Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Anh-Tuan's LS400










After becoming a father Anh-Tuan Tran sold his 2 door Lexus SC300 to get a more family oriented vehicle. This is where the LS400 came into the picture, already black on black and endless possibilities to go VIP. We loved the car and wanted to give justice to the VIP scene where the LS holds a special place. 


To achieve the stance D2 coilovers were installed and some Junction Produce Scara’s were mounted initially. Although there are plenty of options for body kits and lip kits for the LS400 Anh-Tuan fell in love with how the 04-06 LS430bumper flowed, particularly the fog lights. So a custom bumper was in order. Matting the bottom half of the LS430 to the top half of the LS400 was the only way to ensure fitment. A detailed write up on the process is documented in our DIY / Tutorial section. After the front bumper was created, the sides and the rear bumper needed a face lift to flow with the slick front bumper. The Wald side skirts and rear lip kit flowed nicely with the front. Fitment was spot on and after test fitting everything it went in for paint. The two tone paint scheme the LS came with was ditched and an all black LS emerged. The result speaks for itself. 


The interior is adorned with junction produce accessories like the Junction Produce neck pads, black kintuna knots, black fusa and rear curtains to compliment the Recaro seats his son is encompassed in. VIP baby carrier!

Anh-Tuan was always a fan of the Leon Hardiritt Beil’s and although the Scara’s were a great set of wheels, it was time for more aggressive offsets and so Beil’s were ordered. As it sits now, the static ride’s killer combo of deep dish wheels, the smooth lines of the custom front bumper and the Wald kit brings out the elegance and sophistication of this ride. Stay tuned for more updates on this ride because there is more in store for this Black Knight.




Make     : Lexus
Model    : LS400
Year       : 1998 
Wheels : Leon Hardiritt Beils 19 x 9 (F) & 19 x 10 (R)
Suspensions: D2 Coilovers
Other Mods: Custom front bumper, Wald side skirts and rear bumper, 6000K Low beams, 3000k Fog Lights, Wood Grain Steering wheel, Pioneer Navigation unit, Junction Produce aesthetic interior accessories and much more to come... 



Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Flawless Fitment Fusa T-shirts


Flawless Fitment Fusa T-shirts 
Colors:  Black
Sizes:  Small - 2XL
Price:  $20 picked up, $25 shipped. or buy two for $35.
PayPal:  flawlessfitment@gmail.com (please specify design, your size and quantity when ordering)

More pictures:




Sunday, November 6, 2011

Merging Two Bumpers Together

Before I got my 1998 LS400, I really wanted an 04-06 LS430 because I was in love with the streamline foglights that came with it.  Since the LS430 was out of my budget, I went for the next best thing and got the after MC LS400 instead.  Since I still couldn't get over how nice the LS430 foglights looked, I decided to take the bottom half of the LS430 front bumper and merge it with the top half of my LS400 bumper.  Here's how we did it:

Both bumpers, LS400 on top and LS430 on bottom:

We taped off the line where we wanted to cut the bumper at:

We used an air powered rotary cutter, but you can use a dremel:

Test fitting the LS430 bottom half:

We realized that the LS430 bumper was shorter on the sides, so some custom work would have to be done:

We retained the top part of the LS400 bumper where all the mounting holes to the radiator support and the bracket to the fenders are located.

We used the side of the rotary tool to score and roughen up the edges for better adherence on the area where the two bumpers meet up together.

To connect the two pieces together, we threaded zip ties through them about 1.5 inches apart.

In the back side, we used a compound called "Lord Fusor 100EZ", which is a plastic/polyurethane body repair adhesive.  The best part about this compound is that it has flex agents in it to allow it to take some abuse.

To extend the sides on the LS430 bumper to match the lines on the LS400, we took a donor piece from the LS400 bumper that we didn't need and used the end piece on the LS400 bumper and threaded together with zip ties.


Then we taped it off from the front and laid more Fusor on the back side:

It takes a couple of hours for the Fusor to cure depending on temperature and humidity.  After it hardened, we removed the zip ties from the front and filled in the stock mounting holes that came on the LS430 bumper.

We then laid a thin layer of Fusor on the front side.  We made sure we cut above the Tow hook access hole, because retaining that gives the bumper a stock look.

We then laid on Tiger Hair bondo on the front side to start smoothing it out.


Then we added a final coat of glaze for the finishing smoothness.

Here's the first test fit with the fog lights on.  We wanted to make sure the bumper matches the lines on the fenders.



God I love these fog lights:

After sanding everything smooth, we primed it:


Then we painted it, threw some wheels on, lowered it, Coupled it with Wald sideskirts and rear lip........and BAM!  Easy huh?

Ravin's TL-S









Flawless Garage has been involved in this car from the very beginning. From negotiations and purchase to the what you see now. This beautiful TL-S rolled out of the dealership and into the hands of Ravin Patel, who is new to the scene but always had a passion for tuning.  Ravin wanted to mold this car into something he would be proud of to call his own, and we were there to help him.

Over time the car underwent mods with a bigger picture in mind. We first did small mods like swapping out all of the stock bulbs in the car and replaced them with LED/SMD bulbs, and wrapping interior parts in Dinoc carbon fiber wrap. We then knew that suspensions and wheels were the next step, so we went with Tein Basic coilovers to lower it some and threw Weds Maverick 110S on all four corners. We have a lot more plans for this car, so this is still very much a work in progress. Since this car is Ravin's daily driver, braving through shine, rain and snow, the mods are still moderate.  With due time, this car will be one to keep an eye on.



Make               : Acura
Model             : TL-S
Year                : 2008
Wheels           : Weds Maverick 110S 19 x 9 (F) & 19 x 10 (R)
Suspensions   : Tein Basic Coilovers
Other Mods  : 6000K Low beams, 6000k High beams, 3000k Fog Lights, painted black roof, ceramic tint, Carbon DI-NOC wrapped interior and much more to come...


Malcolm's S2000 with AP2 Conversion








After test driving multiple cars, Malcolm easily fell in love with the styling and handling of the S2000. Flawless Garage was able to find the perfect car for him and his budget. This S2000 is an AP1 S2000 with a full AP2 conversion,  OEM hardtop, Buddy Club header, Invidia q300 exhaust  and low miles. The car initially had Tein springs on it but that was quickly swapped out for D2 coilovers, so we can go lower.  Next came wheels, but the decision was difficult. This being a daily driver, the plan was to keep the handling and drive-ability of the car, retaining what Malcolm fell in love with when he first drove the car. After going through the countless of options out there, Malcolm went with Blitz Type 01 wheels, which looks perfectly at home on the body of the S2000.  After acquiring a set with the width and offsets that would retain his drive-ability, the faces were disassembled and powder coated in a pagan gold. This is just the beginning for this car, Malcolm is new to the scene and continues to amass ideas and influence from all circles of the tuning scene.  This is a first look at Malcolm's car in its infancy.

Make               : Honda
Model             : S2000
Year                : 2001
Wheels           : Blitz Type 01, 17 x 8 (F) 17 x 9 (R)
Suspensions   : D2 Coilovers
Other Mods  : AP1 with AP2 conversion, OEM hardtop, Buddy Club header, Invidia q300 exhaust, Carbon DI-NOC wrapped interior accents, 6000K Low beams and much more to come...