When we bought the G the dealer told us they used a "special paint that can't be duplicated, so something like a kit will never match right." Now, I know tons of people have put body kits on G's and Z's...so what's this all about? Can you tell a difference between the paints?

Thanks!

 

B.S., if that's the case, the car better be accident-proof.

 

haha...what is it just factory paint?

 

LOL...damn...I HATE the disingenuous car dealer salesperson. It's like my alignement guy that said I "ruined" my suspension by lowering the car with the Tein Flex's. Keeping in mind that my aligement is perfectly within Nissan factory specs...sheesh!

Anyways, matching the paint is as simple as getting the color code and your body shop can easliy match it. Granted, some cars are more difficult to match...metallics, pearls...etc. But it's certainly possible for a good body shop to match your body kit.

That said, I have seen many mismatches..so just make sure to get a recommendation.

What color is your car?

 

My G is the darkest grey, Graphite I think? I forget the real names, sorry. Haha. I forget why they said you couldnt match it, i think it had something to do with getting in a wreck and trying to fix it yourself and not Infiniti?...I could be wrong though...I wasn't paying to much attention...I was playing with my car...lol.

 

The dealer is sort of right. Unless you paint the whole car they won't match exactly. Most quality paint shops blend the new paint to the old paint so that it looks like one continuous color shade/tint. Blending is an art and it is very dependent on the painter. With a good painter you won't be able to visually tell the difference with a not so good painter you will tell right away. Make sure that you spend the extra money to go to a quality paint shop. On most body kits, they do a process called butt-matching where they match the paint as close as possible to the where they connect the part. Butt-matching won't use blending but because there is usually a break where they connect the kits to the body, a good butt-matching job will look like a continuous shade/tint. Again, painter skill is key here. Look for a paint shop that uses the PPG Paint System or the Sherwin-Williams Paint System. It cost more but it's worth it. On most bodykits I would be wary of paint jobs that cost less than $1000.

I have a Brickyard which is one of the hardest paints to match. I had my bodykit painted using the PPG method and I was very happy with the color. I also had an accident where the bodyshop used the Sherwin-Williams Method and it matched great. At the theatre near my house, the ricers like to hang out there on the weekends. I spoke with them one time regarding their paint jobs and you can totally tell who paid more for paint and who didn't. You get what you pay for.

 

I have sold auto paint for 16 years and there is no PPG or sherwin williams method. Like Aggro said painter skill is key, it doesn't matter what brand of paint they use as long as they know what they are doing. IMO paint from overseas is better such as Spies Hecker, Standox, Sikkens, or Glasurit but to each there own. Basic application technique is the same for every brand, certain brands do have better color matching ability but if the painter is good they will be able to adjust air pressure and distance from the panel to make the color match the adjacent panel. Just ask around and believe me if someone had a bad experience at a body shop they will be more than glad to tell you all about it.

 

Ultimately I think the moral here is Dealerships are the Devil listening to them is like flossing your hair... completely useless and a waste of time. Every kit ive had on my car has matched perfectly, and you pay for that quality like Reese said.

 

As stated before, metallic paint is a hard to match, therefore; blending is key. If nissan had offered a light-gray nonmetallic paint for the Z, I would get it instead of chrome silver.

 

My SilverStone came out perrrrrfect .. its all about the painter

 

Thanks guys! Are any of you in Dallas/Ft Worth area? The ''best'' shop here did my last car's hood and after having the car for nearly 2 weeks and keeping it infront of the store... in Texas heat... everyday...we got extremely tired of it. The paint does not match and its ''blotchy'' lookin' under florescent lighting. They did a horrible jb so I'm really not sure where to go anymore Dallas is about an hour away from me and I'd rather drive the distance to have it done right then to go back to a place like before. Thanks again!

 

I agree that it's about the painter. I was informed that the main difference is that factory paint is baked at 650 degrees (or something like that), while that isn't the case in the body shops. Reese, is that correct info?

 

its tough to get the exact amount of flake in metallic colors...and since our cars have a lot of curves the paint looks diff from every angle (im talking about factory paint)

once its repainted you get paranoid and think that the paint doesnt match even though it does

granted there are people with poorly matched kits...its all about the painter and his willingness to match the paint correctly (hint: paint codes are ********)

 

Damn Body Shops!! So they are marketing something that doesn't even exist. The first body shop that did my body kit told me that there were basically six major paint systems and made it a point to let me know they used the PPG Paint System. This was a shop that repairs/paints high-end cars (exotics). The other body shop that repaired my car told me that they used the Sherwin-Williams Paint System. This was a GM/Cadillac dealership that also repairs/paints other luxury autos. Is this practice common? because I've seen other body shops claim that they use some type of specialized paint system and they are usually names like PPG, Sherwin-Williams, BASF, ICI, DuPont, Spies-Hecker and Standox etc. Oh well, I guess if nobody asks and nobody gets hurt, it's okay with the body shops. Still sort of sucks, though.

 

I've heard this too (PPG, Dupont, etc.), even from reputable paint shops. Almost all the paint shops I've seen advertise PPG, SW, etc.

 

There are different brands of paints but as far as the process goes they are all applied and have basically the same ingredients. Every manufacturer has its own lab that develops its own products but they all have basically the same properties. For instance today's cars have a basecoat/ clearcoat paintjob. The basecoat is the color and the clearcoat gives the paint the shine and uv resistance. The basecoat usually mixes with just a reducer if its a true basecoat system (unless your in california then everything is waterbased do to environmental concerns) Why nobody else cares is beyond me. The clearcoat is usually a polyurethane that mixes with a hardener(catalyst that makes the paint dry) and a reducer (not for all products but some have it). The trick to a good paint job is just like anything, the foundation is key. Bad body work or prep work = bad paint job i don't care what brand you use. If you ever go into a shop that's using a hybrid system (ie, one brand of primer, another brand of basecoat, and another brand of clear, especially mixing the the clear with another brand of hardener the don't do business with them. The reason is some paint manufacturers mix the uv protection in the hardener and some put it in the clear if you mix a clear with no uv protection with a hardener with no uv protection guess what folks your clearcoat will not hold up.

As far as the baking of the paint, I know car manufacturers do bake it at higher temps because they do not paint the car with moldings or tires on it. Most body shops bake the paint at about 120 degrees metal temp. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks guys! Ordered the GReddy kit for my DG G35coupe!

 

There are six major paint companies, Dupont, Sherwin Williams, PPG, BASF, Valspar & Akzo Nobel. All of these companies have multiple brands of paint (i.e. an expensive brand and a economy brand) For example Duponts expensive brand is called Chromapremier and there middle of the line is called Chromabase and the economy line is called Nason. Dupont also owns Standox and Spies Hecker which are two high end lines from Europe.

So Aggro, the answer to your question "is the body shop lying to you" is yes and no. They lied if they told you there was a certain Sherwin Williams "method" they did not lie if they just told you they use the Sherwin Williams paint system.

IMO there is some difference in paint but I have seen excellent and terrible paint jobs with every brand of paint. The key is to find the shop that cares about doing the job right the first time and has the best painter.

Reese (is no longer in this business, because he hated dealing with body shops everyday) but I will answer any questions.