Dudley

My car is Artic Silver. I had my bumper resprayed by "supposedly" one of the best shops in Massachusetts. It's close but not perfect. I have been to a couple non-porsche shops and everyone has told me that Artic Silver is tough to match because the metal flake lays differently on the plastic bumper as it does on the metal hood and fenders. Has anyone here ever had success with Artic Silver?

H.H.Chinn

Arctic Silver here, front bumper perfectly matched!! Mark Israel at EuroTech in Kirkland, Washington did the work of undoing a slight mishap by the original owner.

Canyon56

fwiw, I had my bumper resprayed with Polar Silver (bumperette delete.) No problem. Used one of the best places in the US: http://www.aviocoachcraft.com/

But there's always going to be a slight bit of a difference between plastic and metal. Even with the OEM paint. My AMG, which has never been resprayed is slightly different even from the factory.

milrad

I don't know, but if you find a place that can do it right in Eastern MA or Southern NH please post the results. I would like to respray mine and fill in the bumperettes, and I have the same concerns as you.

Mark in Baltimore

I've had lots of parts resprayed polar silver, as hard if not more difficult to match than arctic silver, and the match has been pretty darn close or spot-on. You need to find a better/different shop.

Dudley

Harlan, that looks great - lucky you. Jason, I am seaching but all the well known shops around here have lost their edge.

The problem I have had is listening to the hype of the "top" shops in the Boston area, who cannot deliver.

matt777

+1. A good painter will spray test cards altering the gun settings to get the right color/shade. They can also blend to hide slight differences. This takes some talent and extra time. The good news is that you have the mfg's color code. I tried to color match some TT wheels and had to go on a bit of a crusade to color match them with a base/clear product.

Mark in Baltimore

I forgot to mention that I used a mobile repair guy to fix some scrapes on my Miata's rocker panel. The titanium gray on my Mazda is another difficult color, and the guy, who has over 25 years painting cars, got his paint to match perfectly. Oh, and he did this under my deck, too, all at a cost of $125.

nile13

Dave, I'll recommend Final Finish in Natick (no affiliation). Who did your work?

In my experience in color science I found whites to be most difficult to match, closely followed by faded reds. Silver should not be a problem, even silver with metal flake. Although the comment on metal vs plastic is very true. Not quite for the reason that shop gave, but because the base reflects differently.

Dudley

Thanks, Mike. You have a PM.

nile13

I saw it, Dave. Hard to tell, I've heard that shop name but am not familiar with them.

The thing I've found is that painting is a bit of an art. More than a bit, actually. So finding the right shop is half an issue. If it's a large shop, you never know who's actually going to do the painting. That's why I'm really skeptical of any body shops, period. Than again, there isn't much of a choice. Lately I simply go with people who I can deal with if the problems come up.