Crap, I dented my front left fender yesterday. Somebody seems to have nudged it when parelell (sp?)parking. So the front bumper is fine but the fender flare is depressed a bit. Since it's winter, I probably would not such a rush to get it fixed since it's always getting dirty quickly (daily driver), but I need to get this taken care of as soon as possible bc is already started to
RUST!

Not crazy rust or deep-corrosion but certainly enough to notice the color change. It's been wet since last night but not enough time to warrant the rust. I've had similar paint-issues/dents in other cars without this drama.

I think this somwhat telling about the paint's (lack of)quality. It's very thin (surprisingly only 1/4 of the thickness on my other car, VW Golf) and brittle. This sucks.

REQUEST: Who can point me to a honest-quality and fast-turnaround body shop in Ptown? Thanks,

Greg

BTW, if you have a pristine Z, like the one I had prior to this incident, cherish those moments. I feel like the honey-moon phase is over and her cherries been popped. It's tainted goods.

 

Bummer. LanceG33 had some work done a few months back. You can ask him about that shop experience.

I have a dink in my roof that I need to take care of. A rock hit on the freeway and I'm starting to see some rust now. Thanks for the reminder. The paint is crap though, I agree. My front end is a nightmare.

 

I highly recommend Kindred and Son in North Wilsonville. They did a great job on my 350Z and they've done work for other friends and family, and eveyone loves the outcome!

You should give them a buzz or stop by... the owner is a great guy. 503-682-3030

 

^^ Thank you, I will try them out.

On another note, if I were to buy a fender and get a shop to paint it and install it myself in the interest of saving money - should I buy OEM from a dealer or from something like partstrain.com. I do not know if partstrain.com is OEM, however.

Greg

 

My ex had a infinity g20 and wanted to save some extra cash, so I had Ken (from the shop I mentioned) paint an aftermarket fender and I put it on myself. It was pretty cheap and the paint came out perfectly. The only problem you have with non OEM stuff is it doesn't always fit perfectly... sometimes you need to tweak things to get them just right and they're not always perfect. If you buy the fender from his shop I believe he'll give you the choice of aftermarket vs. OEM. I personally have always just gone the OEM route. Their prices are fair, but for the quality you get I would almost be willing to pay more (just don't tell him that!!!). hahahaa

 

Sweet thanks! Do you work in Wilsonville? I see a few Z's there often. I have a SB and work in Wilsonville and live DT.

 

Yeah. I live in good ol' Wilsonville. I actually had the frist 350Z in Wilsonville (that I know of), and I think the only Z in Oregon with a carbon fiber hood (might be different now). Unfortunately my Z was totalled in a really bad accident where I flipped end over end ultimately ending up upside down with the front of my car just about ripped completely off. My passenger and I were lucky to be alive... the Z is tough!! It's a long story, but in short it was a not at fault hit and run type thing at high speed and the police never found who was responsible... the pictures I have from the wreck say it all. I'll have to post it up on here sometime. Anyway. I plan on getting another super black (magnetic black now)Z in April (06 Touring, 6 speed, aero, etc.) to replace my 03.

 

Spiffy:

I went and got an estimate from "Kindred and Son." Holy crap, they want $425. I don't get it, it would much more cost effective for me to buy a new OEM panel, have someone paint it and install it myself.

Any other suggestions?

 

^^ $420 was the quote to fix this.

 

Hmm... that is a little spendy. I'm assuming that includes the cost of a new OEM replacement fender?? I can't tell from the pic, but is the metal creased at all? If it's creased then that typically means a little bondo and Ken and the guys make sure everything is perfect.... which means factory replacement and no bondo. If they are able to fix it and the paint is damaged, then they'll probably take it down to bare metal (body off repair) and paint it and bake it.

When I had some damage to my factory hood they sprayed it and when I stopped by to check on the progress it looked great, but there was a tiny flaw. I though it was ok and to be expected, but they took it on their own... stripped it (body off) and repainted it! Pretty cool.

I don't have any perosnal experience, but Artistic Auto Body is on the other side of the freeway (just South of Xerox next to the freeway). From what I've heard they can be a little cheaper, but when they give you a quote just make sure to ask them how they plan to fix it. Super Black takes a little bit of work to match the deep gloss, and see if they plan on using bondo, etc. Anyway. I hope this helped! Let me know how it goes... I think I might have a few other things up my sleeve if that doesn't work.

 

Thanks again.

I talked to Ken today and he didn't seem to place too much stress on matching the color of the black. This is contrary to my impression of how black paints are supposed to be mixed: meticulously.

His plan was to remove the fender, bondo it (yes, the dent extends past the crease, but he doesn't use paintless dent removal in the first place, so this is a moot point), and paint to match.

I thought his approach was too simple, or at least not sophisticated enough for me.

I will try your other recommendation tomorrow.

GB

 

That's weird... that's not what I've come to expect from him. He does have a 'no sweat' sorta attitude though since he's been doing it for so long. Good luck tomorrow. Let me know how it goes.

 

You may want to give Leif's a try. They give free estimates at least so it might give you a price-point to compare other places to. The only one I know of is in Tigard though:

http://www.leifs.com/home.asp?page_s...ea=1#locations

 

If you want a sanity check of how it's SUPPOSED to be done, call Rob at 321-720-7383. I don't know if he hangs out here, but he hangs out at a couple of other Z sites, and he's an autobody specialist. He'll tell you what it takes to do it right, how many hours and how much you should be paying.

BTW, 400 to 600 bucks is prolly in the right ballpark though. And getting a fender prepped and painted (a new one) would cost 300 bucks by itself, let alone cost of the panel and labor to put it in.

 

Good points.. you are probably right.