# Resprayed - imperfect match



## 156pilot (May 8, 2011)

Hi, first post here.

When I bought it, the front of my 156 was laughably stonechipped, as seen here (click for larger):



On Friday I had the bonnet and bumper repainted by an independent bodyshop. It's really nicely done and finished, better than the original paint - except that the colour is noticeably different, especially to the wings.

You can see it quite well here (click for larger):



What you can't really see is that the paint (both original & new) is metallic and shows up as blue/purple in the sunshine. From the right perspective or in the right light it's a perfect match, but clearly not always.

What would you suggest? Can I get the wings blended to reduce the impact? They could do with some work anyway.

Bear in mind that I get on well with the bodyshop guys and I certainly don't want to march back demanding that it be redone - it's otherwise a great job.


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## Andyuk911 (Sep 10, 2006)

Down to the shop to match ...

http://www.ehow.co.uk/video_2327935_layer-car-paint-match-colors.html


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## MuZiZZle (Apr 18, 2011)

Crikey!

did they mention it?

what do they suggest?


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## 156pilot (May 8, 2011)

Not spoken to them about it yet - haven't quite worked out what to make of it. Incidentally you can see that one mirror is different to the other in the same way - same place and a previous job.


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## Ninja59 (Feb 17, 2009)

get them to sort it...did not notice initially but whilst comparing the wing and bonnet its massive!


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

At first look I couldn't really tell, now I've noticed the difference you can definately tell the wings are alot darker.


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## rag1873 (May 26, 2010)

I wouldnt be happy with that job, professionals should notice that, surely they wouldnt be happy with their own standard of work!
Never mind, its an Alfa, it will break down for good in a few months!!


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## Dixondmn (Oct 12, 2007)

im shocked that a good body shop wouldnt have blended it.

Did they explain the process to you.


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## Ninja59 (Feb 17, 2009)

rag1873 said:


> I wouldnt be happy with that job, professionals should notice that, surely they wouldnt be happy with their own standard of work!
> Never mind, its an Alfa, it will break down for good in a few months!!


probably because it's beauty has been ruined by some clots.:lol:


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## 156pilot (May 8, 2011)

No, didn't explain it - I expected some difference but naively assumed it would be less obvious. I didn't actually notice at first - like I say, in some lights it's not at all obvious.

Given the consensus, I'll swing by them and ask what they think.


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## GSD (Feb 6, 2011)

156pilot;2784160 Incidentally you can see that one mirror is different to the other in the same way - same place and a previous job.[/QUOTE said:


> And you went back ???? the paint is the wrong colour,wouldn't be surprised if they bought or mixed it for the mirror job,put it away then took it off the shelf to paint the bonnet and bumper.


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## Tips (Mar 27, 2011)

I'd get back to the shop and have a chat - if they are of good repute, they will do the job again - keep the customer happy etc.

I previously owned a silver honda prelude, and had a wing damaged and resprayed, it took the bodyshop three attempts to respray till I was happy with the match up.

Each time they were happy to take the car back, and I didn't pay for additional work.

Hope that helps.


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## 156pilot (May 8, 2011)

Well hindsight is fun isn't it! Didn't really notice until this episode - used them first for the rear bumper and sideskirts but it's impossible to spot a match or mismatch because of the angles and materials, so I thought it was fine. May even be - in fact, here it is: http://crap.wapoc.com/070511/2.jpg


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## 156pilot (May 8, 2011)

Tips said:


> I'd get back to the shop and have a chat - if they are of good repute, they will do the job again - keep the customer happy etc.
> 
> I previously owned a silver honda prelude, and had a wing damaged and resprayed, it took the bodyshop three attempts to respray till I was happy with the match up.
> 
> ...


Yes it does - I hope/expect they will be alright with it, especially since they're next door to the Alfa specialist and get a fair bit of business through him.


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## k333ebs (Sep 22, 2006)

i've just had that same conversation with a bodyshop i used a few weeks ago on my ****** grey focus.. at the time i said it was fine with the repair being in the shadow of the light but with the light hitting it its 2 completely different shades...

went back to them today and they told me that i didn't ask them to 'blend it in, thats gonna be extra ££££'!!! WTF... 

looks like more money gonna be spent...


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## MA09 (Mar 28, 2011)

156pilot said:


> Hi, first post here.
> 
> When I bought it, the front of my 156 was laughably stonechipped, as seen here (click for larger):
> 
> ...


my understanding is that when a bonnet is painted, you have to 'blow' the wings in too...


