Another Red NSX - My build - Paint does not match!

[mchang]

Another Red NSX - My build

So I picked up this nsx in June, I think many of you saw it for sale here on prime for a few years as the owner was asking such a hefty price for it.

Here is how it looked when I picked it up.





So a little about the car.

There are too many things to list so i'll just stick to some of the major mods:
One of the main things is this car has a matte red finish due to a clearcoat of plastidip.
H&R springs Blistein Shocks and dampers.
High Boost Comptech Supercharger - comptech catback, comptech test pipes
Carbon fiber hood, headlight covers, and everything in the interior.
OZ Ultraleggera wheels 17/18
Seibon CF nsx R spoiler.

There really wasn't anything that needed to be done to the car, but I managed to anyways.

Within the first week of having the car the first things I wanted to do was add an aggressive exhaust, and new wheels.

I picked up a set of 18" Volk Ce28's in Bronze finish.



Then I talked with Mark From Pride about being the first owner of his 2.5" prototype Forced induction specific exhaust.

Being the prototype exhaust it didn't quite sit perfectly, so I took it to a muffler shop to have the tips sit properly.





here is the car on dyno with the 2.5" exhaust on

During this I sent my CE28's over to NU powdercoat I believe and they finished them in this great looking Pearl white & paired with r40 neo chrome lugs







I think about 5 days after mounting the white ce's someone hit my car while it was parked at a car meet at guppy's tea house...



After 2 weeks of waiting for his insurance company to appraise my car and give me money for the damage. I started getting parts. Thought I might as well switch out the front end and went with a shine replica of the Taitec front, and purchased their bottom canards as well. Still looking for the top canards if anyone knows where to buy some. Also I got a pair of Seibon Carbon fiber Fenders thanks to Mark again of Pride!

Took the car to dtm as I have used them once before and see them as a reputable shop. here is the test fit. bumper had some fitment issues so I had to pay extra for them to make it fit properly. I also put back on the stock hood and headlight covers as I am not a huge fan of the CF hood look.



Just got the car back today from dtm autobody today after about 2.5 weeks.


Don't mind the missing sidemarkers, I need to figure that out later on.



Essentially this is why I made this thread. Basically unhappy about the paint match, and was wondering if anyone else has had problems with trying to match paint to their nsx's. Being that I am not home I had my brother pick it up for me, so I gave them a call about the off color, and they said it is darker but that is basically because the car is very old and the original paint has faded so it makes it hard to match them up correctly. I find it hard to believe that they were unable to match the color/not match the color this poorly; this red on the fenders is so much darker than the door!
Just to let you know the bill ran about 2000 dollars just to fit the bumper and fenders and paint match them and buy new fender liners. this price excludes the parts cost and was just to put it on the car and install. for the price I was looking for better results. Judging from pictures I almost just want to repaint my whole car due to the mismatching paint, but unfortunately I will not be able to see it in person for another 2.5 weeks.


little bit of a rant at the end, but hope you guys enjoy the build as of now. Looking to add some sideskirts within the next month or two, and possibly switch up the rims as I am growing tired of the CE's already, and I'm sure I'll find ways to spend money here and there.

 

[huck-jai]

Most shops won't be able to match the paint exactly as the original, but they can get pretty damn close if they wanted to. Your paint match in the last picture looks pretty off to me. I'm no painter, but I think they could have done better to try and match it. Guessing they didn't do a test paint or any blending. Red is a very hard color to match though.
Pretty sweet ride, btw.

 

[mchang]

Most shops won't be able to match the paint exactly as the original, but they can get pretty damn close if they wanted to. Your paint match in the last picture looks pretty off to me. I'm no painter, but I think they could have done better to try and match it. Guessing they didn't do a test paint or any blending. Red is a very hard color to match though.
Pretty sweet ride, btw.

yeah I don't expect a perfect match but the red is noticeably darker one the fenders without it having to be pointed out to anyone. Will go back to see if they can blend it better for me as I am pretty unsatisfied with the match as it is

 

[rjwong]

the red would be impossible to blend with new paint since most likely it has faded throughout the years, especially the top half of the car. I have a friend with a spa yellow nsx, same thing happened, we could not get the paint to match the original panels. I think also being a pearl yellow, that didn't help...

