Good day all!

A few months ago i picked up a 1999 ES 300 in trade for an old motorcycle that had some issues, Which is fine as the ES 300 has several issues, It needed coil packs some other engine stuff but a full interior restore. This brings me to my post today, I am looking to dye the carpet black and recovering the seats in a really dark Navy blue along with painting the rest of the vinyl the same dark color.

Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to paint / dye the carpet? I know it will likely have to be completely removed, While i wait for amazon to deliver all my goodies for the car i figured i would do some homework and ask.

Thanks for any and all information, Pictures will follow when the interior project begins proper.

 

Hello,

Welcome to ClubLexus and congrats on your new ride!

Lexus ES300 came with black interior at some point, so maybe it will be easier to just find a carpet and some other bits and pieces off of black-interior ES300 rather than playing with the dye process..?

As far as I understand, it will be a bit tricky to dye your carpets, but it is not impossible. Most of automotive carpet restore kits are not suitable to actually change the color, so the alternative may be to use something like a carpet dye for homes. I have never tried it, and I have no idea if it will work out for you, but it still worth the shot.. Please refer to the video below for some details about the carpet dye.
And one word of precaution - cut a piece of carpet from any junkyard car and test the solution on it before tearing into your own interior, that will prevent quite a bit of headache if something would go wrong..


Leather and vinyl repaint is, in a nutshell, basically the same as a body repair, it just requires material-specific primer and paint and a few other tips and tricks. I have attached another video that covers leather seat repaint in details.


P.S. If (or when) you will eventually get to the interior, some pictures will be much appreciated..

Hope this helps and best of luck with your new project!

 

Thank you for the most useful reply! I will most defininately include pictures when i begin work on the interior. The motor is really strong and in great shape, when I got it she was running on only 3-cylinders due to buggered up coil packs. 60 dollars later i replaced them all and snagged some new NGK plugs for it. Now she is up on all six and purrs like a kitten and most importantly, Over drive works again!

She went from getting 4 miles per gallon to getting... well im not sure, All i know is one full tank of gas lasted about 360 miles. Motor wise she needs a new O2 sensor as the old one randomly throws an error and causes the car to 'shudder' when up to speed. no clue if its up-stream or down-stream The code is P3311.

Aside from this she has a gouge on the driver side door hinge, cosmetic but it bugs me, looks like something was jammed in the hinge when someone tried to close the door. The passenger door is apart i was told she had a bad window motor, So i went to look at it and the old owner took the motor / regulator out so the window is now rigged up with a coat hanger. No clue where to find one of those for a decent price!

Those two issues aside and the interior, All she really needs is brakes all the way around and she is more or less new. A friend of mine wants to buy her for 2k, which is going to fund my next project vehicle.

With all this the car is mechanically sound but some minor things i would really want to fix or update but wont due to being a seller car. The stereo was replaced by the last owner, replaced with an old 30w per channel Jenson head unit thats just sitting in the dash. Yet they went above and made sure all the plastic and vanity stuff was reinstalled correctly and looks good? It baffles me. The passenger speaker looks like it was hit or kicked, the seal is busted. Personally if i was keeping her, I would put new 6.5's all around and a new head unit. Also the previous owner disconnected the 12 on the read deck [Whhhhy!]

But most of these are nit-picks on my end, my fabric dye and vinyl dye is due here any day now, Amazon has been letting me down lately with 1 - 2 month shipping dates.

 

One Denso coil costs around $47, $60 is a steal for all six working coils and spark plugs, you've got very lucky!

Huh, there are no DTC codes that start with number 3. The first number in any DTC code always signifies if the code is generic or make specific; 0 means that the code will mean the same thing for all makes and models, 1, on the other hand, means that it is specific to the manufacturer of your car. Are you sure that it is P3311, and not P1133?
P1133 - A/F Sensor Circuit Response Malfunction (Bank 1 Sensor 1). It basically means that its reading are not what ECU is expecting. Bank 1 Sensor 1 is the one towards the firewall, it is a bit tricky to reach, but is completely doable without lifting the car. With that, I would suggest to check it first with any OBD-II scanner that is capable of reading ECU's live data. Your car should already have A/F sensors instead of O2, so your voltage should be close to 3.3V, and it should not be sporadic, like it used to be with old O2 sensors.

And speaking of fuel economy, Fueleconomy.gov is a government portal that states the fuel consumption for all the vehicles that are legal in USA, and it says that a 1999-2001 Lexus ES300 combined fuel consumption is around 20mpg; 20mpg * 18.5gal (fuel tank capacity) = 370 miles, which means that your fuel consumption is perfect.