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## Ultra (Feb 25, 2006)

If the bodyshop has a 3m sun gun then use it to inspect the paint match with whoever you speak to, that is what the sun gun is for, they may not have inspected the car in the sunlight.
HTH


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## Tips (Mar 27, 2011)

k333ebs said:


> i've just had that same conversation with a bodyshop i used a few weeks ago on my ****** grey focus.. at the time i said it was fine with the repair being in the shadow of the light but with the light hitting it its 2 completely different shades...
> 
> went back to them today and they told me that i didn't ask them to 'blend it in, thats gonna be extra ££££'!!! WTF...
> 
> looks like more money gonna be spent...


Thats propa nawty of them, tell them you'll be sending your business & referrals elsewhere.


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## fozzy (Oct 22, 2009)

k333ebs said:


> i've just had that same conversation with a bodyshop i used a few weeks ago on my ****** grey focus.. at the time i said it was fine with the repair being in the shadow of the light but with the light hitting it its 2 completely different shades...
> 
> went back to them today and they told me that i didn't ask them to 'blend it in, thats gonna be extra ££££'!!! WTF...
> 
> looks like more money gonna be spent...


That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard :doublesho, so they just did half a job because you didn't state you wanted it doing properly, what a set of idiots. Get back there sharpish and get them told to sort it like it should have been in the first place!


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

As said they should have a 3M sun gun for colour matching, we have one where I work and use it all the time, why they didn't say to you we may need to blend the wings I dont know, we blend every front end we paint.

You need to ask how many variants there are for that colour and get them to show you could be wrong shade, sounds like it's down to them for not informing you properly and suggesting to you we may need to blend the wings for a good colour match.


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## 156pilot (May 8, 2011)

Andyb0127 said:


> As said they should have a 3M sun gun for colour matching, we have one where I work and use it all the time, why they didn't say to you we may need to blend the wings I dont know, we blend every front end we paint.
> 
> You need to ask how many variants there are for that colour and get them to show you could be wrong shade, sounds like it's down to them for not informing you properly and suggesting to you we may need to blend the wings for a good colour match.


I'm happy to have them blended, and even happy to pay since they have some chip damage too, but do you think it can be done well or is the difference too much? I can't really visualise it.


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

Can you tell exactly what is wrong with the colour ie it's too blue, it's too purple, it needs a hint of red etc.
Explain this to them .... most paint mixing systems have access to different 'alternatives' of the same colour and seems as if they may have used the wrong one.


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## 156pilot (May 8, 2011)

It's just too light. It's really difficult to get the right pictures of it, but here's one of someone else's Alfa:



That's a very representative shot (at least on this monitor) which shows the shift in colour based on angle.

From the same sort of angle such that it highlights the metallic shine, I don't think you can tell it's wrong. Glad I don't work doing this - nightmare!


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## johnnyguitar (Mar 24, 2010)

I have just had some work done on my State Blue Focus - State Blue is a mica/pearl paint sort of similar to the colour of your car and it goes from navy blue to a sort of purple colour depending on the light - my dad has a T plate Mondeo and it's far more noticeable on his.

I've noticed that the colour match on the areas of mine that were painted is actually pretty good, but the purple shows through a lot more in different light compared to the areas that weren't painted - I know that State Blue was discontinued in favour of Ink Blue (which is just a metallic) at some point in 2002 (my car was made in June I think) and it's entirely possible (I think) that the car may have been painted in Ink Blue and then slapped with a VIN plate designating State Blue. Even Ford's ETIS system says it's State Blue and I know it's been painted with the right colour. Just can't help thinking mine was the wrong colour to start off with (does that even make sense?).


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

156pilot said:


> I'm happy to have them blended, and even happy to pay since they have some chip damage too, but do you think it can be done well or is the difference too much? I can't really visualise it.


I think if the colour is that far out they either need to find a shade that is closer, if your saying it is to light they could of used a light shade or this could be a single shade colour, if so it's needs to be tinted to match, if they can't do it, they should have a paint technician they can call who will come down and tint/match it to yours.

It can be done including the blending wings but they will need to get a better match first, because if it is to light this may stand a chance of not blending in correctly, but any painter that knows his job should be able to tell if it will or won't.

If your that worried I would suggest that they show you the colour variants/ shades that have, and ask if this was a single shade colour, any paint company will have a technical guy they can call for help.


