2001 Lexus IS300

Picked this car up in Carbondale, Illinois, for $11,000. It was advertised as having a “GTE bottom end.” Let’s just say what I actually bought was atrocious. 😂 First came the bent OEM rods. After that disaster, I decided to do things the right way and bought a GTE bottom end straight from Toyota. Surely that would be enough, right? Wrong. Naturally, I wanted more boost. Ended up cracking the ringlands and found myself tearing the car apart AGAIN. Eventually, I stopped playing games and committed to building the motor I should’ve built from the beginning. Fast-forward through countless hours, broken parts, questionable financial decisions, and an absurd amount of money, and here we are. A fully built, 900+ WHP IS300. One thing I’ll forever be grateful for is having the opportunity to build this car while working at Sound Performance, the Supra capital of the world. Being able to build this thing at cost and having access to the knowledge, resources, and people there made this entire project possible. I couldn’t imagine what this build would’ve cost me otherwise. If there’s one thing I wish I could tell myself four years ago, it’s BUY ONCE, CRY ONCE. The amount of money I’ve spent replacing parts because I tried to save a few dollars the first time is absolutely ridiculous. I’ve probably bought certain things two or three times when I could’ve just done it right once. What started as an $11,000 car turned into a four-year lesson in patience, persistence, and why being cheap is sometimes the most expensive route you can take. Would I do it all over again? Probably. Would I do it differently? ABSOLUTELY. But there’s something about knowing every nut, bolt, broken part, and dollar that went into a car you built yourself. 936 WHP. 775 WTQ. And a whole lot of expensive life lessons. Built, not bought. Unfortunately, bought about three times. 😂