Same Colour, BUT
Discussion
Having this discussion in work about body panels (interesting i know)
Basically if you buy a replacement panel from a breakers from the same model of car as your replacing, from the same year, in exactly the same colour.
Will it match up or will there be a slight difference in tone?
One of the guys seemed to think that it wasn't that straight forward as cars fade differently in a different environments.
Such as how many washes it's been through, sitting by the coast with lots of salt spray and even the manufacturer changing the type of lacquer slightly.
Anyone got an opinion on this.
Basically if you buy a replacement panel from a breakers from the same model of car as your replacing, from the same year, in exactly the same colour.
Will it match up or will there be a slight difference in tone?
One of the guys seemed to think that it wasn't that straight forward as cars fade differently in a different environments.
Such as how many washes it's been through, sitting by the coast with lots of salt spray and even the manufacturer changing the type of lacquer slightly.
Anyone got an opinion on this.
Edited by tbc on Tuesday 12th August 20:00
Basic rule here is that, when cars reach a certain age, even the factory fitted panels will be slightly different colours. Think about it: the roof takes the brunt of direct sunlight whereas the sides get rain and salt splattered. The front end gets the worst of whatever and the tailgate is relatively well protected. Unless you've got a swoopy coupe. All meaning the paint fades at different rates.
Plus lots of paint is applied over different materials. The bumpers are one type of plastic, the mirrors and door handles will be another. The steel in various places will vary in thickness and differing types of undercoat are applied: rust preventer, stonechip, whatever. Also certain panels get more paint than others. Mass produced cars are painted by dipping and robots so paint will collect in greater thickness in certain areas. It's all done for the sake of cheapness, and really is noticeable after a few years.
Pretty much every panel is a slightly different shade of silver on my Mazda. SO I'd say give it a go, no-one will ever notice!
Plus lots of paint is applied over different materials. The bumpers are one type of plastic, the mirrors and door handles will be another. The steel in various places will vary in thickness and differing types of undercoat are applied: rust preventer, stonechip, whatever. Also certain panels get more paint than others. Mass produced cars are painted by dipping and robots so paint will collect in greater thickness in certain areas. It's all done for the sake of cheapness, and really is noticeable after a few years.
Pretty much every panel is a slightly different shade of silver on my Mazda. SO I'd say give it a go, no-one will ever notice!
I was speaking to a bloke who has done work for friends, and he said in the 50 years he has done bodywork, he has never had a second hand panel come up the exact same colour and not need respraying.
I would go by his advice. Somebody said it best. Buy the panel, and then have it sprayed. Or what about paintless dent repair?
I would go by his advice. Somebody said it best. Buy the panel, and then have it sprayed. Or what about paintless dent repair?
Most modern paints are lacquered - so where as older paints were a direct 'gloss' paint that would fade modern paints are protected from the elements by the lacquer and they don't fade.
That said not every model of every manufacturer can be painted from a never ending batch of paint.
New batches have to be made to mix into the old batch and (for instance) the slightest little drop of extra blue can slightly change the colour on the next run of spraying.
Another thing is that the 'metal work' is usually sprayed completely separately from the plastic parts, and often in a completely different plant - therefore the same batch of paint can't be used.
To make things even more complicated plastic and metal conduct static electricity in different ways - so even if a plastic and metal parts were to be painted in the same colour they may not appear the same. This can be particularly noticeable in colours containing metallic - which obviously means it can be very noticeable in silvers.
An prime example of these different mixes and variants of one colour is probably most prevalent in Ford Moondust silver.
There are at least 7 different basic mixes - and then about 35 different variants.
(And people wonder why a small scratch on a door might mean the whole side has to be blended in!)
That said not every model of every manufacturer can be painted from a never ending batch of paint.
New batches have to be made to mix into the old batch and (for instance) the slightest little drop of extra blue can slightly change the colour on the next run of spraying.
Another thing is that the 'metal work' is usually sprayed completely separately from the plastic parts, and often in a completely different plant - therefore the same batch of paint can't be used.
To make things even more complicated plastic and metal conduct static electricity in different ways - so even if a plastic and metal parts were to be painted in the same colour they may not appear the same. This can be particularly noticeable in colours containing metallic - which obviously means it can be very noticeable in silvers.
An prime example of these different mixes and variants of one colour is probably most prevalent in Ford Moondust silver.
There are at least 7 different basic mixes - and then about 35 different variants.
(And people wonder why a small scratch on a door might mean the whole side has to be blended in!)
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