What did you do to your Lexus today.

[Boomer54]

22 minutes ago, Redsteve said:

Hi Stephen.

I recently cleaned up the headlights on my 460. They looked in a similar state to yours, not too bad but noticeably dull.

I took ages deciding which kit to buy to do the job and finally went for the 3M kit which cost about £20.

It was an easy job to do if you follow the instructions in the kit.

I will admit I was a bit nervous of starting as, if it all went horribly wrong, a new light assembly is about £1200.

Anyway, it turned out OK in the end.

I was a bit disappointed there was no UV sealer in the kit but there didn't seem to be any kit available that included the UV sealer.

I bought a separate UV sealer made by Turtle Wax which cost about £6.

The job took about an hour and a half to do both sides and then a further hour and a half to clean the car afterwards as it is a very messy job.

I used a battery drill rather than a mains powered one as I used lots of water on the sanding discs and I thought it would be safer.

Anyway, here are some before, during and after photos as well as the products I used.

Take care.

Steve.

Thanks Steve, you've got a helluva result there. Looks crystal bright.

I've done a lot of similar work to this just not on cars and plastic. So, looked around on Utube obviously. My conclusion is, from the many different methods shown the common denominator all use something mildly abrasive. What that is looks less important than the fact it is just MILDLY abrasive. I could actually use just a suitable grade of wet & dry paper, but I won't. Kinder I think to go with a paste of baking soda applied with a cloth. Finish with a good quality sealer as you have done. I will post it up in pics when I have done it.

[Boomer54]

I was messing around in the boot yesterday. Pre vac carpets prior to restoring the pile. Getting all those messy bits out that fall down in and around the toolkit/ spare wheel well etc. Also looking at how to remove it all because my SCMODS camera is due to arrive. When I was cleaning the drainage channels I was absolutely amazed at the quality/condition of all the rubber seals. Initially I thought they must have been removed and replaced fairly recently, but I remembered Stew said he had not done them. Got to say for 18 yrs old they are in incredible nick.  Converted to 'man years' they must be older than me. Tempted to ask can I have some of what you have been drinking !

The more time I spend close up on this car the more I love the fact it is now mine.

[Malc1]

1 hour ago, Boomer54 said:

Tempted to ask can I have some of what you have been drinking !

meths could be the human equivalent to drinking petrol ....  good luck !

Malc

[Boomer54]

On 9/30/2023 at 12:32 PM, Malc1 said:

meths could be the human equivalent to drinking petrol ....  good luck !

Malc

Having recovered from my Meths hangover the good news is the SCMODS camera arrived this morning. Pic below. Looks a simple enough kit nay some might say idiot proof which might still give rise to concern that I could fit this. Yet I shall give it a go and post it up afterwards. Kemosahbee away !

[J Henderson]

1 hour ago, Boomer54 said:

SCMODS

 

 

[hockeyedwards]

Just dropped the LS off for a 4 wheel alignment, couldn't match diaries with the garage I would use for the past 4 weeks, but finally came together. Having just 'thrown together' the car after replacing all the bushes and track rod ends many moons ago, I was running some seriously random camber and driving with the steering wheel at 11 o'clock to be 'straight'. Also had my sexy new exhaust tips arrive, so fabricator will tend to those on Friday 🙂

[DJT]

Hockeyedwards you mentioning exhaust tips reminds me I need to sort out my exhaust. Have a single 3" pipe from y section to rear off car. Two 3" straight through silencers. It is quite loud on start up. From inside car when I move off it sounds quiet 🤔. Due to amount of soundproofing fitted by lexus makes hard to detect actually sound level. Guys at work say it sounds really good. That's not going to help me if local traffic police decide to do a decibel test 😬. Have found some 3" silencers and resonater on a JDM tuning site. Not cheap but quality is very good. Claimed to lower sound while not restricting exhaust flow. Think these are aimed at track days as lot of tracks now have very strict noise levels. I know cars used on track days are decibel tested before being allowed on track. 