As for the side markers, you should be able to use some s2000 signals

you should have just painted the entire car. Since you didn't do a color change it wouldn't have been that bad

Nice looking front though btw

- - - Updated - - -

looking and reading your post more, the last pic you posted with the door and fender, the bodyshop 100% did not blend your door with the fender. its an obvious color cut off from panel to panel. Looking at your door though, the original red is very faded, what do you expect for a 20 year old finish though...

 

[Dhalsim]

Looking good. I had the front of my car resprayed a couple years ago and it matched perfectly with the rest of the car. But I suppose it matters what the condition of your original paint was.

BTW - What did you do with the original front spoiler that was on the car?

 

[mchang]

Looking good. I had the front of my car resprayed a couple years ago and it matched perfectly with the rest of the car. But I suppose it matters what the condition of your original paint was.

BTW - What did you do with the original front spoiler that was on the car?

thanks. All the parts that were replaced are just sitting in my garage now

- - - Updated - - -

the red would be impossible to blend with new paint since most likely it has faded throughout the years, especially the top half of the car. I have a friend with a spa yellow nsx, same thing happened, we could not get the paint to match the original panels. I think also being a pearl yellow, that didn't help...

As for the side markers, you should be able to use some s2000 signals

you should have just painted the entire car. Since you didn't do a color change it wouldn't have been that bad

Nice looking front though btw

- - - Updated - - -

looking and reading your post more, the last pic you posted with the door and fender, the bodyshop 100% did not blend your door with the fender. its an obvious color cut off from panel to panel. Looking at your door though, the original red is very faded, what do you expect for a 20 year old finish though...

yeah the paint is very faded, since it is 20 years old. My complaint is just that as you stated, that the fender and door don't seem to be blended at all or attempted to be matched properly.
And I did buy the s2000 side markers, just need to buy the correct wire harnesses to connect everything.

 

[NetViper]

I want that exhaust!

 

[Dhalsim]

I want that exhaust!

Is it available now?

 

[ATERPAK]

A good shop never makes excuses about a paint being too old. They should have noticed that to begin with and told you what else might have to be done to get things perfect. I've had some minor work done on a left rear quarter and bumper and the guy matched it perfectly to the rest of the car. They blended it to the door, bumper, and trunk and you can't tell. It can be done but it takes someone who really knows what they are doing and willing to take the time to do it. Take it back and have them do it right and blend the front to the door panels as it should have been done. Good luck.

Al

 

[sca037]

Sounds like your car is a good candidate for a 'wrap', at least until you decide how to proceed from here.

Brian

 

[mchang]

Is it available now?

No not yet, i still need to put out a full sound video for Mark and send him the dyno sheets next weekend. But as for a time table for production you would have to ask him.

 

[Dhalsim]

yep....just as I thought I asked about your lip back on the 19th and I think you sold it on FB.

 

[Senninha]

My understanding is that there are two key problems matching the NSX paint colors (some moreso than others). The Formula Red has a tint in the topcoat, so not the clearcoat many expect. Over time and with much polishing the tint will change intensity - next time you polish look at what happens to color of your polishing cloth! Second is the move to water based paints in recent years. This does tend to give a really smooth finish as in your photos, but unless they take great care they may struggle to match. I'm not a fan of blending as if done bad it looks even worse than what you ahve today.

Good luck getting resolved and dont go wrapping new paint if you intend to leave on for more than a few months ...

 

[Nefarious]

As someone that used to work in paint/body, blending is a skill and if done correctly, you have to look hard to notice. If done incorrectly, it looks absolutely terrible. I think it's time to to paint the rest of the car and since it's not a color change, it is pretty easy to get done.

 

[mchang]

So finally saw the car in person, and yes what happened is there was no attempt to paint blend the fender with the doors.
Other than that put in my nardi 340 wood steering wheel and nrg quick release setup.

View attachment 106589
Also put together a sound video for Mark of his pride 2.5inch prototype exhaust.

 

[Senninha]

Sounds wild but way too loud for my taste .... start up sounds very exotic.

Enjoy yourself