[00GT5spd]

So heres my baby with her wing off and getting ready for paint! few questions, im paying 1100$ for full OEM metallic style with dent and ding fixing 1. i thought pait jobs included them taking the lights off.. (they have because i complained i was paying for there most expensive paint job and they sanded with my lights on..) the grill and chin?, if im wrong can someone tell me i dont wanna be that a-hole customer but i feel like if they don't the sliver will be mismatched under the lights and grill and it would be noticeable? anyway heres pics of it sanded! going into paint soon Hopefully ill have her tomorrow.

[fastbike02]

I would complain anything left on could leave a paint line or get over spray on the covered part. I have painted many cars and I always remove as much as I can, less taping and less chance of tape lines.

[00GT5spd]

Originally Posted by fastbike02 I would complain anything left on could leave a paint line or get over spray on the covered part. I have painted many cars and I always remove as much as I can, less taping and less chance of tape lines.

thats kinda what i thought its be easier to take it all off then try to tape it off.. ugh.. ima flip if i can tell where they taped off and dident tape off..

[bulloch27]

Typical of paintwork in 99% of body shops, also typical of a $1100 paint job. Detrim, detrim, detrim. Always detrim what can be removed prior to paint. I do my own paintwork as well and I remove everything, I do mean everything before I paint. Door handles, window mouldings, mirrors, lights, reflectors, SAIL PANELS ON NEW EDGES etc....... When doing an all over paint job, as long as the paint is mixed in one batch it will match, it's not necessary to paint a component like door handles or sail panels on the car. Tell the body shop you understand that they are trying to make money (and they need to make money) but that you would like to go back there in the shop and remove all of the lights, reflectors, door lock, antenna, trim and badges prior to them painting it. Explain to them that you understand that it takes a lot of time to remove those items but that you are a perfectionist and want the job to look flawless and don't mind helping to get it that way. You don't have to be an asshole to get the point across..... then again you may have to be an asshole... try nice first it'll be your best shot.

[Colt.45]

When a deer tried to jump the hood on my "90"SSP at 60mph. I had to have the roof and wind shield replaced. The right fender and door fixed. The owner of the shop took it on as his personal project, no one else touched it(took 6 months). He stripped it totally,lights,body moldings interior,all glass, everything. He then blocked and gapped it. He put it in the booth and did the final prep work and let it stay overnight to insure no moisture. He spent nearly eight hours spraying with PPG paint and what all . All said and done $2500.00. It looks killer. Been two years now, other than normal wear and tear it looks just as good now as it did then. Always getting compliments on it, I'm very pleased .

[WickedSnake00]

Agreed with bulloch. Rip EVERYTHING off. If you want something done right, chances are you'll have to do it yourself.

As for the color match...I wouldn't sweat it at all. In fact I'd say silver is the most forgiving color out there. Silver doesn't show flaws or mismatches quite like other colors, especially black.

Oh, and hopefully for that $1100 they put plenty of clear on it. Nothing worse than them not putting enough clear on and burning through it when you color sand/buff. A good paint job will use plenty of it.

[alivingmustang]

I'd have them pull everything off, pronto!

[chrisv_10]

How can you mismatch black? Trust me you can see shoddy work on silver cars especially mismatches. I would take everything off. When they try to tape things off usually thats where the paint starts peeling from. It's best to paint the bumpers off the car also.

Reason why you want parts off is you can't sand good enough in between where the lights, moldings, etc.. fit on the car. So, the paint will not grab good enough in between those crevices and you WILL see the paint start peeling at those places.

[WickedSnake00]

Originally Posted by chrisv_10 How can you mismatch black? Trust me you can see shoddy work on silver cars especially mismatches. I would take everything off. When they try to tape things off usually thats where the paint starts peeling from. It's best to paint the bumpers off the car also.

You can mismatch black, but I was emphasizing how much it shows flaws. As black fades in the sun it gets blue-ish, and throwing some fresh paint on a body panel can really show this.

But I was just stating silver is one of the more forgiving colors as far as matching. Not always the case, especially with more exotic metallics in it, but those are another story entirely.

[chrisv_10]

Oh yeah black shows flaws more. I've seen a lot of cars where you can clearly see the sandscratches.
and yeah it is true you can mismatch blacks when it comes to the pearl and metallic blacks.

[BaznastyDave]

For $1,100 with them fixing the dents and they way there doing it that's a great deal but not the best way. My paint job was $3,800 for pearl white and they removed EVERYTHING from the car, do not think anyone else could of done much better. You get what ya pay for.

[00GT5spd]

and here she is.. all in all did alright after i got them to take the lights out at least few spots here and there but meh, What do you think?

