Today we have a 2003 black Lexus SC430 that was scheduled for a two step correction. The vehicle wasn’t in terrible shape, but definitely need some TLC. As usual I started with the wheels, tires, and wheel wells. The wheels were cleaned with Autoglym Custom Wheel Cleaner, and the tires and wheel wells were cleaned with Blackfire APC 3:1 and various brushes. The wheels were then sealed with Blackfire Wet Diamond, the tires dressed with Blackfire Tire Gel, and the wells dressed with Chemical Guys Barebones. Before: After: The vehicle was fairly dirty when it was dropped off. A thick layer of dirt and dust, topped with some pollen. A thorough cleaning was surely needed. Here is how it looked to start. To remove as much of that nastiness as possible I first foamed the car with a mix of Blackfire Shampoo and Blackfire APC. While it dwelled I agitated the emblems, fuel filling area, and body seams to make sure all of the dirt and debris was removed. After the foam was rinsed off I proceeded to do a traditional was with Blackfire Shampoo and a Griots MF Wash Pad. The vehicle was then clayed with the Ultima Clay Block with Chemical Guys Luber for lube. The paint was in pretty bad shape. The swirls weren’t many, but they were VERY deep. Here is how they looked. The hood, roof, and trunk were the worst, consisting of swirls and very deep water spotting. The panels were compounded with M105 on a wool pad with a Dewalt 849x rotary, followed by D300 on a Tangerine HT pad with a PCXP. This combo got out the majority of the swirls, and left only the deepest rids behind. Here is a 50/50 and a sun shot of the trunk. Unfortunately the sun hid behind the clouds for the rest of the day, so there are no more sun shots. The rest of the vehicle was compounded with a mix of D300 and M105 on a Meguiars MF cutting pad with a pcxp and then finished with the same D300 on a tangerine pad, also via a PCXP. The glass was cleaned with Meguiar’s Glass Cleaner, the trim dresses with Auto Finesse Revive, and the metal was polished with Swissvax Metal Polish. The LSP of choice for this vehicle was Collinite 915 since the customer requested something that would provide a lot of protection, for a long period of time. Here are some reflection shots, followed by the final pictures. This vehicle was a lot of fun to work on, and I enjoyed restoring it very much. Thanks for looking and I look forward to your feedback!
Finished pics look fantastic Dave. Nice job. Get some BF All Metal Sealant for wheels/exhaust tips. It'll last months.
Thanks Ken! I will have to check that stuff out for sure! Thank you! Thanks man! He was, he scheduled his Range Rover and wife's Saab when I dropped this car back off to him.