[hockeyedwards]

Alignment completed yesterday, rear all good, but some bad news. Inner track rod end on drivers side is a bit banana shaped and passenger side has seized locking nut. Luckily it has been pay day, parts shopping time for me....again!

[Malc1]

1991 Ls400 new MOT today with zero Advisories thankfully  ............   98,546 miles

and i seem to have lost the slight misfire I had .  maybe it was the 812 miles i did last week over 5 days with some motorway driving, oh, and thru' some Welsh floods too 

All Good and I'm HAPPY

My 1995 Ls400 28th Birthday today too   🤩

Malc

[hockeyedwards]

Lots of fun, got 2 new inner track rods, fitted, front realigned and living the dream!

Have been away for half term and left her with my friend who is a fabricator to finally get the exhaust tips done. 1st pic was obvs the obligatory ***** take one 😆 and then following 2 are the end result, very happy with the outcome 🙂

[Boomer54]

3 hours ago, hockeyedwards said:

Lots of fun, got 2 new inner track rods, fitted, front realigned and living the dream!

Have been away for half term and left her with my friend who is a fabricator to finally get the exhaust tips done. 1st pic was obvs the obligatory ***** take one 😆 and then following 2 are the end result, very happy with the outcome 🙂

I don't think I have seen pipes like the first pic since I was abducted on an Alien spacecraft. 😏

Just a touch of jealousy that I have not got near mine for awhile. Due to the incredible micro climate of Preston I have been on gardening leave. No, not the good type where you get paid to stay at home. The other sort communing with mother nature whilst pretending you know the difference between a weed and a flower. Cluesy's ,I don't.

Did however, get a trip to Clitheroe in the SC 430 and got her booked in for a couple of minors to be taken care of. This is what I like about the North. Talking about my little list to the lady behind reception (who has probably forgotten more about cars than most of us will ever know). Comes to the ridiculous number from the dealer for doing a bit of brake pipe. She coughs to smother a laugh and says' 'do you know the cost of brake pipe?', "No, I reply". She says " excluding the coffee we don't serve that you don't need it's £2.50 a foot so take away our cost from the dealer cost and you can afford to buy me dinner". Well, I blush as you do 'cos I'm lying about the last little bit of course, it was breakfast not dinner. 😏

We had a very good discussion about winter prepping the undercarriage of the car  which reinforced my idea that I need a motor tent to get this car out of the weather where I can get it jacked up onto axel stands so I can get under there and really give it the kind of sorting out no one else is going to give it. Without the prep I am convinced anything going on top is pretty much a waste of time and money.

[Malc1]

Boomer54…… are you putting your Sc in the hands of an Indy to sort out the brake pipes ? 
Or is she only going to the  Main Dealer for All ? 

Malc 

[Boomer54]

26 minutes ago, Malc1 said:

Boomer54…… are you putting your Sc in the hands of an Indy to sort out the brake pipes ? 
Or is she only going to the  Main Dealer for All ? 

Malc 

Got to be Indy 'cos next time she has to buy me breakfast. No, seriously I like to build relationships with people for things like this so if I go to one place for something then I will go there for everything. The dealer would not deal with any repair that might involve working on none OEM stuff so that means I won't go to them for anything.

[Boomer54]

Yesterday was a tad frustrating. Trying to get setup to tackle the underside of the car. Watched quite a few youtube tutorials to get an idea of what's involved and what equipment you need. Could see a 'bottoming' job might take me circa 50 hrs or so. Can only work 2 hrs maximum these days and certainly no more than that given most of it is spent horizontal under the car. Having just been doing some ground cover work around the garden which is also on your knees etc I concluded it would be 2hrs a session and only every other day ,because I need a recovery day inbetween sessions to throw off the aches/pains. So, 50 hrs ,2 hrs session, 25 days, every other day equals about 50 days. There will be commitments elsewhere so round it up to 60 days, 2 months ! Certainly a through winter project that's for sure, but that's ok as slow and steady will still get you there.

