Howplum

The original gold grille emblem, which I appreciate is not to everybody's taste, was looking very worn, so a couple years ago I sent it to a company that said they could spray it with "gold", which they did. Initially it looked great, but two years later it looked like this:

I did make enquiries about having it restored, but got no replies, which I took as a "no thanks". I then decided to strip it back to the original finish by soaking it for many hours in Isopropyl alcohol, when it ended up looking like this after much careful scraping and scrubbing:

I have now established that it can be gold plated (as opposed to sprayed) provided that the underlying nickel is intact, which it might not be. Apparently the process involves stripping the item back to the nickel before re-plating. I have now had two quotes for gold plating, one for £25 and one for £90, so a big difference, although both companies said that the best results would be on a new chrome emblem, which is now on its way from Japan.

I did try using some gloss gold vinyl wrap, but it was to thick for this intricate work, even after heating with a hair dryer.

As an interim measure I decided to paint the emblem black, to match the car, but I am definitely undecided whether it suits the car of not. Maybe it would work better if the grille was also gloss black.

The gold boot emblems have fared much better, although I have now acquired a very good set of chrome ones as well, just in case.

Maybe I should buy a second chrome grille emblem and have one gold plated. That way I would have a complete set of both gold and silver emblems, which might be useful should I decide to sell it.

It might also be worth checking Amayama's website if you're not in a hurry.

Easy to find in a car park!

I have now repainted the grille, using Lexus's Medium Metallic Grey, simply because I had a spare rattle can of it, but to me it looks almost exactly the same as the Dark Metallic Grey on the lower panels. I finished it off with satin lacquer. Some of the screws securing the chrome surround were rusty, so I left them well alone and just masked off the chrome surround.

The gold emblem is missing because it needs restoration, but more on that another time. However, I have ordered a new chrome emblem from Amayama, just in case, because it was only £21 including shipping, so much cheaper than most online retailers.

Yesterday I removed the front bumper, which was far more complicated than the rear one, but luckily it needed little preparation before painting it this afternoon. It looks as though my technique is improving because the sprayed finish is a bit better than the rear bumper.

However, when applying the final clear coat I got some blooming on the upper part, which no doubt is because of the wet weather and me having the main door open for ventilation, which also let in the damp air. 

I shall have to respray the upper part in black before applying more clear coat, although this time I shall warm up the garage a bit first, and keep the door shut until the paint is dry. Lesson learned!

I discovered, after having a chat with someone at a local supplier, that I had been using my spray gun incorrectly. I hadn't understood that working pressure means the pressure at the spray tip with trigger open (2 bar). I had been assuming it meant the pressure supplied to the gun with the trigger closed, so when I pulled the trigger the pressure dropped by at least 60%, resulting in poor atomisation and a textured finish. I have now applied the correct technique to the bumper, which has turned out better, but still needs rectification in due course. More practice is still needed though!

At least I can practice on the smaller removable bits first before moving on to the bodywork.

The caps for the SC430 wheels are definitely all plastic.

Those wheel caps look very smart.

Probably the only sure way to match the wheel paint colour is to take one to a paint supplier that has a spectrophotometer.

It looks as though putting a clear coat on chrome could be tricky. Perhaps experiment on the sides first before moving on the face.

Do let us know how you get on.

That's a very useful tip, thanks Fred. Did you have prior experience or was it a brave experiment?

Presumably you're going to apply fresh clear coat, but will it be satin or gloss?

I have now painted all the lower plastic trim parts, but it's clear I need a lot more practice!  There is orange peel on every piece, to a greater or lesser extent, but it is fixable. It just needs a lot of elbow grease with varying grades (600, 1000, 2000 & 3000) of sanding discs to get a nice smooth finish.

For example, these are the front wing trim panels, the one nearest the camera having been sanded and polished, as hopefully you can tell by the difference in the reflection.

This door trim panel was quite bad, but obviously I haven't got rid of all of the orange peel, although I now notice that there was some dust included in the bottom left corner, so I'll probably end up painting it again. I need the practice, after all!

I might even give all the pieces a third layer of clear coat, which might a) give a better finish that needs less aggressive sanding or b) give me more leeway for sanding if the finish is no better.

