So I finally got a chance to take my car to Bodywerks to take care of a deep gouge in the front bumper (six long months I had to look at that horrible disfigurement!)

Anyway, I am sure Larry will do a great job, but i was curious if anybody knows the difference between a factory painted bumper and a bumper that was painted by a good bodyshop. Is the paint/spraying process comparable? And what about overall durability?

Just dropped off the car tonight and will be getting it back in 2 1/2 days, so you can probably tell I'm a little anxious.

So any added info that will help me sleep better for the next two nights would be greatly welcomed.

Cheers

 

Sorry I can't give any words of advice. However, I would love to know how it turns out for you. I am going to break down and have mine done one of these days.

 

I will give all the details when i get the car back...as some people already know, i am pretty picky bastard - so if it turns out well, I will have no problems recommending Bodywerks to people...

 

I had my front bumper repainted at a highly regarded local shop. They did a very good job, and from what I've heard Bodywerks will too. The paint is not quite matched exactly, but it is very difficult to tell unless you're looking for a difference under certain lighting conditions. The paint used on the plastic bumpers has special additives to allow it to flex a little, making the matching process a bit harder than usual. I am pleased with my results, I'm sure that you will be too.

 

Larry probably knows this, but he'll have an easier time matching the paint if he uses the same paint base that Honda does.

I believe it's DuPont, but I'm not positive.

Mine was sprayed with a different paint base, and it doesn't match under artificial light.

 

Even from the factory the paint on the plastic parts doesn't match the paint on the metal. So don't be suprised if you notice it now. Most of the time your eye will forgive the slight difference due to shaddows, hilites and such. All manufacturers have that problem. Honda does a pretty good job of matching, but VW seems to be the worse. But at least Honda didn't pull a Subaru and just paint the bumpers a differnt color all together.

Hope your repair goes well.

 

PLease post on the out come. I have a gouge in the front bumper from the dealer and they want to paint. But I dont know who they will take it to or how good the job will be. They're the rock and the bodyshop is the hard place.

 

Hey everybody thanks for the responses,

I got the car back a day early (it took Larry a day and a half to complete!) and from what I can tell he did a great job. I am 99.9% satisfied. Why I am not 100% happy?

1. I had scrapped the bottom part of the bumper due to lazy parking habits - I forgot to mention this to Larry so it was not repaired - hardly his fault, but i was still hoping it would have been caught. Anyway, not that big of a deal.

2. The top part of the bumper, right around were the headlights, hood, and bumper meet there is a crack in the paint on the inside edge. Again, no biggie, I can handle that with some deft touch-up painting. I'm just worried that it will grow into a bigger problem by chipping and flaking like some original S2000 bumpers have done around that area.

Other than those very, very, very small quibles, I am very pleased - and it takes a lot to please me
As far as I can tell with the light i had at the time, the paint match, by far my biggest concern, was very good.

I will let people know how it looks in other lighting conditions.

Now i can face the world with a nice new scarless nose

Thanks Larry for a quick and painless fix!