I've had three vehicles repainted (first the Trans Am before I sold it, and just recently the Vette), and both times, even with highly reputable shops, the paint is never perfectly matched. My litmus test is to use a halogen lamp. Whereas the factory paint is black with a milky sheen, the Vette's newly painted parts reflect a definite purple tint under the halogen lighting. With normal incandescent and flourescent light, it looks okay. The Trans Am was similar except it had a definite orange tint in the repainted parts. My truck is due back this week with a repainted quarter panel, and it's a metallic color (Carmine Red Metallic), so I'll lay odds it, too, will have an off-color panel now.

Is it even possible to perfectly match the factory paint, or are my expectations too high?

 

Vince ask Tracey, she use to work at a BMW body shop, she will answere you question easy.

I will PM you her #

JET

 

It depends on what color they used to base the black off of.

PPG offers several different "blacks", the two most common are either derived from Brown or Blue. The Chevelle has brown based black on everything except the hood. (Blue base)

You or your paint shop can buy paint directly from the dealer, as they would know precisely which tints were used in the original formula, but even then, its a bit of a crapshoot.

 

Not actually true. Its just like buying house paint. They are all measured and mixed. In all honesty, there is no such thing as a "perfect paint match".

I have been working in body shops for about 14 years and have NEVER seen a true "paint match".

Think of it this way. Your car is painted in the factory by a machine with a particular primer, a mixed batch of paint and then a clear coat. There is no way to reduplicate the process.

The fix to this is called "blending". Say you have a door repaired and repainted. In order to make your eye think it matches they sand down the adjoining panels (fender and quarter panel) and spray the same color that is going on your door onto about 3-5 inches of those panels. Then they will clear coat all 3 panels completly. The paint on the adjoining panels is "blended within the panel". So when you look at your door, it appears to match the edges of the other panels.

I can tell you this. I have owned a beautiful M3 that had about 10k in suspension and motor work done to it. I loved the car. However, I knew it had been painted in the rear. Everytime I washed the car I could tell it looked a tiny bit different. It eventually drove me crazy. My SS has a rub/scratch mark on the rear bumper that has been there since I bought her. I will never have it fixed. I know that the paint not matching will bother me more than the mark does.

Sorry this happened to you Vince. There are so many variables that go into painting the only real way for it to match it so wet sand it completly and either repaint it, or at least re-clearcoat it.

I know that there are people who are going to post back to this that they had their cars painted and they matched. Im hear to tell each one of them, that unless their cars were completly repainted, that they don't match.

-Tracey

 

Tracey, thanks. This is exactly what I needed to hear.

And to those who would say that, I'd tell them to go buy a halogen construction light and go over every inch of the car. Those things show absolutely EVERY imperfection, swirl mark, spec of dust, you name it. I thought the car looked really good when I picked it up until I put it under the lamp. Oh, well.

And they did blend the paint into the rear quarter panel. I could see exactly where the new paint stopped and the old paint started. I had them redo the left front quarter panel and driver's door because it had obviously been painted before (very poorly). It was a good thing I did because the shop told me the clear coat was literally flaking off in areas. Now the paint that's on it is guaranteed for three years and the rest of the factory paint should be fine, too. I'll just have to avoid putting it under halogen lighting, or it will bug the crap out of me.

 

You know, there's another possibility. And I know this from experience with house paint and painting models. It may change colors after it has had more time to cure. It has only been about 3-4 days since they painted it.

 

ya there is no exact match. y did u repaint the vette?

 

Yeah been around and Tracey is right blending is the best you will every get with out doing a complete. Tim over at Lanes Hi-tech is one of the best at matching color and texture of cars. I am probably bias since he is my best friend LOL! He's done quite a bit of repair work on fellow board members cars if anyone dosn't have anyone they trust give him a ring. He is on the South side of town. Good luck with the truck I am sure it will be ok.

 

When the shop painted my ss hood they had to blend the hood with the fenders and the bumper. First they painted just the hood and it did not match at all. So they had to blend it. It looks ok but not like the factory.

 

Well the SS hoods and spoilers on the SS never matched very well so if you have it real close consider yourself lucky. They are painted after the fact also just like if you were to have a panel repainted on your car.

 

Some young girl backed into the front of it coming out of a parking space while Aaron and I stood there watching in horror.

Turns out it had been repainted before I bought it. I could see the off-color panel when it was in direct sunlight. When I took it to the shop to get an estimate from the accident, we noticed it even more on the driver's door and left front quarter panel (there was still overspray in the door sill and tape marks). The insurance company covered repainting the front bumper, and I paid out of my own pocket to restore the paint on the quarter panel and door and to remove all of the overspray. Like I mentioned above, it's a good thing I did because the shop told me the clearcoat from the previous repaint was flaking off.

Funny how things end up. I would've had to live with the repainted front bumper regardless even if the car still had the factory paint all around. I have never had a car that did not eventually have to go into the body shop for something. The only way to protect them, I suppose, is to leave them in the garage under a cover forever, huh?