LX470 - Stock, Clear Coat Removal and cleanup.

I've always loved the LX470, reliable, well built and I guess a little bit of nostalgia associated with it that lead me down the path to getting one. I came across a decent deal and going back and forth with the previous owner the major fault of the car was the paint. 

This 2000 LX470 was family owned with extensive service history from Lexus, in fact the owner kept records, receipts etc of everything which was a folder full! The body and chassis was very clean and dent and rust free. Usually you can see the bolt heads have some oxidization and  rust formation but there were none. Didn't see any major leaks and the service records showed new valve cover gaskets replaced in the past 20k miles, new alternator, radiator, timing belt etc were also done. It was also a family commuter between Oregon and Virginia so even though it had higher miles @ 260k I wasn't too concerned about the motor. The main issue as mentioned previously was the paint. The clear coat looked like it was delaminating. It was all original paint so the delamination was even all over. On doing a little bit of research this was a common issue with the color Smoky Topaz Micah  on these cars. Weighing the pros and cons I opted to get it because clean bones, service history and price outweighed the failing clear coat issue.  

Just out of curiosity I wanted to see if I could strip the delaminating clear coat off by pressure washing it. I used my electric pressure washer with a 15 degree tip and it was definitely taking the clear coat off. 

My neighbor has a blasting business (dustless and water pressure washing) so he walked over and told me I'd be out here all day trying to pressure wash it off and subsequently offered to lend me hispressure washing rig which I happily obliged. His trailer has a 500 gallon tank setup with two 50hp industrial gas pressure washer setups. Lets just say that I didn't use a 15 degree tip because it can cut into plastic ask me how I found out, lol. This was stripping the clear coat off and in about 20 minutes or so I was done. 

Went ahead and used my pressure washer to clean off the underside and chassis as well. 

This is how she sits after the cleanup.

The interior was not bad either, it had the obvious seats that were worn in the right places and the stitching giving way on some of the seams but it was complete, not broken and nasty. Sure it was a little messy with some dog hair etc but all in all for a 20 year old car not bad at all. 

The engine bay was fairly clean too, there was no signs of them cleaning the engine bay for a sale which is what I prefer. This way I can kind tell where it is or was leaking etc. Could tell there was a valve cover leak, a shiny new alternator and newer not factory radiator. 

With everything noted, I went ahead and cleaned the engine bay.

Good start so far.

-AJ Abraham

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@flawless_fitment
@aj_ls460

@aj_lx470

@aj_sc430

LS460 - Engine Bay Paint and Refresh.

With all the plastics in the engine bay I  wanted to add a personal touch to the engine bay. All the black side and front pieces are very grainy and I wanted a glossy finish to them. Every single pieces was sanded starting at 180 grit and made my way up to 400 grit incrementally. A thorough cleaning of the parts followed ensuring all wax, residues etc are stripped. Prep is key to good adhesion and the outcome of the paint job.

Pictures after the pieces were sanded  and prepped.

To prime the parts I used SEM High-Build Primer Surfacer. This is a flexible acrylic coating for priming steel, aluminum, urethane, fiberglass and plastics. It features superior adhesion and filling properties. When you are shooting this you can almost see strings of glue flying out. Product is awesome, it says it is easy to sand which to me was far from the truth!! WOW! What a pain in the ass. I don't know if I was doing something wrong but it just wouldn't sand after the first 5 minutes of sanding. It would just clog the paper up and seems like the surface hardens and does not want to sand. Everything else about this was awesome, very flexible and fills in because it is a high build primer. 

After an hour of trying to sand it with a block and 360 grit sand paper, I was getting no where. What I ended up doing was using 180 grit sand paper on a DA and using that to flatten everything smooth. My thought process was to sand it with 180 grit and put a nice smooth thin coat of regular primer on top. Below are pics of what the panels looked like after 180 grit and prepped again for a coat of primer.

Smooth and flat and after a coat of primer!!

A quick wet sand and Jeremy laid some paint on it. I picked a Toyota color called Attitude Black, it is black but has a slight green, blue and purple pearls in it and it is very subtle, the light has to be hitting it at the right angle to actually see the effect. After the base coat, Jeremy used some 600 grit to level off a couple of areas that weren't as smooth, dusted more color on till everything looked smooth and level.

Panels after base coat. 

Panels after clear.

At night with the panels on.

You can see the effect when light hits it.

Mostly looks black otherwise.

Engine cover the silver looked a little bland so another Toyota color just to change things up a little.

Some of that pearl popping in the sun.

Pretty happy with how things look for now. 

-AJ Abraham

Follow me on Instagram:

@flawless_fitment
@aj_ls460

@aj_lx470

@aj_sc430