# A DW First? Presidential Limousine



## Mr Face (Jan 22, 2009)

The Task : Clean up an Ex Japanese Presidential Limo & make it shiny again 

We were just finishing off the marathon (aren't they all :lol: ) that was the yellow MG Roadster (http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=136954 ) and heard the faint burble of a V8 pull up on the drive. To our surprise the Captain was there long faced and not at all happy. Asked what on earth could he be upset about he showed us the Toyota Century that had just arrived at Southampton docks that he had picked up only an hour earlier.





































What had been described and what he thought he had bought on ebay six months earlier as : 1990 Ex Japanese Presidential Limousine, immaculate condition inside and out with only 43K on the clock. The add was also accompanied by this youtube URL : 




The Captain who had kindly let us sharpen our new found detailing talents on his now gorgeous TR7 and MG rocked up on the drive close to tears and explained that it was described as immaculate and the pictures he had verifying the condition and mileage (which now had over a hundred thousand on) had to be of another identical car and most certainly was not the vehicle that had been shipped. He had indeed been well and truly stitched up. His first question was " can you sort out the paint work ? we looked around the car :doublesho OMG, scratched our heads and said we would try our very best. Thankfully The Captain wasn't in any hurry and the task for various reasons took us best part of eight weeks and a hundred plus hours as and when I was able and helped by Jack & Joe.. (jnr faces)

In summary, what we found : The pictures really don't do the paintwork justice. Knowing the car came from Japan, I can only believe the Japanese Ice Skating team had used the car to practice on when they couldn't get ice time. For what would have once been a beautiful motor, this really did need some serious TLC and it did make me question on many occasions if we were up to the challenge. Here is the story :thumb:




























Apart from all the other chaos on the paintwork look at the scratches / pigtails around the wheel arch lip, these were all over the car. Who or what ever cowboy had inflicted these marks their ears must have been burning. Interested to know if you have seen these before? are these common or were they special order just for this car? :wall::wall:






















































Yet more pig tail scratches 






















































Ouch, brillo pad polishing we guessed









By this time we were wondering if we had bitten off more than we could chew. Vertical scratches above crease on wing. :lol: getting punch drunk now









And just a few more neglect marks.









Half an hour with a selection of polish and pad on the drivers door let us know we could make a difference.

A week or so later, day 1, wash and clay day.

Usual :detailer: 2BWM with Megs Shampoo plus, selection of mitts and Zymol sponge.
APC and Megs Degreaser 
Clayed with Sonus Green and Dodo Born Slippy ( lots of both)






























































































































Not a lot of protection



























Loads-a-paint



























Ooops, not-a-lotta-paint









How many men did you say it takes to look at a panel ? 




































Tape up and ready to start.

Hardware :buffer:

Makita Rotary & Megs G220
Polish : 3M FCP for really bad area, Menz 203S / 106/ 85rd & Megs 205 
Pads : 3M Green, Yellow & Blue. Lake Country White and Detailers Domain Green Blue & Black
IPA : Gallons !! Microfibres 100s

Less from me now, I will let the pictures do the talking, a few 50/50s to follow.



































































































I wish I could speak to the guy who left these etchings, Id love to know how he made them and why he left them. If you are out there I hope your proud of yourself.






















































First hit on the bonnet (one of many)




























































































































































































































































Near side wing with very thin paint readings 75.5 Mcs













































All paint work except the bonnet now 99% defect free










As you can guess, the bonnet in this Century is huge & dwarfs that of my LS in the background. Unfortunately it took three days to get it to an acceptable level of correction without holograms. I had given the bonnet two full days and nearing 20 - 25 full passes and every time with the softest pad and least abrasive polish (85RD) left line holograms where the pad had passed last, frustrating was an understatement. Fortunately a desperate call to both Jay (Gleamingkleen) and Paul (Shine-On) both responded almost immediately to my calls for help & suggested the bonnet might have been re sprayed at some point and not baked to cure properly. This would obviously have explained the earlier healthy PDG readings on the bonnet that I had forgotten about only remembering where the danger area's were. Advice was gratefully appreciated as it confirmed I wasn't doing anything drastically wrong and offered advice in line with lifting / supporting the weight of the G220 to allow no weight to be applied to the pad/paintwork. This I am glad to say finally won the day and after two and a half days left (if I say so myself) a near perfect finish.






















































Paintwork protected with : One Coat of Werkstat Acrylic Prime, six coats of Werkstat Acrylic Jet Trigger & a final shine with Acrylic Glos.
Vinyl Roof dressed with two coats of Einszett Pro-line Vinyl Gel
All Metal & Chrome polished with 'The Britemax Twins' (exhaust tires glass done later, no camera :wall: sorry )


















































































Big thanks to the Captain for letting us loose on his new car and both Jack and Joe for their help and humour. Also to both Jay and Paul for their words of wisdom of which without I would have throw the towel in.

If you've got this far you now deserve a fresh brew. Thanks for looking, as always questions comments appreciated.

More snow on the way, be careful out there:wave:

Another showroom thread coming soon, nothing quite so large next time though but equally challenging in its own way.


