Why colour matching is harder than it sounds

Every car leaves the factory with a paint code, and most people assume mixing to that code is the end of the story. It is the beginning of it.

The same code is sprayed in different factories, in different batches, with different robots and different film thickness. Then your car spends years in Melbourne sun and the colour drifts. By the time it reaches us, the paint on the bonnet is not quite the paint on the door, and neither is quite the code.

So we match to the panel, not the tin. We spray test cards, hold them against the car in the light the car actually lives in, and adjust until it disappears. On metallics and pearls we also check the angle, because those colours change as you walk past them and a card that matches straight on can be obviously wrong at forty five degrees.

Blending

Even a perfect match is usually blended into the adjacent panels rather than stopped at the panel edge. A hard edge between old and new paint catches the light and gives the repair away. Blending fades the new colour out across the neighbouring panel so there is no line to find. It uses more material and more time, and it is the difference between a repair you cannot see and one you can.

What we spray

Single panel repairs, blended into the panels either side.
Scratch, scuff and stone chip repair, where the damage has gone through the clear coat.
Bumper repairs, including the flex additives plastic needs so the finish does not crack.
Full resprays, including colour changes.
Insurance repair work, finishing what the panel shop has straightened.
Metallics, pearls and the difficult colours, including the reds and deep greys that give most shops trouble.
Electric vehicle paintwork, done to the manufacturer’s specified process on our approved makes.

How a paint job is actually done

Preparation is most of it

Paint hides nothing. Every flaw underneath telegraphs through the finish, so the panel is stripped, straightened, filled only where filler belongs, and sanded flat through progressively finer grades. If a job is going to fail, it fails here, and it fails because someone was in a hurry.

Masking

Glass, trim, rubbers, badges and anything that cannot be removed gets masked. Parts that should come off, come off, because masking around a handle leaves an edge and removing it does not.

Primer

Primer seals the repair and gives the colour something consistent to sit on. It is sanded flat again before colour goes anywhere near it.

Colour

In the booth, with filtered air and controlled temperature, in light coats until the coverage is even. Dust is the enemy, which is why this does not happen in an open workshop.

Clear coat

The clear is what gives depth and gloss, and what protects the colour from UV. It is also the layer that shows every mistake, so it goes on with the same care as the colour.

Baking, cutting and polishing

The paint is baked to cure, then cut back and polished so the new finish matches the texture of the paint around it as well as the colour. Factory paint has a slight orange peel to it. A repair that is glassier than the rest of the car looks just as wrong as one that is duller.

Full resprays and colour changes

A full respray is a different animal from a panel repair. Done properly it means stripping the car down so paint goes where paint should go and not over seals and badges, and it means deciding what to do with door shuts, engine bay and boot. A colour change that stops at the visible surfaces looks fine until someone opens a door.

We will talk you through the options and what each one costs before anything starts, because the gap between a cheap respray and a proper one is mostly in the parts nobody sees.

What makes a cheap paint job go wrong

Not enough preparation. Dents and sanding marks show through within weeks.
Matching to the code instead of the panel. The repair is a slightly different colour forever.
No blending. A visible line at the panel edge.
Painting over rust. It comes back, usually within a year or two, and bigger.
Spraying outside a booth. Dust and bugs in the clear coat.
No flex additive on plastics. The bumper cracks and flakes.

If a quote is dramatically cheaper than everyone else’s, one of the above is how.

Before painting: getting the shape right first

Paint cannot fix a dent. If the panel is not straight, no finish will save it. Depending on the damage, that means panel beating first, or, where the paint is unbroken and the dent is shallow, paintless dent removal, which avoids painting altogether and keeps your factory finish.

Insurance and paintwork

We are an approved repairer for AAMI, RACV and NRMA and work with every major insurer. Many Victorian policies include choice of repairer or let you request it. If you want your car painted here, tell your insurer, and we will deal with the rest. For a not at fault claim, see accident assistance.

Car spray painting across Melbourne’s south east

We are at 7 Ashley Park Drive, Chelsea Heights, with free pickup and drop off valet in our service area, covering Chelsea, Cheltenham, Mentone, Mordialloc, Carrum Downs, Parkdale and the rest of the suburbs on our areas we serve page. We can also arrange a replacement vehicle while your car is in the booth.

Common questions about car spray painting

Can you match my car’s original colour?

Yes. We match to your panel rather than to the paint code alone, spray test cards, check them against the car in daylight, and blend into the neighbouring panels so there is no edge to see.

How long does a respray take?

A single panel is typically a few days including preparation and curing. A full respray is one to two weeks or more depending on how far the car is stripped. Preparation is the long part, not the spraying.

Do you do custom colours and finishes?

Yes, including colour changes. Talk to us about what you have in mind and we will tell you what is involved and what it means for the car’s value and its registration paperwork.

Can you just paint the one panel?

Yes, and it is usually blended into the adjacent panels so the repair does not show. Painting strictly to the panel edge is cheaper and almost always visible.

Will the new paint fade differently to the rest of the car?

Modern two pack finishes with a UV stable clear coat hold up well, and blending means any small difference is spread out rather than sitting on a hard line.

Can you paint plastic bumpers and mirror caps?

Yes. Plastics need their own preparation and a flex additive in the paint so the finish moves with the part instead of cracking.

Do you repair scratches without painting the whole panel?

Often. A scratch that has not gone through the clear coat can sometimes be cut and polished out. Deeper than that and the area is repaired, primed, painted and blended.

Is it worth respraying an older car?

Sometimes, and we will give you a straight answer. A good respray can transform a car worth keeping. On a car heading for sale it rarely returns what it costs.