Brandicus

iTrader: (6)

Howdy folks, its been awhile.
Ive loved my 1993 LS more than any other car ive driven. I took it to nearly 300k before the alternator died, and I decided it was time to repair/replace my main commuter.

I dont imagine Ill get much love informing you all of my new love (2012 chevy volt, before you judge me my commute cost is $0 until she needs tires). BUT, I did pick up an 03 UL for my misses so I can live vicariously through that

Weve had it about a year now, its one hell of a car. A bit more isolated from the road than the old LS but very relaxing for my wife... between us im waiting for that air suspension to die so I can get some coilovers and 20s in there The UL package is the most ridiculous thing ive ever seen, I call it the "barge of excess".

Anyway weve buffed the headlights before in the past with just some compound for pretty good results. I decided to finally nut up and take some sandpaper to the lense and the results were phenominal, the headlights look brand new!

Check out this kit from amazon, all you need is a some blue tape, spray bottle, a couple cloths, your power drill, and a uv sealant + wax for when youre done to keep it nice. I used a corded drill with variable speed, but I think a cordless would do just fine as well.

pics!

Obligatory before pic... It seems the height sensor on the front needs some adjustment Here the grill is just our plasti dip primer.


make sure you tape up your lights, 2 layers of painters tape is recommended
Here we are after the initial 500 grit pass, too late to go back!


Following the instructions included: youll do a couple 500/800/3000(wet) passes before doing the compound/polish step final steps. Be sure to use a UV sealant for long lasting results!
Here we are at half done.


I know what youre all thinking and the answer is yes I got laid that night


Also decided to accent her grill with plasti dip as primer, then several coats of toyota glossy black + clearcoat (so we can always go back).


The finished product:





Did the led tail lights and painted emblems, really brings the butt into 2016



For fun heres one of my Volt (its modded, and btw electric is smoother than even the lexus... please dont hurt me)


And heres a couple of my old LS in its final form... I miss it still








Its gone through several iterations with different shoes/grills, but the 430 forum is hardly the place to ***** it out eh


Dont really plan on doing much to this LS, the priority is maintenance (all caught up except timing belt) and maintaining drive ability for my wife (she sucks at driving lol)
Will get around to doing:

• LED DRL (when vleds comes out with its product that lets us keep our high beams)
• paint restoration... need a couple weekends to take car of all the touch up that needs to be done.
• Bluetooth calling/streaming integrated (grom or yatour)
• Interior restoration (thought it was fine until I saw some pro detailing vids on the internet)
• some nice 19 or 20 MMR HR3 (again she sucks at driving, im not buying some nice works or leons so she can bang them up)
• height sensor mod, maybe a nice 1 inch drop, nothing crazy

Thanks for looking!

Yohimbo

Nice pics...care to share the pro detailing links?

Brandicus

iTrader: (6)

With gusto! Check it out, this channel AMMO NYC is my favorite, very professional videos and tutorial breakdown:

- 3 different techniques to cleaning leather, the brush technique in particular looks interesting. I also have a handheld steamer i could likely utilize.

- extra must watch if you have perforated seats

- repairing cracking leather with filler/dye

- Headlight resto techniques, keep in mind you can still do sandpaper with the drill kit i linked above

- paint scratch/blemish repair

in general the AMMO NYC channel is great for anything restoration/repair related. Highly recommend investigating the channel if you want to learn more.