Here's the low down.

Just spent hundreds of dollars on two alternates of DuPont paint for a PPW (QX1) and the bumper came out very bright white compared to the car. Now hundreds of dollars in I have gotten nowhere, besides ruling out what does not work.

Can somebody here that has gotten their PPW painted have good results and know the paint brand or can find out the paint brand used that worked out good for you? If so, can you show pix of the part painted against the stock color?

This would be HUGE if somebody could help me out with this...I need to get the car back on the road ASAP.

Please help. Thanks.

 

Most of the pictures I've seen here of ANY car that has had just the bumpers painted, doesn't match. I don't know why, but they don't. Some have said it's because light reflects off the plastic of the bumpers differently than the metal of the car.

Even some photos of new cars (especially a PPW I saw) made it look like the bumpers didn't match the rest.

I can only hope I never have to paint a part of my PPW... if so, I'm doing the whole car.

 

yea thats what sucks about the color, I heard someone say something about this MFG Paint or something along those lines

 

PPW is a three stage paint, you might be able to get close by painting drop panels(samples) to figure out the amount of pearl, but more than likely you'll have to blend onto the hood and fenders.

 

did that and it looked like it was a good match...then do the entire bumper and line it up with the car and its too far off.

 

If it was properly blended into the hood/fender as idwin said, it should NOT be off by much.

I had that issue myself with the PPW paint being too 'bright' compared to the oem paint. After they blended it into the fender/hood, the color match was better than factory.

 

Been there man, so I feel for you

It's not merely down to the brand of paint

It has everthing to do with the combination of paint brand, gun brand, pressure, and temp/humidity conditions. Paint is dynamic..it never comes out the same way twice and its ultimate outcome is a result of how much time/attention the painter is willing to put in.

On my own car (Silverstone) I've tried blending, single panel painting with a variety of brands/guns/paint pressures, etc...I still can't get it 100% (it looks good, but I can tell and it bugs me). So I've decided to spray the whole car now, to avoid issues. I'm going to use a body shop to do this, rather than trying it myself again (lack of time)

On my brothers 06 Si (Fiji blue) he recently got tapped and needed a new rear bumper cover and some blending done into the quarters. Our local body shop in our complex did it...I've NEVER seen paint work come out so flawless. Aside from a few sanding marks, which we got rid of with about 30 minutes worth of work, you absolutely cannot tell where the blend is, nor can you tell any difference in shade in any light conditions. When talking to the guy who actually did the work, it took him 3 times to get the shade right, and it ended up needing quite a few coats before the metallic flake matched perfectly.

 

usually with dupont....or atleast in my shop....we use a vindicator......which by vin pics out your alternate....and theres more that 2 alternates....theres like 3 or 4.....theres 3 different base coats....and 3 different mid-coats.....just try to find a shop that uses the vindicator and you shoukdnt have any problems

 

do you know for a fact how many alternates there are for Qx1? would you be able to tell me the #'s for the alternates?

whats strange is that when I was looking at the DuPont book for my car they had no actual Dupont # for qx1 2007 2006, 05, 04 but had to go all the way back to 03 which makes it sound like it has not been updated since.

Paint shop told us two alternates with DuPont. (2 different bases & 2 different pearls - which are given in pairs) Trying the second alternate this week.

 

the # of shade variations depends on the manufacturer and the paint "series" - there can be lots of variations. These still don't guarantee a match. In the paint we use, there are 3 shades of silverstone. None of them matched my car however.

You are going to have to find a body shop that guarantees their work and let this be their problem, not yours

 

mine came out ok...however, my friend did use a little too much pearl which made it a little brighter than the bumper but it matches the hood and fender.
here are some pictures...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dchuck_9l6/

 

yes i know for a fact....i just mixed the color thursday or friday for a murano....same code...maybe even the same alternate.....some say "match to 2003 g35" or "less yellow than color chip"

but if ur trying the other alternate and it doesnt turn out right......give me your vin....and year....and ill print out a mix sheet for your car and give you the mix for it to show your shop

 

What about the shops that have computer tool that they put on a body panel and it tells them the mixture to use to match the paint, does that not work with PPW vehicles?

 

it's a guide, but not a final authority. My last paint was done this way, using the gas cap lid, and its still no where close (in my eyes) to the rest of my car.

Any of the methods of paint match are user-dependant. With the metallic paints, you start with the "recipe" provided by either the manufacturer, or whatever tools the paint mixer has, and you play from there with dyes, varying levels of clear, pressures, guns, etc. In other words, the only way is trial and error with every given job.

 

Yeah, i like PPW but at the same time i hate it. if i ever did a kit on my car i would have to re-paint the entire car...seeing a bumper that didn't match would make me go crazy. I'll probably just stick with the carbon lip kits.

 

Yeah tell me about it. I'm repainting my whole car just for this reason alone.

 

if you blend the paint, it'll tricks the eyes of it matching. ive had my front bumper painted as well as the hatch(shaved emblems,etc.) it was blended and you cannot tell at all.

 

you can tell on the greddy lip I used to have on it though cause it wasnt blended just used drop panels

 

but you cant tell on the rear

 

I should've had them do the splashgaurds also but?