So I was driving to a golf game and out of nowhere a ball comes flying from the left and hits the top edge of my passenger side quarter panel. It obviously makes a dent and cracks the paint away just on the corner down the inside of the panel. I am trying to get the best idea of what to do in this situation and keep in mind that it's all covered by insurance.

I can have the dent removed and painted but they say they will also have to paint the hood to ensure it all matches. This sucks because it would be really nice to keep my factory baked on paint. I also have 3M Rockgaurd on the hood and panel so this would be replaced.

I thought maybe I should look for someone with a panel that is in perfect condition in the right color and just pick that up instead. That would keep my hood paint intact and I would retain factory paint.

Any thoughts on this or comments that would help me out. The car is a 2004 base in dark silver with 19000K in near mint shape always kept garaged, out of snow, etc.

 

The whole thing about needing to repaint the hood is complete BS.

 

A hood in perfect condition will be difficult to find. Freight costs are prohibitive.

A hood the same color does not insure a match.

Is the hood damaged?

 

The hood is fine. There is no mark on it at all just the front quarter panel as you see in the picture. That is why I was surprised to hear them say they need to paint the hood too so they could ensure a good color match transition. Something to do with the clearcoat?

I was thinking of getting a quarter panel in that color with someone that took care of the car but that may be tough to find and again may not match since it wasn't likely made the same day at the factory anyways. And then I need to get it shipped to Canada which is a whole other issue.

 

There is some truth to the statement. If you paint the front passenger fender and hood they will match. But what about the front bumper and doors.

With this kind of logic you could paint the entire car.

 

LOL. That's what I need. I was thinking lime green...not. It seems people in body shops are on board with the logic that color they use and the technique is slightly different from the factory and therefore it will look a little different. Because of the location they can blend it in to the rest of the panel so the door and bumper does not need to be painted but because the hood is right beside it they say it definitely won't match. Anyone from a body shop here that can clear this up for me so I am sure this is the best option?

 

you should get another paint shop to look at it. There should be no issues with matching the paint if they use OEM paint code, the only issue that you really run into with silver is it can vary quite a bit pending on primer used (ie. white or gray) after you put the base of clear it up, wet sand it out with 2000 grit, and buff it out and wax and you wont be able to tell. You could also fill the whole with bondo and just base over that area and then re clear the whole panel. Will look the same, I havent had to do it to my car yet but I have re-done my motorcycle tank after someone kicked it over, you cant tell the difference, we do the same with airplanes as well.

 

I am quite sure the dent could get popped out and from there perhaps just base the area and reclear but not sure if that will be noticeable. I did talk to another shop and they say to bring it by and they seem to think there are some options since the paint is off only inside the fender really. I just want to keep my factory paint.

 

you cant be serious. You dont just fill in a dent with bondo, especially one this big(small, but big)

 

If they dont blend the paint you will most likely be able to tell the difference under certain light.

You might be in luck...did you see this thread?
I dunno if that car is the same color or if the quater is ok and sucks what happened but...

https://my350z.com/forum/2003-2008-n...ast-night.html

 

I am in a similar boat, my Z was keyed and now there goes
my factory finish. I can say this, when I had my front bumper
painted after I installed the fog lights I told the body shop
and painter that under no circumstance was he to paint any
sheet metal, leaving that factory. He did his best to match
the color but under some lighting, I could tell.

This time, I am not going to argue the logic of blending.

 

Thanks aware. I did PM but sadly it's not the same color.

Zenica, that is what I am afraid of. Although even from the factory the plastic never quite looks the same color as the metal although it's close enough for me. I think silver is a bad color too and it looks like your Z is the same color as mine.

 

if they dont blend it into the hood u will be able to tell with certain shades of light on it..take it to another shop so they can tell u the same thing, obviously alot of people on here talk first and dont know anything about body work..yes u can just spray the fender off the car with the oem color but its not gonna be exactly the same as the rest of the car where the paint has aged and faded and doesnt have a brand new paint job like that fender

 

Actually if you use a feather-lite product then you dont have to worry too much about expansion. You just have to apply it in layers so it cures all the way. You run a pretty low risk of expansion since silver doesnt heat up as much if it was a dark color. Any reputable shop should be able to shoot it on the side panel and feather it in and clear. Just popping it out you will see the wrinkles still. Being so close to a bend it wont bend back very easily either.

 

To blend or not to blend. So... just had a nice three rock scratch repair on my hood made. First, tried with one of those mobile scratch repair guys and he fixed the scratch but left a circular bullseye on the hood and you could see his sanding under the clear coat he put on. That cost $125.00. Not being satisfied, took it to two body shops. The whole hood had to be done. Should have done that in first place, but.. live and learn. Both guys would fix the hood and repaint. Guy one... wanted to blend into the fenders. Guy two said it was not necessary to blend because the car is too new and garage kept. 10,500 miles. Guy one wanted $800.00, Guy two wanted $400.00. My gut was to go with guy two (True to Form). Voila... got the car back yesterday, no blending, looked at it in ALL light forms and there is no difference in paints. i.e. hood, fender. I am satisfied with the color. However, I did find, getting out my eye glasses, when I studied/examined the newly painted hood adnauseum, some dirt specs in the paint under the new clear. I will live with that. Compared to what the mobile guy did, this is a thousand times better. I am also happy I did NOT BLEND. I would have hated to messed with the factory paint on the fenders.

 

How come there was dirt under the new clear? Was it just not cleaned properly before painting? There is a guy selling a mint fender on here that I was hoping to get since I could avoid paint all together. How nice would that be...although in the time since that golf ball incident, some idiot put a high curb in the middle of nowhere and I backed into it scraping the bottom of my rear bumper. It seems my luck is nowhere to be found.

 

Painting more panels for blending is not a stupid idea.

My driver door was keyed, but my entire side was repainted to ensure proper blending, etc.

 

Maybe I can't tell from the pic, but a good pdr guy should be able to get that out...?