[Emoto]

A month or so ago, a piece of unidentified debris flew up and hit the plastic part of my grill. It left scratches that went deeper than the paint.



I go to a local bodyshop with a decent reputation, and am told $6-700!!!

The guy says that although the repair is small, he would pull off the whole front bumper and once the damage is repaired, would re-clear coat the entire thing. He said you can't just do part of a surface because it will end up getting a line after the sun hits it. And he said the Camaro front end doesn't really have any sharp lines that would be a good stopping point for new clear coat, so that's why you have to do the whole thing.

What do you guys think? I don't want a repair that's going to end up looking bad, but that's a lot of money! I was thinking $100-200 at most.

I should mention that the paint is plain old black, so no fancy metal flake or anything to try to match.

[Glen e]

He is correct and doing it right.

[Richard0nee]

I know the pain!! Had a rock chip after 230 miles and it cut deep into the paint. Got it repaired, didn't look perfect but much better and slapped on a clear bra.

I would get it touched up, sand and buff by a professional and then put a clear bra on it.

[Emoto]

Clear bra? Got any pointers to one? I haven't a clue what such a thing looks like.

[Emoto]

Originally Posted by Glen e

He is correct and doing it right.

I was afraid someone would say that.

I have no reason to doubt you.

[Glen e]

Originally Posted by Emoto

I was afraid someone would say that.

I have no reason to doubt you.

Let me be perfectly clear: if you want it to look
Like it never happened, he is right

A body shop/mod shop can do it for less , but it will show a bit .

Pm com69 here for his opinion.

[Com69]

$6-700 is very reasonable for doing it right. Remove, repair, repaint, reclear, reinstall.

[BradfordCamaro]

Time for a decal.
Smooth it out and prime then throw a Carbon Fiber accent strip over the top section.
Scratch gone and totally cool mod in one.

[Emoto]

Thanks for all the responses, guys. Am having a tough time finding these "clear bras" though. Any links or company names would be appreciated.

[Glen e]

Originally Posted by Emoto

Thanks for all the responses, guys. Am having a tough time finding these "clear bras" though. Any links or company names would be appreciated.

A clear bra is not an actual piece that you buy, it's a film put on by an expert search XPEL

[Emoto]

Originally Posted by Glen e

A clear bra is not an actual piece that you buy, it's a film put on by an expert search XPEL

AH! Now I get it.

Very interesting...

and, Thanks!

ETA: Went back to my OP and fixed the thread title form "pain" to "paint" although maybe pain was more appropriate!

[Bassment]

You could make it look about 90% perfect for less than $100. But to make it look perfect like it's brand new, $600 seems normal. You could probably find another quote for a bit less, but not that much less. You can also buy the equipment to do it for less than $600 lol, but obviously that requires some knowledge :P You basically just need a compressor, HVLP paint gun, air filter, wetsandpaper, and a DA polisher (and somewhere safe to spray the toxic 2k Urethane paint)

[Emoto]

Originally Posted by Bassment

You could make it look about 90% perfect for less than $100. But to make it look perfect like it's brand new, $600 seems normal. You could probably find another quote for a bit less, but not that much less. You can also buy the equipment to do it for less than $600 lol, but obviously that requires some knowledge :P You basically just need a compressor, HVLP paint gun, air filter, wetsandpaper, and a DA polisher (and somewhere safe to spray the toxic 2k Urethane paint)

Interesting. I already own a compressor, but somehow I doubt that experimenting on a new 40k car is the best place to learn how to spray paint.

[keon718nyc]

Maybe to cut down some of the cost if you are inclined to do so, you can remove the front bumper yourself and cut the 1-2 hours of labor i would think.