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touch up paint for formula red nsx

Joined
17 May 2002
Messages
525
Location
Brooklyn, NYC
I parked my car last Friday at a garage and I told the guy to take good care of my car. and this fuck@#mng a-hole got my bumper scratched like a inch in diameter and they tried to hide it using red marker. And they charged me $17 too. sucks!!!!!! I am furious. I didn't see it until today. now how can I fix it without painting the whole bumper. What's the code for formula red? Where can I buy the touch up paint cheap online? Can I spray the touch up paint on and then sand it off to a nice finish? can this be done? thanks
 
madfast said:
What's the code for formula red?

R-77 for "Formula Red" (1991-1999 NSX except Zanardi)
R-510 for "New Formula Red" (2000-2003 NSX plus '99 Zanardi)

madfast said:
Where can I buy the touch up paint cheap online?

Don't worry about buying it on line to save money. Pick it up at your local Acura dealer. A bottle only costs about $6. If you get it shipped from somewhere, you will pay more in shipping charges than you will save over buying it locally.

madfast said:
Can I spray the touch up paint on and then sand it off to a nice finish? can this be done?

Send a PM to pbassjo and ask him.

(In my experience, touch-up paint is fine for small chips, not very good on scratches.)
 
A inch in diameter is a pretty big scratch. It doesn't sound like a touch up is going to conceal this damage and not be noticable.
I have heard that some paintless dent removal places have a scratch repair system but never saw it myself. Ask your dealer or body shop what they think before you start trying to spray on touch up paint and sanding.
 
thank you guys for your input. It's not a scratch....it's the size of a small 1 inch diameter circle where the paint was scrapped off. yeah, it's a huge conspicous damage. I don't know if I should go back to the garage where I parked and ask them for damage $$$. I 'll try to post a picture. let me know if you guys have more ideas as to what to do. thanks guys.
 
Your suppose to tip him first b4 you tell him to take real good care of your car .......this is why i try to find parking lots that are park n lock.......there was a thread on prime a while back and it was a confession from a parking attendant.....enough said
 
here are some pics

fc2c9919.jpg


fc2c991e.jpg


fc2c9923.jpg


fc2c9927.jpg



I don't know if I can touch this up with an airbrush and then coat it with a clear coat and then sand it out. what do you think guys? possible?
 
madfast said:
c'mon guys what do you think?

I think pbassjo already gave you good advice.

I think you could try using touch-up paint, but the repair will be visible - in fact, quite noticeable.

I think you could take it to a competent body shop in your area with NSX experience, such as this one, and ask them for their advice.

I think you could then go back to the parking garage and ask them to reimburse you for the cost, since they have apparently already admitted their responsibility to you. If they don't comply, you could sue them for the damages in pro se (small claims) court.
 
svalleynsx
thanks!

Nsxtasy,
Thanks buddy I think I'll do that. I already contacted vincesautobodyworks.com and sent them an email. I am awaiting their response. I hope they can fix it so well that it will not looked like it's been scratched at all...so my car could go back to its virgin status hehehehe. *fingers crossed*
 
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just got my responce back from vinceautobodyworks.com and Joe said that I will have to repaint my whole bumper. bummer!!!! that sucks! I am going to go after the garage ppl. I know I won't get anything out of it cuz I am sure they'll deny it and I will have no prove. this sucks!
 
The best results will come from getting it painted (and paint matched, and blended into the existing body panels...) but here's what I did;

About 5 years ago a giant hail storm caught me out in the open and the only damage that was done was a 3/4 circle of paint missing off the back of the passenger mirror (no dents-I still give thanks to God for that one!) It was gone down to the plastic.

I cleaned the area, grabbed my handy bottle of R-77 brush on touch up paint and "filled" the area higher than the surrounding paint, let it dry for a week, then wet sanded it down by hand and waxed it. That was a long time ago and you can't tell it was ever touched up.

Also, I've touched up a zillion chips all around the car with R-77 and can't tell after it dries. My 80k 1991 apparently hasn't faded too much to make R-77 not match any more. A couple years back I had the rear bumper cover repainted and it matched perfectly as well.

Maybe the sun isn't so intense up here in the arctic.

-ed
www.nsxbuilder.com
 
stormrider said:
what is R-77?

Every paint color has a code associated with it. R-77 is the color code used for the '91-99 red NSX (except '99 Zanardi edition).

This was stated in my earlier reply above.

stormrider said:
where can i go to get it?

You can get a bottle of the touch up paint for that code (or any other code) at your local Acura dealer. Expect to pay around $6 or so.

This, too, was stated in my earlier reply above.
 
nsxbuiler,
thanks for sharing your experience. I am about to do the same thing as repainting the bumper for such a small scratch is not worth it. I am experimenting on my Maxima and pathfinder first. What I will do is clean the area well then cut the paint that is raised a little at a 45 angle with a surgical blade. Then cover the area with newspaper and tape. spray the primer. let it drey. then spray the R-77 with an airbrush and let dry and keep spraying until I build it up past the point of where the actual paint is on the car. Let it dry for a couple of days. then using 2000 Grit sand paper, wet-sand it until it looks flush with the rest of the paint. and the last step spray a clear coat in the area if needed. I know you didn't do this right? then wet-sanding again. what do you think? It will work right?
 
Airbrushing puts on layers of paint that are very thin, and it will take a bunch of coats to "level it out". I just brushed on a thick layer first and sanded it down.

Do what you will, but I think you'll be fine either way.

Perhaps this incident makes you a candidate for the Refresh Plan...

http://www.honda.co.jp/NSX/owner/refresh/

Speaking of, I wonder how many US NSX owners would do the refresh plan if it were available here? Turn my 91 into a new 03? For the right price...

-ed
www.nsxbuilder.com
 
nsxbuilder,
I started experimenting with my pathfinder. there are two scratches on the bumper. one side I used the airbrush and sprayed 3 coats and the other scratch I used the touch up brush and painted a thick coat. tomorrow I will sand both of them and see which one comes out better. After that I am spraying a thin coat of clear coat and wet-sanding again. will keep you posted. Thanks for replying.

p.s. yes, I'd be interested if the refresh program comes to the u.s.
 
Sounds great - let us know how it turns out!

Today I got to drive through a "gravel storm" dropped from a cement truck's suspension just as I approached him. I took a few nicks and a little window chip from it. Nice. Maybe if I painted the car paisley they wouldn't show as much. better go get the R-77 bottle...

-ed
www.nsxbuilder.com
 
There are tiny variations in the R-77 color from car to car, of course, due to various factors, but I have found an aftermarket spray color that seems to match my particular car better than the touchup bottle from Acura. And, it is thinner than the factory paint, and easier for me to dab on without trying to thin it at home first. I have not actually tried to spray anywhere on my NSX, but I don't have any damage to warrant that much paint, yet. I remember it being Duplicolor FM 306, Cardinal Red, but carefully consider your own car and judgement before buying or painting any color not specified for your vehicle.

Regards, Bill

Edit: The correct number for this paint is DSFM 306.
The DS indicates spray can. I bought it at Wal-Mart.
Since the original post, I have sprayed this paint on the
radiator brace where there should be little or no fade.
The color match is very nice. I did not clear coat (Yet)
 
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