1999 Toyota Camry 194K

[Vikas]

Started with rotary backing plate with adapter on the GG6 DA and used M105 and then M205 with Meguairs burgundy cutting pad. Unfortunately, while doing passenger side door, the adapter came lose and the shaft hit the door :-( So half of the car ended up with one step sealant using GG orange pad. Put the Blackfire Crystal Seal over the entire car, although not sure how it is going to work on the one step sealant. It should work on the M205 though. At the end of the day, used the Wet Paint Glaze to do the grungy lower panels. I did not dress the tires. The mirrors will need to be repainted. As you can see from the last picture, the car got coated with the pollen before I could take the pictures.

 

[dernp]

Very nice.

 

[Rolla07]

Looking awesome for a 99!

 

[The Critic]

Plane ticket to Massholeville is booked. I'm going to come help you finish the rest of the car and compound the windshield.

j/k

You're making progress!

 

[JC1]

Vikas,

I see you are putting your new toy the Griots DA to good use! Nice job.

Regards, JC.

 

[Nick1994]

Looks awesome! I have a '97 Camry with almost 193k miles. Previous owner had it repainted at a cheap auto body place. Is yours a 2.2L or 3.0L?

 

[Turk]

Awesome shine!!!

Nice grass too (like mine).

My Wife has a '97 Camry, the Dark Green Color. It shines, but thousands of tiny road pebble chips all over it.

 

[Vikas]

2.2L, how are your mirrors paint holding up? couple of years ago, it accelerated the fading. I believe the mirror covers are plastic.

Not only both cars have road rash; these also also have lots of "fond memories" aka encounters with foreign objects! Lot and lots of touch up paint and my attempts at wet sanding to blend them. It barely works if I use the left over paint from the body shop after an insurance covered enounter. The factory stick purchased from dealer never matches the metallic paint. Both cars are 2-3 feet cars, if you are closer than that, all you see are my attempted or not yet tried fixer uppers.

Lately it has started putting a drop or two on the driveway. The time has come for timing belt etc. My mechanic is already salivating

 

[Nick1994]

At least yours looks good from 2-3 feet away. Mine has a really cheap paint job, previous owner said the original paint looked terrible on the hood and rear bumper. It has one of those like $300-500 paint jobs and if you're closer than 20 feet it doesn't look very good. It actually photographs well.

Do you have good mechanical skills? If so with some tools the timing belt isn't too bad to change. I changed it at 186k miles and it was original. Change the water pump, tensioner, idler pulley and thermostat while you're at it.

I don't see anywhere where the mirrors were fading.

 

[Vikas]

The very first picture shows the faded paint on the driver side mirror. This must be some specific model / year issue as I recall ScottyKilmer has a video on painting the side mirrors.

I just priced all OEM parts for the timing belt change (all parts) including all the possible seals and gaskets. It will be about $350 for all the Toyota parts! That is little bit more than I had expected but I want to stay with the red-boxed Toyota parts rather than go RockAuto on it. I think I am going to let my mechanic handle this once I talk with him about supplying the OEM parts.

 

[Nick1994]

I understand OEM parts are the best but I don't think there isn't anything wrong we aftermarket unless you're going to go far past the recommended interval. I used a Gates kit with the pulley, tensioner, water pump, and timing belt for $100 from a friend who can get wholesale shop prices (he's a mechanic) but Oreillys sells a kit for $150.

 

[RTexasF]

I think it looks just fine especially considering the age of it. Your efforts were worthwhile.