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## Millz (Oct 21, 2010)

That's a hell of a turn around. Black cars always look amazing after a good machine polish. Bet the owner was more than a little pleased with it?


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Now there is something you don't see everyday! :lol:

Great work, the car looks lovely now....

You can always find help from the people on here when things aren't going right...same thing with me and the E60 I done last year.... 

Great turnaround by Team Face, and let's all hope 2011 is better than last year!

:thumb:


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## Bensenn_GER (Mar 24, 2010)

Nice 50/50s in natural light. Lovely reflections, and looks like zero orange peel. :thumb:


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## WHIZZER (Oct 25, 2005)

What a great car and awesome finish will done - ( Great House too)


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## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

Lovely! Unusual motor and some nice 50/50s.


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## 62mph (Jul 28, 2010)

Awesome work - would be so proud if I had acheived those results

Will the buyer of the car be on to ebay about the guy who sold him the car?! You have the photos to prove it was no where near ''immaculate'' condition and double the advertised milage isnt on!


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## giblet (Feb 26, 2008)

Now thats something unusual, looks like an awesome car though. Great work, and thats a tidy house in the background!


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## Deanvtec (Mar 3, 2008)

Superb work Mike and Co, Really have turned that Limo around, the natural light 50/50's were great, showed a huge difference. Bet the polishing pads took a lot of cleaning after with all that black paint.

Happy new year Mike,Jnr & Jnr, Hope 2011 is a brilliant year for u all.:thumb:

P.s What vehicles next on the agenda??


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## Lemongrab (Jul 27, 2009)

:doublesho :doublesho :doublesho

Awesome work on a great and rare car!

Congrats.


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## rsdan1984 (Jul 31, 2009)

brilliant correction and those reflections are amazing!!


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## ant_s (Jan 29, 2009)

Amaizing correction work there and an enjoyable read aswel, I wouldn't of been to happy if the "immaculate" car had been delivered to me like that, yet alone the mileage being higher.


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## X18JAY (Oct 23, 2008)

great work, love the vhs player


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## distracted (Oct 30, 2010)

Those 50/50s are insane. What an amazing turnaround.


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## Johnnyopolis (Oct 25, 2005)

What an amazing turnaround guys well done  

A great read too :thumb:

Johnny


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## hotwaxxx (Jul 12, 2007)

Stunning, just stunning. The reflections look amazing.:buffer:

I love the VHS and Panasonic small screen telly in the back.


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## n_d_fox (Apr 18, 2007)

Lovely work and attention to detail... massive car though, never seen one of those before !

Not too shabby surroundings either :thumb:


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## Mini 360 (Jul 17, 2009)

Stunning! I need a black car next I think!


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## John-Cupra_TDI (Apr 13, 2009)

Great writeup, looks awesome, nice work!!


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## mattc (Aug 12, 2008)

Amazing work. 

Liking the interior proper retro


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## rubbishboy (May 6, 2006)

Great job by Team Face there. :thumb: There's a fair bit of panel acreage to deal with there, really interesting car.


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## Planet Man (Apr 12, 2008)

Top stuff Mike and Team Face:thumb:

First off I thought, 'what an ugly brute of a car' but the detail has changed my stance somewhat

Black sure is the best for reflections though isnt it!.

Must have been late summer judging by the amount of leaves on the trees, bit to cold at the moment

Great read.


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

Brilliant work guys, a vast vast improvement all round, looks amazing 

and deffo a first on here


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## Dixondmn (Oct 12, 2007)

amazing results on a very special car..... but.... WOOOOAAAAHHH that is one serious house in the background! - jeez!


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## Sveneng (Apr 20, 2008)

Another top job by Team Face, a great read as always. As has already been asked, will the owner be pursuing ebay over the misrepresented ad?

Sveneng


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## sargent (Aug 25, 2009)

absolutely stunning work. nothing else is needed to say!


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Great write-up and work Mike & Co, very enjoyable read.

Really like that Limo, what was the drive like?


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## Exclusive Car Care (Jan 14, 2007)

excellent work Team Face:buffer::thumb::thumb:


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## Razzzle (Jul 3, 2010)

I like reading team face writeups. always enjoy them for some reason, cant put my finger on it though.

Great job team face 

Daz. :thumb:


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## johnnyguitar (Mar 24, 2010)

Photobucket bandwidth exceeded?


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## Razzzle (Jul 3, 2010)

They were working earlier 

Daz.


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## Mr Face (Jan 22, 2009)

*Photobucket sorted (hopefully)*



johnnyguitar said:


> Photobucket bandwidth exceeded?


Johnnyguitar ; decided to upgrade , apologies for failing far too early :thumb:
Should be OK now


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## Mr Face (Jan 22, 2009)

62mph said:


> Awesome work - would be so proud if I had acheived those results
> 
> Will the buyer of the car be on to ebay about the guy who sold him the car?! You have the photos to prove it was no where near ''immaculate'' condition and double the advertised milage isnt on!





