An education at the local body shop

My 03 360 has a couple of rock chips. Nothing major and most people would not even notice them. But, I cannot stand not having my cars as nice as they can be. To me, it is like having a smoking hot wife with a huge zit on her cheek - just drives me nuts.

I know the local body shop very well as they have worked on several of my cars (Mercedes that got clipped in the back end when somebody ran a stop sign, the Maserati that had a deep scratch in the clear coat on the hood. The body shop treats me VERY well whenever I need anything done. They too have a fondness for exotic cars.

So I bring my 360 Modena in and show the rock chip places (hood and side mirrors). James from the body shop says "yes we can handle it - will run about $650". Before you jump to conclusions - this is not a thread about anything bad.

So after two days, I go check on the car and notice the car had been painted deep red (instead of the reddish orange that the car is). I figure "well they should know what they are doing" and don't say anything. I go back today (2 days later) and they state that they are getting ready to apply the paint and clear coat. I ask how they feel about the color match and James stated that they shot it with a paint color gun for the match and should be really good. I mentioned that it looked a little red. He laughed, and told me that it was the primer. In order to get the proper color match, using a red primer (instead of grey) results in a much better color of red and will blend much better.

James told me the car will be completed late tomorrow which I though was quick given the car is just now being painted. James stated that the paint today almost goes on dry as the chemical formula used today disapaits (sp?) the wetness of the paint as the paint hits the car's surface. James stated that the clear coat is put on very soon after the paint has been applied. The car is then baked at 120 degrees for thirty minutes then left to cool down.

I would be interested in hearing from anybody that paints cars about their thoughts. Not concerned about the quality of work, as they are the type of people that will make any problem right no matter how much time goes by.

I will report back to this post when the car has been completed and try to take some HD pictures.

 

Just got the car back yesterday. It needs to go back, as they only did the front and sides up to the doors and not the hood. The color match is good, but there are a few spots on the hood and there is a noticeable difference in the clear coat between what was painted and the hood. A good buff job may correct it. My guess is that I will have $750 in it when all is done. I will update this post on any progress.

They did not remove the headlights. They asked me, but I told them I would rather not have them mess with them. The badge and shields were removed.