1990 widebody Toyota Celsior

Blipman · 07-12-2006, 08:44 AM

Hey guys,

.... and so it begins. I've decided to put a carPC into my 1990 Toyota Celsior (a Japanese Lexus LS400), here is the car (when it was still in Japan):

The plan is to have a pretty flash trunk install (which will happen later on and isn't of much concern here) and have a PC providing the sound and images, with a fairly factory looking install in the cabin. Despite the slightly outrageous nature of the car it is a daily driver so primarily it has to be practical and easy to use.

I hope some of the experience here helps future builders, preferably not by learning from my mistakes

STEP 1: THE SCREEN

I decided not to skimp and shelled out for an 8" Xenarc touch screen, as much as the extra price hurt, this is the single most used component of the system so I wanted it to be right, and from all that I've read here I didn't know if the Lilliput or other cheaper options would be as good.

This is the old factory head unit (double DIN or thereabouts, "DIN" seems to be the loosest standard the world has ever seen) which has to go. The 8" screen is taller so the wood ash tray and buttons below the factory head unit will have to be altered.

The space to fill:

The Xenarc face plate and the curve to cut to get it to fit. I was concerned the aluminium would be hard to work with but actually it was very easy, I cut roughly with a jigsaw and then used a rotary bench grinder with 40 grit sandpaper to smooth it out. Aside from the pressure of only getting one shot at it this was easier than I initially thought it would be. I'm glad I didn't have to fall on more 'advanced' techniques such as filling with fiberglass etc, by chance a simple solution was about the best.

With the face plate in place. The screen and buttons can still bolt up, how the screen will actually be securely mounted I haven't figured out yet.

These are the 4 buttons which will go under the screen in a new surround, and that will also house the suspension height controller to the right.

Work in progress of the new panel at the bottom. If there's a clever method to cut these square holes (with rounded edges) I'm yet to discover it, this was done pretty much with a drill and files, the result is a pass at best. I may actually have to make this part again, I don't look forward to doing these holes again

The rectangle above the buttons is where the suspension controller will go, the two ends have a slight curve which I'll have to figure out how to accurately reproduce.

Next weekend I plan to finish that lower piece and work out how I'll mount this and the screen in place. I plan to paint both pieces a semi gloss black the same as the aircon control panel above so it looks factory. I may later end up adding buttons for the reversing camera and a reboot switch but I'll have to see what it's like living with a computer first to see if they are necessary, the areas on either side of the suspension controller are obvious candidates for those if needed.

Ben

anmoldagreat · 07-12-2006, 01:37 PM

wow thats such a nice car to start a project with
are you trying to turn it into a show car or leave it as a dd?

and btw great luck to you with this project

romul · 07-12-2006, 01:52 PM

hooooooo shizz ive never seen a lex widebodied, sweet car!! looks to be an interresting install.

turbocad6 · 07-12-2006, 02:06 PM

wow... that car is sick... that's a totally custom body I'm assuming... who does the conversion, is this just a body kit? looks sweet...

-zip- · 07-12-2006, 02:23 PM

love that car, cant stop looking at it. GREAT job!

scott_fx · 07-12-2006, 02:36 PM

i really want to hate that car, but the body work looks top notch. Good luck on the installation and take plenty of pics!

MP3DUB · 07-12-2006, 02:38 PM

To cut a good square hole with rounded edges, you can drill (with proper sized drill bit of course) each corner first, and then just connect the edges of the holes using a coping (or whatever) saw.

Wiredwrx · 07-12-2006, 03:01 PM

Is that height control, or an EDFC?

Michael

Blipman · 07-13-2006, 12:34 AM

Thanks for the positive response guys, I plan to keep it as a daily driver, but still have show car qualities, but it has to be practical/driveable. I hate the idea of owning a nice car that I can only rarely drive, so if I have to make a decision either way it will be practicality that wins.

The car has an 18 piece Admiration brand "Blistor" widebody kit, all the work was done in Japan. The suspension control adjusts the factory air suspension, this lets me keep the ride height looking good but I can still raise it to get into driveways etc. This is integral in my daily driver plans believe me, I do want to get it raising and dropping a little faster though, the factory system is pretty slow for such major changes.

MP3DUB: thanks for the advice, this is how I was planning on doing it next time.

Some more pics since landed in Australia:

Yes that's a widebody R33 Skyline in the background...

Ben

tj!2k4 · 07-13-2006, 12:38 AM

wow, that looks wicked

ppgt94 · 07-13-2006, 12:54 AM

Welcome to MP3car. Looks like you're off to a great start! Very interesting car. I like what you're doing to the interior and it's looking good. Nice idea with the 8" install. Looking forward to watching the progress

portabuddy · 07-13-2006, 01:00 AM

i'm speachless, your car looks amazing, all the pannels look very smooth and very well intergrated in. I actuly imported that exact kit in poly-urithane from japan for a friend but i never saw the car. it realy dose look good. if i remember correctly the kit was 2500-3000 and shipping was 500 or so. i imagine that getting the whole care shipped over cost a prity penny. hood luck in your install, looks like a lot of trunk space. can we get some shots under the hood?, and also was this a show car, some rich nuts toy or a drifter?

turbocad6 · 07-13-2006, 01:40 AM

wow... I really like that body kit....

Blipman · 07-13-2006, 03:49 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by portabuddy

i'm speachless, your car looks amazing, all the pannels look very smooth and very well intergrated in. I actuly imported that exact kit in poly-urithane from japan for a friend but i never saw the car. it realy dose look good. if i remember correctly the kit was 2500-3000 and shipping was 500 or so. i imagine that getting the whole care shipped over cost a prity penny. hood luck in your install, looks like a lot of trunk space. can we get some shots under the hood?, and also was this a show car, some rich nuts toy or a drifter?

I'd be interested in more details about that, the Admiration kit isn't made any more but was around 8 grand for the parts when it was, and more than that again to properly fit and paint, the previous seller spent about 3 million yen on all the work done to the car. Underbonnet is just the standard V8, nothing special.
The car was built by a dealer in Japan who specializes in body mods, they made the car in 1999. Since then they sold it to one customer, bought it back, sold it to another customer, bought it back, and then sold it to me. I don't think it was used as anything special, if it gives you any indication of his mindset a significant part of the negotiations involved him getting to keep all of the Hello Kitty gear that was in the interior, which I was naturally not too sad to part with

Ben

portabuddy · 07-14-2006, 12:10 AM

Umm, let me get this straight, he spent 30000 for JUST THE BODY WORK and the only thing he wanted was some ****ty hello kitty stuff, what a moron, anyway, there should be no problem the last time i spoke with him was three years ago, around the same time i lost my buisness because of my SOB dead beat partner. i used to own my own customization/audio/performance/whatever you want buisness, where my buddy in japan came in handy, we did a lot of buisness i hope i can find his number all of my paperwork is still in boxes. i hope you dont mind waiting a bit. in the meantine, the kit did not cost that much it realy costed aroung 4-5000 to a dealer the rest was markup, i saw it for 10000 befor. the first time he found one it was a fluke and it was damaged by the manufacture. there where two models that where similar one fiberglass and the other poly-urathane(rubbery plastic) personaly i would go with the urathane. in the meantime what model is your lexus?

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