Preservation vs. Perfection - 1991 LS400

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imported_themightytimmah

New member
This is a 1991 LS400 owned by one of my best customers. It's only driven in the summer and detailed yearly - approximately 110,000 miles on the clock. Unfortunately, the paint is showing some signs of age - clearcoat failure on the driver's A-pillar, quarterpanel, and part of the trunk. Because of this, I had to balance my desire to get the car swirl-free with the owner's desire to keep it for 3+ more years without a repaint.



After much discussion, we settled on the least aggressive method necessary to get the vertical panels perfect. The horizontal panels suffered from some pretty deep swirling, and it was decided to knock down the edges, without cutting too deep into the paint. An Autopian would pick this out, but the owner was unable to see the remaining swirls even in proper lighting. The car also suffered from severe tar and IFO contamination, as well as a lack of gloss on the lower panels (they had been cleaned with an off-brand bug mitt, leaving a finish similar to brushed metal). A decon kit was an absolute lifesaver - I would have spent hours claying otherwise.



Before:



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(note clearcoat failure)



Process:



Pre-treat lower panels with Tarminator

Wash with Foamgun

FK1 Decon Wash (acid step x2)

FK1 Acid on wheels

Purple Power 2:1 on tires and wells

Spot clay remaining defects

Automotive International Clear Coat Polish/1500rpm/ccs orange below beltline

P0106FF/EZ Creme (80:20) mix/1500rpm/LC Black everywhere but failing panels

1Z MP/Meg's 07 mix/hand on failing areas



Opti-Seal x2 on non-failing areas

Polycharged 845/hand (I should have stuck with the OS - Collinite was wetter and hid defects better, but I preferred the gloss of just OS)

Glass polished with AI Cerious Compound/Green Edge/Cyclo

Glass, wheels, doorjambs, chrome received Meg's UQD

CG O-Shine x2 on tires



After



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I have a lot of these come through my shop. I do work for an indi Lexus repair shop.

The only paint failures I see are areas that have been repainted. Just a thought.

Nice work.
 
so much for quality on foreign cars, how is it failing already if its driven only in the summer. nice work at saving it for now though
 
Looks great! It looked pretty neglected in the befores, as new now. :buffing:



Joshua312 said:
..What is wrong with getting a repaint?
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It costs $5K for a good one. Why not spot repair just the areas with clearcoat failure? Of course that's the owner's call.



2000firebird said:
so much for quality on foreign cars, how is it failing already if its driven only in the summer. nice work at saving it for now though
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The car is 16 years old for Pete's sake!
 
It's a 16 year old Lexus that is in amazing condition. $5K for a good paint job - The car is probably worth that. The owner has to relax a bit. It's not some exotic sports car.
 
HollaGeo said:
It's a 16 year old Lexus that is in amazing condition. $5K for a good paint job - The car is probably worth that. The owner has to relax a bit. It's not some exotic sports car.
Click to expand...



I think you mis-understood what was written. It sounds like the owner didn't want themightytimmah to go out of his way and use aggressive polishing because it would speed up the process of clearcoat failure and is probably only planning on keeping it for another 3 years and doesn't want it to start failing and look like crap before he is ready to move on. It doesn't sound like he actually is going to repaint it in 3 years.
 
HollaGeo said:
It's a 16 year old Lexus that is in amazing condition. $5K for a good paint job - The car is probably worth that. The owner has to relax a bit. It's not some exotic sports car.
Click to expand...



Where did it say in the post that the owner was considering a repaint?



So much for foreign car quality...? Umm...it's a 16 year old car. I've seen domestics with failing paint that are half as old as that car. There are some really silly replies to this thread.





Anyways, the car looks great in the afters. :)

Sometimes that is all you can do to older cars.
 
themightytimmah- Nice job, and that's one interesting mix you used on the failing areas!



How does the 1Z MP/Meg's #7 combo work out...man, I never woulda thought of that one!



Glad to hear the decontamination worked out so well, great way to go, huh?



Dent's & Details- Good call :xyxthumbs FWIW, those failing areas look a *LOT* like a bad repaint to me :think: regular cc failure has never looked like that IME, too hard-edged/specific area. I'd have it spotted in for a few hundred bucks (the lower front bumpercover too), the car's worth it.



Now if he'd just loose the gold emblems... ;)
 
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