LS400 DIY repaint

[Howplum]

I've wanted to repaint my Lexus ever since I bought it three years ago, although I did experiment with localised repairs in the meantime, although was never really happy with the results..

There are blemishes on nearly every panel but mercifully little rust, which is limited to small scabs under a couple of window trims and one front wheel arch.

I thought I would start with the lower panels, which are dark grey. Removing the door claddings, wing claddings, front mudflaps and sill covers was fairly straightforward, although perhaps only Lexus would use four different types of fixings on a mudflap! They also used what turned out to be single use push in fixings on the sill covers, so I have ordered some more, although not from Lexus!

If anybody is interested in more detailed information about removal I would be happy to include it. Just ask 

I was already aware that there are issues with the sill, mainly due to ham-fisted grease monkeys not using the correct split block when jacking the car. As well as distortion this has caused the flanges between the sill and floor to separate in a couple of places, but should be fixable. One corner even has a slight buckle in the floor, which I'm not sure if I can fix. There is also plenty of surface rust, but nothing too severe.

It looks like I'm going to be busy for a while sorting out the sills before I make a start on any painting.

More to follow, as and when.

[Malc1]

your progress reports are a world of wisdom for us all  ✌️

Malc

[hockeyedwards]

I have a similarly scarred underside from mis-use of jacking points etc, my sills are captain crusty too. They are going to be assessed by a friend who is a fabricator, we pulled a large hump out where someone had decided to jack underneath the footwell on passengers side before it went to bodyshop, wasn't too tricky, just a lot of bashing! 🤣

 

[PRT68]

A jacking puck is your friend

[Howplum]

The sill flanges are now looking better after straightening, treating the rust and applying Rustin's metal paint. I also applied underseal to the inside face of the flanges and injected some cavity wax, just in case. 

However, removing the dents would not be easy because there is no access from the top of the sill, so I decided to live with them, especially as they are hidden by the plastic sill covers.

[steve2006]

Similar damage to my old 1994 Celsior from MOT tests.

[BigBoomer]

If the MOT centre is using lift pads rather that actual 4 post lifts then they need to use the slotted pucks and place them under the jacking points.
That's just laziness and ignorance right there.
My test centre only uses the ramp style 4 post lifts.

[Howplum]

I've managed to straighten the distorted flanges on the sill covers withe careful use of a heat gun and a pair of pliers. The next step is preparation for painting.

Before:

After:

[Howplum]

Perhaps I should put a little label on the jacking point, such as "Puck it!"

[BigBoomer]

21 minutes ago, Howplum said:

Perhaps I should put a little label on the jacking point, such as "Puck it!"

You are assuming that they can read? 🤣

[Howplum]

Sometimes it's the details that count. Just a couple of minutes with metal polish made a big difference.

[Colin M]

I have always used a slotted puck to avoid damage to the sill flange when jacking. This works fine as long as the sill remains strong enough to take the car’s weight but there may come a point when, due to rust, it is no longer strong enough …

I recently jacked up the offside rear of my 1996 car in order to change the wheel and tyre, only to be met by a crunching noise as the car started to lift. With the sill cover in place there was nothing to suggest anything might be amiss but on removal of the sill cover it was readily apparent that all was not well.

The following areas needed replacing: the bottom section of both the outer sill and the inner sill, part of the area behind the sill lip and the lower front section of the wheel arch. I took quite a few photos of the repair work as I was doing it and have added these to this post as others may find the photos helpful.

As you can see, all the rot was cut out and new metal welded in. This should make for a long lasting repair.

[Howplum]

Unfortunately plastic trim can hide a lot of dark secrets which don't become apparent until it's too late. Obviously the MoT testers couldn't check the sills either, which might then perhaps raise questions about roadworthiness, despite the presence of a current MoT certificate.

[Howplum]

Have you checked the other side?

[steve2006]

40 minutes ago, Howplum said:

Have you checked the other side?

Good point Howard, if that was the offside I wonder what the near side is like having collected all that gutter salt and grit over the years.

[Malc1]

It's quite amazing that there's a relatively mass produced car ......  in tiny numbers tho ........  that are still around and people talking about really quite tiny amounts of rust  

Most other " mass produced " cars of the age, approaching 30 years young, have already just gone to the crusher methinks .......

We're blessed to have the foresight to own and still quite readily run our Ls400s   .........  now then, where's my second one lurking ....  I'm sure thinking to buy my Mk3  no.2 when I get back from hols later this month .....  let's see 

 ........... the hydro power Ls700 seems to be toooooo far on the horizon maybe

Malc

[Colin M]

The car jacked up ok on the near side but I will be taking the sill cover off to see what the rear of the sill on that side looks like.