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## 156pilot (May 8, 2011)

Just FYI, and maybe so I don't look so stupid, here's a couple more from my set.

If I'd just posted the passenger side, I think you'd be asking what I was on about. You can see it but it takes some spotting.










And here's the difference in finish - look at the cloud reflections in the old paint, it's rubbish!










I'm hoping I can get it blended - will pop back at the weekend. Thanks everyone - didn't expect such a response.


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## GSD (Feb 6, 2011)

I've had it before paint is weird when it looks different in two lights or from different angles,it's worse when you go to a body shop and they say "i can't see it" and you think am i talking to Stevie Wonder ?


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## Tips (Mar 27, 2011)

GSD said:


> I've had it before paint is weird when it looks different in two lights or from different angles,it's worse when you go to a body shop and they say "i can't see it" and you think am i talking to Stevie Wonder ?


I just called to say I ........


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## phazer (Apr 3, 2011)

156pilot said:


> Just FYI, and maybe so I don't look so stupid, here's a couple more from my set.
> 
> If I'd just posted the passenger side, I think you'd be asking what I was on about. You can see it but it takes some spotting.
> 
> ...


Finish looks nice but the colour is miles out, even in the last picture it's really obvious (to me anyway, but I'm a picky bugger with paint :lol.

As others have said you need to be convinced they can get a better colour match before you even think about letting them blend it.


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## 156pilot (May 8, 2011)

So I took it back, and they agreed it wasn't right.

For your own amusement, here is attempt #2:










I think you'll agree that's much a closer match.

To black.

To be fair: they told me it was this wrong before I picked up, and it's going back tomorrow after some other unrelated work. It also turns out they don't mix or supply the paint, so supposedly this is their supplier's fault and not their problem.

Then again: the wings were supposed to be blended! WTF!


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## Ninja59 (Feb 17, 2009)

thats mad! :lol: not even flipping close what were they thinking!


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## Russ and his BM (Jan 1, 2008)

Are they taking the p*ss out of you? That's just not on. If someone had done that to my car, I would be just so angry you would not believe.

Good luck getting those clowns to sort it out.


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## Dixondmn (Oct 12, 2007)

if thats not a photoshop, they are definately taking the ****. 

what the hell were they thinking?


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## 156pilot (May 8, 2011)

I haven't actually spoken to them since seeing this as they weren't there at collection, but I did have a big long chat with an ex-paintshop guy who works on the same site for an unrelated unit. He had a bit of sympathy for them but couldn't really understand how this happened, and why you would do the whole front end before noticing!

That's very much not Photoshopped, and it doesn't even show it that well really. It's basically mulberry if not black. I couldn't believe it when I turned up.

This is going to end up in a full respray at this rate :lol: I'm not that annoyed yet because it's still ongoing and it's actually quite funny, but one more go and I'll be there.

Serious question: I think this is just on the top rather than stripped & redone, so will there be any serious negatives to a third coat on top? The chap I spoke to didn't think so, except for stone chips showing up my comedy colour history.


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## Ming (Oct 16, 2007)

156pilot said:


> I haven't actually spoken to them since seeing this as they weren't there at collection,weren't there at collection Have they phoned you, explained anything or just fled the country?? but I did have a big long chat with an ex-paintshop guy who works on the same site for an unrelated unit.When he stopped laughing and rolling about on the floor I guess. He had a bit of sympathy for them but couldn't really understand how this happened, and why you would do the whole front end before noticing!No **** sherlock!!
> 
> That's very much not Photoshopped, and it doesn't even show it that well really. It's basically mulberry if not black.Are you sure its not an undercoat and you were not meant to pick it up??:lol: I couldn't believe it when I turned up.At this stage I would have killed someone. Honestly DEAD. How have you kept your temper. You must be the calmest bloke in the world
> 
> ...


Here's something that has not been discussed. You keep talking about 'paint blending and paint match'. I have had work on a couple of my cars and on the first one the guy came out with a massive colour chart a bit like a B&Q paint chart and slowly tracked down the exact colour the car HAD BECOME. Had he just sprayed the car with the original paint it would have been different as my car was several years old and the paint had been affected by sun and weather. It was a small dent in the bumper on one corner and he sprayed a large part of the rear of the car and a rear nearside wing to make sure everything matched.
Secondly if you want to see if a car has had paint look at it closely under yellow street lights. In my opinion nothing shows the difference in paint like these lights and otherwise perfect matches can seem very different.
Also we have to accept that there will be differences as the paint on the car has been polished and had lord knows what put on it over the years by people precisely like US!!
How many times have you detailed a car and then told a VERY surprised owner that their 'one careful owner. Never been damaged' car has in fact had extensive paint. I know i have.
Good luck mate and let us know what colour you choose.
:lol::lol:
Ming the Gobsmacked


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## 156pilot (May 8, 2011)

They rang me up this morning, said it was ready to pick up (because I'm having the rear windscreen replaced tomorrow for a broken heating element) but an awful match.

