80s lovin' Meguiars style!

[CivicFerio]

Since owning my Land Cruiser it has only received bi-annual car washes, regular maintenance and a diet of 87 octane fuel. It has been my delivery and tow vehicle for the past 3 years and 45K miles. It performed every duty I ask of her with out any hesitation. When I bought a Tundra to fill in for her duties this year. I wanted to reward her for the years of service. I decided to do an extreme make over of her since she is now promoted to a garage queen.

I attended one of Meguiars Thursday Night Open Garage classes in Irvine, California. Basically, how it works is you bring in your car and one of the paint experts will teach you the proper procedure to correct your cars paint. Here is the link to the TNOG with some pictures of the Land Cruiser. Pictures from Thursday Night Open Garage - August 26th, 2010 - Car Care Forums: Meguiar's Online

Armed with my new knowledge of paint correction and with the assistance of my friend who is a professional auto detailer. We went to work last Saturday. After 25 man hours later, (drum roll please) here she is!!

Paint is dull from years of UV damage.

My friend working on the mirrors with a dual-action polisher.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Half corrected panel

After Shots

Paint is now almost swirl free!

Interior Shots

I have to drill out one head of the screws that holds the roof rack down. The rivnut as apparently gotten loose and is spinning. I tried clamping the base with locking pliers but to no avail. Do I have access to the back of the rivnut if I remove the headliner?

 

[Impreza]

That is a beautiful cruiser. Wow. I want it.

But you have fixed windows in the back? So it's a 5-seater?

 

[arndog123]

Nice. Can you do mine next?

 

[pinoytoys]

Looking sharp! Great work

 

[LX_TREME]

Nice job Just the outside? No inside?

 

[easyG]

That looks great. What products did you use to bring the paint back to life.

 

[adalnay]

My finish needs lots of help. What Meguiar products did you use?

 

[CycloSteve]

Need to get out in my driveway and break-out some of the Meguiars products lurking in my garage (X-Mas gift a few years ago). Well, done and a motivation to help keep our rigs looking nice and fresh.



Steve

 

[CivicFerio]

That is a beautiful cruiser. Wow. I want it.

But you have fixed windows in the back? So it's a 5-seater?

I had the sliding rear windows originally but the reflective glass has fading streaks and is bugging the hell out of me. So when I did the 91-92 non reflective glass conversion. I took the opportunity to converted to the non-sliding rear quarter glass for a cleaner look. Before installing, they are tinted with 3M film and I use Toyota weather stripping and all related parts for the project.

Nice job Just the outside? No inside?

That is clean! I hope to get around and do all the engine bay, door jam and hinges like you eventually.

My finish needs lots of help. What Meguiar products did you use?

After claying the paint we used Meguiars Ultimate Compound with a mid cutting/polishing pad. We worked on each panel similar to this guy on youtube YouTube - DA polishing-KB Method

Overall, it came out pretty close to what we wanted. We think we might be able to achieve better results with the Meguiars 105 (their professional line with a bit more aggressive compound) versus the Ultimate Compound (their consumer line).

We were taught to always use the least aggressive pad and compound combo to get the job done. This way we are not removing any more paint than necessary.

 

[corbinwelter]

i just recently did the same thing to my white 80, looked dull just like yours. I first clayed it, then used some Meguiars #7, then some carnauba wax. Now she shines just like yours and didnt remove any paint. #7 is good for a single stage coat or old paint, little to non cutting. This process is what i have always used on my old classic cars to restore the original paint.

 

[thestunts]

Looks great ! Gotta love a DA polisher like that porter cable.( I have one also )

I normally do a claybar, compound, polish, synthetic seal, carnuba wax ....
Just take a moist microfiber, and wipe out your door jambs, and a good tip, is take a little vasoline and rub the rubber seals in the doors. Keeps em from going brittle, keeps em supple

 

[akarilo]

Been thinking about a buffing of some sort for my rig too. Mine's black and shows scratches like a Mutha! Any suggestions for scratches on black?

 

[SoCalJohn]

Clear Coat

I still have a great condition paint, but the clear coat is flakeing in various locations on the truck... a pain in the butt. I am,not sure if at some point in the past if it had a respray.. Any tips to treat each flakeing area. How important is it to have the clear coat to protect your paint?

I occassionally rub off the flakeing clear coat up until it will not come off, but a few weeks later, it resumes.

 

[97 40th]

Love your cruiser! How many miles are on it?

 

[Gammarho1]

Did you paint any of the interior dash components? It sure doesn't look like the blue-ish gray I'm used to!

 

[CivicFerio]

i just recently did the same thing to my white 80, looked dull just like yours. I first clayed it, then used some Meguiars #7, then some carnauba wax. Now she shines just like yours and didnt remove any paint. #7 is good for a single stage coat or old paint, little to non cutting. This process is what i have always used on my old classic cars to restore the original paint.

Are you sure you used Meguiars #7? Thats a glaze and adds an oily/waxy film which is probably hiding the dullness of the paint. The guys at meguiars told me our single stage white paint is probably one of the hardest paint to polish since it uses Titanium Dioxide as the pigmentation. Think of it as polishing Titanium!!

Been thinking about a buffing of some sort for my rig too. Mine's black and shows scratches like a Mutha! Any suggestions for scratches on black?

For spot deep scratch removal I suggest Meguiars scratchX and for intense swirls on panels I recommend Meg's Ultimate Compound.

I still have a great condition paint, but the clear coat is flakeing in various locations on the truck... a pain in the butt. I am,not sure if at some point in the past if it had a respray.. Any tips to treat each flakeing area. How important is it to have the clear coat to protect your paint?

I occassionally rub off the flakeing clear coat up until it will not come off, but a few weeks later, it resumes.

I'm not a paint expert but I think if the base coat is still ok. You might be able to get a way with wet sanding all the damage clear coat out and then polish it. Clear coat does not really protect the paint but car wax does. Think of it as sun screen for our skin.

Love your cruiser! How many miles are on it?

I got my Cruiser when it had 83K miles 3 years ago. Now she has 123K and never missed a beat. Here is my write up of her maiden voyage. https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/175635-finally-got-80-a.html

Did you paint any of the interior dash components? It sure doesn't look like the blue-ish gray I'm used to!

It is the original bluish gray color. It is probably due to the lighting or the camera.

 

[mot]

WOW, I've never been a fan of white 80 series, but that looks pretty dang sharp!