Signature Detailed-Lexus LS430

[Greg Gellas]

I had a 2 day job on a 1995 Lexus LS430. I have worked with the owner on his wife's SUV before, and he is very knowledgeable about detailing and the process that I am doing on the car. I love chatting with him as we talk about detailing products and exactly how he has treated the car He's cool too So that's a bonus….This time I was working on his personal DD. This is the condition it was in when he dropped it off…

It had ALOT of rail dust over most of the lower panels.

There was also this "debris" of some sort along the rocker panels that was stuck on there pretty good. It would come off in strips if I pulled it off by hand.

Since it was just dropped off around 6:30 the sun was fading, I knew I had a long day 1 ahead of me so I pulled the car into my garage and went in. I decided it would be smart move to get a good long nights sleep.

 

[Greg Gellas]

Day 1, begins with a quick trip to get me some coffee. First thing I did, before even washing the car was vacuum the seats. I wanted to to get the leatherique rejuvinator oil on there as early as I could so it could start doing its thing. Although the seats weren't horrid they had some built up dirt and residue on them. Also in the back there were some spots where the owner squirted 303 and it seemed to clean just where it squirted.

All applied and now ready to close it up and let the sun start to warm the interior while I moved on.

I pulled out the hose, foam gun, 3 buckets, one for the wheels, and mixed up a 50/50 of CG wash and clear and dawn. Hosed down the car then foamed away.

I dried with a combo of WW towels and my wet dry vac on blow....Sure enough while drying, man down, moving the hose out of the way it knocked over my coffee

Enough fooling around I jacked up the car and started to remove the wheels. Really helps to clean the backside of the wheels, not to mention the wheel wells can get scrubed and rinsed much better than if your trying to work around a wheel.

 

[Greg Gellas]

I soaked the wheel wells with an apc, agitated with a number of brushes. The wheels and calipers were cleaned with Diablo wheel gel an older grout sponge and a dedicated wheel brush. The real issue was the rear wheel wells, they were a felt type material and it held in dirt. Rinsing and rinsing it took forever to get the water to come clear from there.

Bolted the wheels back on and started to clay the car. This was a long process, between all the rail dust and stains from whatever the debris was on the sides. I used some DoDo Juice born slippy, with DI gentle fine clay. I probably should have gone to a medium grade clay, but a little hard work didn't bother me I rinsed off the car one more time to get rid of any clay lube leftover, dried it once again, nothing spilled this time and pulled it inside. I did a IPA wipe down then taped up the entire car and started to inspect what I was dealing with. Being a white, it was difficult to capture on camera the swirls on the car, you can just make them out though.

The B pillars were just bothering me as they were so swirlled, I decided to correct those.

Ahhhh much better I can start to focus on the rest of the job for today

It was getting later in the day and the rejuvinator oil had plenty of time to sit, also it got pretty warm inside of the car so I was pretty certain it did its job. I grabbed an extra bucket with warm water a MF towel, small scrub brush and the prestine clean. I went to town, sprayed my prestine clean on the seats and lightly scrubbed with my brush. It didn't take much force at all, I followed up with 2 wipe downs with the warm rung out MF towel and fresh water each time. I seemed to have lost all the complete afters, but the seats really came out nice and all of the spots in the back seat were removed. Time for some rest.

Day 2, I had a long first day by myself, I knew I still had all of the paint correction to do and quite a bit of the interior left to do so I called my assistant. He has been working with me for quite some time, and I would have him do my own car I trained him so well Needless to say he has become a very talented detailer. We both grabbed a DA and went to town on the paint. After a test spot I decided that Menzerna 203s was a perfect one step and brought out alot of the pearl, finishing down nicely, yet still getting 85+% correction.

 

[Greg Gellas]

We finished correcting the paint, so I decided to finish up the interior. I started with the door jams. I pulled the plates, to ensure underneath was cleaned also.

I pulled out my steamer and got to it on the interior. Spots were pre-treated with folex, steamed, then vacuumed out. The rubber mats were also steamed.

I am always looking to find easier ways to to get the best detail I can. Don't you just hate this area inbetween the seat and the center consule. Even with a standard crevice tool you just can seem to get in there. This little vacuum attachment works wonders for all the little places you just can't seem to reach. Excellent on vents too.

How do you think I got this sucker out of here Way in the back between the rear window and the interior.

I have these unique q-tip I use...Perfect for applying dressing to the "seams" of rubber and cleaning out areas that are just difficult to get too

 

[Greg Gellas]

Ok so now for the afters, the entire car was lathered in Black Fire Wet Diamond, then topped with optimum spray wax for some extra slickness, wheel wells were dressed with Fade2Black along with the engine bay hoses, tires were dressed with opti-bond tire gel, and the trim and engine bay panels were dressed with opti trim.

As always thanks for looking Greg

 

[a_guerrajr]

man that is a detail.

good attention to detail



Where can one purchase this mini attachment set?



Also, to confirm, you laid down folex on carpet, then steamed it, then vaccummed it?



how much does a steamer go for? i've never had a need to buy one, but i see the uses of it more and more.

 

[Barry Theal]

Greg very nice work man. You need to get an air compressor for interiors it will help wonders. Call me sometime and I'll exsplain to you how to use it. It will save you lots of time on interiors. Car looks great man. Nice write up as well. Keep up the good work.

Barry

 

[Greg Gellas]

Where can one purchase this mini attachment set?



Also, to confirm, you laid down folex on carpet, then steamed it, then vaccummed it?



how much does a steamer go for? i've never had a need to buy one, but i see the uses of it more and more.

Here is the mini vac set....I really like it



MD Central Vacuum Online Store



The steamer I use is almost identical to the Polti Vaporetto 2085 Steam Cleaner....It basically the older version of the 1030. AllBrands.com - Polti 1030R Vaporetto Steam Vapor Cleaner, DVD, 4 Casters, 1500W, 13A, Safety Cap, 1.5L Boiler 370°F, Working 270°F, 0-50PSI, 0-70 Grams /Min - ITALY

Greg very nice work man. You need to get an air compressor for interiors it will help wonders. Call me sometime and I'll exsplain to you how to use it. It will save you lots of time on interiors. Car looks great man. Nice write up as well. Keep up the good work.

Barry

:2thumbs: Expect a call soon Thanks, always working to improve any aspect of my detailing Maybee I will just come out and hang out with you

 

[Tom Humbert]

Greg - Once again we are very satisfied with your work. I was amazed with your work on the seats. Those B pillars were bugging me too



Excellent job and we will be seeing each other again.



Thanks.

 

[a_guerrajr]

Here is the mini vac set....I really like it



MD Central Vacuum Online Store



The steamer I use is almost identical to the Polti Vaporetto 2085 Steam Cleaner....It basically the older version of the 1030. AllBrands.com - Polti 1030R Vaporetto Steam Vapor Cleaner, DVD, 4 Casters, 1500W, 13A, Safety Cap, 1.5L Boiler 370°F, Working 270°F, 0-50PSI, 0-70 Grams /Min - ITALY







:2thumbs: Expect a call soon Thanks, always working to improve any aspect of my detailing Maybee I will just come out and hang out with you

cool the mini kit is cheap :woot2:



but the steamer is out of my budget right now

 

[S&S Detailing]

cool the mini kit is cheap :woot2:



but the steamer is out of my budget right now

x2



Also x2 on the air compressor, works wonders



Great job on the attention to details

 

[Greg Gellas]

x2



Also x2 on the air compressor, works wonders



Great job on the attention to details

:2thumbs: I have a compressor but rarly use it, I dry with my wet/dry vac on blow normally



Thanks