# Questions - VW Tornado Red....bodyshop repairing & colour matching



## Wandy (Jul 11, 2007)

Hi guys, need your expertise on this one...

My car is booked in for repair work, tomorrow, to the driver's side rear quarter after my landlord decided to drop a door across it and put deep scratches and a few dents in it. 

Now as far as I am aware the bodyshop that is going to is a good one but after getting multiple quotes & estimations I am worried that the car is going to come back never looking the same again. Basically I was told by some of the bodyshops that because the car is 20 years old the paint will have faded and that it will be impossible to get an exact match to the car's current colour and thus will need to be blended in. The place that is carrying out the work has been the most reassuring as they said they have done numerous Mk2 Golfs in this colour - Tornado Red - and would be able to get a match.

Although this put my mind at rest somewhat I'm still not 100& convinced.

Another thing I am worried about is that when I purchased a can of Tornado Red spray paint from my local VW dealer to paint an eyebrow spoiler the shade of red looks different to the colour of my car. Now I know that modern Golfs are still painted in Tornado Red but did VW change the shade of it in recent years? I'm just concerned that they will paint my car in the new shade. Another thing to consider is that when I asked the VW dealer what my paint code was based on the registration plate they said that they no longer keep on file the colour codes of such old cars. 

Finally regarding the actual repair work I am mystified that all of the repairers said that the whole back quarter would need to be resprayed when really the scratches are only near the rear of the car. Why does the whole back quarter need to be painted?

Here are some photos...


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

Spraying the whole quarter is the best option, but looking at the marks on the quarter I would say they need to blend the colour into the rear door and bootlid this will eliminate any colour difference.

Blending means that they will apply the tornado red over the repairs then blend the colour into the door and bootlid, blending is where they will loose the colour half way into the panels then apply clear laquer over them.

What they mean by your paint has aged is because when it was originally painted it would of been done in a 2k solid paint meaning it has no laquer over it, this type of paint fades really easy if not looked after making it harder to match because the pigments in the paint have faded, which is why now all car are done in basecoat and laquer, and all the new laquers are uv resistant.


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## Jgtr (Jun 16, 2011)

You are right - matching the colour could be problematic as like you say the paint would have faded, but in addition to this although a vehicle may have a paint code, different batches of paint will be slightly different (as you have found with your spray can). To over come this paint manufactures offer different variations of the colours - for example on average each colour will have approx 6-8 slightly different shades that it can be mixed up as - the trick is for the sprayer to choose the right one to match your car and mix the paint exactly. They will have a book of colour chips to choose from and a really good sprayer will do a test spray first to check the colour. Failing that, if the colour is obviously wrong the body shop should spray it again and again until it matches - this is not unheard of for some colours - you'd be amazed at how many variations of white you can get!

Another technique is to blend the colour - providing the colour is a good match and by blending out correctly and using the edges/curves of panels a good sprayer should be able to do a pretty much perfect job. 

It also makes a difference if its a solid colour or clear coat (lacquer) over a base coat - if it's clear over base it can be blended so you won't be able to tell, if it's a solid colour then the whole panel will have to be coloured which is when you will really notice any colour mis match - it's been a few years since I was in the trade so maybe someone else will have more info on this but from what you are saying it's clear over base

As for painting the whole quarter - do you mean just the quarter panel or the whole side? I'd say to get a good job the boot lid, quater panel and door will have to be painted - the damage is right on the edge next to the boot lid so the colour will have to be blended across into the boot lid or it could look pants, and the same with the door.

To be honest, you've pretty much done the right thing in finding a body shop that seem to know what they are talking about and that offer good advice. A top job is easily achievable but depends alot on the skill of the sprayer - make sure that they are aware of your concerns and that they know how worried you are about having it done right - and if you are not 100% satisfied don't get too stressed at first as they should put it right for you - especially if you complain to the insurance company. A good idea may be to offer to check the colour match before they put the car back together, that way you can be sure that you are happy with it and if not they will be more likely to respray it as it will still be in bits - make sure you see it outside and inside!!

As for the colour code - don't worry about it - proper sprayers don't need paint codes, they'll be able to tell just by looking at it, plus they will check it first using the colour chips:thumb:

Although I could be wrong on most of this before anyone shoots me down:lol:


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## Wandy (Jul 11, 2007)

Thanks for the replies.

Yeah I'm pretty sure the car has been painted without laquer as everytime I polish it the pad turns red! So if the panels do need to be blended in will I actually notice it when looking at the car or will it somehow seem invisible? Gutted that this has to be done as this car had been enthusiast owned all it's life and as far as I am aware is still on it's original paint.

One other advantage with this bodyshop is that they mix all of their own paint on site as opposed to the others who said that they buy the paint in already mixed?

