Pearl White matching

[kyotousa]

Technically, if you want to improve the appearance of your vehicle and/or insure an exact match when repainting most bumper covers, you should blend. That's the above and beyond right way, but not common body shop practice.



Was this an insurance claim?

If so, did you take it to the shop your insurance company recommended?

No, it's not an insurance claim



So now you are saying blend in is better?

Your prior msg was "Don't have them blend into the fenders for a match."



Anyway...my point is they didn't get it right the first time, I wouldn't think they would get it the second time. So I'd probably ask them to fix it one month later, which is probably result to blend in. Is that good or bad.



What if I bring to a better bodyshop to tell them to blend in...how much would that cost me?

 

[kyotousa]

Alright, no one answered his question: He asked, how does the blend process work: Well, its fairly simple when your not the one painting it!! The CORRECT way to blend a panel is as follows: If your front bumper was repainted the blend SHOULD continue onto BOTH fenders and the hood. No matter what anyone says, its ALOT of work, but thats the CORRECT way! Now for a "spot blend", its alittle different...a good painter should blend onto the same panel as the "spot" White pearl is extremely hard to blend for some reason...if you look really hard at the color...its not white, its more of a off white color. I have taken 3 years of custom paint school, and I paid attension. One of our tests was to "spot blend" Cadillac white pearl paint. My goodness what that a B*tch! But after 2 trys, I got it!

Hey thx for the reply...but you didn't actually explain the blend in process.

I guess it's hard to explain....thx anyway.

 

[David Fermani]

So now you are saying blend in is better?

Your prior msg was "Don't have them blend into the fenders for a match."

The only reason why I told you not to blend in the 1st place is because it's not mandatory, especially if you didn't notice the difference originally (~ if it was good enough for you before, it could and should be returned back to make you happy again). Blending is the best possible way to insure that a 100% match will occur. You mentioned that your bumper matched before the recent work (without blending), so it shouldn't be needed again to atleast meet your criteria(>100%). Like I said, 2 different places painted your bumper and sheetmetal (fenders/hood) without a color matching problem without even seeing the 2 panels side by side.

Anyway...my point is they didn't get it right the first time, I wouldn't think they would get it the second time. So I'd probably ask them to fix it one month later, which is probably result to blend in. Is that good or bad.

Bad. They should be able to do it good enough without blending. Seems strange why the shop couldn't get it right? 3 reasons why: they didn't care/don't know how to/they made a mistake.

What if I bring to a better bodyshop to tell them to blend in...how much would that cost me?

If you take it to a better shop, they will be able to do it without blending. On the other hand, if another shop now blends it, they will have to do everything over unless they have the actual paint the 1st shop used on the bumper. Blending should cost about $450-$500 extra.

but you didn't actually explain the blend in process.

I guess it's hard to explain....

Sorry, not really.

Blending is a refinishing process to correct color matching problems. The “blending� illusion is created by fading or blending paint onto adjacent undamaged panel to give the appearance of an exact match.

On a case by case basis, blending may be necessary after considering color, condition, damage location and, if appropriate, to bring the vehicle to pre loss appearance condition.

Blending should not be considered when:

1.The Pre-loss refinish condition is poor.

2.Damage is located on a flexible panel.

3.Adjacent panels have sharp vertical-horizontal planes.

4.Vehicle has single stage paint.

5.The adjacent panel has pre-existing damage.



Hope this helps.....