So, this weekend was the beginning of our spring break, and I decided I should go ahead and remove those pesky BSM's, and since the paint matched so perfectly when I took off the rear emblem (it was cracked and missing the flags so it needed to come off), I figured I'd have no issues
Well I couldn't have been more wrong, after removing the first 6 in. or so, it looked really promising, perfect paint match, but after removing the whole piece, I realized the end closest to the scoop didn't match at all, so now I have to completely remove all the double sided tape and reinstall the stupid thing! I'll post pics ASAP but if anyone has any idea on a simple fix or remedy to this issue so I can go ahead and peel the rest off, or if I'm basically screwed, it would be much appreciated.
Oh and just to add: I thought cars only faded lighter, but can they get darker with time?

 

How about trying some polishing compound and polish and work your way up to wax and see if it blends.

 

This is the exact reason I'm hesitating in doing mine. Mine is silver like yours.

There is another post regarding BSM removal and those guys have inspired me to try it. But, now I read yours and..........I'm back on the fence.

I just need to ask; Are you sure that your car was never repainted at some point in its life?

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but yes, I do believe that paint fade can go either way depending on the color and type. Whites will darken and blacks will lighten.

 

SilverBullet - sorry to hear of your trouble with the BSM. If you find that you have no recourse but to put the piece back on, I found that the aerosol 3M adhesive remover worked very well at getting the tape off the BSM pieces. It practically turns the tape to goo. I used it and got all the tape off all 4 pieces right quick. Good luck.

 

You could put them back on!

Thanks,Matt

 

look with them off, but since it came from GM with them installed and shows on the build sheet and window sticker, I will leave them on, especially after reading your sad tale. I note that many prospective buyers, particularly on this forum, seem real fussy about orginality. So, all mods I do are ones that are easily reversable to OEM and tasteful. I may move out of mine for newer and want to assure a sale. Have been vacilating on that, as this is a really sweet car with only 18,500 miles on it, but...............

 

sounds like your car was parked outside most of it's life...UV radiation will cause dramatic shifts in hue. My torch red was garaged every day for many years before I finally removed the BSMs and I had perfect color match underneath. It should be easy for you to reinstall them with 3M molding tape.

 

Good luck. As for cleaning the old crud off the back, Goo-gone works really well for removing that kind of stuff

 

Sorry you ran into problems with the paint matching after removing the BSMs. Sometimes it's just better to leave things alone. Before you try and reinstall the BSMs, you might check with a trusted body shop and see if there is a way they can buff the paint to make the difference go away.

 

The color is UNDER the clear, no amount of buffing will do anything if the color is different.

 

Hmm.. I find it odd that only half the door would be faded. Are you the original owner? Does a carfax show any front end body work? Sounds almost like the fender may have been replaced and when they blended into the door they sprayed over the BSM. The blend wouldn't be noticeable until you saw the hard line with the BSM removed. Just a thought.

 

<<...but can they get darker with time?>>

Can only speak to blue, dark blue lacquer. Had it on two cars and it got considerably darker over the years.

 

Thanks for all the help and comments guys, Ive up since 4am driving/flying to Vegas and havn't had the chance to get on the forum. To those asking if there was body work: I'm not positive, but the car is extremely clean for 90k miles, so it very well could have been repainted, but there is no damage report. The strangest part is that it matches so well in the door handle area but darkens as it gets toward the scoop. As soon as I get home I'll just use the adhesive remover and re-attach the piece. Thanks again for all the help
Travis

 

Here are some pics-

Travis

 

I would try to wash the area with Dawn and follow with clay bar before reinstalling BSM's. Looks like lots of wax build up. Cleaning the old build up might match it better.

 

Can you feel any kind of ridge in the transition area in the back vs the front? If so it may have been blended with the BSM on (hard to believe someone would do that except Earl Scheib)! If there is no height difference, could be a reaction to uneven wax/sealant application combined with the sun over time that affected the clear coat - might try stripping the wax with Dawn at the rear of the door, but it looks like the back of the door matches the front of the rear panel as is. Has the car been parked where it gets more light on one end of the car?

 

I've only had the car since early January, and since I got it at auction I wasn't able to get any info on the previous owner. After looking into it, I think I'll probably just get the paint blended and leave the BSM's off. I cant stand the look of BSM's

 

From what Travis says here, I'm beginning to think some sort of repair requiring paint may have been made -- perhaps to the front fender. Could have been just a deep scratch or a complete fender replacement -- it's impossible to know. Hell, it could have even been done at the factory.

Metallic paints are a bitch, and silver is especially bad because there is virtually no pigment, just a lot of metal flakes to reflect the light. When the tech who's making the repair applies the silver, it's gonna be nearly impossible to get the metallic flakes to lay exactly the way they are in the factory color, creating the need for blending into the surrounding panel(s). It's a visual fake-out.

The front and rear bumper covers (fascias) WERE NOT painted with the rest of the body panels at the factory. We owners with silver cars will see that under certain light conditions our factory-original fascias will look totally off, while at other times they'll like right on. That's the nature of silver. The metallic flakes on the fascias are laying at slightly different angles than those on the other body panels. Hence, they reflect light differently.

 

It was painted and the BSM was on it when it happened. If you run your finger nail over the line you'll feel the difference in height where the tape line was.

You'll have to paint the entire door.

 

I'm afraid this may be the case. Still trying to decide if it is worth the $$ to repaint, or if I should just give in and reapply the BSM