[k1dd13xgr1nd3r]

not too shabby

[bulloch27]

Looks good man, glad it turned out so well!

[bigjohnstud4200]

Originally Posted by chrisv_10 It's best to paint the bumpers off the car also. .

I disagree with painting the bumpers off the vehicle. When you paint flexible parts that are off the vehicle, it require an additional flex agent so the paint doesn't crack when you are moving the bumper around during the install. Painting with the bumpers on is better. Also, some say that adding the flex agent changes the ton of the paint color too. I can't prove either way, but I have painted a few cars including my own. Bumpers on.

[WickedSnake00]

Originally Posted by bigjohnstud4200 I disagree with painting the bumpers off the vehicle. When you paint flexible parts that are off the vehicle, it require an additional flex agent so the paint doesn't crack when you are moving the bumper around during the install. Painting with the bumpers on is better. Also, some say that adding the flex agent changes the ton of the paint color too. I can't prove either way, but I have painted a few cars including my own. Bumpers on.

I would almost always paint bumpers off, just for ease of using the flex-additive on them. The color difference is marginal at best, but I think it's far preferrable to the paint cracking. I had a friend paint everything at once, can't say I recall what paint he used, but within a month or two his bumpers were covered in fine hairline cracks in the paint. There's a reason the pro's use the flex additive. And this didn't even have to do with moving the bumpers or hitting anything, they just naturally cracked. Not a single crack on the body though. I would speculate there may be an element of thermal expansion to this, but it's just speculation.

Either way if you want to avoid cracks, I'd say bumpers off, flex additive in.

EDIT: This was also the way we did it at the high-end shop I worked at. We had a few paint booths that were always full of bumpers, while we did the cars in the bays.

[Shelbydog!]

Looks good but get some new tail lights... pronto

[bigjohnstud4200]

Originally Posted by WickedSnake00 I would almost always paint bumpers off, just for ease of using the flex-additive on them. The color difference is marginal at best, but I think it's far preferrable to the paint cracking. I had a friend paint everything at once, can't say I recall what paint he used, but within a month or two his bumpers were covered in fine hairline cracks in the paint. There's a reason the pro's use the flex additive. And this didn't even have to do with moving the bumpers or hitting anything, they just naturally cracked. Not a single crack on the body though. I would speculate there may be an element of thermal expansion to this, but it's just speculation. Either way if you want to avoid cracks, I'd say bumpers off, flex additive in. EDIT: This was also the way we did it at the high-end shop I worked at. We had a few paint booths that were always full of bumpers, while we did the cars in the bays.

Flex additive vents off during the 3 or 4 month it takes for new paint to cure completely. If he had hairline cracks, his painter sucked. Most of the pros i know, don't use flex additive unless painting a part off the vehicle in the case of collision repair; for repaints, I not too many people remove the bumpers. I didn't even use flex additive when I painted my bike 3 years ago and it still looks tits. All that really matters though, is the final product.. painted on or off, as long as it looks good and last, right?

[WickedSnake00]

Originally Posted by bigjohnstud4200 Flex additive vents off during the 3 or 4 month it takes for new paint to cure completely. If he had hairline cracks, his painter sucked. Most of the pros i know, don't use flex additive unless painting a part off the vehicle in the case of collision repair; for repaints, I not too many people remove the bumpers. I didn't even use flex additive when I painted my bike 3 years ago and it still looks tits. All that really matters though, is the final product.. painted on or off, as long as it looks good and last, right?

Could just be personal taste here. I'm sure if you have a component that is suitably rigid, you may never need the flex additive. Hell, when I cut my teeth on this stuff with older cars that didn't have plastic body parts I didn't even know what it was. I doubt your bike has any components that flex much, I probably wouldn't use it on a bike. But seeing how much give these plastic parts have, particularly the bumpers, I'd rather err on the side of caution.

[bigjohnstud4200]

Originally Posted by WickedSnake00 Could just be personal taste here. I'm sure if you have a component that is suitably rigid, you may never need the flex additive. Hell, when I cut my teeth on this stuff with older cars that didn't have plastic body parts I didn't even know what it was. I doubt your bike has any components that flex much, I probably wouldn't use it on a bike. But seeing how much give these plastic parts have, particularly the bumpers, I'd rather err on the side of caution.

Funny thing happened last night, well not so funny.. I was in my garage waiting for the door to open when I let the E-Brake off while changing songs.. my car rolled back enough to make contact with the garage door while it was opening.. I got two nice grooves in the bumper now.. but still no cracks. LOL



This sucks.. back to the booth, although I'm going to wait till I get my new hood.