top of page
Photo 18-2-2023, 6 20 20 pm_edited.jpg

CAR OF THE WEEK
@GUY_PATERSONN

Hello, my name is Guy and this is my 1JZ VVTI swapped Lexus IS200. I was never really brought up in a car oriented family. My dad had some interest in cars but nothing crazy, from a young age I was always carrying hot wheels around with me wherever I went no matter the place or time. Then I started getting into the fast and furious movies as I got older and started playing every racing game under the sun and I think that's when I really got hooked into the car era.

THE VISION

The vision and inspiration for this car 10 months ago was never meant to be as far into it as it is haha. But once you start fixing or modifying one thing you find more and more on what should be done next and that’s exactly what’s happened here. It had always been a dream to own something with a JZ and it wasn’t until I got my first IS before this one that I knew I wanted to have a JZ swapped one. I saw a few in person and a lot online and knew I wanted something like that which gave me the inspiration to build one.

Photo 22-1-2022, 3 59 41 pm.jpg

THE JOURNEY

Alright time for the main story of this car, so I went and checked the car out at the start of 2020 and it pretty much ticked all the boxes for me. We had agreed on straight swaps for my R31 at the time, a couple days into agreeing on swapping I had received a message from the owner saying he had crashed it by hitting a curb drifting and wanted to know if I still wanted to swap, i decided to go have a look in person at the damage before agreeing and pretty much the whole left side of the car was screwed underneath. All control arms and suspension parts were either bent or snapped clean off on the impact side, as well as both wheels missing chunks out of the rim. Anyway, I had a look online and found another IS being wrecked at a local wreckers and pretty much bought the whole left side underneath of the car and agreed to still swap. I got all the parts needed to fix the car and then spent a whole day working on the car outside on the road in front of his house, and got it fixed enough to the point I could make it somewhat drive. After replacing most parts I was still having heaps of issues with the front left wheel not sitting properly which caused the cars alignment to keep coming out. I ended up replacing the whole upright assembly which fixed the issue due to it being the tiniest bit bent but wasn't visible until it was next to a new one. Fast forward a couple months I did a few little mods here and there such as lips, coil overs and wheels and also painted my inner trims black so I could get rid of that ugly tan colour. Come January 2022 I ended up finding a 1JZ VVTI out of a JZX100 for sale on Facebook marketplace which I ended up buying. After purchasing the motor I had plans to start the build at the end of 2022, but 2022 had other ideas as the day after I bought the motor I actually ended up losing my license to highway patrol from defects. So what better time to start a new build and make it more illegal. Then at the start of March I sent the car out to Mitch from Serious CMAF. At the time Mitch had just started his little business and my car was the first customer to come through, Mitch put an unbelievable amount of work in to get this car dialed in while still building his own workspace. I would regularly get chauffeured to go visit him to drop endless amounts of parts off and to see the progress as well as him sending me photos day in and day out for more updates. September rolled around and it was dyno day. We had a few little issues here and there but overall the car did great, and ended up pushing 412hp on 98 which I was happy with. Mid September the car was sent in for paint which we ended up painting it in a custom colour of brandywine copper penny and couldn't be happier with the colour of the car. At the end of September the car finally came back to me and it was an unreal feeling to see it finally finished, a feeling that honestly can’t be explained. Fast forward to today the car has been great, only had a few minor issues here and there but nothing crazy.

THE MOD LIST

ENGINE + DRIVETRAIN:

  • 1JZ-VVTI

  • BC 264 Cams

  • BC Springs

  • Arp Head Studs

  • ATI Harmonic Balancer

  • BPP R35 Coil Kit With Genuine Hitachi Coils

  • R154 Gearbox

  • Direct Clutch

  • NPC Billet FlyWheel

  • ARP Flywheel Bolts

  • Custom 1 Piece Tailshaft

  • IS300 LSD And Axles

 

INDUCTION/ EXHAUST:

  • Pulsar G30-770

  • 6 Boost Manifold

  • TurboSmart Hypergate 45mm

  • 2 Inch Screamer

  • Full 3 Inch SS Exhaust

​​

COOLING:

  • Fenix 76mm Core Intercooler

  • Still on Stock Radiator

 

FUELING:

  • Bosch 1000cc Injectors

  • Walbro 460 Intank Pump

  • TurbroSmart FPR 800

  • BPP Fuel Rail

 

INTERIOR:

  • Nardi Steering Wheel

  • AEM Water Temp, Oil Pressure and Boost Gauges

  • Bride Seat Mounts And Rails

  • Recaro RS3 Seats

  • Likewise Shift Knob

  • Aftermarket Shift Boot And Handbrake Boot

 

EXTERIOR:

  • Vertex Front Bar

  • Vertex Side Skirts

  • Elegance Rear Lip

  • Trd Style Boot Wing

  • GMC Autostyling Roof Wing

  • Led Tail Lights

  • Aftermarket Blacked Out Headlights

 

SUSPENSION/HANDLING/

BRAKES:

  • BC Gold Coilovers

  • Hardrace Adjustable Front Upper Arms

  • Hardrace Adjustable Caster Arms

  • Hardrace Adjustable Rear Lower Arms

  • Hardrace Adjustable Rear Toe Arms

  • Stock Brakes (Have DBA T3 Slotted Rotors To Go On)

  • Stock Pads (Have DBA Street Series Pads To Go On)

 

WHEELS & TYRES:

  • Work Emotion T7R

  • Pirelli Dragon Sport Tyres 

 

EXTRAS:

  • Billet Diff Bushes

  • Haltech Elite 750

  • Custom Wiring Harness

​​

Photo 18-2-2023, 6 23 41 pm.jpg
Photo 18-2-2023, 6 22 17 pm_edited.jpg
Photo 25-4-2023, 3 23 44 pm.jpg

MEMORY LANE

Well to start it off the greatest memory for me would be getting to see the car finally all finished and back home. Obviously I can't forget the first drive, something I'll always remember as well. I've also met some cool people over the time of owning this car and it’s been great meeting new people. To be fair I honestly haven’t had too many bad memories with this car except for when I first got it with all the suspension issues and thinking something frame wise could’ve possibly been bent.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

Moving on to the future, my goal is now to pretty much touch every nut and bolt on this car and keep it clean, honestly I just wanna enjoy it as much as possible. There is no doubt in my mind that I will eventually want more power, so expect some power upgrades and definitely some more aesthetic mods in the future. It’s a never ending cycle of upgrading parts when you’re into cars.

​

Special Thank you’s to

Mitch - Serious_cmaf

Paint - Cozzie’s Customs

Wiring - Whiteys Wiring

Tune - Madoc Tuning

Detailing - Jon's Automotive detailing

HocksModShop

Photo 18-2-2023, 6 20 20 pm.jpg

THE GALLERY

bottom of page