XxGoKoUxX's 06GS build (Lots of progress to be made)

[xxgokouxx]

**FAIR WARNING: ALL OF THIS IS A LEARNING CURVE, I'VE MADE MANY MANY MISTAKES THAT I AM CURRENTLY IN THE WORKS OF FIXING AS WE SPEAK, SO DON'T LAUGH TOO MUCH AS MY BUILD CONTINUES! ILL ALSO HAVE TO MAKE MULTIPLE POSTS AS SMD DOESNT LET ME UPLOAD A LOT OF PHOTOS, THANK YOU!

Hey guys, figured since I'm already ALMOST to where I want the car's electricals to be, I'd make a build thread of the progress of when I first purchased the car.

I started off with my purchase.... Believe it or not I was STOKED to be able to afford the USED Lexus I purchased. I originally went to the dealership looking for a GS300 or GS350, but all they had were AWDs in my price range. I took a ride in a Silver (I wanted GFM/Glacier Frost Mica aka white w/ blue pearled GS), base package (no nav no ML.... which turned out to be a good thing as owners with ML have ran into the long-term effects of how sh!tty the ML systems are longevity-wise) equipped with it's stouty v8 (I say stouty because they're 290HP & 300ft/lbs of TQ).

Anywho, onto the next day after my purchase:

A few months later, with the support of my fiancé (she wasn't my fiancé before). I dropped a few G's on a lip kit on the car:

A few months after that, I started venturing into something where maybe TWO or THREE people did on their Lexus, that was air. It was a rough ride, but in the end it was worth it. I bought really decent coilovers (BC Racing), and did the little research that was supported at the time. I sent out my BCR Coilovers to get chopped into pieces and remodified to fit my car (the rears have the struts inverted, so it had to be done). Of course now everything's PnP at very reasonable prices (similar to the setup I have, without all the waiting and hassle). Took me about a half a year after that (after many members from my subforum nagging me to get the bags put on), I jumped on a "Stage 3" Accuair kit. It came with E-leveling, 2 comperssors, 5-gal tank, and a neat little wireless remote to make the car go up and down while I'm walking away. Onto the photos:

Since I get all my engine work and etc. done at the dealership, I find this funny little note awaiting my arrival back in the cockpit every time. Apparently the techs at my local dealership like to fiddle with things in my car, especially since I was told the old system was decently loud (nothing compared to how it sits now though):

Anywho, onto the system build, I started off the year with a preorder on these subwoofers, when they came I was stoked and couldn't wait to have them installed:

[xxgokouxx]

Because this box was built for a 12W6v2 (I used to nut hug JL like no other, I've since wisened up though). So I decided to get a proper box built, someone local to me did a custom built box for my trunk for a decent price. I'd say it was pretty good quality, especially since I'm still using it now as we speak! He sent me this photo as it was JUST finished and awaiting my arrival for pickup. He's an awesome guy and if he's on here, BIG shoutout to him (ALL4SPL)! He's really taught me a lot on what to do and what not to do with the car's system.

All this was torn down for the time being (since I was on air, and couldn't find the space to squeeze the subs in). I took the time to sit back in my trunk pondering what needs to be done.... First being the fact that I have such a heavy drainage when my compressors kicked on, so I ordered a Mechman (watching Steve's videos about how much he raved on Mechman alts). Amp put out a nice 147a @ 800rpm and 242a @ 1800rpm. It's not to say the least that the amp still performs GREAT @ 600rpm idle (Lexus cars, especially my v8, idles low for power saving reasons). Onto photos!

Photos aren't there, but I beefed up the alternator with 1/0 gauged wiring to go parallel with my stock electricals. I felt it needed to be done so it was done, there's no photos on that though, as I'm doing another revamp of all my electricals as this build continues.

Anywho, I was doing ANOTHER video hunt for an amp, to see how they performed, and stumbled upon the CT Sounds at1400.1d. I wasn't diggin' the white, but I fell in love with the "distortion" light-up, as I don't have a DD-1 or an o-scope. It was a GREAT feature that I deemed needed as I don't enjoy tearing down the many many many components in my trunk.

It took a few weeks, and a friends help (while she was on her way up here from South FL). To pick up and drop off my amp to me. I was a HAPPY camper! The amp was beautiful, especially the plexi panel on the bottom.

As I was working on the trunk the other day, I decided that it was time to put everything on a board, and make everything sit properly as I'm going to put all my panels back really soon: I'll be working more and more on wire organization as my installer left a nice clusterfuck in my spare tire well. Excuse the paper, there was an air leak, and I specified to the installer that a grommet needs to be installed, even though he said it wasn't needed... That will be fixed soon enough as I progress with my trunk build.

Thanks to my support fiancé, even though she was screaming up a storm because the box and the amp was so heavy, she was my little helper for a few hours as I hooked up the CT Sounds amp to the box (I used a lot of extra felt behind it to keep the amp from getting direct vibrations from the box per reccomendations of our members). Have to say, at 1400w+ RMS, it pounded pretty nicely for a sealed enclosure!

[xxgokouxx]

I'll be carpeting, recutting some wood, and sprucing up my trunk a lot more really soon as I progress onto the electricals build. I started off ordering a bunch of Knukonceptz gear, it fit the bill and had just about everything I needed it to have as far as terminals and etc. On order was 1/0 CCA (it is all I needed, I don't feel the need for OFC in my application), Pos and Neg terminals, 1/0 gold connectors, and a distributor block. I didn't think these things were so expensive until I purchased it as a bulk. (It was $200 total, which IMO is a bit expensive for a few connectors and wires... I'm not used to spending this much in minor things like that). I got a sweet little package, LITERALLY ordered on Friday, and it arrived on Monday (my day of finals for classes at UCF).

Right now I'm still deciding on between 2 12in SD-2's sealed, or my single SA-8 ported. Both have great output for what they are... But I'm between space saving, and SPL. I'll have to decide by the end of the week which gear I want to run (both boxes are already built FWIW):

That's all for now. I'll snap more photos as I get more work done tomorrow. Hoping to knock out the electricals portion within this week, and then onto adaptors for my 6.5s, they're currently on crap-assed scosche 6.5 adaptors.

[Tecomah]

Tuned in

[wonner]

Dropbox is showing Error 403...I see no pics.

[xxgokouxx]

That's strange.... It works fine on mine's, can anyone else verify error 403?

I still have the pictures on my desktop so I can reupload to another server if needed.

On an update... I couldn't get anything done with the busy schedule ahead for today..... I brought MOST of the stuff I needed with me on the road, and when I got there I forgot that I needed hex keys to install the terminals.

I think I will start with the engine bay first, and on a second day, I'll run 1/0 to the rear and setup my trunk all over again.

It's going to be a long process

[thefourth]

Cant see pics

[xxgokouxx]

Oh Jeez... Now I'm mad It took me for friggin ever to get these links up and after testing it on my Chrome browser, it doesn't work either.... GRR!!

I guess I'm going to mess around with dropbox for a bit, if it doesn't work out i'll switch providers... Sorry folks!

[xxgokouxx]

FIXED, Let me know if the links don't work again folks!

[focused313]

nice equipment