Yup. The color match was slightly off. And I mean SLIGHTLY. I could only pick up a difference in color on one seam, even though everything was painted at the same time.

After the initial painting was done, I checked the paint in sun and shade, and from every angle. I've been nit-picking about every little thing, and this is no exception.

The body shop has been completely tolerant and understanding about my nit-picking. They seem comitted to getting the car right, and making sure I am satisfied.

I asked them not to do any blending of the paint, if possible, even though they told me up front that silver, especially in metallic, is very hard to match perfectly.

They were right, and after my inspection, they did have to go back and paint again to do the blending. This meant more work for them, as it all could have been done in the first place, and I heard no complaints from them whatsoever.

Here's a photo of the mis-match using the best light and angle. It's not really perceptable anywhere else:


Here's another photo from Friday (2/7) showing the deconstructed doors and fresh paint:

 

That's damn nice of them. It's looking good though. And thanks for pics of your lenses - I was going to replace my diffusers this weekend, but went to the drag races instead, so I'm going to tackle them next weekend.....

 

Believe me, there's lots more to tell! Matt Piercey and his guys at the body shop have been awesome.

Last Thursday, I realized I couldn't do a proper job of painting the washer nozzles black (to match the CF hood), and I called more than 10 dealers trying to find the black ones in stock, so I could pick them up. No luck at all. I called Matt, and in a few hours, he had the nozzles.

Friday, I checked my old front licence plate hole caps, and discovered that a couple of the locking tabs had broken off. I called all over looking for the caps, and everyone said they had to be ordered, so once again I asked Matt for help. Within a couple of hours, he called back with the caps in his hand!

I offered to drive down to pick up the caps today, and Matt said don't bother- he's going to bubble wrap them, and mail them via overnight delivery to the body shop!



Are you guys starting to get an idea of how good their service is?

-Pete

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kodokan_4
[B]Yup. The color match was slightly off. And I mean SLIGHTLY. I could only pick up a difference in color on one seam, even though everything was painted at the same time.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Sheister
[B]I assume that by blending you mean painting part of the undamaged panel next to the one that has been replaced?

 

Although I don't like the idea of disturbing an undamaged panel, I believe that blending is a necessary evil. Even if they were somehow able to pull off a miracle and get the paint to match, you would be likely to start noticing a difference in the future. As the repaired paint & clearcoat gets weathered and baked by the sun, it will likely start to fade/change in a manner that is different from the factory paint & clearcoat. Without the blending, I think that it is highly likely that you would eventually be able to see a difference. The blending greatly reduces the chances that this will happen. In the end, I think that you will be happier the way that things actually worked out.

 

Lookin good man. Really good. I luv the look of the headlights. Your is only the second car i have seen with this approach and i m liking it a lot. Nice work

 

Sheister-

I believe that you are correct regarding the blending.

I was very apprehensive, at first, even though the guys at the shop tried to make me understand about the blending.

I feel kind of bad that I made them do the extra work, but I have read posts where some owners claim that they have received a perfect paint match, so I wanted to try it first.

I agree with you, now, that paint blending is the proper way to go, and I am getting happier, and more impressed with the work, as the project goes on.

-Pete

 

Here are a couple of shots of the new headlights installed in the car.

I think the clear diffusers would also look great. I chose the smoke-tinted ones because I see clear ones on all kinds of cars now, even on cheap american cars. I just wanted to be a little different.

It also gives the "negative" or opposite look to the black headlight inserts with the clear diffusers. I thought that would look interesting with the dark (CF) hood.

I think this will really change the look of the front, when it is done.

 

Here are a couple of shots showing the paint matching/blending between the front fenders and doors:



The paint job is now looking very good!

Here's a pic of the shaved front bumper cover, after color sanding:


-Pete