To begin I need a portable garage to erect to work out of the weather. Frustration be thy name. I have a cobbled driveway so I cannot just bang retaining pins into the ground to stop it flying away in a high wind. As it stands I still have not found one that appears to be well reviewed and one which i can actually use on a cobbled driveway. If I could see one erected at least i would know if I could literally sandbag it to the driveway.

Feel like I spent the better part of a day and have made no real progress. That's not true I suppose as I think I am leaning more towards using Bilt Hamber rather than Lanoguard. Portable garage recommendations welcomed. No, I don't want to farm this out, because the satisfaction of doing it myself is part of what having the car is supposed to provide.

HeHe, I wonder if the wife would buy me a shipping container for xmas to go on the driveway 😏

[BodgerBen]

For portable garages, look at motorsport garages/awnings, you can’t bang spikes into a tarmac/concrete paddock, I’ve use shelters from Hamilton Classics, metal plates under each leg that can be weighted down (cheap plastic buckets filled with postfix and then stacked on top on each other, the buckets are easy to move and each leg can have 25/50/75/100 kg on each leg depending on how many buckets of set postfix you stack).

The awnining company have some fantastic marques, seen in many paddocks and can supply metal weights for each leg. These collapsible structures can be easily stored and are always wanted by motorsport guys, so have resale value.

[Boomer54]

1 hour ago, BodgerBen said:

For portable garages, look at motorsport garages/awnings, you can’t bang spikes into a tarmac/concrete paddock, I’ve use shelters from Hamilton Classics, metal plates under each leg that can be weighted down (cheap plastic buckets filled with postfix and then stacked on top on each other, the buckets are easy to move and each leg can have 25/50/75/100 kg on each leg depending on how many buckets of set postfix you stack).

The awnining company have some fantastic marques, seen in many paddocks and can supply metal weights for each leg. These collapsible structures can be easily stored and are always wanted by motorsport guys, so have resale value.

I'm on it, and thank you very much. Appreciated.

[BigBoomer]

That's not going to be very comfortable lying on cobbles under the car, even with a pad, or do you mean block paving rather than cobbles?
If you do go with the sandbags that attach to the poles, make certain that the bags are solidly secured to the poles and that each section of pole is securely taped to the next section.
A friend had his blow away leaving the sandbags and the bottom pole section of each leg, even though they were clipped together with those pins that pop into a hole in the attaching section.

[Lmafudd]

3 hours ago, Boomer54 said:

HeHe, I wonder if the wife would buy me a shipping container for xmas to go on the driveway 

Careful! She may put a bed in it too!

[Boomer54]

29 minutes ago, BigBoomer said:

That's not going to be very comfortable lying on cobbles under the car, even with a pad, or do you mean block paving rather than cobbles?
If you do go with the sandbags that attach to the poles, make certain that the bags are solidly secured to the poles and that each section of pole is securely taped to the next section.
A friend had his blow away leaving the sandbags and the bottom pole section of each leg, even though they were clipped together with those pins that pop into a hole in the attaching section.

Hoping to use a creeper board on top of 1/4" base ply platform cut to size and located under the car. Yes, they are cobbles (used to be in Rochdale town centre until 1995), love 'em ,but boy they make life difficult sometimes.

[Boomer54]

I can see a growing issue between what I want to do and what is perhaps the viable alternative. As I begin to see the growing cost of acquiring everything I need to do the underside work myself clearly it is actually going to be cost effective to pay to have this done once very thoroughly and then just schedule a once a year fine weather top up that I can do myself. The cost of a portable garage that could be used year after year is a chunk. Everythingelse is small potatoes by comparison. Another alternative is don't be overeager. let this job go until next spring and just get stuck in when the weather becomes more user friendly. I am going to have to consider the permutations. I guess I just wanted to get going with this over Winter, but perhaps that isn't the sensible way to go.

[Lmafudd]

Could you enquire through something like 'Nextdoor' if anyone has a suitable Garage or workshop that you could rent for a day or two? There are many car enthusiasts about who may love to share their experiences etc.

