New paint/upholstery for a battered 2002
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Hi all. I mostly lurk, but chip in every once in a while. Here's a great big blog post about this year's restoration project on my "rode hard and put away wet" 2002.
http://hvn2.com/?p=1140
The project: repaint from 2002 Black to a really REALLY dark blue (looks black except in direct sun), redo the battered (black) upholstery to a dark maroon, and do the "switch from 18 to 17-inch wheels" project described in the Tire Fitment thread.
Here are a few "sampler" pictures of the project, many more behind that link. And each thumbnail in the post links to a Ridiculous Wallpaper Version if you like any of the photos
Here's a pair of photos that show before/after on the paint and the wheels
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/DSC004641-650x302.jpg)
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/DSC00550-650x322.jpg)
and here's a pair of before/after pics of the upholstery
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/271-650x396.jpg)
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/DSC00558-650x571.jpg)
And finally here's one of about 5 Ridiculous Wallpaper Photos I took last night when I got the car home.
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/sc430-wallpaper-1-650x420.jpg)
Again, lots more pictures, including about a million in-process shots, can be found at this blog post I just put up.
http://hvn2.com/?p=1140
The project: repaint from 2002 Black to a really REALLY dark blue (looks black except in direct sun), redo the battered (black) upholstery to a dark maroon, and do the "switch from 18 to 17-inch wheels" project described in the Tire Fitment thread.
Here are a few "sampler" pictures of the project, many more behind that link. And each thumbnail in the post links to a Ridiculous Wallpaper Version if you like any of the photos
Here's a pair of photos that show before/after on the paint and the wheels
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/DSC004641-650x302.jpg)
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/DSC00550-650x322.jpg)
and here's a pair of before/after pics of the upholstery
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/271-650x396.jpg)
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/DSC00558-650x571.jpg)
And finally here's one of about 5 Ridiculous Wallpaper Photos I took last night when I got the car home.
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/sc430-wallpaper-1-650x420.jpg)
Again, lots more pictures, including about a million in-process shots, can be found at this blog post I just put up.
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This is the best restoration "blog entry" I've seen on the SC430, very very nice!
Out of curiosity, how many miles were on the car when you got it 5 years ago, and was $18,000 a good price for it back then? I hope it was a steal. It's amazing what the previous owners did with the car... neglect isn't even the right word. Crazy. It must have been a lease where the owner couldn't care less.
Also, how much did all this restoration work total? Do you have any creaks or strange sounds now that almost the entire car was taken apart and put back together? That's a concern with completely restored cars since some people say the parts will never sit "quite right" once you've removed them.
Glad to see it all fixed up, awesome work!
Out of curiosity, how many miles were on the car when you got it 5 years ago, and was $18,000 a good price for it back then? I hope it was a steal. It's amazing what the previous owners did with the car... neglect isn't even the right word. Crazy. It must have been a lease where the owner couldn't care less.
Also, how much did all this restoration work total? Do you have any creaks or strange sounds now that almost the entire car was taken apart and put back together? That's a concern with completely restored cars since some people say the parts will never sit "quite right" once you've removed them.
Glad to see it all fixed up, awesome work!
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We like more pics! Please.
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Hi all -- thanks for all the comments. Glad you like the project too. Here are some more pictures and replies to your questions
Miles: 80,000 when I bought it, about 105,000 now.
Cost: Back when I got mine, it was by far the cheapest one on the market (for obvious reasons). But there were more things that made it cheap. Hail damage, bent wheels, blasted-apart suspension, bad tires, fogged headlights. So I paid pretty close to what it was worth or maybe $1-2k more than it was worth. There were three previous owners and the last guy must have really beaten the crap out of the poor dear. But the frame is good, the engine/transmission are fine, all the electrical is fine (except for the radio - terrible reception).
Project cost: The seats came in around $2500, the rest around $11k -- total was just about $13,500. But there are lots of things in there besides paint/bodywork. New windshield for example. I think a just-bodywork job would have been closer to $9k. I seriously considered just buying a newer one, but I kinda like this old girl and this way I could get colors that I like. This is my daily driver in the summer so I'll be keeping it for years before I sell it. By the way, I'm one of those "have it serviced at the Toyota dealer rather than the Lexus dealer" type guys. Haven't stumped them yet and I'm typically in/out in about an hour for under $100 on the routine stuff.
