100 Series Land Cruiser: Interior/Exterior Detail
- Matt Overton
- Jan 27
- 3 min read
I am by no means an expert on detailing cars, but I have some things that have worked well for me over the years that I can share. Having worked at a car wash and later a body shop in my teenage years, I have always enjoyed making cars shine. As any 100 Series Land Cruiser is now between 18 and 27 years old, having the ability to restore the exterior/interior shine is pretty helpful. This post will walk through the steps I took to clean up a 2003 Land Cruiser that I bought locally. Interior carpet was dirty and had lots of stains and the paint was faded badly. With help from my two oldest sons, we spent a weekend bringing it back to life.
Tools
These are my go-to tools for interior/exterior detailing.
Before
The first series of pictures is after I had washed the vehicle. It took several hours as there was some surface mold on the roof and door jambs. First, I used my Shop-Vac and Castrol Super Clean to deep clean the interior carpet and plastic. Next, I used the Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash and the Detailing Brush Set to clean all the hard to reach areas. With any new vehicle, it is important to start with a very detailed interior/exterior wash to get to a good baseline. Also, take the time to move the seats full forward/back/up when you are cleaning the respective areas of the interior.
After
The second series of pictures are after a full detailing of the interior and exterior of the vehicle. See the below steps I took for each area.
Interior
-Start by mixing Chemical Guys Foaming Carpet Cleaner and water in a spray bottle and spray directly to the heavily soiled areas and use the Drill Brush attachments and cordless drill of your choice to clean.
-Add a mixture of Chemical Guys Foaming Carpet Cleaner and water to the Bissell Little Green and cover every inch of the carpet. I make a pass spraying cleaner, then use the brush head to brush that in, followed by lots of suction passes. You want to make sure the soiled spots are clean and that the carpet is not too wet. High traffic areas may require multiple passes.
-Apply Leatherique Pristine Clean to all interior leather. Then apply Leatherique Leather Rejuvenator to all seats and let it sit for as long as possible. It is best to do this on a hot day when the sun is out. You want this product to soak into the leather.
Exterior
-Use the orbital polisher (strongly recommend the one sold by Chemical Guys) and the appropriate cutting pad to apply Meguiar's Ultimate Compound. Do this one section at a time. I start with the hood, then roof, rear hatch, then each side. The polisher has multiple speeds and you will need the fastest speed if your paint is in bad shape. You will also eat through cutting pads, so I would suggesting having more than one. This will take a few hours to cover the entire vehicle. Take your time and don't be afraid to apply extra pressure or multiple passes for the really bad areas. Toyota single stage paint is quite durable and will shine up really well. Use a clean microfiber towel to remove any excess product.
-Use the orbital polisher and the appropriate polishing pad to apply Meguiar's Ulimate Polish, one section at a time. It is important to dial the speed back for polish. If you try to put it on at high speed it will gum up and will take a lot of work to remove. I generally set the polisher somewhere around 3-4 for this step. Use a clean microfiber towel to remove any excess product.
-Apply the Meguiar's Hybrid Ceramic Wax with the wax/finishing pad on the orbital. You can turn it down to very low speed. You are just using the tool to help apply the product. You will use a clean microfiber towel to remove.
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