So I went to pick up my 01 Z06 from the auto body shop today..Neighbor backed into it like 3 weeks ago.....I told myself to not expect to take it home( I want it perfect). They had to paint the front and I figured since there was a scuff on the rear I would have them repaint the whole rear and paint the lower area Black metallic to match the CE stripes I will be placing on it.

Well the paint looked great and the rear was awesome looking but...........,............. The back looks exactly the same color in direct sunlight but from a sharp front or rear angle it looks like 4 shades darker. There is a clear difference from certain angles. He tried to tell me it was normal since the two areas are made of different materials. I told him that was the first ? I had for them when I brought it in ...because I heard QS metallic is difficult and I had heard stories of the different peices doing exactly that.

They were extremely cool about it and said no problem they would make it top priority Monday morning and try and have it to me mid week..

Should I be worried about their abilities now???

He said something about blending?? What should I be asking or telling them first thing Monday...

Let me know guys

Thanks
Shawn

 

Anyone??? With all the helpful advice...nobody can help me??

Shawn

 

A fine metallic paint should be blended into adjacent panels otherwise you risk shading issues. Blending involves wetsanding the adjacent panel's clearcoat nearly into the color coat. When the new panel is painted, the color coat should be faded onto adjacent panels and a second paint gun will be used to spray a blending agent into the fade area to get the paints to blend without a line. Then the new panel and the adjacent panels will all be clear coated at the same time. It's a lot more work to blend the paint into adjacent panels, so they decided to take a shot and paint one panel.

I wouldn't worry about the details. If it doesn't match, tell them they have to do it again or you'll pay for any new parts and take it somewhere else. If they say you can't match that color, ask them why that wasn't disclosed when they accepted the job.

Good Luck!

 

Thanks

They are a top notch shop and I know they will be able to fix it...Just wished it was done right the first time. Their mechanics are all ASE certified the one guy worked on Vipers privately for years. They are I-car certified , Motor trend preffered club, and they honestly have the best Customer Service I have ever seen for a Auto Body shop... The funny thing is my friend called me today and said....

" Your car looks sick!!!!!!" I thought he saw me on my way to work in the 01 Firehawk( I love that car too ). Come to find out he was at the auto shop getting a quote and they showed him the car. When I told him I wasnt happy he was kinda ..... I told him and he said really.... I think its probably no real noticable but they are going to fix it anyways........

I cant wait to get it back and the rear exhaust area looks great in metallic black!

Shawn

 

Quicksilver is EXTREMELY hard to match. The vat of paint at the factory is different depending on whether your car is painted at the beginning of the batch, or at the end. My local dealership scratched my front cover during an oil change. They tried to paint it 4 times using the exact formula from the factory. The last time, they used a handheld computerized device to "sample" the paint in 6 different areas on the car. Even after they did that, it wasn't even close.

I had them replace the cover (free of charge, of course), and I took it to a local shop here in Dallas which does body & paint work on Ferrari's & many other exotics. They matched it perfectly. He painted several test boards using different formulas, and held them up to the hood. It matches perfectly now.

So, QS Metallic is, in fact, very difficult to match. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.

 

Yeah the front was great and the back looks dead on in direct sunlight.....but on a angle its a different shade??

 

Having been in the bodyshop business for over 20 years, I can tell you that "panel" shooting ANY panel without blending is difficult... especially with today's high metallics and the amount of "flop/pearl" in the new colors.

At my shop, I will not guarantee color match if I can't blend an adjacent panel.

HOWEVER, in being honest and fair with a customer, I prefer not to put any extra paint on a car if not necc. Typically, my painters will spray up to half a dozen test panels with different variances just to ensure that the paint matches. Silvers and anything with high metallic content make it just that much more difficult. If you look at any Toyota, Lexus or Honda, you'll notice that most of the times the bumpers, trim, mirrors and bodyside mouldings don't match.

There are two reasons for this.

First, they are a different material. (urethane, PPV, etc, as opposed to sheetmetal)

and second...

As the car goes down the assy line, the trim (plastic pieces) are painted at one end and the car at the other. During the assy process, they are reunited and since they were not sprayed from the same gun, they don't match.

Just this week we sprayed an '04 Acura RSX rear bumper. A dark charcoal metallic and though the correct (and guaranteed) way to make sure it matched would have been to blend the quarter panels, I feel that would be ridiculous by putting more paint on a new car than necc.

The color is exactly as you described on your car. Directly on, it looks exact, walk forward or backward and it flops from being too dark to too light. I will take the bumper off Monday and respray it after spraying even more "test panels".

My suggestion is.... let them do the same also, try spraying some test panels and respraying it. If they cannot make it 100% without blending, I WOULD LIVE with it. Unless they have already painted the adjacent panels, DO NOT add even more paint to the car. (Just my opinion)

Good luck, hope it works out the way you want.

Mark

 

thanks for the advice

 

Well said Mark!I agree