pmkazz

Anybody with a Glacier White 996? If so please let me know the color matching of the bumper, etc., to the body.

Apparently Porsche, at least on the MK1s, painted the soft parts of the body separate from the metal body. Soft parts include front/rear bumper, mirror casings, rear spoiler, trim around the door handles, and the strips that run on each side along the roof. Apparently they were painted elsewhere and then integrated to the body. It is not extremely noticeable but you can see the difference.

All those items on my 996 are the same white but a different shade from the body. Nothing has been repainted and all paint is original.

The reason for the question now is that I had a GT3 bumper and side skirts installed yesterday. The paint guy did everything he could to match the color to the body include bring the gas lid to the paint supply house to match. However, now that everything is installed, the color of the bumper and side skirts look like the original bumper color. It is not too noticeable on the bumper but the side skirts are—I guess because they are noticeable against the door, etc. And it kind of bugs me…

Anyway, does anyone have any thoughts? Is it due to plastic retaining paint different than medal? Anything..

SH || NC

I've spoken to body shop owners who have told me this. It can be somewhat difficult to match the paint on plastic to that on metal.

Eric from bumperplugs likely has a more specific answer.

pmkazz

Whatever Eric used on my bumperetts matched very well with the body. I will have to ask him..

Thanks

Edgy01

Porsche has been routinely manufacturing these cars (996 and 997) as JIT,--Just In time. Materials arrive on the scene in time to be installed onto the finished bodies. The bodies are painted by Porsche in their paint booths. All the other finished parts (painted) arrive at Zuffenhausen already painted, simply waiting to be bolted on. Unfortunately, many of the subvendors for Porsche have not adhered to Porsche's standards on clear coats and thus many light colored non-metallic cars have a two-tone paint look to them. The factory is getting better at this but it has taken years, because these modern cars have so many different submaterials within them, e.g., aluminum, plastics, steel, etc.) Each material reacts differently to these paints. The problem is largely with the clearcoats. Some will yellow early.

Marlon

you are probably the only person it bugs = to every body else it looks awesome. Fret not...

Eric - Plug Guy

What your body guy/painter SHOULD have done is test the paint with sprayout samples and tint up/down until it matched the CAR precisely, NOT match it to the paint code. Sounds like he missed the all important acid test of eyeballing the samples so as not to have this issue. If it were me, I would discuss this with the paint shop that did the work, and ask that they do it over (sand down the parts again and start back at base coat) and have you arrive beforehand where they display 3-5 sample sprayouts, each tweaked lighter, darker, more yellow, etc until it is dead on in daylight and shade, and to at least 3 sets of eyes.

pmkazz

Your point is noted... But I am just so ****---want it perfect..

pmkazz

In his defense he did do a few sprayout samples.. Even took the gas lid off and brought it to the paint supple house to try to match... What he should not have done was mounted the new bumper and side skirts once it was apparent that the colors did not match..

What is interesting, as I explained above, is that all the soft parts of the body matched in color but were different from the metal body. Everything plastic is one shade of white and everything metal is another. This was this way from the factory.. I figured since I was replacing the front bumper and adding the side skirts it was a good time to get everything to match ( I was planning on having the rear bumper painted to match as well). Now the front bumper, rear bumper and side skirts (and other things I listed above) match.

I hear what you are saying about having it redone but my concern is having them redone while on the vehicle. The bumper can be removed again but the side skirts would be very hard if at all.. I just envision more problems. So the question is---do I have the bumpers and side skirts redone or do I continue to own a two tone white 996 (which I have for a number of years)? BTW—the bumpers are not that noticeable but the side skirts, because they are along the doors are…..

salayc

For whites (and most colors) to match, it is necessary to blend into the adjacent parts. Many high end body shops will not paint parts individually for just this reason.

pmkazz

You would think that a perfectionist would be able to keep testing until he comes close----Says a lot a black car... Probabale easier to match or at least not notice..

salayc

Black is easiest, yes.
I doubt there are too many owners who would respray most of the car for an aero kit, but that's what you would have to do to get a perfect match.
I don't know the conversation you had with your body shop, but this is paint 101. The idea of taking a white part in to get a custom color match is impossible. You could adjust all day (or days) long and not get a perfect match where one panel meets another in a sharp line.

Here you go, if you want to see how it's done: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zfy-...eature=channel

pmkazz

Chris,

Good video--thanks... Like I stated above, the plastic parts for the car never matched from day one and they were not repainted.. The bumpers I can live with becasue they are not that noticable.. I need to talk to the painter about the sides though. They just look too white... Thanks for the info..

Eric - Plug Guy

You do not have to blend the other panels, though that might insure a more perfect result.

And no, never have any of this done with the parts ON the vehicle. My point is, if he does the sprayouts/tints correctly, the parts will match the balance of the panels they are against within as close a match as possible, and should not be 'off' to your eye. One things we've learned over the years, particularly with rocker panels that sit low on the vehicle: the color has to be tweaked due to how light hits those parts compared to the doors/fenders. It is different, and the formula has to be adjusted.

Does this shop paint a lot of non metal? We basically do nothing but plastic/rubber, so our formulations are tweaked for every job, though many of the smaller trim parts won't show the discrepancy you are seeing.

By the way, have you talked to the painter? If so, what did he say?

And it is true that various parts are painted from Porsche in other facilities.

pmkazz

Most of the stuff this shop does is metal, carbon fiber, and fiberglass. I picked the car up on Friday and noticed and mentioned that it did not match well but we did not get into a discussion about how to fix it. Plus it was not as noticeable until I got home and put the car in the garage. Being in a darker environment really shows the difference between Glacier White and white. The Glacier White has a dark tint to it and the sides are pure white—so I understand your statement regarding the light hitting the low panels.. I am going to discuss with the painter tomorrow and I know he will work on fixing it…But—as I stated, I do not think the side skirts would come off easy as there are held with very strong tape, etc… I think trying to remove them could damage them if not done very carefully.. Therefore, I guess the alternative would be to paint them on the vehicle, which I am really not comfortable with..

Thanks for your inputs Eric, anymore advice you have is appreciated. BTW---The Bumperetts that you did for me match the car body perfectly..

pmkazz

Pictures Added