Can't say anything about the gouge in the door before you would submit any visuals..
As for the windows actuator, by far the easiest and cheapest way to approach it is to visit a junkyard and take it from there. At least in Michigan they are all opened, so that should not be a big deal..

Brake job on that car should not be a big problem, it is pretty much the same as in any other car. And I wouldn't say that it is expensive, the set of OEM front brake pads for my 2000 Lexus ES300 cost around $40.
Also, if you are planning a full brake rebuild, I would suggest to look into installing the system off of Lexus RX300/Toyota Highlander, since it has a little bigger calipers. The only word of precaution is that you will need at least 16in rims for that, otherwise new brakes won't fit.

And speaking of selling that car - let's hope that the friend will also treat it nicely.. And considering the amount of work that needs to be done, you should ask at least $3000 for it.

My ES300 also came with an aftermarket sound system, and to install it, the previous owner just cut off the old connector and spliced in a new one. Half of the wires weren't even insulated, so the car killed two batteries before the dash was taken out and the wiring under it was replaced... That was one heck of a project, after which I cannot even look at aftermarket audio systems without my eye twitching..

Definitely let us know how the project goes! Carpet repaint is one really interesting topic, which I never investigated before, so I am really curious about how it is going to go.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

The seller that i got teh car from included new NGK plugs still in teh box, so only had to buy Coils and got after market not Denso

My ODB II is showing P1133 you were correct! and it also threw a P0171 code which is System to lean Bank 1. But i know the car has a small vac leak as well, i can hear it when accelerating. But it evens off once up to a steady speed.

I will attach pictures as soon as i am able to!

The breaks front and rear have already been ordered from Rock auto, and will be here... one day lol. Learned yesterday that my driver side front brake is dragging so i think it may be the worse or possibly the only one working. But all will be well soon.

Car stereos are fun, I know a little about them but my older brother has done them alot, he used to install professionally, even without the tools its still doable. This is the first car ive owned without a quality system in it. If i was keeping it i would hit the local music shop and get a full system for it.

 

Since these were taken I have bleached and vacuumed out the carpet, scrubbed all the vinyl and door panels and they look better, about ready for painting. The carpet after scrubbing with diluted bleach and carpet cleaner still has some moldy area visible and stains that wont come up but look alot better. These pictures were also taken after the first round of cleaning where i removed well over 100 packs of blue L&M's, trash and other things.

 

I saw a video where a dude dyed his carpet black with fabric dye it worked out well. He used like 15-20 packs of dye. If your car has no issues with water getting into it dyeing the carpet could be worth it. Its so dirty, you have to pull it to dye it so might as well get it out completely. The car will smell better afterward. Will be louder in the cabin without the carpet. Pressure wash it then dye it. I was going to do the same thing with my LS but decided not to after getting the carpet out.

 

First attempt at dying the carpet failed, 2 packs in a spray bottle came out purple instead of black. Definately need to upscale things, May go with Duplicolor just for ease of use.

But a small update, All of the engine codes have been resolved and the motor runs now with no issues or errors being thrown. Oil has been changed over to a full synthetic, injectors cleaned and she purrs like a kitten. Ive been told we may have a small vac leak that we need to track down, and after a vigorous wash i got the flaking clear coat off the hood complete but now the Roof is peeling something fierce, That will be a bit more of an issue thanks to the sun/moon roof. Any suggestion's on fixing the roof clearcoat without having to remove the glass? Painting is not my strong suit lol.

Still have to track down the window motor / regulator issue on the passenger side, replace the speakers and i believe she will be done once all these smaller issues are finished. So far its a fun adventure and once i make more progress, pictures will follow.

 

To dye a carpet properly you need to dip the entire thing in dye not exactly practical.

 

That is one kind of a project you've got there, and the perfect timing too..

I would still say that it is nice to play around with carpet dye, but I would suggest to just find an ES300 with black interior, and get a carpet from it. That will be equally as expensive, and will be a heck of a lot less hazardous and cumbersome.. I even saw some new, OEM black floor mats for that car on eBay..

To put some clear coat on the roof, you can cheat a bit - slide the sunroof all the way back, and then use some paper and tape to cover the opening. Then, tape the rest of the car, and apply some clear coat. It will not be perfect, I bet you will still see tape lines on where it used to be, but it is not that bad for a quick garage solution after all..

And what is with the regulator? I thought that it is just missing.. Is there anything more to that?

Hope this helps and best of luck!