CRAIGFIN

I have recently caught my wing and bumper on the side of my garage causing scuff marks. Before paying £300 (which is what I got quoted) I thought I would have a go at doing it myself. I have got a tin of spray paint from Halfords using the paint code on my MY99 STI Type-R. The code is 86F, which is supposed to be Blue Steel. It is also supposed to be the same colour as an RB5. Can anyone confirm if this is true?
My main problem is that I cannot get a perfect colour match. I know that original paintwork fades over time due to UV rays so new paint always seems darker but I have been doing this for weeks now and when I use rubbing compound to blend the paintwork the new paint is a lot darker than the original. I am getting a perfect finish but for the colour match. Has anyone else used the paint matching service from Halfords?
I am not 100% convinced about the colour match due to the difference. I know what most of you will say and I agree, it is a job best let to the professionals, but I am so close to getting a great finish but for the colour match.
If anybody can give me any advice, I would appreciate it. Also if anybody can confirm that I do have the right colour then that would be a help (did they used 86F Blue Steel for uk RB5's and jap STI Type-R imports????)

Thanks,

Craig.

David_Wallis

ask them to mix it a little bit lighter... most paint shops will... where I go they allways check the colour outside in the day light and compare it to the car or a bit of metal (if I remember to bring some!)

This is normally why the dont just paint a panel...

David

ozzy

Yep, that's the correct paint code, but I wouldn't trust the Halfords mix.

I used it to spray the orange wedges and it does comeout too dark.

Shop around, no way should you pay £300 for a bumper respray. Even at £100 for the materials, it can't be another £200 in labour.

They're taking the pi$$ IMVHO.

Stefan

P20SPD

iTrader: (1)

i just paid £300 for my front spoiler, side skirts, rear bumper bits(?), 4 rubber moulded mud flaps, and morrettes spraying!!

i thought this was cheap cause could not be arsed to get my mate to do it with tin cans.

he has done the mud flaps before on my older car. cost £20 for 2 cans colour 2 primer and 2 laquer from a firm that supplies body shops. try your yellow pages.

gene1

The Halfords can will just be a standarad shade,there are different variants to each colour and we used to use a chip chart on the customers car after mopping it first to see which shade of the colour the car was.Also different colour primers will effect the outcome.
Also the lead content is different when painted in Japan to the paints in this country,gence why most bikes end up having to have a full side of the fairing painting when only needing a section.
If you are confident you can get the finish up to your standard with no orangepeel,look aroung or go to a paintshop and find who the local paint stockist is.Take something from the car like petrol cap etc that is your colour,along with the paint code.They will make up up a two pack aerosol can for around £10-£15.This will be to the variant you need and will harden tec properly,all you have to do is make sure you prep and paint and laquer correctly.
Hope it goes well.
Gene

gene1

P.S Just read your thread again and didnt realise it was the wing,you will have to blend the wing out.If only a small amount of spray painted on you will have to laquer out to the door,if all of the wing painted it will have to be blown out down the door and laquered out too.If this I suggest for the sake of the car and its appearance you shop around for a quote.

CRAIGFIN

Many thanks for the replies lads,

Craig.

Dave T-S

Craig
Firstly, if I recall correctly the colour used on the RB5 *was* Blue Steel, and not used on any other UK Impreza, but the same as Cool Grey on import STi's.

Secondly, one of the reasons for the basecoat coming up dark when you spray it is because it is semi opaque, so every extra coat you put on top of the original paint makes it darker. Did you primer the scuffed areas first? As said elsewhere you will need to blend the basecoat out across the panel and this is pretty impossible to do with aerosols. Also pretty difficult to blend the lacquer across too, and if you don't you will get a dry line where the old and new lacquers meet.

planky

Another problem with metallics is how close you spray,further away it will be lighter,closer darker and even spraying at a angle can change the shade, its a real bitch!! to match metalics.

Personally i would get a professional to do,as ive been trying to match deep green metallic for 3 weeks

and another thing even compounding can change the shade slightly and dont bother to look at the paint when wet,soon as its dries it changes.

CRAIGFIN

Yeah, I totally agree with you all, it is now in the hands of a professional.

Thanks for all your replies,

Craig.

camk

craig,
What was the quote and was it for the whole wing to be repainted? I've a large ding in my wing from some tossers door and dealer said 800 euros as he'd need to do the whole wing.

Cheers
Cammy

Alas

Just had the wing done myself on a red/blue.
Quoted 270.oo from bodyshop. Spoke to boss nicely and ended up getting the job done for 100 cash. Said sorry but too much. He pointed me in the direction of someone who used to work for them and still helped out. Perfect job too.
Alasdair