kasher_khan

So yesterday I was peacefully driving my car, minding my own business when suddenly a tractor turned into a drive way in front of me. I got pelted by gravel on my drivers side. The end result is that I have stone chips all across my fender (the worst is a big gash right above the headlight where the hood meets the bumper and fender. There are scratches all over the hood but thanks to the silver paint they are hard to see. The drivers side door got hit the next worst, multiple gashes that got into the paint but didn't go past the primer. 3-4 small dings in some of the more serious spots. One on the side skirt and a few on the rear quarter panel.

Here is the dilemma. My paint overall is in very good condition. The passenger fender was previously painted and blended into the door. Whoever did it did a good job. I know I can touch up some of the smaller gashes but the one that is annoying me the most is the big ass ugly one near the lights. I have a guy at Maaco Chantilly VA. He did good work on a previous car for me and I know the stigma around Maaco but not all stores are the same (right?). Anyways, He recommended that I try the touch up and see if I can live with it (I know I won't be able to). So I asked him for a quote. He seems to be an S2000 guy and understands that there were multiple paint codes for the 2004 year etc. He says that there is no HONDA paint. he has to go to the supplier to see how complicated would be to get the right mix. He said that the best result would obviously be to re-spray the whole thing (he told me to take it to Honda body shop, since they can take the panels off and do it the right way- 4800$ estimate from him for Honda full respray Job. He said that at his shop they only mask the panels as best as they can (remove bumper and headlight) and hit it with on the car which obviously is not the same. He said that depending on the mix, he could get it 99% right but can't promise about over spray and all. He said he got do the fender and door for about $1100, and said to leave the side skirt alone since it will get chipped more anyways.

Now for the questions.
1) 1100$ sounds reasonable based on what I have paid for in the past. The question is whether just the fender and door is enough or should I consider the hood?
2) When I get touch up paint, does it have to come from Honda? can I get it online - I saw a number of them for silverstone color but hard to tell which is the right mix for 2004 - Anyone know the code for 2004 siliverstone touch up paint?
3) I can afford the full respray - How much overspray and other issues am I looking at if they don't take apart the panels. Worried about the top and paint getting everywhere...
4) I have been thinking about the Amuse R1 bumper for a while. Now might be a good time to get it and get it sprayed right? I saw $1300 (is that right_ online just for the bumper

I will be getting a second opinion from Honda body shop in Fairfax this afternoon. But I really like the guy at Maaco. Very honest and upfront about what he can and cannot do. Also this is my daily, so getting scuffed up again very soon is a high possibility. I want to fix the problem but not show car level. Just want to avoid the horror stories of some on here that have half the car painted silverstone and the other half sebring silver. I understand silver is hard to match the flake on. In the past I also screwed up my RSX with a similar paint. The touch up on that on key sratch made it worse than before touch up.

NOTE: One of the reasons I might be interested in getting the door painted is that there was something off in the clear coat even before this happened. Hard to explain. but seems like the panels had areas where there was a "waviness\ swirls under clear" to the paint and not orange peel like you would expect from a factory job. Possibly was wet sanded before.

Sorry for the long rant. Here are the pics. It's a bit hard to see the damage on the door but trust me its there...







the passenger side that was previously painted - fender and door



drivers side before current issue - sorry don't have one in day light at the moment.




Looking forward to your help on what to do. I had a hard time sleeping last night (same feeling you get after you get a ticket - I kept thinking what I could do to avoid this). Ultimately I didn't take a rock to the face, which is always excellent - keep those windows up boys!

MrFunk

For sure start with touch up. Give yourself time to decide what to do afterwards... ex "I'm not going to make a decision until spring 2018". My paint is in very good condition as well but there are some blemishes that are touched up that I've just gotten used to (battle wounds)... and from 10 feet you don't even notice them.

I got my touch-up from this place: https://www.handa-accessories.com/s2000-04ext.html - it's a "genuine"


I also have a strange "under the clear coat" blemish on my drivers side below the door. Mine's had a couple panels repainted as well... unfortunately with cars of these ages will have some minor paint repair....

kasher_khan

That is sane advice. This is my daily after all and another stone can easily find it's way into my new paint. A question on the touch up paint. is the NH630M the correct code for the silverstone metalic for 2004 S2000. Also what is the best form of touch up to use. Should I use a small bottle with a brush (i understand you are supposed to apply less and fill your way up). The pen with the clear coat sounds interesting and possibly easier to use (unless the pen ozes out a lot of paint).

kasher_khan

Then there is this guys !


I love Larry. I wish I could afford to ask him to take care of this for me...

hoobastnk90

Honestly if its your daily I would prolly just leave it for 6 months and see if it is still really bothering you. It doesn't look that bad and is not that noticeable. I mean it is to you , but that is because you know what to look for. Maybe have someone buff the one on the fender and see if some of that will come out.

kasher_khan

I think I might have accidentally used "sebring silver touch-up paint" in the past to do non-conspicuous areas on the bumper plastic. How do I remove that and apply the correct color ( NH630M Silverstone). Can I just pain on top of it. Should I dry to remove it with paint thinner\ sand paper etc... Again I mostly did this on my bumper which is plastic.

I intend to order the pen that has the clear coat on the back end. I like Larry's idea of waxing the area aroud and then using rubbing alcohol and sand paper on just the damaged area. But what do i do after I have filled the area with paint. I have messed much with polishing compounds. I have Meguires Scratch X but haven't use it on metal before. Also I don't have any electric buffer or anything. What polishing compound does one use to even out the paint. And then how to I even out the clear. I am mostly concerned about the big scratch on the fender above the headlight. I don't think I am too concerned about the smaller scratches on the door.

Also Can you guys tell from the first picture if the bigger gash went past the primer. Should I apply some primer anyways.

If anyone knows anyone in the Fairfax\NOVA area that can do the touch up job for me with better skills, let me know. I'd be happy to pay a few hundered bucks to have it done by a PRO.

rudyy

I would say just use touch up paint. There is no way to spend $1100 for such a small area. You probably will not have it bothered a couple of weeks later.

HarryD

Wash, claybar, then wetsand with 2000-2500-3000 grit. Then polish with Meguiar's M105 and finish off with Meguiar's M205. Bonus points if you use a dual-action polisher (e.g. like a 7424xp).

From the pictures, this should get rid of 90% of your issues, if not more.

funcoland

Dude that's horrible! I noticed you said Chantilly and Fairfax and wanted to chime in here as well since I live around there...

Let me guess, route 28? Just wanted to ask because I had a similar experience but it almost resulted in a crash/bodily harm. For starters, you don't have a dash cam do you? If so, you could probably get money from the guys insurance to get them to pay for it if you can get his plate.

My experience was more hair raising.. I was on 28 with a coworker going to lunch and one of those VDOT dump open dump trucks was in another lane when I guess the truck hit a pothole and a piece of concrete probably the size of a basketball came flying out and landed smack dab on the hood of my then car (A shitbox DD). It was probably a foot away from coming into the windshield instead. The force was so great that it shook the entire car and made the suspension buck.

Now I have a new pair of underwear and a dashcam... Be careful around those trucks even in other lanes.

kasher_khan

Thanks for the tips. Can I do this by hand or is the polisher a must. I have never tried to wetsand or polish before. SInce the area is small I am hoping some elbow grease would do the trick. I am afraid I might ruin more of the surroinding area because I have no expereince using a polisher even if I got one just to do this job...