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MYTHBUSTING
"I HAVE TO TAKE MY CAR WHERE
THEY SAY"
NOT TRUE! (and a bad idea) Colorado law is very clear on this issue, insurance
companies are required to allow you to go to the shop of your choice. They can
not pressure you or coerce you into going to their preferred shop, they also can
not penalize you if you don't go to their shop.
If they do, file a complaint with the Colorado Insurance Commissioner at
www.dora.state.co.us and they will put
a stop to that! If you don't want to file a complaint let me know and I will.
FACTORY QUALITY FINISH CANNOT BE DUPLICATED
The myth is that the factory quality finish cannot be duplicated. NOT TRUE!
If we did our very best “show quality” finish on a portion of a car it would
embarrass the rest of any make of production car. In fact, one of the
“giveaways” that a car has been repainted, or parts have been repainted, is that
is too smooth and too shiny. Matching the texture and shine is just as
important as color.
BAKING THE PAINT
The myth is that baking the paint makes it better some how. NOT TRUE!
Baking lasagna at 450 degrees makes it stick to the pan better than raw lasagna,
but that doesn’t apply to paint baking at 150-180 degrees, which is about the
max recommended by most paint manufacturers. What baking does is dry it faster
so the shop can paint 5 cars a day instead of 2. 5 is more money. That is all
baking does, it increases productivity. After a 48 hour period both are the same
and will remain the same for the rest of their lives.
I have never seen any literature from any paint manufacturer that states that
baking will add any qualities to the paint. Another thing a “bake booth” does is
to “wow” a prospective customer. For the record Collision Craft does have a
“down draft bake booth”…wow.
FRAME DAMAGE
The myth is that once a car has frame damage it can never be “right”. NOT TRUE!
With a high quality frame rack and 3 dimensional measuring systems, a lot of
experience and skill a good tech can rebuild it to tighter tolerances than it
was originally built to.
BASE COAT/CLEAR COAT PAINT
Most modern cars come with base/clear paint other wise known as 2 stage. The
base coat is strictly for color. It has no strength of its own, no mar
resistance, no weather resistance, no shine, etc. The clear coat provides the
toughness durability and gloss. Some cars/colors are a tri-stage. They have a
base color then a mid-coat that does some voodoo to the color and then a clear. Pearl white is an example of a tri-coat. These colors are very tough to match.
BLENDING
No color can be matched exactly, no matter what anyone says, the truth is that a
perfect match is impossible. The best way to get an undetectable color match is
to get the color as close as possible either with the paint code, and a skilled
eye (this is usually best) or the computer and then blend it. For example if we
were changing a front fender we prep the door and hood for paint by removing all
of the moldings, mirror, handle, windshield squirters, etc. thoroughly and
completely sand with 600 grit then as we are painting the fender we fade the new
color onto the door, so that leading edge of the door is 100% covered and gently
fading to the back of the door, were there is no new color at all. Do the same
across the hood. Then all 3 panels are cleared, completely. When this is done
by a skilled painter it is a seamless and undetectable “perfect color match”. If
this sounds a little ticklish, it is. It takes longer and requires more skill
than just painting a panel completely. Because we are only putting color on a
portion of the blend panels the insurance will only pay half-price for blend
panels. They dictate the price and then decide when to pay half-price. But I’m
not bitter!
SPOT PAINTING
This is something dreamed up by insurance companies to save money. An example
would be scrape on the hood were only that little area gets painted, this never
works for long. The entire panel must be painted. Clear coat can not be
“feathered out and melted in”. No paint manufacturer, that I know of recommends
this or will warrantee it. It simply does not stand the test of time. If you see
“spot paint” or an asterisk next to the paint time on the estimate…run or fight!
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