Creaks and rattles: So far, so good. The car is quite a bit tighter now, I think because the last round of major bodywork was really badly done. Check out the picture of the glued-on bumper in the blog post. The previous body-work folks busted off a fitting and just glued the bumper on rather than fixing it. So in MY case, the creaks/rattles got reduced. Clearly your mileage may vary. The car is also a LOT quieter on the road because of the less-aggressive wheels/tires (I did the switch to 17" wheels and higher-profile Michelin Primacy MXV4 tires to bring the total diameter back up to spec). So the overall feeling is a giant improvement in ride/comfort.
More pictures!: LOL -- OK. But you should really check out the actual blog post for lots of pictures, which link to ginormous versions if you want to REALLY see something.
Here are the guys that did the heavy lifting...
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/DSC00545-650x454.jpg)
Here's the glued-on fender
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/491-650x427.jpg)
Here's a "taken apart" shot of the exterior
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/961-650x374.jpg)
Here's the gutted interior
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/711-650x487.jpg)
And here are a couple more "wallpaper" photos
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/sc430-wallpaper-3-650x375.jpg)
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/sc430-wallpaper-4-650x435.jpg)
Especially these wallpaper pictures are LOTS better/bigger in the blog post -- that link again is:
http://www.haven2.com/index.php/arch...ting-the-sc430
Miles: 80,000 when I bought it, about 105,000 now.
Cost: Back when I got mine, it was by far the cheapest one on the market (for obvious reasons). But there were more things that made it cheap. Hail damage, bent wheels, blasted-apart suspension, bad tires, fogged headlights. So I paid pretty close to what it was worth or maybe $1-2k more than it was worth. There were three previous owners and the last guy must have really beaten the crap out of the poor dear. But the frame is good, the engine/transmission are fine, all the electrical is fine (except for the radio - terrible reception).
Project cost: The seats came in around $2500, the rest around $11k -- total was just about $13,500. But there are lots of things in there besides paint/bodywork. New windshield for example. I think a just-bodywork job would have been closer to $9k. I seriously considered just buying a newer one, but I kinda like this old girl and this way I could get colors that I like. This is my daily driver in the summer so I'll be keeping it for years before I sell it. By the way, I'm one of those "have it serviced at the Toyota dealer rather than the Lexus dealer" type guys. Haven't stumped them yet and I'm typically in/out in about an hour for under $100 on the routine stuff.
Creaks and rattles: So far, so good. The car is quite a bit tighter now, I think because the last round of major bodywork was really badly done. Check out the picture of the glued-on bumper in the blog post. The previous body-work folks busted off a fitting and just glued the bumper on rather than fixing it. So in MY case, the creaks/rattles got reduced. Clearly your mileage may vary. The car is also a LOT quieter on the road because of the less-aggressive wheels/tires (I did the switch to 17" wheels and higher-profile Michelin Primacy MXV4 tires to bring the total diameter back up to spec). So the overall feeling is a giant improvement in ride/comfort.
More pictures!: LOL -- OK. But you should really check out the actual blog post for lots of pictures, which link to ginormous versions if you want to REALLY see something.
Here are the guys that did the heavy lifting...
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/DSC00545-650x454.jpg)
Here's the glued-on fender
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/491-650x427.jpg)
Here's a "taken apart" shot of the exterior
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/961-650x374.jpg)
Here's the gutted interior
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/711-650x487.jpg)
And here are a couple more "wallpaper" photos
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/sc430-wallpaper-3-650x375.jpg)
![](http://www.haven2.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/sc430-wallpaper-4-650x435.jpg)
Especially these wallpaper pictures are LOTS better/bigger in the blog post -- that link again is:
http://www.haven2.com/index.php/arch...ting-the-sc430
Last edited by OConnorStP; 05-13-13 at 07:01 PM.
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[QUOTE=OConnorStP;7936353]Hi all -- thanks for all the comments. Glad you like the project too. Here are some more pictures and replies to your questions
I have 20" now thinking of changing to 17" what are pro and cons?
I have 20" now thinking of changing to 17" what are pro and cons?
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Switch from 20" to 17" pros and cons:
I ain't touching that one.
It's a hotly-debated matter of taste. Look, ride, etc. I'm a geezer, I ride for comfort so the 17's rock my world, but your mileage will vary fersure.
I ain't touching that one.
![Smilie](https://www.clublexus.com/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif)
It's a hotly-debated matter of taste. Look, ride, etc. I'm a geezer, I ride for comfort so the 17's rock my world, but your mileage will vary fersure.
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I want to congratulate the five boys those did the heavy lifting of the car.
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