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I've just bought a lovely Arena Red 993 C4. The sills and lower sections of the front and rear wings were painted pre-purchase to rectify some lacquer peel. The first attempt was poor (both quality and colour match). The second is better quality but the shade is still way too light (even though the paint shop used a spectrometer).
On a cloudy day the match is fine. However, in direct sunlight the match is poor (see photo).
Is Arena Red really this difficult to match? The car had paint five years ago when corrosion around the front windscreen was sorted - the paint match is very good here.
Many thanks for any advice on how to get a better match!
FYI...there are 2 Arena Red paint codes for the 993. Search is your friend.
Many thanks, I've already done the legwork and discovered that there are two paint codes...
I suspect that there has been some fading after 25 years of sun exposure and the paint codes are no longer particularly useful (apart from touch-ups for filling in stone chips).
My understanding is that the paint will need to be mixed in order to take into account the aging of the existing paint, hence the use of the spectrometer in the last attempt.
BTW, my paint code is 84S. Does anyone know if the other code (84R) is lighter or darker? My understanding is that 84S is water based and 84R is not.
Last edited by Paul Ireland; 01-12-2020 at 04:23 PM.
In addition to the different paint ages, you may also be up against the issue of how the metallic flakes in the paint settle and reflect. This is why the exact same shade of silver can look different on a repainted panel like a bumper cover, especially in the sun. Unless the two panels were painted hanging at the same angle with the same paint on the same day, the paint (and the reflective flakes within it) will settle (and reflect light) differently.
The difference may be a little or a lot depending on how critically you look, but it’s hard to “unsee” once you notice it.
In addition to the different paint ages, you may also be up against the issue of how the metallic flakes in the paint settle and reflect. This is why the exact same shade of silver can look different on a repainted panel like a bumper cover, especially in the sun. Unless the two panels were painted hanging at the same angle with the same paint on the same day, the paint (and the reflective flakes within it) will settle (and reflect light) differently.
The difference may be a little or a lot depending on how critically you look, but it’s hard to “unsee” once you notice it.
Thanks, that makes a lot of sense. Can a good paintshop get really close? Or am I unlikely to get a better match than I already have?
If I’m seeing correctly in your photo the color isn’t even close. Looks like the wrong color mix or code - I didn’t know there are two AR codes. But you say the shop used your trunk code?
Something is just wrong here - it looks like that area was painted with a spray can.
I’ve had my AR 993 and 997 Meteor Gray Metallic bumper covers front and rear repainted because of conversion to turbo bumpers and de-bumperette work. Now that I think about it the Meteor Gray was a faded in and so was the AR once when I cracked the clear coat in one spot.
Both colors are said to be hard to match but mine are dead nuts.
No offense intended at all, but are you dealing with a first rate paint shop that specializes in high end cars and custom paint work? Unless your car has been in the sun for 20 years and faded to crap it should be able to be matched.
I would try another shop if you can get some good recommendations.
It certainly looks like a nice AR 993.
Where are you located? Edit - never mind UK it appears.
I have had zero issues on multiple bumpers. They didn’t do a good job. Time to find a better body shop if you can notice it.
they had to do significant blending of surround panels when I replaced bumpers. Shouldn’t be a hard difference between panels if they did the job right.
issue of how the metallic flakes in the paint settle and reflect.
+1 There may be no good answer to in a spot paint job due to this. Not sure how blending to adjacent panels works either. It may be a good subject to have a discussion with your paint shop about.
Andy
Thanks, that makes a lot of sense. Can a good paintshop get really close? Or am I unlikely to get a better match than I already have?
I think the answer is yes. finding the good shop will be a challenge.
I had some components painted iris blue years ago, likely similar in difficulty to AR, and was very happy with the result.
make sure the shop uses the same BRAND of paint originally used.
Likely Spies-Heckler (sp?).
Good luck, AR ROCKS!
I had the whole front end and driver's door reshot a few years back due to rock chips and some clear
coat lifting on the door. the blended the paint incredibly well- too the paint all the way into the rear quarter on the driver's side and into the front of the passenger's door. you can't tell and the paint now looks amazing
I had my scuttle and roof painted on Polar Silver(hard to match). Bodyshop painted 8 test cards changing it slightly each time to get it right so a good shop can do it. I have just had a Land Rover defender wing painted at main dealer bodyshop and it was miles out. Complained and they took it back in and polished it which made no difference to the colour match at all. I don,t believe they painted it . Complained again and they said the spectrograph said it was spot on. I fortunately hadn't paid and said I wouldn.t accept it. They got the area rep for Spies Heckler to come and have a look,he mixed paint and it was perfect. The average age of the staff looked about 17 and I don,t think they had anybody with experience to match it!
I had a new decklid, wing, front bumper, and other painted accessory bits installed, all being paint matched to the Arena Red of the car. In my case, the straight up paint code did not match and had to have adjustmenst made to it to make it match just right. The paint shop made over half a dozen swatch mixes before finding the right match, so experience, materials, and mastery of techniques of the shop you choose DOES matter to get the job done right.
I had a black car with with at LEAST 3 different blacks on different panels ad swapped to a white car which I thought would be easier to get matching panels. The front euro conversion was a great from the box but the tail was a pain even though it was the same paint. The shop ended up painting it a number of times. I removed the hood badge for some reason and you can see the original paint which hadn't faded underneath it clearly so factory codes are only a starting point for quarter century old cars.
If I allowed them to blend it across panels it would have matched 100% but I didn't want original panels with no problems painted and they said they could do it so I had no problem hammering on them until it was done.
One other thing is that the paint sits slightly differently on the plastic than it does on the metal, Even the original 3rd brake light spoiler has a slightly different density even if the color is the same.
01-12-2020, 01:39 PM
Matching Arena Red paint
