Stonechips/Single Panel vs Blending

[spydersingh]

I'm having my Maserati Spyder booked in for some tidying up after everyday driving for a year and after discussing the front nosecone with the bodyshop, I was advised to only just have the nosecone done reason being as it is fibreglass, it will always look different to painted metal. Sounds convincing.

I went for a second opinion, as was recommended the nosecone AND blending into the side panels.

Any thoughts or recommendations?

PS. the colour is Nero Black which is a metallic black.

(BTW I am also having a Full Exterior Zymol (machine polish) being done at the first garage so maybe that could be reason!??!?)

(edited for spelling)

Edited by spydersingh on Monday 11th June 12:53

[Anatol]

Substrate material doesn't have to affect final finish. The finish you *see* (paint through clearcoat) isn't actually applied to the base substrate of the car (GRP, steel, aluminium etc). It's applied to, at the very least, primer, and in the case of a recoat, almost certainly the previous finish, suitably deglazed.

In other words, as far as the paint is concerned, what it's going onto is the same, regardless of panel material. The only tiny factors that would vary are very minor - such as how fast the panel loses heat, electrostatics etc. In a well-equipped environment, these should have a negligible effect on finish.

Blending into adjoining panels is necessary when a good colour match cannot be achieved. With high metallic paints, large numbers of factors can make this unavoidable, but with a black (including an effect black), a decent mixing system, and a competent sprayer, it is unlikely to be necessary. Many shops automatically include it in their quotes and recommendations in case their paint mix turns out to be a poor match, and in case of a good match, restrict the repair to the primary panel in any case.

HTH

Tol

[spydersingh]

Thanks! Nice reply!

[autobodytechnic]

the nosecones GRP not fiberglass, theres no reason why the colour should look off just cos it's made of a different material, your rear bumper is made of GRP and it should be the same as the rest of the car.
Renault clios and Merc a-class have GRP body panels and theres no problems there, as for blending it's best to go for it as the pearl pigments in the base coat can alter the affect at differant angels and make the colour look off, make shore they don't blend over any chips on the front 3/4's of the wings.