Hello All, I have an 88 iroc with white paint, I plan to do some body work on my car and would like to know if the body shop can match the original shade that it has, it still looks very good for a 20 year old paint job. I would like to to the cheaper route and do spot painting instead of painting the whole car, what do you guys think, I will have to match my pass fender, straighten the tip on the hood (pass side) and replace front bumper. If not it seems like I will have to save some serious cash ($3000) to get a clean paint job.
thanks

 

unless your car was stored chances of your paint being the color it was originally is slim. white can be hard to match because of the various yellowing, fading, etc.

when in a tight monetary situation it's definately understood so your best bet is to try to find someone who can do the best they can for the amount you have.

good luck.

 

I think the bodyshop will be able to match your paint fine. if it only needs part of the car painted, then thats all you should do.If the car had clear on it from the factory, then they will probably use a base coat clear coat and actually blend the two. good luck.

 

I believe in your RPO Codes is the factory paint code. A body shop should know where to locate it. When I got my car painted thats what they used.

 

they'll never match 20 year old paint perfectly, unless the car was kept in a climate controlled garage its whole life. they may be able to get it fairly close though, good luck

 

If you take a 20-yr-old paint job and paint ONE body part with the original color, it'll look like the space aliens were hovering over your car and a part fell off their spaceship and got stuck to your car. You'll be able to see the difference from an INCREDIBLE distance.

It is possible to match the new paint to the color of some part of your old faded paint .... today. Maybe. Tomorrow or the next day, it will look TOTALLY different.

No matter what you do, the texture won't match, and the color will only match in one kind of light. Even worse, your old paint will be faded different on top surfaces compared to side surfaces, or on the surface that faced the sun the most if it was kept in a carport or something, but the new paint will be the same everywhere. The old will have chips and scratches and swirls and whatnot in it, all that stuff that's just the wear and tear of age; and the new paint won't have any of that.

There is no way to make it look "good"; that is, make it look like all the same paint. The best you can hope for is that it doesn't come out just completely stupid-looking. Which is what usually happens. Even with white paint, the amount of fading and yellowing is amazing.

It's about 100% guaranteed that you won't like the results of what you're talking about. If you were painting just a mirror or something like that, yeah maybe; but whole body panels.... no way. Think of it as good motivation to get the whole car painted.

 

Thanks to alll the responded, I think I am just going to wait for my income tax and dump it in the paint job plus some fresh decals from Phoenix Graphix. I will replace the bumper and honey comb reinforcment myself and save some $$, after that I'll take it the shop. Thanks to all again.

 

Just for a thought, you could do flames on the front of the car. Use a different color, then matching the old color wont be a problem. You will still have the new/old paint differences in shine and texture.

I would suggest getting the whole car painted. But I thought I would give you a different option.

 

The current urethane paints will not match the gloss or texture of your original paint, let alone color, perfectly. It will be a detectable repair if you don't paint the whole car.

 

yeah, It seems like I will have to dump 3k into the paint I will be doing all bodywork since my dad used to work on car restos back in the day and I will look for a place that will shoot it with the same base coat/clear coat process and then add the graphics, I dont have but one dent in the car so it shouldn't get to expensive on the body work.

 

if its base coat clear coat paint.....it wont be a big deal as long as the clear inst peeling.......the clear tends to be the one that takes the color change....not the base....but if its a good shop they would just knock the clear down and blend it all and re clear the whole car

 

Go for the complete job. Especially with the car being white. Dobasecoat / clear coatand itshould look very close to factory when done. Just research who does you work. You will be happier.