I've been hit! Paint question...
Discussion
On Sunday a lady in a big suv hit the side of my Griffith. Very understandable, as I was parked about 50 feet behind her on the grass, and being a red car it must have been hard to make out against the colour of the grass.
Anyway, damage to the door and front wing. I am very picky, and won't accept a detectable repair. I am wondering if anyone has had success with a isolated repair on the front clip without painting the entire front of the car. Also, I assume the door needs to come off for paint, correct?
Being in Canada I am not looking for advice on a good shop, I will have TVR North America do the work. I know he supports painting the entire front and door, and since the door is now out of alignment I suspect the door needs to be removed either way. I am just worried that the insurance company will reject the estimate.
Cheers,
Rob.
Anyway, damage to the door and front wing. I am very picky, and won't accept a detectable repair. I am wondering if anyone has had success with a isolated repair on the front clip without painting the entire front of the car. Also, I assume the door needs to come off for paint, correct?
Being in Canada I am not looking for advice on a good shop, I will have TVR North America do the work. I know he supports painting the entire front and door, and since the door is now out of alignment I suspect the door needs to be removed either way. I am just worried that the insurance company will reject the estimate.
Cheers,
Rob.
The whole front end is the only way, but a good bodyshop should be able to do that at a reasonable price. I recently had mine done in the UK (and with the bonnet - it had some stones chips) it came in at £700.
Once you peel the carpet back the door is an easy removal (and with the door card off, the connectors/cables for mirrors/windows easily detach.
I would say no more than £800 - 900, or in Canada $1400 CND??? Is that unreasonable? Someone knocked the mirror of my Audi a couple of years ago at speed, scratched the front wing and bonnet - came in at £1000 - the insurance company paid no problem.
Once you peel the carpet back the door is an easy removal (and with the door card off, the connectors/cables for mirrors/windows easily detach.
I would say no more than £800 - 900, or in Canada $1400 CND??? Is that unreasonable? Someone knocked the mirror of my Audi a couple of years ago at speed, scratched the front wing and bonnet - came in at £1000 - the insurance company paid no problem.
Edited by jeboa on Tuesday 25th June 21:58
Sorry, red, here it was a month back...
The estimate came in a fair bit higher, but it includes repairs to front wing, door, realign hinge (as shut line has been affected), paint front (but not bonnet), and one door. This includes taking both doors off (so they can paint the trailing edge of the wings where the doors curve in) and includes water sanding and polish.
Glad to hear others support my stance that the entire front half must be painted, I am still very concerned that even when done well it won't precisely match the existing red, as the paint is pretty old, so must have some sun fade.
Insurance has not yet gone to see the car, I sense a battle, as I expect they will want to do a quick fill and spray of just the impacted areas, and drop the bill by 75%.
The estimate came in a fair bit higher, but it includes repairs to front wing, door, realign hinge (as shut line has been affected), paint front (but not bonnet), and one door. This includes taking both doors off (so they can paint the trailing edge of the wings where the doors curve in) and includes water sanding and polish.
Glad to hear others support my stance that the entire front half must be painted, I am still very concerned that even when done well it won't precisely match the existing red, as the paint is pretty old, so must have some sun fade.
Insurance has not yet gone to see the car, I sense a battle, as I expect they will want to do a quick fill and spray of just the impacted areas, and drop the bill by 75%.
I had my rear end done about 8 years ago, and if I look at it differs from the front...... having just scraped the front I'm contemplating a cheap n cheerful repair now, and a full respray over the winter to 1) allow use of the car & 2) give time for the paint o harden...... reluctant to get resray on front as old fashioned paint is hard as nails, unlike modern paints (mines a 92)
I am kind of thinking along similar lines, get the approval from insurance now - they can write a cheque to the shop - paint touch up and polish at home to get to the end of season, then drop it in, and pay the difference for a full respray.
I meet with the insurance adjuster on Friday, let's see what he says about the estimate.
I meet with the insurance adjuster on Friday, let's see what he says about the estimate.
I would say no chance of blending and if you did it would only be a matter of time and sunshine before the tide mark reared its ugly head 
then you would be pissed off and your eye would be drawn to it constantly 
(mine would) I am also unforgiving around paint 
good luck with the repairs it could have been far worse 
then you would be pissed off and your eye would be drawn to it constantly (mine would) I am also unforgiving around paint good luck with the repairs it could have been far worse Hoover. said:
I had my rear end done about 8 years ago, and if I look at it differs from the front...... having just scraped the front I'm contemplating a cheap n cheerful repair now, and a full respray over the winter to 1) allow use of the car & 2) give time for the paint o harden...... reluctant to get resray on front as old fashioned paint is hard as nails, unlike modern paints (mines a 92)
When my guys repainted my 92 Griff recently (thread running here a couple of weeks back)they found a lot of the paint to be hard and brittle (could scrap of lacquer without much effort). They actually took almost all the old layers off and applied two coats of bonding 2 pack filler primer, then flatted down, using stopper filler for the small pockmarcks and imperfections, before any top coats.If you can afford it I would add the extra to the insurance money and get the whole car professionally resprayed. If you go for the full monty - i.e doors, mirrors, boot, bonnet and lights off, wheels removed and up on stands you will be able to get a cracking finish all over.