The paintjob from the start of this thread would have been fine if it was the whole car!

They're going to change their paint supplier (someone in Southampton) or so they claim. I can't really get mad because I need them to sort it out!


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## Danno1975 (Mar 30, 2009)

156pilot said:


> So I took it back, and they agreed it wasn't right.
> 
> For your own amusement, here is attempt #2:
> 
> ...


Oh dear I'd cut and run, get all your money back and find a recommendation on here, I always use tonbridge coach works on my sadly oft damaged cars (no by me either  , they've done fantastic work on two of my cars and 1 from the fleet I manage. No issues with blending or colour match, that's on a pepper white, sparkling graphite and smoke grey mercedes.

Learnt my lesson after another mob messed the BMW up 3 times.


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## kev999 (Feb 16, 2007)

best way to check for a bad match is to look at the cars reflection in a garage/supermarket window as you drive by,will show up no probs with this method


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## Chufster (Nov 21, 2010)

Maybe it's an Alfa thing. not wanting to hijack your thread, but I've got a similar issue with my Brera.










They are going to redo it next week and this time blend it into the wings.

Apparently for mine, the sticker under the bonnet has a colour code and then a list of 3 manufacturers. They picked one, but the shade looks wrong. They are going to get in 2 different manufacturers versions of that same paint code and see which is the closest one.

In your case, their second attempt is so badly wrong, I would question their ability to get it right at all.


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## 156pilot (May 8, 2011)

Nice Brera! Took me a while to spot that to be honest, I can see it more in the wheelarches and your shadow.

I did think the quality of the Alfa paint on mine (I think it's original, DuPont) isn't brilliant - orange peel galore and easily chipped - but then I don't spend much time closely inspecting other people's cars.

As an aside, have you got yourself on alfaowner? Good community.


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## Chufster (Nov 21, 2010)

156pilot said:


> Nice Brera! Took me a while to spot that to be honest, I can see it more in the wheelarches and your shadow.
> 
> I did think the quality of the Alfa paint on mine (I think it's original, DuPont) isn't brilliant - orange peel galore and easily chipped - but then I don't spend much time closely inspecting other people's cars.
> 
> As an aside, have you got yourself on alfaowner? Good community.


Yes I have. I'm on there as Chuffy. Very useful, especially when I was doing work on my 147.

The bumper on mine is much more noticeable in the flesh. especially underneath the headlights. The pic is from my phone and doesn't highlight the lightness of the bumper. It's not nearly as bad as yours though. You have my sympathy as yours is a good colour.


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## Pink_Floyd (Nov 11, 2007)

They didn't really give the car back with the front end almost black did they? Surely not??


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## 156pilot (May 8, 2011)

They had to give it back because I'm booked in at the glass company tomorrow, and then they'll take it in again, so I'll have another comedy update in a week or so.

I gave it in a week ago and they only painted it last night, so if they'd been a bit quicker about things they might have kept this quiet.


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## Elliott19864 (May 11, 2008)

I would like to say that it looks like a darker basecoat making the topcoat darker. 

But it all looks finished, cleared polished etc.

If that's the case then there retards, get your money back and go elsewhere.


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## 156pilot (May 8, 2011)

I think it's probably polished, god knows why. It's not finished like the first one was - it's all orange peel and the bloke said he's not 'mopped' it, whatever that means. I have some masking tape that I pulled out of the wheel arch and it does look at least slightly blue, so you might be right.


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

That looks like more like they smashed the front end and fitted second hand panels from a black car.

Seriously tho if they say they have the paint ready mixed for them, do they not use there brains and do a sprayout card first to check the colour match before painting it, blaming the company that mixed the paint for them what a load of shyte let's blame some one else when our retarded painter didn't check the colour.

Well they know have to blend the doors but I wouldn't trust or let them anywhere near my car as they wouldn't have a painter coz I wouldn't of kept my cool with them.