[Howplum]

I have now painted all the lower plastic trim parts, but it's clear I need a lot more practice!  There is orange peel on every piece, to a greater or lesser extent, but it is fixable. It just needs a lot of elbow grease with varying grades (600, 1000, 2000 & 3000) of sanding discs to get a nice smooth finish.

For example, these are the front wing trim panels, the one nearest the camera having been sanded and polished, as hopefully you can tell by the difference in the reflection.

This door trim panel was quite bad, but obviously I haven't got rid of all of the orange peel, although I now notice that there was some dust included in the bottom left corner, so I'll probably end up painting it again. I need the practice, after all!

I might even give all the pieces a third layer of clear coat, which might a) give a better finish that needs less aggressive sanding or b) give me more leeway for sanding if the finish is no better.

Next on the list is the rear bumper, which I have now removed - 30 fixings! I also need to sort out the 5 bolts that sheared, which should be fun.

I am committed now, so have to carry on, learning as I go.

More follows, as and when social commitments permit!

 

[hockeyedwards]

Ahh yes, you are now down the rabbit hole... welcome! 😆 DIY paint is so difficult, dust is indeed the enemy.

When I DIYd the seat dye/ coating, some dust has got in whilst using spray gun, but I cba to rectify at the moment and until I point it out, most people don't notice.

Just had my delivery of trim clips, nuts, bolts and all the inbetweens that decided to break during removal of the interior.

As long as you're having fun, if not, cuppa tea and revisit 😛

[Howplum]

I discovered, after having a chat with someone at a local supplier, that I had been using my spray gun incorrectly. I hadn't understood that working pressure means the pressure at the spray tip with trigger open (2 bar). I had been assuming it meant the pressure supplied to the gun with the trigger closed, so when I pulled the trigger the pressure dropped by at least 60%, resulting in poor atomisation and a textured finish. I have now applied the correct technique to the bumper, which has turned out better, but still needs rectification in due course. More practice is still needed though!

At least I can practice on the smaller removable bits first before moving on to the bodywork.

 

[Howplum]

I have now repainted the grille, using Lexus's Medium Metallic Grey, simply because I had a spare rattle can of it, but to me it looks almost exactly the same as the Dark Metallic Grey on the lower panels. I finished it off with satin lacquer. Some of the screws securing the chrome surround were rusty, so I left them well alone and just masked off the chrome surround.

The gold emblem is missing because it needs restoration, but more on that another time. However, I have ordered a new chrome emblem from Amayama, just in case, because it was only £21 including shipping, so much cheaper than most online retailers.

Yesterday I removed the front bumper, which was far more complicated than the rear one, but luckily it needed little preparation before painting it this afternoon. It looks as though my technique is improving because the sprayed finish is a bit better than the rear bumper.

However, when applying the final clear coat I got some blooming on the upper part, which no doubt is because of the wet weather and me having the main door open for ventilation, which also let in the damp air. 

I shall have to respray the upper part in black before applying more clear coat, although this time I shall warm up the garage a bit first, and keep the door shut until the paint is dry. Lesson learned!

 

 

[Howplum]

The original gold grille emblem, which I appreciate is not to everybody's taste, was looking very worn, so a couple years ago I sent it to a company that said they could spray it with "gold", which they did. Initially it looked great, but two years later it looked like this:

I did make enquiries about having it restored, but got no replies, which I took as a "no thanks". I then decided to strip it back to the original finish by soaking it for many hours in Isopropyl alcohol, when it ended up looking like this after much careful scraping and scrubbing:

I have now established that it can be gold plated (as opposed to sprayed) provided that the underlying nickel is intact, which it might not be. Apparently the process involves stripping the item back to the nickel before re-plating. I have now had two quotes for gold plating, one for £25 and one for £90, so a big difference, although both companies said that the best results would be on a new chrome emblem, which is now on its way from Japan.

I did try using some gloss gold vinyl wrap, but it was to thick for this intricate work, even after heating with a hair dryer.

As an interim measure I decided to paint the emblem black, to match the car, but I am definitely undecided whether it suits the car of not. Maybe it would work better if the grille was also gloss black.

The gold boot emblems have fared much better, although I have now acquired a very good set of chrome ones as well, just in case.

Maybe I should buy a second chrome grille emblem and have one gold plated. That way I would have a complete set of both gold and silver emblems, which might be useful should I decide to sell it.

 

[Malc1]

bite the bullet on this one .... .  if you was in Dubai you'd simply commission one in solid gold ... .  9ct would be fine  ....  try Aspreys maybe to make you one  ?  😇

Malc

[Howplum]

Or I could learn a new skill and buy a gilding kit. 24 carat, of course!

[Malc1]

cheapskate  😂

Malc