I was told that the blending in would be across the bootlid and into the back door.


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## Jgtr (Jun 16, 2011)

> One other advantage with this bodyshop is that they mix all of their own paint on site as opposed to the others who said that they buy the paint in already mixed?


This is a big advantage:thumb:

Yep, blending across bootlid and into rear door. If the colour match is suitable you won't notice any colour difference - it will be invisible. This is the proper way to do it and nothing you've said sounds dodgy or bad practice. Just make sure that they know that you aren't the normal punter who doesn't give a monkeys about their car and that it needs to be perfect. Like I said it's not a problem for a good body shop:thumb:

I'm not sure about the "shineyness" of the lacquer against the original paint - if left untreated I believe it would really show in a year or 2 as the original paint will dull at a different rate to the new paint - but aslong as you keep it polished and look after it I'm pretty sure that it will still look good in years to come - it's hard to say as different paint behaves differently over time due to quality, weather, UV etc - and there is the chance that in 5-10 years time it may show and you'll have to get it painted again but the only way to stop that would be a full respray.

Solid red colours from that era always need alot of love to keep them looking good anyway.


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## Wandy (Jul 11, 2007)

Jgtr said:


> This is a big advantage:thumb:
> Solid red colours from that era always need alot of love to keep them looking good anyway.


You aint kidding, it's ridiculous how easy the paint oxidises.

Does anyone know if the Tornado Red on the Mk5 & 6 Golfs is actually a different colour to that on the Mk2?


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

Wandy said:


> Thanks for the replies.
> 
> Yeah I'm pretty sure the car has been painted without laquer as everytime I polish it the pad turns red! So if the panels do need to be blended in will I actually notice it when looking at the car or will it somehow seem invisible? Gutted that this has to be done as this car had been enthusiast owned all it's life and as far as I am aware is still on it's original paint.
> 
> ...


With the cloth turning red means it's what's known as a 2k solid colour and will be original, that's good that they mix there own paint because they will have all the relevant colour variants to get the right shade, presuming they get the closest match possible and do blend it, you should not be able to any of the blends, paint finish will be down to the painter and how good he is and what type of spraygun he's uses, but goin on what you have said about them it sound like a good quality bodyshop.


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## Wandy (Jul 11, 2007)

Yeah fingers crossed, they do seem to know their stuff. What happens if you get a job back that you aren't happy with? Can you refuse to pay until it's sorted? Obviously not looking to go down this route, just planning for the absolute worst...especially after reading some of the horror stories here!


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

If your not happy with it when you pick the car up, tell them what your not happy with and you want it put right and won't make any payments until ur satisfied with the end finish.

Meant to say great looking car you can see it's been well looked after all it's life :thumb:


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## Wandy (Jul 11, 2007)

Andyb0127 said:


> Meant to say great looking car you can see it's been well looked after all it's life :thumb:


Cheers, it has indeed. Got a huge shoebox full of great history so I'm looking to continue that. 

Couple more pics...


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## moosh (May 8, 2011)

Mate the reason they will paint the whole quarter is to blend the colour out so there are no fade out edges? Know what i mean? as has been said above i would say to get a good match the boot would need blown in. Your trouble now is going to be at night under street lights the new paint will be a different colour to the old paint but it will look like a good match in the day time. Reason for this is that solid colour such as this red fade over time and the suns uv bleaches the colour pigments in the paint, same goes for yellow's white and blue's mainly and black will also do it, freshly painted solid black can look brown beside 20 years old black.

As for the can you bought, over even a model span of say 5 years there can be up to 5 different shades of one colour because the paint is mixed in massive batch runs and not ever batch is the same as the paint shop to show you some colour varient chips and you will see the different colours.

One good thing about your cars condition is that a colour match should be easy as it is so clean and fresh looking.

Good luck fella and sorry to be bringing bad news its more a head up if you notice and think the bodyshop are to blame as they wont be theres nothing much you can do about bleaching other than fully respray.


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## Wandy (Jul 11, 2007)

Cheers moosh, guess I'm just gonna have to hope for the best. Will post pics of the results in a few days.


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## moosh (May 8, 2011)

Wandy said:


> Cheers moosh, guess I'm just gonna have to hope for the best. Will post pics of the results in a few days.


It will be all good fella, lovely car to!!


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## keano (Aug 11, 2008)

Fantastic looking car by the way 

Out of interest, how much was the TR paint from VW? I have a minor repair to do on my outer bump strip


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## Wandy (Jul 11, 2007)

keano said:


> Fantastic looking car by the way
> 
> Out of interest, how much was the TR paint from VW? I have a minor repair to do on my outer bump strip


It was £7.50 for a 150ml can mate.


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