Simple answer take it to a bodyshop that can do the job properly, then they can foot the bill for it.

As for colour matching even if they can't find the right colour, paint suppliers now have scanners which will scan the paint it's then plugged into a laptop relative information from scanner is taken, then it will come up with manufactures you click on the right make and name of colour and it will tell exactly which shade you need and will be a 99.9% match, how fecking hard is that, they can give you all the excuses goin about colour match but they haven't got a clue.


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## kimandsally (May 21, 2011)

I have had absolute hell with a VW Sharan I took to Peter Cooper VW in Southampton, I notice you mention Southampton it's not them is it?

I had all the bottom half of mine done minus the rear tailgate at a cost of £2450 it came back like a £300 job, they did the whole lot again but missed a load so it went in again this time it came back with a small dent in the rear door and a deep scratch in the drivers door, looks like they are going to have to pay for chips away to fix those bits.

In all they had my car for 20 weeks to ruin it!!

I am not finished with them I am writing to VW UK when it's finally fixed.


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## 156pilot (May 8, 2011)

20 weeks!

No it's not them - is that the one in Shirley that used to be Breeze? I live round the corner. I don't imagine they actually do their own bodywork anyway, probably outsourced to a local shop. This is some distance away so not much chance of that, although it's possible the paint comes from the same place.


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## kimandsally (May 21, 2011)

156pilot said:


> 20 weeks!
> 
> No it's not them - is that the one in Shirley that used to be Breeze? I live round the corner. I don't imagine they actually do their own bodywork anyway, probably outsourced to a local shop. This is some distance away so not much chance of that, although it's possible the paint comes from the same place.


Their body shop is in Bognor Regis I took it there myself last time as before it came back with a knackered clutch which I had to pay 50% for!!
The one I used was in Hedge End I believe they have 5 branches down there.
I live in the Midlands 210 miles away but they got the work because I bought it from them and they seemed a very nice lot before things went wrong and I caught them lying to me.

I didn't think anyone could have done a job like mine but yours is just as bad, I find it soul destroying I want to clean and love my car yet because it's always waiting to be mended I just can't do it, like know I want to wax it and seal it but the doors need fixing first or the poor chips away man will have hell on getting the paint to not react.

I do hope yours gets sorted soon I know just how you feel.


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## Chufster (Nov 21, 2010)

Does anybody know how most bodyshops acheive a perfect match?

Do they go purely off the paint code and blend in the new paint? Do they colour match the existing paint based on samples and colour cards? Do they analyse the existing paint with some form of metering device to obtain the pigment details which they then custom blend to replicate?

I have dropped my car back at the bodyshop and they will try again on the bumper. They said they will get in 2 different manufacturers version of that paint code and see which is the best match. I think they will then spray the bumper and blend in that paint across the wings. I hope that is then a perfect match, but I get the impression that if it isn't, i'll get stone walled regarding getting it any better. 

I may be worrying needlessly, but i'd like some more knowledge for when I go to pick it up, just in case!


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## 156pilot (May 8, 2011)

Can't answer that - I believe it's paint code & manufacturer in combination with a metering device (e.g. the aforementioned sun gun) to account for differences and fade.

Mine's back at the shop now, with a couple of details: they did the wings because they were chipped and scratched, and they then painted the whole front end because they didn't think me taking it away with just primer was acceptable. When it comes back they will strip and repaint to avoid the crazy paving effect.

Will post again in a week I suppose!


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## gally (May 25, 2008)

dennis said:


> If the bodyshop has a 3m sun gun then use it to inspect the paint match with whoever you speak to, that is what the sun gun is for, they may not have inspected the car in the sunlight.
> HTH


Any bodyshop worth their salt will roll the car into daylight, it doesn't have to be sunny!

I have to say that's pretty bad and would have been re-painted before you arrived to pick it up if it had been our Bodyshop.

It's simply not acceptable and you can return it as many times as you see fit until it's right.

Blending the wings would be required if they used basecoat on the whole of the bonnet. They may have tried to secure the job by keeping it cheap and hope they wouldn't have had to blend.

Again a decent bodyshop would never take this risk. I'd rather lose the job than do half a job.

It also looks possibly like the edges of the bumper actually match the wings which show they have painted the centra of the bumper but only lacquered round the sides.

This isn't a bad thing as it keeps the colour good edge to edge but then the middle colour is that bad you bumper now looks 2 tone.

They should simply offer to respray the bonnet, bumper and blend the wings.

