adamb

I know almost nothing at all about Lexus cars, so this is total amateur hour for me. This is the first car I have ever owned (previously an eco-friendly bike rider, but fell in love with this SC-300 I saw for sale here in Austin).

It is a beautiful car in unbelievable condition for a '92 (especially the leather, it's like not one ever sat in it, not even the driver). But within the space of a week I have become one of "those people" who fight the temptation to go over every inch of the car with a magnifying glass and park two miles away from the store to make sure no one parks next to you and gives you door dings.

There are two paint issues, however...

Click for bigger (I put in thumbnails so it wouldn't stretch the forum tables).



This is the biggest problem (space-wise).



Clicking and seeing the bigger version really shows what the problem is with this one.

Can someone (multiple people?) tell me (a) what the problem is (i.e. - how far down does the damage look) and (b) how should I go about getting this repaired?

Thanks!

Guitarman

The pics are helpful, but still leave a few questions;

The 1st pic seems to depict a chip alongside what appears to be the window sill edge. Is that correct? I'm not certain that's why I ask.

The 2nd pic shows either a round mark or chip by the door handle?
When you feel these marks, what do you feel? Are they depressions, or does it feel like something ON the paint? There's no real way we can say with certainty just how deep they go, from a picture. Only your fingers can tell us that. Does your fingernail "catch" on either of them if you run it across it?

I ask because ( on issue #1) it could be missing paint or overspray from a previous repair where the taping was bad.
Any further feedback will only help us give you an approach to repairing them

adamb

Thank you for your quick response!

Yes, that is exactly where it is. Sorry for not cropping the picture with more context.

Yes, to the left of the door handle. It is like a tiny bullet hit the door.

Yes, it is definitely an indentation.

Yes.

That seems like a likely explanation.

What makes me nervous about it was my fiancee's Camry which started chipping on the front right quarterfender, so bad that she had to get the whole fender stripped and repainted. I would rather nip this in the bud before I have to do that. (Because it's a hassle and it is expensive.)

Guitarman

Adam, that info tells me that indeed you need to use paint. you have your choice of touch-up approaches, you can buy a small bottle of DupliColor at a place like AutoZone or Pep Boys, you can click on the CL link of Langka that appears at the top of these forums, or go to paintscratch.com etc.

The real question is whether you can live with the touch up. If you're not too picky, you can get it looking much better than it is, to where most people won't notice them, even though you will still be able to find them if you look.

If on the other hand, you're truly fussy, probably only a body shop respray of those panels will make you happy. Of course, you never have any true guarantees that they will perfectly match the new paint to the rest of the car, unless you can get that in writing that they do.

I would give the DIY touch-up a shot, because you can always go to option #2 if you need to.

Degrease them both with 3M Prepsol or 3M Adhesive & Wax Remover or something equivalent, then scuff with 600 grit sandpaper or a sanding pencil (preferable, since it's easier for small chips). If you see ANY rust, it must ALL be removed via sandpaper. If you see gray then that's the primer. If it's intact you only need to scuff it and it's ready for paint. If it's scraped to bare metal at all, you will need touch- up primer as a first step. Allow that to dry and rescuff with the sanding pencil, then apply the color matched touch up paint 1 layer at a time, until you have just SLIGHTLY more paint on the spot than the surrounding paint. Be patient, and allow each layer to dry thoroughly. Un-catylyzed paints (no hardeners to cure them) such as touch -up paint take LONG to really dry, since air dries them, rather than chemicals. If you rush too many layers at once the solvents can "pop" as they get skinned over by the new layer of paint as they try to get to the surface to escape, resulting in tiny white marks ( actually microscopic bubbles) when you try to compound the touch up down in your final step.

If you have single stage paint, you simply apply the touch up in THIN layers, at least 12 - 24 hours apart, till you slightly overfill.

If it's base/clear, you need only apply 1 -2 layers of the base touch-up, then wait the recommended time on the lable, then apply coats of clear until you're slightly over.

Allow them to dry a few days, then either wetsand with 2000 grit wetsandpaper on a foam block, to level it flush with the rest of the paint, or if that scares you, just use a fine cut rubbing compound by hand followed by a finer polish (to remove the compounding haze and micro marring) The wetsanding & block will level it more evenly and it would look best, but there's not enough difference to justify doing that if you're not accustomed to wetsanding..

Experienced people can make chips *almost* invisible this way. But discerning eyes can still see them, especially in certain light. There is no real panacea for chips, outside of a repaint of the panel, and that's $$$ of course.
Let me know if you need more info.

adamb

You mention the different level of cut and whether or not I should prime it, and this is a point of confusion for me.

The first chip is shallower than the second, and it looks like only the top layer has flaked away. This is an area of concern for me because I would like to make sure the treatment is seamless, meaning it will prevent further flaking from that point. I have already mentioned the flaking nightmare with my fiancee's Camry and I would freak out if that started happening with my "new" baby.

Just for fun, here's a picture I took of it the day I got the windows tinted (3rd day I had it home).


(Note how you cannot even see the ding in the 2nd picture from this distance, it's not a big deal but I would like to stop it before it becomes a big deal.)

You are a great help. I have put a printout of your tips in my glovebox and I will get on that as soon as my exams for the week are over.

Separate question:
I love the dual pipes, but they are somewhat "damaged", not dent-wise but it looks like oxidation or heat damage or something along the tips. It looks like something that just happens after 11 years and 90k miles of driving, but does anyone know of a way to clean that up without having to replace the pipes?
I got after it for a good while with some Bar Keeper's Friend, which did wonders for parts of it but did little to the "damaged" parts.

