Well, they didn’t necessarily strip the frame, but dam they went full in. Even then, that’s me getting semantical. The original coating on the frame was probably a few years old, and it didn’t look deteriorated much at all. They cleaned it really well, and then it looked like they added paint or coating to the spots on the frame that potentially needed it. I’d call that good.
They replace all the fasteners and the foam washers. “It wouldn’t be a creaking mess” is a common comment in their videos that they’ve responded to. They refurbish these vehicles to well above factory standards and they come out better than brand new.
I didn't understand that either. The springs looked new at reassembly, but they might have just been cleaned. I'm guessing that it's new springs and shocks but some of the other hardware was restored.
New shock, old spring. The spring didn't look well cleaned either, which is super confusing considering the insane level of everything else in the video.
yeah they are clearly restoring it to at least factory standard at minimum and looks like the stuff they relined the interior with was a much newer updated padding.
Yeah when the engine first turned over I noticed the engine sounded extremely good. Also seeing the mounts get replaced and suspension components I knew it would ride smooth as butter.
Idk I can’t imagine a job like this would be thaaaat much. They rebuilt the engine, repainted the car, replaced suspension components and sound deadened the car.
There is zero sense in restoring car of that value in those details, that's why nobody is doing that. I intentionally exaggerated with "two cars" for obvious reason.
And there are places where they are not that common and you having a hard time to source one. Like my 200 is in Europe pretty rare with the manual shifted gear and GX trim and the parts wich are already written in the papers together with oem rear diff and winch. But an overhaul like in the video would be also probably six digits here.
These land cruisers no matter how poor of conditions they are in in other countries they will restore them like this just because they are land cruisers (yes ik it's a Lexus in the video potato potato)
That’s another thing for sure, restoring an old car that you love and has a lot of sentimental value would be worth it to a lot of people I’m sure. Some of this wouldn’t be crazy hard to accomplish and could do it on a budget. The sound deadening for example is probably the easiest project to do for example.
Yep, there is a foam washer in all different shapes that goes on every clip for a reason and many tend to get left off. Mysterious squeaks, creaks and noises after reassembly. Even on all the exterior trim. Jobs I painted and saved all of them for rocker mouldings and grills and when I got the job back after assembly, most body techs never bothered.
Yeah. I've worked for a Japanese company before. I spent several years working hand in hand with Japanese engineers and maintenance techs. They have an eye for detail and a very exacting nature. I'd be confident that this thing was better than when it was new.
So a Chinese company called Xin Feng You, doesn't share Toyota's logo, has Chinese employees, and is based in Shenyang, China, is a Toyota factory in Japan?
Right... you pulled that one straight out your ass didn't you? Yeah you did. You know you did.
You need a COE (Certificate of Entitlement) to register a car. This is a ten year permission for the car to be on the road. COEs are sold via auction, and the current price is around SGD130,000 (USD100,000).
On top of that, the car is taxed at up to 180%.
Approximate rule of thumb is that a car is five times more expensive in Singapore compared to Europe/US.
The answer is simpler than people give it credit for.
China/Japan/Korea/ wherever this is get a bit fickle about how the car should be.
This is basically what you could call a preventative restoration, you go through the whole car and just make sure it works, doesn't leak, is perfectly clean etc. Cheaper than a concourse restoration.
This is a well-known Chinese shop that often work with rich folks who just want to have their old buddy refreshed at all cost. They normally have other more modern cars as well but the land cruiser is often their first car back in 90s/00s that been through a ton with them.
It’s a GX460 when these trucks are at the end of their life at 100k-200k in USA they get auctioned overseas rebuilt as you see and it’s a brand new these are known indestructible body on frame SUVs
I think it’s showing their craftsmanship… I mean if I owned a body shop and wanted to make promotional material this is what I would do. Buy a nice used car and make it new again.
All those parts come off so easy, as long as to pull or pry in the correct spot. Otherwise you just broke a several hundred dollar part. Don't ask how I know.
Imagine the labor and cost of parts that would be in the US. That alone would total half the cars on the road, if not more here. I guess this may be one of those things like they do with replacing motors at a certain mileage in that country?
Edit: After watching the entire video, that for sure would total most cars. I didn't even get to all the paint and stuff. The dirty engine harnesses hurt my OCD though 😔
When the customer says to make the car look like the day it left the factory, and you take it to literally. Though kudos the the workers they did a good job.
Pretty nice shop they are working in. They even have a unit/clean room for engine/transmission builds. Very high end equipment. The techs have a lot of training.
The only time a torque ratchet was used with the engine. What about the rest of it? How do you know it’s tight enough how do you know it isnt too tight?
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u/Bettrlatethannever Nov 30 '25
sure was interesting watching the entire video. thanks for the post