Sveneng said:


> Another top job by Team Face, a great read as always. As has already been asked, will the owner be pursuing ebay over the misrepresented ad?
> 
> Sveneng


Again, apols taking the time to respond. The owner did try without success to get some satisfaction via ebay. He also tried via London solicitors with offices in Tokyo again with zero response. Eventually he gave up, took it on the chin and a lesson learnt (now shared with you) The bottom line was, he still wanted the car !!

HTH :wave:


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## butcher (Sep 3, 2010)

Nice daily driver there :thumb:


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## Mirror Finish Details (Aug 21, 2008)

Great work Mike, great reflections!!!!


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## Brooklands (Jun 12, 2010)

What a fantastic car and an even more fantastic result! Awesome I would say.....:thumb:


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

Stunnng mike, just stunning. A superb job on something we are likely to not see again on dw! Thanks for posting all your hard :buffer:


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## EliteCarCare (Aug 25, 2006)

Looking good Mike, some hard work there! :thumb:

Alex


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## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

That is top draw Mike :thumb: a superb turnaround and a very enjoyable read, glad to see the 2 Jnr's are getting upto scratch with the polishing ...


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## Guest (Jan 8, 2011)

Wow is about all I can say - it is such a transformation methinks it is better than ex-factory.

I am always in awe of the quality of work and subsequent outcomes posted on this forum but this is something else, it brings new meaning to 'excellence is the standard'


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## AcN (Nov 3, 2010)

Excellent work  Stunning black after polishing  I just wish some of the orange peel disappeared  (but seeing the paint thickness on some panels... hahaha)


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## -tom- (Jan 27, 2009)

Mike top work as all ways


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## ocd13 (Aug 25, 2010)

Thats one hell of a turn a round, great job:thumb:

and the 50/50s are awesome really shows what bad shape it was in 

Good job:thumb:


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## c16rkc (Apr 15, 2010)

Thanks for posting! I really enjoyed that!!

An unusual car and an absolutely amazing detail!!!!


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## Mr Face (Jan 22, 2009)

Gleammachine said:


> Great write-up and work Mike & Co, very enjoyable read.
> 
> Really like that Limo, what was the drive like?


I am blown away by everyones complements, all I can say is thank you and glad you enjoyed the read, it was a good distraction when I needed it most.

The drive really is beautiful and still felt very tight. The engine is as close as I can tell a lift strait our of an LS400 and the chassis wasn't anything like as bendy as I thought it would have been. All in all you would have had a hard job telling it was a long wheel base until you tried to park it, parallel parking was a little :wall:

Thanks again fella's :thumb:


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## Deeg (Mar 30, 2009)

amazing turnaround, great work there!


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## [email protected] (Dec 21, 2005)

Mike & Team Face!

One word - Stunning!

MArk:thumb:


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## zippo (Mar 26, 2008)

Another brilliant correction and write up by Team Face . Bet your glad its got a vinyl roof.
Just a thought, could those etchings have been caused by a flag. ( if there on the nearside)
Daz


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## Mr Face (Jan 22, 2009)

zippo said:


> Another brilliant correction and write up by Team Face . Bet your glad its got a vinyl roof.
> Just a thought, could those etchings have been caused by a flag. ( if there on the nearside)
> Daz


Hi Daz, agreed that is a flag stake on the near side of the front bumper and a flag could be responsible for the scratches on the top leading edge of the n/s wing. The vinyl roof was indeed a god send and saved several acres (days) of polishing and countless pads. I gave up counting how many times we had to wash the pads but knew when the colour run had finished we were down to good paint :thumb:

Thanks again for the comments, :wave: appreciated


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## prokopas (Apr 29, 2010)

Well done


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## Envy Car Care (Aug 17, 2006)

Excellent work Mike and company on a BIG old bus. I bet you ached, but felt very proud (and so you should!)
Nice one.


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## *MAGIC* (Feb 22, 2007)

Go Team Face :thumb:

thats awesome and I am loving the set up in the back. :doublesho

Robbie


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## Jesse74 (Jul 19, 2008)

Wow Mike and team, I'd have to say that's the save of the Century !! Did you guys do the interior also?


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## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

A truly stunning turn around


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## Ben. (Sep 7, 2009)

Great transformation, top work.


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## dsms (Feb 1, 2008)

Killer work, quite the accomplishment!


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## DetailMyCar (Apr 19, 2010)

AMAZING!!!!!!!!!

Stunning work yet again, that has come up trumps! How much £££ have you just added to the value!!!!

Loving the TV with VHS player built in the back, can you imagine how luxurious this must have been back in the day??? 

Great turnaround, i am so so impressed!


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## RaceGlazer (Jan 10, 2007)

A labour of love to get that right, superb job.

I take it you are not going to ask for any more old limos ?


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## nicp2007 (Apr 25, 2007)

amazing work there guys :thumb:


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## 123quackers (Jan 29, 2009)

Fantatsic what great bit of Toyota history!

I remeber my school buddy, his dad always had Toyota Crown back in the 80's
was a great car in its day...Getting a lift home from school in it was awesome back then. :thumb:

Thanks for the post cracking job and cracking old car..:argie:


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