Guitarman

The depth of each respectively isn't a concern- because you wil be building each up with paint until you are slightly above the rest of the paint, and the amount of layers of touch-up will vary for each. The only concern is whether or not you need to primer or not. If there's no bare metal showing, you just paint it.

How "seamless" it will be is dependant on your initial skill at leveling the spots with the surrounding paint when you're all done with the paintwork. It's more difficult to get it perfectly even by hand & cotton towel( as opposed to using a sanding block and wetsandpaper), and some rubbing compound, but if you take your time it can be done satisfactorily.
The only problem for you is inexperience; most people don't do anything that well the 1st time (including me), so it's going to take patience on your part. Look at it this way...
Some people would just call a body shop to fix it-you have nothing to lose if you follow the steps and it still doesn't look as good as you had hoped. You at least will have paint on it, and keep it from getting worse. Then later on if you decide you want it resprayed, you can save a few $$$ and have it done to your satisfaction.

One other alternative is to find a detailer that will do it professionally (touch up & wetsand/polish). That would cost you more than DIY, but quite a bit less than a repaint of the offending panels.

The exhaust can be polished out via a variety of methods. Here's one option- check this stuff out;

http://www.autogeek.net/lulapo.html

Look into the "wide strips" or "medium strips" of Luster Lace, you work them like you were polishing a shoe, with your hands back & forth motions etc. They work real well on round objects like exhaust, and on most metals at removing rust and polishing to a mirror shine. I bought some at a motorcycle shop (they were originally designed for cycles) a few years ago and was pleased with the product.

adamb

Sorry for all of the stupid questions, thank you for all of the great answers.

Am I going to want to overlap a tad on the edges and then level for a better seal or will the new paint bond with the old solid enough to not have to worry about it?

I am most likely going to use a heinous door scratch on the Camry to practice my skills, so I am definitely interested in developing the skill to do it right (with as much practice as possible before going after the Lexus). With two cars that are basically my responsibility learning to do as much myself as possible is the best way to go. I am not looking to take these things to car shows, I just want them to look good.

I will get close-up of the exhaust when I get home (at work now).

Guitarman

Adam, no worries mate...there are no "stupid' questions here. That's what the forum is here for; to help people do things they know little or nothing about.

You can let the touch-up paint go slightly over the chip, onto the surrounding paint, but not until you've filled it even with it first, otherwise you'll have a large amount around the ridge and not enough in the middle.. Once you've got it filled to somewhat at the same level though, apply 1 or 2 more coats and overlap them a bit beyond the chip. Then when you compound the spot, you'll be knocking that down to blend as flush as possible. It's tricky to get it perfect, but you can always go back and apply another layer or 2 more if you buff the touch-up paint too far and it doesn't blend the way you want. You can keep doing it till you get it looking optimum to your eyes.

I like your idea about starting with the Camry.

Remember-you really CAN'T make things worse here ( I can't imagine how ) especially if you don't wetsand the spot in the final steps (that could remove too much paint in the immediate area too fast if you're not careful). So don't sweat it too much if at first they don't look so great. Try again. Good luck, and enjoy the SC. (Nice color)

P.S. When you compound them, rub with light pressure. That paint is much softer than your car's oem paint, and will cut somewhat fast. If you buy the Langka system you'll be using a special solvent to remove the blob, rather than compound. You might want to do a search on Langka and see how it works, and what others think too.

SeattleGS400

iTrader: (1)

Something to try out w/ your exhaust tips--WD40. I works to get old road tar and some light oxidation off on them. Start off w/ what you have around the house first to save some money. Of course, you may find that you have to get some heavier arsenal of metal polish as well--like Guitarman's suggestion of Luster Lace.

adamb

I like the color, too. I like the whole car, I had no idea about the joy of Lexus.

It's nice to hear that I can't make it worse, that is reassuring.

About the overlapping:
Look at the second picture (the after repair picture):
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...threadid=90844

I would prefer the touch-up color to overlap the stock color rather than have the whitish edges, that is what I was getting at.

Guitarman

If you can get the chip as flat as possible, you won't see that light outline of the periphery of the spot. Light will refract different levels of paint differently, highliting edges, and often times that's what your eye sees-light reflected off a high ridge.

Another possibility on some pics of this type thing is compound residue that sticks to concave and convex.edges.. If it's completely flat, there's less chance you'll leave wax or polishing compound residue behind, but some wax and grease remover will remove that anyway.

The Autosharp pen is another item I forgot to mention, and well worth looking into IMO.

Understand the limitations of this process though. No matter how perfect you get it, your eye will probably still find it somehow, be it from color variance, level variance, or texture variance.

It's a compromise to begin with, just do the best you can.

adamb

Exhaust pipes:

Left:


Right:


Can anyone tell what that is specifically?

(None of those are scratches on the bumper, it's just dirty. )

I fully understand that it won't look like a new paintjob, I just want to make sure I know as much as possible going on. I am an inquisitive sort.

Guitarman

One thing for sure is that your rear bumper ( at least) was painted at some time. There's a lot of overspray on your exhaust and undercarriage. That whitish stuff on the one tip, any chance that's primer overspray? Hard to tell...If so it should come off pretty easy with metal polish.

I can't tell exactly what is going on with the exhaust tips, but they sure do look like candidates for some serious metal polishing. The one tip's sleeve is also pushed in, and the other extends as it should. Not sure if you'll be able to pull that out, or how though, other than leverage from the back end of it .(screwdriver?)
You should be able to make them look almost new IMO.

adamb

That white stuff is most likely primer overspray.

I hadn't even thought about cleaning that stuff up, but while I'm down there I might as well try and get all of that overspray off.