ericwarren

Hello all,
i am in need of your advice....
I have a 94 fd that is in mint condition inside and out....excpet a rather deep 3" or so scratch on the very aft section of the right rear quarter. Other than this imperfection, it is 100% perfect. In fact, I just had some small but annoying door dings removed via paintless dent romoval.
Ok, back to the scratch....it has been touch up painted...even a bit of clear coat....but still there and quite visible.
I broke down and went to a custom paint/body work shop nearby and received an estimate to repair it...the only solution he felt would produce good results was to repain the quarter.
Yikes...repaint? this scares me...
so my dillema is fo I:
1) just let it be and forget it
2) seek out someone that can just repair the scratch better than me
3) get this quarter repainted and hope for the best

your opinions are welcomed.
Here are a couple pics.
regards
eric

turbojeff

iTrader: (30)

It is up to you. Silver is hard color to match, but to be fixed they will paint the entire 1/4 panel.

Remember cars gets dinged and scratched as time goes, as soon as you get that one fixed something else might happen...

ericwarren

thanks for the reply jeff...you bring up a good point.
as an expert on refurbishing these babies, what is your though on the true risk involved in repainting? do i have a <50% chance that the rear quarter will match? even if it matches, will it be evident that it was repainted? i like this "all original" think i have going now.
regards
eric

tphan

My mint 94 has one about 2 " on passenger quaterpanel...want to get fixed and repainted but not sure how hard to match MB color.

I just ignored it...but is annoying whenever waxing the car...

rotoober

iTrader: (3)

have you tried a little rubbing compound? I've used something in a silver and blue "can" called tr 303? Waxes and takes out smaller scratches, almost "fills in" the scratches.

adam c

iTrader: (2)

Get it fixed. It really sucks to have something like that on an otherwise perfect car. Get a guarantee from the body shop that they will match the paint.

Aristo

iTrader: (8)

If the car is original paint I would personally just leave it alone, and I consider myself a picky person. The silver, being hard to match, might have to be blended over a pretty big area.

turbojeff

iTrader: (30)

I'm not a painter so I'm unsure of what the chances are that it'll match when done. I'm sure that someone could match it.

On one hand I'd be all for getting it fixed.

On the other hand, say when the car is 30yrs old an all original paint job is worth more than a repainted car I think. You could think of it as "patina".

ericwarren

we all seem to be split...see this is a tough decision.
i think the scratch is too deep to remove with compound or any polishes (maybe i should call it a gouge)
has anyone had success with multiple coats of touch-up followed by clear coat then a wet sand?

the big issue nows seems to be that the touch-up paint color doesnt quite match the 12 year old silver on the body.

tt2323

i'm not a paint expert by any means but wouldn't they have to blend the paint to all the surrounding panels?

SpeedKing

iTrader: (4)

I'm good friends w/ people who are in the high end auto body repair business and have overseen their work over the years and personally, I've NEVER seen a panel repaint/blend that matched absolutely perfectly. It's easier w/ some colors (white and black, for example), however, under certain light, and at certain angles, you can see a difference, not necessarily a glaring one, but you can tell that the colors are *slightly* off. Whether you can live with it or not depends on how picky you are. If it was my car, I'd repaint the panel. That's always better looking than a poorly done, touched-up scratch. Take the car to the best shop/painter you can find - one that deals exclusively w/ Porsches, Ferraris, and the like.

Fritz Flynn

iTrader: (263)

Do not repaint it. The original paint looks great. Repaints even when done by the best shops can sometimes start to lift and chip etc....

You can never match new paint to old paint and even if it was matched very closely the changes over time will be much different.

Finally like Jeff said as soon as you fix this ding you're now guaranteed to get another one and it will of course be even worse LOL

quicksilver_rx7

It's just a damn scratch. The car is 11 years old. It's not gonna be perfect unless you put it in a climate controlled, dust-free, disinfected, polished, waxed, bubble wrapped, air sealed, zip-lock bag. Get some touch-up paint and be done with it.

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

Sorry to hijack your thread guys.. but Aristo, your PM box is full. Clear it up a bit and hit me up...im tryin to PM you (or PM me your email address)

Thanks!
~Ramy

rynberg

I wouldn't bother going through the expense, hassle, and potential long-term paint issues just to fix that small blemish. But then again, my car is a daily driver that sees a lot of track time, so the body/paint on it is far from perfect.

ericwarren

deal...i think you all talked me out of it!
thanks for your input

ericwarren

the keyword in my last post was think....as I broke down and got the scratch fixed.

basically i found the best custom paint shop I could find and kep my fingers crossed.

it came out 100% perfect....no overspray and the color is spot on!

a few before and after pics are worth a thousand words, so enough talk....
(oh...any imperfections seen are simply shadows of the trees)

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

awesome eric, i know that scratch was bothering the hell out of you

silver93

looks really good - how much?>

Touge Monster

iTrader: (2)

I just bought my FD and it has a slightly damaged front bumper and hood. The rest of the car is in great shape though. Instead of getting comments on how great my car looks everyone I know just points out the damage. Thus I think its money well spent. There is nothing to distract you or others from enjoying looking at the car.

PVerdieck

So Eric, get any new scratches yet?

ericwarren

thanks for the positive comments. it's funny, i too often found myself "appologizing" for the flaw.
no new scratches or dings yet, knock on wood.
total cost of repair - $550