Restoring a rare Toyota Century. Esoteric Auto Detail

jmkiang said:
Amazing Todd. I need to start doing more black cars... soooo rewarding.
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Thanks JMK. Black is a beast, but it's definitely fun to see the transformation once it has been completed.



EisenHulk said:
Fantastic work, Todd! One of your best details to date.



I wish I could've made it to The Bus for this one. Hopefully in the next 4-6, I'll be able to take a trip there.
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Thanks Casey! Yeah, I could have used a few extra hands on this one! I look forward to working with you in the future.



sal329 said:
85% corrected 100% Improvement. Awesome turn around
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Thank you!



pampos said:
I have no words to describe the results.....JUST PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Thanks Pampos...



Denzil said:
Awesome work Todd!
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Denzil...I appreciate it



MuttGrunt said:
:eek:



o

m

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i just dont know what to say about this one. wow
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:2thumbs: Thanks my friend!



tom p. said:
Very cool machine, Todd! What's under the hood of this one?
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Thank you. It has a V8 in it...nothing special. The later versions came with V12's.
 
I would like to take this time Todd to thank you for being such an insperation to us all! this was a very nicley compounded and polished car. Those swirls were extreamly deep. Your patience to finesse that paint the way you did with 105 is amazing. 4 to 5 passes can get very old very fast. I really looked at this detail closely and it was by far the best of your work I have seen! Great job!
 
Great job again Todd. I just ordered the book too. Btw, Ill be in Akron on the 31st this month which is Sunday. Maybe I could use my friends car to make a trip down because then Monday, going to Cedar Point. Talk to you later.
 
bufferbarry said:
I would like to take this time Todd to thank you for being such an insperation to us all! this was a very nicley compounded and polished car. Those swirls were extreamly deep. Your patience to finesse that paint the way you did with 105 is amazing. 4 to 5 passes can get very old very fast. I really looked at this detail closely and it was by far the best of your work I have seen! Great job!
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Thanks Barry, that's a glowing list of compliments you just threw in there! :)



It's funny how we're all our own worst critics. When it was done I just kept wishing that I could have achieved a greater level of correction for the time that I had to work within. And yes, that many passes with 105 does get old quickly, but I just put my mind to it and toughed it out until I was finished.



While I was working on a few areas of the car, I thought: "these defects are really heavy...where's bufferbarry with his sandpaper when you need him!"
 
TSC17 said:
Thanks Barry, that's a glowing list of compliments you just threw in there! :)



It's funny how we're all our own worst critics. When it was done I just kept wishing that I could have achieved a greater level of correction for the time that I had to work within. And yes, that many passes with 105 does get old quickly, but I just put my mind to it and toughed it out until I was finished.



While I was working on a few areas of the car, I thought: "these defects are really heavy...where's bufferbarry with his sandpaper when you need him!"
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lol if you really thought that im impressed! truthfully i find it a lot easy to use the paper to remove defects then it is to sit there and compound away like you did there, every car is so different. its amazing how we all acheive a finish in our own ways thats the artistic side of it. i have a 72 chevelle duece pro am car that needs completely wetsanded. it was just received some 60 grand restoration. i only hope to have your patience with this one! great job man! :bigups
 
Very true Barry about us all having slightly different methods to perform our work.



Get working on that Chevelle so we can see your work. :)
 
I really enjoyed the write-up and photos, very interesting car. Great work! I'm impressed at the finish you achieved, especially on older paint.
 
Thanks Andy...thanks connorb!



Even though it was a PITA to work on, this was a very high quality paint job on this 30 year old car. The depth and reflections were nothing short of stunning in person, and photos actually don't do it justice.
 
Todd, that is one amazing transformation for 18 hours worth the work!! You must have been working your a$$ off to get it done in that amount of time...



Definitely a unique car that I'll probably never get to see in person... The engineering and small little features the car has is ahead of its time.



I noticed you mentioned that you had a tough time removing the polish residue from the paint after polishing. I have always found that a hot microfiber towel works great at removing stubborn polishing residue from a panel. I soak the towel with hot water and leave it pretty wet, then wipe down the panel with the hot towel. After you're done wiping, wring the towel out with hot water, then go over the panel again with a slight mist of alcohol in the towel to remove any remaining residue. This always seems to work for me when I have this problem.



Unbelievable job on the detail and great job on the write-up and pictures!!



Question: Do you use any kind of lens filter when taking pics or do you just use the regular lens?



:bow:bow:bow:bow:bow:bow:bow:bow:bow:bow:bow:bow:bow:bow:bow:bow​
 
Thanks Rick, and yes I kept a very fast pace throughout the entire job. During the 12+ hour stint on day two, I only took 2 very quick breaks to eat something, and then it was right back where I left off.



Thanks for the tip on the hot MF towels. I'll give that a try in the future.



No, I don't have any kind of filter on the lense. And other than resizing and adding the border, the photos are straight out of the camera and into the thread. I don't do any post processing.



Thanks again my friend!



Oh, and it is the rest of us that should be bowing to you! :)
 
Amazing, amazing, AMAZING. What an enjoyable read and what a spectacular car for a Japanese car nerd like me. The level of technology in the Century could rival/beat that of a same year S-Class Benz.



In this autopian realm of exotics, this rare gem really blew me away. It must've been a trip to see for the first time.



The paint is stunning now. Great job. Awesome post.
 
Incredible finish on the paint! Well done!



The funny thing about the Century is that it's still basically the same car today.



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