Automotive Painting

Yes, and that is where the time goes. We pull the factory code, then spectro-read the actual panel because sun, salt, and time have already moved the color. The goal is matching the car as it sits today, not the color it came out of the factory wearing.

Wait about two weeks before any wash, and skip automatic car washes and brushes for around 60 days. Hand wash with mild soap and cool water, no pressure washers right on the fresh edges, and keep it out of direct hot sun for the first few days. Wax and sealants wait at least 90 days.

Most of the time a single panel plus a blend into adjacent panels is the right call. Full repaints make sense when the clear coat is failing all over the car, the color is heavily faded, or you are doing a color change. We walk you through which version applies before the work starts.

Body work first, always. Dents, ripples, rust spots, and filler get corrected and blocked flat before any primer goes on. Paint over bad metal is a finish that looks fine at pickup and tells on itself by spring.

A downdraft booth pulls dust away from the panel and holds the right temperature through cure. That combination is what keeps dirt nibs, orange peel, and solvent pops out of the finish, and it is why the paint you get from a booth behaves differently than a driveway job that looked fine when it was wet.