Next on the list is the rear bumper, which I have now removed - 30 fixings! I also need to sort out the 5 bolts that sheared, which should be fun.

I am committed now, so have to carry on, learning as I go.

More follows, as and when social commitments permit!

I have just removed my rear bumper (approximately 30(!) fixing of various types) and for those of who are curious this is what it looks like:

The foam packing is supposed to held onto the crash beam with a couple of pegs, but not any more! However, it is not attached to the plastic bumper, so possibly the ribbon type reversing sensor could be attached to the rear of the bumper without interfering with anything. Alternatively the more usual round sensors could be fitted so that they line up with the existing gaps in the foam packing.

However, two points to bear in mind:

1. Five of the six bolts holding the sides on have sheared, which is where it starts getting more challenging, especially if you are paying someone else to do the job.

2. A connector will be needed in the wiring so that the bumper can be removed in future without having to cut any wires.

I have now decided I will rely solely on the reversing camera, which was much easier to fit (to the boot lid).

Have you checked the other side?

Unfortunately plastic trim can hide a lot of dark secrets which don't become apparent until it's too late. Obviously the MoT testers couldn't check the sills either, which might then perhaps raise questions about roadworthiness, despite the presence of a current MoT certificate.

Apparently Adrian Flux might have a facility for Lexus owners, according to something I read on this site. It might be worth trying them. If you only do a limited mileage you should consider one of the insurers/brokers that specialises in policies for "classic" cars, which includes Adrian Flux.

You could try looking up the respective part numbers on here to see whether or not they differ:

https://www.amayama.com/en/catalogs/lexus/ls400

https://classicsworld.co.uk/guides/lexus-ls400-buyers-guide/

If you could clarify exactly which piece(s) of trim you are referring to I'm sure someone on here can help.

You could start here:

https://www.amayama.com/en

Or here:

https://www.vehicleclips.co.uk/

Bearing in mind that there most likely to be Toyota, rather than just Lexus.

Sometimes it's the details that count. Just a couple of minutes with metal polish made a big difference.

That looks excellent Steve. A DA polisher is safer than a rotary one because it usually operates at a lower speed and oscillates in more than one direction. I must admit I was a bit apprehensive the first time I used one, but the results were good, eventually.

Perhaps I should put a little label on the jacking point, such as "Puck it!"

Glyn, what did you use to try and remove the final finish with? Presumably it has to be something not too aggressive. Personally I am not too keen on the chrome look that might be exposed - it might look a bit too "blingy". I might experiment when I come to paint the return edges, whenever that may be.

Malc, Yes, the cover plates could be stripped and painted to match, or contrast with, the rims, but I quite like the existing spun metal look. 

I couldn't find any images where the cover plates have been repainted, but here's one with what looks like a chrome finish, which to me looks a bit OTT.

http://img.retro-rides.org/i/v/louishavo/aba64dd2514e.jpg

What impresses me is the trouble that Lexus went to to make plastic look like brushed metal, which also has a textured finish, just like the real thing. Where the paint has flaked off there appears to be a smooth chrome finish underneath, which I bet the Americans paid more for!

This might be a viable alternative:

https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1597438

At 97,000 it's "barely run in", to use a hackneyed phrase. It looks good enough to show, at least from the pictures. However, there does seem to be some mismatched paint at the front so that would need a close inspection. I notice that although the seller waxes lyrical about the woodwork they don't show a picture of it! If you haven't driven one you're in for a treat.

I recently bought a used set of these to put on my LS400, and whilst the wheels themselves need refurbishing, the covers are not too bad, considering they are around 20 years old.

The finish on the plastic covers is a very clever paint job that looks like brushed metal, and is no doubt difficult/impossible to replicate. There are one or two minor areas where the paint has come off, but are only obvious on close inspection.

Has anyone ever had these repainted to something resembling the original? The sides can be painted the same silver as the wheels, but what about the face?

Part of me wants to apply a gloss lacquer to prevent any further deterioration, whilst the other part wants to repaint them, but with what finish?

I note that they are still available from Lexus Parts Direct at £271 each, which is nearly as much as I paid for the wheels and tyres together!

I've managed to straighten the distorted flanges on the sill covers withe careful use of a heat gun and a pair of pliers. The next step is preparation for painting.

Before:

After: