Topic: Any thoughts about keeping vehicles road-legal and also LeMons-legal?
Any thoughts about keeping vehicles road-legal and also LeMons-legal?
In PA where I live, there's yearly inspection, both safety and emissions. I'll check on airbag requirements also.
I acquired a Lexus SC400 [for a LeMons-appropriate price!!] because it sounded like fun; and part of the interior is missing already. It started and ran after a jump, though it constantly wanted to stall, but I was able to drive it onto a trailer to bring it home.
It has about 250k miles. Recent oil change shop sticker in the window. I had to add some coolant, there's no heat from the vent or defrost, but the engine temp gauge is in the normal range. Some body damage, but oem hood and fenders as far as I can see. No CEL codes! Needs tires.
There also seems to be an electrical short. The battery dies [after being fully charged] if left connected overnight, which kind of explains the interior panels missing..... If the battery is disconnected, I've reconnected it a week later, and it starts with no problem, so I don't think the battery is an issue.
After charging the battery fully, the engine ran a whole lot better than on the dead battery with the jump start. It takes a short time of cranking to fire up, but after it starts, it now runs quietly and smoothly [to my ears, and I'm not that good at any of this....]. [I know, after it starts, it should run without a problem on the alternator, so there's something for me to look at there as well.]
If I touch a hanging switch in the door panel, the engine can stop dead - and I mean DEAD, but I wasn't paying attention to what my elbow was doing, so I don't know which one.
I kind of like it a lot now, and I basically got it for the scrap price of that Maxima I never got running [difference of $4, I'm thrilled].
It needs front shocks badly, but I can source a pair from RockAuto and still keep under the $500 limit[!].
A little body work with a hammer and a can of spray paint, a LR taillight assembly, fix the electric, and a plug for what looks like an antenna hole in the rear fender, and I'm probably ready to go on the road.
Anyone have an idea if a cage could be put in this coupe without cutting holes in the roof?
Or am I just having a happy pipe dream?
Push come to shove, I fix it for the road and drive it for a while first, then look to join a team and LeMonize it, yeah?