custom camber plates for the front and rear depending on ur wheel choice and if you'll need more camber. Wheel widths that you should be able to get a way with would be 8in up front depending on offset and camber. Or if you prefer a slight fender pull. I don't thing a pull is necessary up front for 8in though. But again it depends on offset. In the rear you can squeeze in a 10in wide with a pull and the right offset. I'd stick to wheels around 9.5 or less. Even at 9.5 you're pretty much at the limits of the rear wheel well but you need the right offset to pull that off back there without a fender pull. If buying new wheels then you can get the "extreme" widths and right offsets. But if buying used stick to f 7.5-8in/r 9in. Any more questions feel free to ask. As far as king pin says. Its true we do pour money into these toys but hey the more expensive the toy the more expensive it is to fix or replace. Might as well learn and get in the practice on a "cheaper" platform. Hope this helps.[/QUOTE]^^ agreed to some extent but why dump all that cash into a older car ..i understand that there is a budget but if that is the  case buy an old true vip car that is fully modded ..G50 ...
 
My thing is spend the money that your car is worth to modd it at the time of possesion.. but that just Me ..GL with your build all every one is here to help !

Keep it as a DD, no modifications. 

Get something that will take well to this scene (and any scene for that matter) and not be retarded to try to 'build' when there are next to no parts for a 1988 commuter car. 

I see this just becoming a cut spring bushing blown crap fitting wheel junk car, that will just give your baby joint problems when it is 6.

f**k what a hater says, build the car if you want to build it. i personally don't think you [I]can[/I](actaully, i know you [I]can't[/I]) build an es250 with any resemblance to vip style, but take that as a challenge and prove me wrong. better yet... build it approraitely.
 
[IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc188/BLACKonBLACK98/396b91d4.jpg[/IMG]
 
i wouldn't drive it but if i saw you at a meet we'd hang out.

Welcome aboard and YES, I've always lusted after that car. It is the OG of Lexus'. First one to hit the market, after their demo Toyota Cressida. Good luck, I'll stay tunned for sure.

do it... if done right it will look great. like always, do what you like not what other people want you to do.

[QUOTE=kingpin;291638]^^ agreed to some extent but why dump all that cash into a older car ..[/QUOTE]

hahahah... i have allot of money into a old 94 previa. its about what its worth to you. everyone isnt planning on fixing up their car then selling it....

[QUOTE=BLKonBLK98;291686]f**k what a hater says, build the car if you want to build it. i personally don't think you [I]can[/I](actaully, i know you [I]can't[/I]) build an es250 with any resemblance to vip style, but take that as a challenge and prove me wrong. better yet... build it approraitely.
 
[IMG]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc188/BLACKonBLACK98/396b91d4.jpg[/IMG]
 
i wouldn't drive it but if i saw you at a meet we'd hang out.[/QUOTE]

After seeing this pic. Honestly. I'd say keep ur stock bumpers as they look pretty good already. But definitely get coilovers or bags and slam it on some 17's tuckin tire.. 16's tuckin tire if you wanna get real low. Whether it's a rebadged camry and what not it's still a lexus and sure as hell ain't the only rebadged toyota on the road in the USA. Just put in a nice touch screen head unit with nav, keep the interior leather mint or bring it back to mint condition, and get some nice fitting wheels. It'll turn heads for sure and be vip inspired. VIP inspired = low stance, proper fitting wheels, luxury items. You'll have all that with the ES. Git r dun!

I think that will be a great build. Actually gives me more inspiration for my Cressida. You might have to custom make your air kit, that's what I am going to have to do for my Cressy.



If I remember correctly the ES250 was actually the Carina in other markets.

That Gen es was similar to the "vista" the newer es after that was similar to the "windom". The cressida is another cool toy to play with. Mark II conversion anyone...

holy crap.  first off, thanks to camryvip for all the helpful info.  i know you mentioned celica c.o for suspension....do you happen to know how low it will get the car (max/min)?second thank to BonB for the support and the pic of the es.  reminds me how nice stock bumpers look....though some skirts all around would still be nice.  dont suppose you remember where you got that photo?everyone is right, it will be expensive to fix up my car, but isnt that true for any car? for example if you drive a LS or GS dont you need bigger rims to look nice (vip), which cost more money.   plus everyone knows older cars use simpler technology which equals easier to fix problems on my own.  most of what i know about fixing cars come from maintaining and fixing my own old toyotas, so for me, an old car is actually probably cheaper to maintain in the long run. believe it or not.thanks again to everyone.....and i will never cut coils. didnt do it for me corolla, supra, hachi, or z, and i wont do it here.

pic was the biggest one on google (wikipedia i think). the rest was photoshopped.

i knew that photo looked familiar.  i remember seeing it while researching the car.  yeah could tell the pic is p.s'ed, but it still is insiprational, regardless. thanks again

celica coils min/max drop should be 1.5/3.0 you should definitely be able to sit flush on 16s or 17s with them. If u wanna go lower than that custom stuff will probably need to be made in other parts of the suspension for sure.

Im wit erryone here that thinks you should do what you want. Peeps may say its a nicer version of the Camry, well thats because its a Lexus duh?! And since you say you like the car, then just do it. Otherwise, listen to all the idiots (yeh i said it) that want you to go in another direction because they dont like it.

+1 I just saw this thread, build on a budget (what you said) keep it simple and I like how its something different, ive got a GS and an LS430, how original right?! LOL I hope you find the correct wheels and height and that photo shop looks so dope!

and by the way, honnestly i like older cars with smaller wheels, just food for thought if I were you drop that SOB on some BBS RS 15's or 16's baby! with a nice stretch ... you'll be looking so gangster that no one would be able to say shit!

thank again to everyone for the advice and support.  c-vip thanks, ive been looking up celica susp.  when you say minor mod, how much mod'ing are you talking about? what type of mod work?
and to a-n thanks, and im on the same page as you. was thinking just that, 16 bbs rs's.  a possibility, definitely

I'm gonna find the thread off toyotanation and post it here so you can see.

[QUOTE=classicstyle;292809]thank again to everyone for the advice and support.  c-vip thanks, ive been looking up celica susp.  when you say minor mod, how much mod'ing are you talking about? what type of mod work?
and to a-n thanks, and im on the same page as you. was thinking just that, 16 bbs rs's.  a possibility, definitely[/QUOTE]

maaaannn i have never seen that body before but id be aiming at a setup close to this
[url]http://ll.speedhunters.com/u/f/eagames/NFS/speedhunters.com/Images/Dino%20Dalle%20Carbonare/2010/January/GarageWingGX71Chaser/GW-GX71s-64.jpg[/url]

[QUOTE=VJ_400;294646]maaaannn i have never seen that body before but id be aiming at a setup close to this
[url]http://ll.speedhunters.com/u/f/eagames/NFS/speedhunters.com/Images/Dino%20Dalle%20Carbonare/2010/January/GarageWingGX71Chaser/GW-GX71s-64.jpg[/url][/QUOTE]

Thats pretty much the same car as mine.

vip-c i think i remember remember reading that post a while back...before i got onto this site.  thanks, im gonna try to go look for it again and post it here too, so that if anyone else has the same idea they can save some research time.  i was hoping though, that you or someone you knew had first hand experience with using modified celica suspension.