Aluminum hood and trunk

M

mistsc

New member
I have an 05 silver Maxima and could never get my hood and trunk to look as bright and crisp as the rest of the car. I always thought it was because they were horizontal surfaces and took the most abuse. I just found out they're aluminum. Do you guys do anything different with an aluminum surrface?
 
aaron33 said:
The paint is what shines, not the aluminun. What have you used to work your trunk and hood?
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This not entirely true, the substrate material can affect the look of the car. I'm not sure, but I think it was Honda/Acura that was having a lot of complaints about the color of the bumpers not matching the rest of the car. The issue ending being the type of plastic the bumpers were made out of were causing the color the be slightly off from the rest of the car.



*Note* I may be wrong on the manufacturer, but I'm pretty sure it is Japanese in origin, which is why I want to say Honda/Acura, but the other name that keeps nagging at my mind is Subaru.
 
My Silver 99 Eclipse's bumpers didn't match either. After my accident, the front end got resprayed. Then, mysteriously it matched. My friend, who's a body/paint guy, told me that some manufacturers tint the paint differently on plastic bumpers because of the difference in color between the metal body panels and the urethane of the bumpers. Thinking about it, I could almost buy that. Different color primers affect the way that the paint on top of them looks, so I guess that different colored materials could affect the exact coloration of the primer. Either that or the flex-agent (this is my thought, not his, btw), but I really would think that the flex-agent is clear. Anyone from a body shop wanna chime in?
 
I'm glad you guys don't think I'm nuts. It's not a color change in my case. The hood and trunk just appear to be ever so slightly more satiny. I,m sure now it's the aluminum because the fenders and quarter panels that come up to meet the hood and trunk are bright clear and crisp. I've spent about $700 since I found this sight. I have a rotory, pc, and 2 overflowing 5 gallon bucket of products.
 
I have two Imprezas both came with aluminum hoods. I never noticed a real difference. Maybe I should go take a closer look. :think:



Nick
 
I have a friend with a Camry, bumper colors definetly do not match. Most of the newish Toyotas have this problem. I've seen some that were so bad they looked like a completely different shade, but most of the time it's just a slight difference, but still very noticable. Even an 06 IS250 had the problem, but it seemed to be feathered in or something.
 
I agree about plastic bumper covers often not matching (like the C6 Vette I saw today - yipe!) but aluminum vs steel substrates isn't quite the same. No flex agent in the paint for aluminum, and should be no need for separate steps in the painting etc. My Miata has an aluminum hood and I can't tell a difference in color between it and the surrounding metal panels. The front bumper cover, however, can look a bit different under certain lighting conditions.



Maybe Nissan is doing something different in the prep for the aluminum bits? I'd go talk to the body shop guys at my local Nissan dealer to see if they had any info.
 
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