Mods
Engine & Transmission painfully bone stock.\r
16" Lexus ES300/330 (XV30) satin alloy 9-spoke wheels.\r
35% VLT tint all around, including a strip across the top of the windshield (from the AS1 line up).\r
Energy Suspension urethane bushings on the suspension.\r
Gen 4 to 4.5 facelift (front bumper, headlights, turn signals, & grille from 2000/'01).\r
Drilled & Slotted front rotors with ceramic pads.\r
Rear drum-to-disc brake upgrade.\r
Alarm with remote-start & 2-way communication.\r
"Bulb Out" bypassed and tail-lights running LED bulbs.\r
Backup camera (aftermarket) for an E39 5-series with custom Al adapter plate in license-plate light.\r
Double-DIN DVD/AM/FM head unit with Bluetooth & backup camera input.\r
Re-faced instrument cluster gauges with electroluminescent "optical illusion" white/black background.\r
3,500 Lb rated tow-hitch with 2" ball and taillight converter.\r
Custom made bike rack to carry my Mongoose Blackcomb mountain bike.\r
Dashcam.\r
Roof rack (sometimes taken off, when not in use).
16" Lexus ES300/330 (XV30) satin alloy 9-spoke wheels.\r
35% VLT tint all around, including a strip across the top of the windshield (from the AS1 line up).\r
Energy Suspension urethane bushings on the suspension.\r
Gen 4 to 4.5 facelift (front bumper, headlights, turn signals, & grille from 2000/'01).\r
Drilled & Slotted front rotors with ceramic pads.\r
Rear drum-to-disc brake upgrade.\r
Alarm with remote-start & 2-way communication.\r
"Bulb Out" bypassed and tail-lights running LED bulbs.\r
Backup camera (aftermarket) for an E39 5-series with custom Al adapter plate in license-plate light.\r
Double-DIN DVD/AM/FM head unit with Bluetooth & backup camera input.\r
Re-faced instrument cluster gauges with electroluminescent "optical illusion" white/black background.\r
3,500 Lb rated tow-hitch with 2" ball and taillight converter.\r
Custom made bike rack to carry my Mongoose Blackcomb mountain bike.\r
Dashcam.\r
Roof rack (sometimes taken off, when not in use).
Build story
This car is my daily driver. I'm self-employed and it is basically my "work truck" and carries my tools and supplies wherever I go. I am also an Assistant Scoutmaster and this car takes me on dirt/gravel roads to go camping with our Boy Scout Troop. Oh, and did I mention the well over 450,000 miles on the original, never rebuilt, engine and transmission?\r
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A friend of ours sold it to us for it to be my wife's car, originally. I started "pimping" it for her. Of course, in Texas, it is pretty hot in the summer, so I tinted the windows. I do ALL my own work myself. This gets interesting because we live in an apartment and we don't have a garage. I installed the alarm system with remote-start and 2-way communication. Being able to pre-chill the A/C in the Summer here, in Texas - for sure! After a fender-bender involving a construction zone and another driver going through the orange cones, I replaced the nose of the car with the front bumper, grille, headlights, and turn signals from a 2000 - 2001 Camry. This involved some "massaging" of the lock carrier/core support and the electrical wiring. We picked up the wheels at a junkyard. Another friend had me help him do some work on his 2002 BMW 5-series and he had accidentally gotten 2 backup cameras, so he gave me the extra one. I fabricated a small aluminum bracket to attach it to the Camry in place of one of the license plate lights (as it's twin had been put into the Bimmer). I wired it up to an eBay rear-view mirror with integrated LCD display. I re-faced the gauges.\r
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Later, another friend sold us a W210 Mercedes E320 for a price we couldn't refuse, so Dawn (my wife) gave me the Camry.\r
