Car Body Panels

sneepmo

Hi All,

I need to replace a body panel on my car. A mechanic told me there was an Irish company who would deliver a car body panel sprayed to the colour of your car for a good price but he couldn't recall the name of the company.

He said it should be cheaper than getting an unsprayed one from the UK and having it sprayed locally. Apparently the company was setup to combat that high prices being charged by panel beaters.

Does anyone know the company I'm trying to find?

MetzgerMeister

I presume you have looked into repairing your own one?

sneepmo

a local mechanic i use (I'm in Galway) suggested it might be as easy/cheaper to get a panel off this company and he'll bolt it on for me.

Not sure if it's panel beatable. It had an argument with a concrete pillar in an underground supermarket car park...the pillar won.

MetzgerMeister

I see! I haven't heard of any company offering this service but be sure to tell us when you find out!

ta2kevin

There was an interview with a guy in Autobiz a couple of months back. He's a panel beater that supplies panels already painted for you, I'll have a dig around the office and see if I can find it.

sneepmo

That sounds like the chap. The mechanic I was speaking to said he had read an article and would have to dig out from wherever he'd read it.

ta2kevin

Found it. It was in April's Autobiz, the website is www.paintedmotorparts.net I just looked and there's no site up on it yet. The guy's name is Clive Finlay, he's based in Ardee, Co. Louth, there's a mobile number too, if you PM me I'll give it to you.

Anan1

I can't see the colour being a perfect match.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

Anan1 wrote: »

I can't see the colour being a perfect match.

Exactly what I was going to post. OP, this guy sounds like he will paint the body panel from the paint code for that model. However, this won't be a perfect match with your car as paintwork fades over time

sneepmo

Thanks guys, I'll get the number from moviecars and ring the guy to see what the story is.

As another point, what happens when you normally get a panel resprayed? Do they not base it on the manufacturers colour coding?

MetzgerMeister

sneepmo wrote: »

Thanks guys, I'll get the number from moviecars and ring the guy to see what the story is.

As another point, what happens when you normally get a panel resprayed? Do they not base it on the manufacturers colour coding?

They would normally go to a motor factors and either give them the paint code or the paint guy in the MF would put colour cards against the paint to get the closest match.

The problem with this and cars that are a few years old is that they will be matching the colour on the card (with no scratches) against the car's paint which is likely to have washing/swirl marks all over it. This is one of the reasons why fresh paint often looks very different than old paint.

What you could do is get chatting to this crowd and work out an arrangement whereby if you are not happy with the colour match, you send it back and get a full refund. I know this is what would happen anyway if you weren't happy but just make sure that he understands this. Just be aware that the paint might look different due to my explanation and don't be too put off if it is.

Also, my apologies for not being of much help in earlier posts

sneepmo

I'll call him and if the price is right I'll go for it and post a pic of the result. Even if it looks slightly off at first, i'm sure a bit of wear and tear will bring it back to the scruffy level of the other panels!

ta2kevin

You could compound or T-Cut the surrounding panels if it really stands out. An experienced paint mixer will be familiar with the best shade to use on a particular car, it shouldn't stand out too much.