They should have explained the extra cost of blending the wings vs the risk when estimating the damage. Then if you had said no they could say that they weren't paid to blend the wings so they didn't.

I'm guessing they didn't mention blending the wings?

Oh and it's bull**** about manufactuer paint colours. We have about 10 different shade cards for every single colour of model of car.

That's how much variation is in paint.


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

Chufster said:


> Does anybody know how most bodyshops acheive a perfect match?
> 
> Do they go purely off the paint code and blend in the new paint? Do they colour match the existing paint based on samples and colour cards? Do they analyse the existing paint with some form of metering device to obtain the pigment details which they then custom blend to replicate?
> 
> ...


In most instances the paint code should be adequate ..... but ..... not every model of any one car may have used the same batch of paint - hence you get variants - which are the same colour but very slightly different. This can also be seen on certain models where the body has been sprayed in one factory but the bumper was sprayed in another, obviously using a different batch of paint.

Onto repairing ... some paint manufacturers may have two schemes, one maybe a budget scheme which may use less tints to produce a final paint mix, and may not be able to replicate every alternative but in the main is generally 'good enough'. The better schemes have more tints and therefore have the ability to produce more alternatives.
That said even within the best schemes certain colours/variants may come out better using one manufacturer rather than another.
Spray out cards can help - but sometimes the slight differences in variants might not show on a card and might only show up on the car - and even then only when the work is fully completed (IE cleared & polished)
Electronic colour meters aren't guaranteed to give a 100% correct reading 100% of the time.
All the above is concentrating on the actual paint .... but there are also a load of clear coats on the market, not all of which are 100% clear. So a clear that works well on one colour may not work so well on another. Usually a shop picks a good lacquer and as long as they don't get too many problems they stick with it, cos experimenting with other 'brands' on the odd colour change would be too time consuming and costly.
Finally every set of eyes in the world sees colour in a slightly different way - So lets say the paint mix for a red car has a small drop of blue in it, but as it was mixed it got a large drop put in. 99.99% of people would see it as a perfect match, but one person somewhere would see it as being to dark because their eyes are more susceptible to the extra blue in the mix.
In short there's a whole heap of variables and at the end of the day most professional repairs do turn out ok .. but you have to keep in mind it's not an exact science, that it's a repair - carried out by a person ... rather than original paint applied by a robot.


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## Chufster (Nov 21, 2010)

Thanks squiggs. Fortunately I was worrying unnecessarily.

It looks like they originally sprayed the bumper with the 'standard' tint. However the front up to and including both doors had previously been resprayed, with what looks like the blue tint version of Rosso Alfa and blended into the standard tint. It was probably a warranty respray as Alfa have had loads of problems with stone chipping on the Rosso Alfa, so much so that they no longer offer that colour on new models.

They have redone it with the blue tint, blending the bumper into the wings and to say I'm pleased is an understatement. It's a perfect match, blend and finish.

He showed me the tint cards and the rear bootlid and bumper is fractionally lighter than the blue tint card, as it's probably the standard tint. On the sample cards, it's almost impossible to tell them apart, but once the bumper was sprayed and lacquered, it was miles out.

Whilst maybe they could have spotted the difference originally, they handled the problem professionally and redid it without complaint and it now looks superb.

156pilot, I hope you have as much success with your job.


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

Don't really see why one colour should chip more than any other when (presumably) they all get coated with the same lacquer ....?????
At least you got it sorted


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## SR06 (Aug 24, 2009)

OMG! I thats shocking - sorry mate.

The fact that the wing is on the same plane as the bonnet I would have recommended that the bonnet be painted too.


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## 156pilot (May 8, 2011)

Hey there thread fans, it's attempt #3.










Now the front doors have been done too (they were chipped and scratched) and I think it's a reasonable job.

The finish isn't as nice as attempt #1, but it's not bad either. There is a fairly subtle colour difference in photos but on the car I genuinely can't tell. This shows the worst of both aspects, with the repaint on the right hand side, but I don't think it's representative:










and one of the bonnet for good measure:










Finally getting it right involved the paintshop (not bodyshop) ordering a 500ml bottle of tint from Alfa, which supposedly cost them £500. The paintshop shall remain unnamed except to say that they've branches in Southampton and Newbury.

Been driving it since so it needs a clean, and I'm wondering about trying to get the whole car paint corrected - might use Envy in Fareham.


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## GSD (Feb 6, 2011)

Hope you're happy with it now it's been a saga for you.


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