[GMB]

On 10/2/2023 at 1:09 PM, Boomer54 said:

Having recovered from my Meths hangover

Hey Stephen

I hope you are joking.

We don't want to lose you. Meths contains 10% methanol ( and other nasties such as acetone )  which will kill you or blind you. The best illegal solution is absolute alcohol which is 99% pure ethanol. Better and cheaper and safer than Vodka.  Only sold to industry. Tried it once and it needs diluting otherwise it will remove any skin on contact.

A nice accompaniment is a solvol autosol butty with a few prawns. Much nicer than Philadelphia cheese.

If you want to be safe just use the above nasties for cleaning things.🤪

 

BTW I remember the scandal years ago when some Austrian winemakers were prosecuted for putting anti-freeze in their wines ( ethylene glycol ) to improve the "body" of the acidic wines.

They do not do it now and Austrian wines can be very good if a bit expensive.

[DavidCM]

30 minutes ago, GMB said:

 

A nice accompaniment is a solvol autosol butty with a few prawns. Much nicer than Philadelphia cheese.

🤪

As we're on the subject of dangerous formulations, don't confuse autosol with anusol.....that would be a bummer.

[Bluemarlin]

1 hour ago, Boomer54 said:

I can see a growing issue between what I want to do and what is perhaps the viable alternative. As I begin to see the growing cost of acquiring everything I need to do the underside work myself clearly it is actually going to be cost effective to pay to have this done once very thoroughly and then just schedule a once a year fine weather top up that I can do myself. The cost of a portable garage that could be used year after year is a chunk. Everythingelse is small potatoes by comparison. Another alternative is don't be overeager. let this job go until next spring and just get stuck in when the weather becomes more user friendly. I am going to have to consider the permutations. I guess I just wanted to get going with this over Winter, but perhaps that isn't the sensible way to go.

I was going to say that it might end up cheaper paying someone to do it,  but I see you've already reached that possible conclusion.

An alternative though, if you're keen to do it yourself is to wait, as you say until spring, but in the meantime give the underside a good spray of ACF 50, to keep any worsening at bay over winter. With a big bottle of ACF 50 (£25), and a garden sprayer with a lance, like the one linked below, you could  probably cover most (if not all) of the underside without having to raise the car. Not perfect, but will hold you over until spring. Would take less than £40 and about 30-60 minutes, but put down some plastic sheeting or cardboard to catch the drips,  and leave it to dry for a day or two.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Defenders-Sprayer-2L-Multi-Colour-Purpose-Pressure/dp/B08N58758Y/ref=sr_1_5?crid=DEVZXIHXHHY7&keywords=garden+sprayers+2+litre+pressure&qid=1698842736&sprefix=garden+spayer%2Caps%2C448&sr=8-5

[Boomer54]

52 minutes ago, GMB said:

Hey Stephen

I hope you are joking.

We don't want to lose you. Meths contains 10% methanol ( and other nasties such as acetone )  which will kill you or blind you. The best illegal solution is absolute alcohol which is 99% pure ethanol. Better and cheaper and safer than Vodka.  Only sold to industry. Tried it once and it needs diluting otherwise it will remove any skin on contact.

A nice accompaniment is a solvol autosol butty with a few prawns. Much nicer than Philadelphia cheese.

If you want to be safe just use the above nasties for cleaning things.🤪

 

BTW I remember the scandal years ago when some Austrian winemakers were prosecuted for putting anti-freeze in their wines ( ethylene glycol ) to improve the "body" of the acidic wines.

They do not do it now and Austrian wines can be very good if a bit expensive.

I remember they were one of my stock bottles. Needless to say stopped drinking them when the news regarding the additives was released. I didn't really have a 'meths hangover'. My tolerance levels are too high to get a hangover off it ..boom boom !

For da record here, I am actually a really lightweight drinker. I prefer to inject it straight into the bloodstream and bypass the delay of it getting there... boom boom. No seriously for a long time I drank nothing stronger than orange juice. Only in my later years have I enjoyed a glass of wine with my meal ,but never on it's own.

God I sound so boring.