2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser turned into a Mall Crawler

TTQ B4U

TTQ B4U

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Many thanks to my previous customer who's Beautiful Black FJ turned out to have brought me a referral. This one is a 2008 that has also seen some of the same trails as his had.

The owner is just under 100k in miles and looking to sell her but in order to do so it needed some restoration work. The challenge here however is he is the 2nd or perhaps 3rd owner and the paint was very very thin. Paint Gauge Measurements across nearly all panels showed only 3.25 to 3.75 mils left
eek.gif
Not knowing what they measure in at new is one thing but I do know for sure once you cross the 3.0 mark, the clear is gone and likely some color too. Had to tread carefully here.

Overall the vehicle came out extremely well. The major scratches were able to be knocked down about 80-90%. Fine swirls which abounded this vehicle were thankfully easy. The brief video I shot tells the story there. Likely the vehicle was run through a typical car wash after going off-road thus grinding the hell out of the paint.

All in all the owner should be very pleased upon delivery and hopefully it nets a good sale for him.

BEFORE Shots:






Roof:




Swirls overall are much worse than even this pic shows: See VIDEO




Contamination was pretty bad. Tons of ferrous deposits to be removed.




Deposits just poured out from the paint and seems:




AFTER Shots:















Video Link: https://youtu.be/jQR6dWF-gZA


  • Meg's Gold Class Wash
  • CarPro Iron X
  • NanoPad - Medium Grade
  • Flex 3401 Polisher with Microfiber Pads
  • Meg's M101 Compound
  • HD Speed with Orange LC Hybrid Force Pads
  • WETS for the Trim
  • Stoners More Shine on Tires
 
Holy Moly!!! Fantastic work capturing the damage on that poor FJ mate, not the easiest of colours for photographing defects. :props:

What an awesome turn around, your client must've been over the moon with the results. Simply outstanding! I love the picture in the garage looking down the side, the reflection is stunning. Beautiful workmanship mate. :dblthumb2: May I ask, what micro fibre pads you were using in conjunction with 101 & the Flex?

Great post, thank you for sharing.

Aaryn NZ. :xyxthumbs:
 
I bet the owner is thinking twice about selling that. That paint was trashed, now, looks like it just rolled off the car hauler. Hell, probably better than new. Awesome job, thanks for sharing!
 
Awesome work, I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it, wow!
 
All and all the owner should be happy with their new FJ!

Awesome results. What a transportation, are you sure that is the same vehicle:)
 
Talk about a save. He should get top dollar for it now!
 
Had one and it was indeed nice. But after awhile it was like being in a bus. The biggest drawback to them is they have the infamous toyota steering wheel wobble. At speeds 55+ MPH if you hold the wheel lightly, you can see it move left to right. DESIGN FLAW. They all do it. Toyota calls it normal, and wants to sweep it under the rug. Not a balance or alignment issue. Had mine hunter road force balanced. Little difference. Drove brand new ones, right off the lot. Same. Drive a 4runner. Same. Because it's the same frame. Sad really. Because they are nice vehicles. At $30K, sorry, it's not normal. NEVER drove a vehicle that did this.


BTW.. NICE WORK.
 
Thanks everyone. The owner picked it up tonight and yes, was more than thrilled. He saw and knows the owner of the black one I did but never imagined his would look new again.

I pushed the detail of an older 911 until next week. It looks pretty bad too. Repeat customer who buys/sells, trades, drives all kinds of cars. Keeps them maybe a year at best. I get all his business but they are always in dire need of work.
 
Aaryn NZ said:
May I ask, what micro fibre pads you were using in conjunction with 101 & the Flex?
Click to expand...

I go against some here and use the thinner Griot's Garage Ones. The black MF ones. They can get "grabby" but IMO I'm so used to it and have fairly strong arms that it doesn't bother me. I change them after 2 panels. On this one I had to use 2 on the hood, 2 on the roof and one each on the bigger side panels as this one was just so dang dirty. Otherwise again, ever 2 panels.
 
pdqgp said:
I go against some here and use the thinner Griot's Garage Ones. The black MF ones. They can get "grabby" but IMO I'm so used to it and have fairly strong arms that it doesn't bother me. I change them after 2 panels. On this one I had to use 2 on the hood, 2 on the roof and one each on the bigger side panels as this one was just so dang dirty. Otherwise again, ever 2 panels.
Click to expand...

Nice. :xyxthumbs: I was just being curious, I have been enjoying the CarPro micro fibre pads when I need a bit more bite out of Essence & although normaly micro fibre is a bit "grabby" on a 3401, the CarPro pads are relatively smooth. Griots, right. Noted. Thanks mate.

Aaryn NZ. :dblthumb2:
 
pdqgp said:
I go against some here and use the thinner Griot's Garage Ones. The black MF ones. They can get "grabby" but IMO I'm so used to it and have fairly strong arms that it doesn't bother me. I change them after 2 panels. On this one I had to use 2 on the hood, 2 on the roof and one each on the bigger side panels as this one was just so dang dirty. Otherwise again, ever 2 panels.
Click to expand...

would it be these?
Griots Garage 5 inch Micro Fiber FAST Cutting Pad
 
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