Good luck and keep us posted. Best regards, Pete
At this point it is just a big worry and a pain in the rear. The paint was not flawless, but was certainly excellent. Having any work done at this point short of a full repaint is going to be a compromise.
The car had one chip by the turn signal about a quarter the size of a thumb nail, and another on the nose about an eight of a thumb nail; both touched up, but not a pro job. It also has one area about 2 inches square that had scratches on the boot lid that aren't obvious, but were a bit too deep to safely polish out (I suspect someone cleaned bird dirt off, and the grit in it left marks). Beyond that about 4 to 8 stone chips the size of a pen tip - all carefully touched up.
I always said if I needed to paint the car I would change back to yellow, and I thought that would be all out of my pocket, several years down the road. Now I may be doing it with a heavy subsidy by Insurance, but it will still be a lot of $$$ when I have other stuff on my plate.
Even if I stay red I think I will pay to get the whole car done just because I know it won't be a perfect match - this is where I most feel like a victim.
Guess I will see what the insurance adjuster says tomorrow - I hope it isn't one of these visits where they don't give me their decision, just grunts and nods, leaving me hanging for days.
The car had one chip by the turn signal about a quarter the size of a thumb nail, and another on the nose about an eight of a thumb nail; both touched up, but not a pro job. It also has one area about 2 inches square that had scratches on the boot lid that aren't obvious, but were a bit too deep to safely polish out (I suspect someone cleaned bird dirt off, and the grit in it left marks). Beyond that about 4 to 8 stone chips the size of a pen tip - all carefully touched up.
I always said if I needed to paint the car I would change back to yellow, and I thought that would be all out of my pocket, several years down the road. Now I may be doing it with a heavy subsidy by Insurance, but it will still be a lot of $$$ when I have other stuff on my plate.
Even if I stay red I think I will pay to get the whole car done just because I know it won't be a perfect match - this is where I most feel like a victim.
Guess I will see what the insurance adjuster says tomorrow - I hope it isn't one of these visits where they don't give me their decision, just grunts and nods, leaving me hanging for days.
Although not a TVR, my 1992 Ginetta was sprayed in a solid colour Isocyanate 2 pack paint, and although fantatic paint Ive never manged to part spray it and get a decent match. Fistly it has faded in 20 years, so anything thats matched in one area wont match where the paint fade is different. Any paint you apply on top, does just that- you cant blend it into the orgional paint, so you will get a line between the paints however good the match. Ive tried using matched base coats and a laquer, but then you end up with two paint shifts ,one where the base coat finishes, and one where the laquer stops. If you either thin the paint or flat it back to try and join the two areas you get a shift of colour as the paint becomes very thin- in my case yellow ends up with an orange hue around the join (apparenty yellow is the worse colour for this) so part spraying is not really an option on old 2 pack paint.
Edited by blitzracing on Monday 1st July 13:06
@Kellsboro Jack, yes, only 7 LHD Griffiths came to Canada new (some number of private imports since, but as far as I know all RHD).
One dealer in Canada, TVR North America, they are in Toronto area. Reasonable parts supply - superb service and workmanship. Body parts can be a challenge. For my wedge they were able to supply the corner off of a wreck, but we have no wrecked Griffiths, so new or salvaged body parts would need to come from the UK.
Thankful this accident has caused minor body damage, the big expense is getting the paint right.
Cheers
One dealer in Canada, TVR North America, they are in Toronto area. Reasonable parts supply - superb service and workmanship. Body parts can be a challenge. For my wedge they were able to supply the corner off of a wreck, but we have no wrecked Griffiths, so new or salvaged body parts would need to come from the UK.
Thankful this accident has caused minor body damage, the big expense is getting the paint right.
Cheers
UKAuto said:
Figures.
Insurance wants to be half of smaller quote.
I'm sure they want the cost to be as low as possible, to keep their profits up. That's not the point though, the insurance companies role is to return your car to the condition it was before their customer reversed her car into yours; as close as practically possible. The cost of doing that should not be your problem.Insurance wants to be half of smaller quote.
Hope you get a satisfactory resolution.
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