Repainting after tree damage

I posted a note here in early July about my 03 Accord with only 1,500
miles and on it's first trip out of town was violated by a falling
branch during a heavy wind storm. Dented the hood and right fender. My
adjuster and insurance company said I should replace the hood as it
would never be right otherwise. Of course the repair meant painting
the new hood (it would meant repainting the old hood too), the right
fender, and blending into the left fender. They also suggested a Honda
dealer who he said had a good body shop. Since the car was so new, he
thought it couldn't hurt to be able to say that Honda did the repair
should any issue arise in the future. I took his advice. It just
happened to also be the dealer from whom I'd purchased the car.

Some suggested I post a follow up when the repair was completed.
People were particularly interested in the paint matching.

I finally found time to do this and got the car back today. It looks
terrific and I see no differences in paint. In that respect, I guess
I'm glad it is brand new. The paint hasn't faded yet, so at least
there isn't that matching challenge. The real test is how well this
holds up versus the factory paint job on the rest of the car. I assume
it can't be as good since they can paint at high temps and in ideal
conditions.

 

From some of the reports, the factory paint is often no bargain either
those days... with all the restrictions and limitations on solvents and
venting. A good body shop will have air conditioned booths for the
painting process and an oven for curing; it won't get as hot as a factory
oven can, since the heat would damage accessories and electrical parts but
all the same a good shop can do a paint job which is close to factory. A
good thing about the hood and fender repaint is that there is no masking of
accessories and window trim etc. to complicate the job.

IME the new hood is definitely the way to go here - even a sligtly dented
hood will take a twist and can never be straightened properly. BTW did
they transfer the underhood stickers over or put on new ones? Not sure
what the legal situation is here, with EPA regs etc. but now's the time to
be sure.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

Glad to hear it worked out well. I recently had to get a new rear
bumper on my Honda S2000, following an accident, and the results were
excellent. I credit a lot of the success in my case to the nonmetallic red
paint. Certain colors, especially in the metallic and pearlescent
categories, are just a b*tch to match well. If everything matches well now,
it will probably match well in a few years.

 

Joe and Ruth Levy wrote:

(snip)

Hope so, red paints are notorious for fading (especially German ones,
which tend to go to chalk).

 

Good point, George. Let's hope you're right about the paint. I'll
check for the stickers, I never thought about that. I assumed stickers
were on a surface like around the radiator. Never thought about them
being on the hood.