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I continued with safety-themed upgrades (except for the towing upgrades - work related). Front brakes had to be done - drilled and slotted rotors with ceramic brake pads. New coil-overs went on all four corners with polyurethane lower control arm bushings. I removed the relay for the "bulb out" idiot light and jumpered the socket and started buying LED bulbs and swapping the tail light bulbs. If I can stop better, the driver behind me better be able to see my brake lights, and quickly! A roof rack, tow hitch, and trailer light wiring adapter went in "Baby Blue" (my Camry) as well as matching dash-cams in both our cars around the same time. "Lola" (Dawn's 'Benz) also got the drilled & slotted front rotors with ceramic pads, a backup camera, and tinted windows.\r
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One of the last two upgrades (so far) were doing the rear brakes - ditching the drums and installing the disc brakes from a V6 Camry/ES300. The other was replacing the clip-on rear-view mirror/LCD and factory stereo with a double-DIN stereo with LCD screen, Bluetooth, and backup camera input.\r
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The front bumper is unpainted, the hood has stone chips, and the clear-coat is abandoning us. But this car is no trailer/garage queen (it pulls the trailer!). And, yes, our Boy Scout Trailer needs some TLC too.\r
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And I have a few more upgrades I'd like to do, including heavy-duty rear springs, but Lola was just totaled by a pickup truck last week and I have to find a replacement 'Benz (preferably a 2005 diesel) for my better half on a shoestring budget.
\r
A friend of ours sold it to us for it to be my wife's car, originally. I started "pimping" it for her. Of course, in Texas, it is pretty hot in the summer, so I tinted the windows. I do ALL my own work myself. This gets interesting because we live in an apartment and we don't have a garage. I installed the alarm system with remote-start and 2-way communication. Being able to pre-chill the A/C in the Summer here, in Texas - for sure! After a fender-bender involving a construction zone and another driver going through the orange cones, I replaced the nose of the car with the front bumper, grille, headlights, and turn signals from a 2000 - 2001 Camry. This involved some "massaging" of the lock carrier/core support and the electrical wiring. We picked up the wheels at a junkyard. Another friend had me help him do some work on his 2002 BMW 5-series and he had accidentally gotten 2 backup cameras, so he gave me the extra one. I fabricated a small aluminum bracket to attach it to the Camry in place of one of the license plate lights (as it's twin had been put into the Bimmer). I wired it up to an eBay rear-view mirror with integrated LCD display. I re-faced the gauges.\r
\r
Later, another friend sold us a W210 Mercedes E320 for a price we couldn't refuse, so Dawn (my wife) gave me the Camry.\r
\r
I continued with safety-themed upgrades (except for the towing upgrades - work related). Front brakes had to be done - drilled and slotted rotors with ceramic brake pads. New coil-overs went on all four corners with polyurethane lower control arm bushings. I removed the relay for the "bulb out" idiot light and jumpered the socket and started buying LED bulbs and swapping the tail light bulbs. If I can stop better, the driver behind me better be able to see my brake lights, and quickly! A roof rack, tow hitch, and trailer light wiring adapter went in "Baby Blue" (my Camry) as well as matching dash-cams in both our cars around the same time. "Lola" (Dawn's 'Benz) also got the drilled & slotted front rotors with ceramic pads, a backup camera, and tinted windows.\r
\r
One of the last two upgrades (so far) were doing the rear brakes - ditching the drums and installing the disc brakes from a V6 Camry/ES300. The other was replacing the clip-on rear-view mirror/LCD and factory stereo with a double-DIN stereo with LCD screen, Bluetooth, and backup camera input.\r
\r
The front bumper is unpainted, the hood has stone chips, and the clear-coat is abandoning us. But this car is no trailer/garage queen (it pulls the trailer!). And, yes, our Boy Scout Trailer needs some TLC too.\r
\r
And I have a few more upgrades I'd like to do, including heavy-duty rear springs, but Lola was just totaled by a pickup truck last week and I have to find a replacement 'Benz (preferably a 2005 diesel) for my better half on a shoestring budget.