Is it possible to avoid halo'ing with metallic silver paint?

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PostPosted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 6:42 pm
i won't bore anyone with background (my other posts are easy enough to find) so i'll just ask the question: is it possible to completely avoid halo'ing when spot repairing silver paint (specifically honda's current alabaster silver metallic) on a quarter panel? in brief, i did one of the stupidest things i've ever done and let the dealer body shop spot repair something on my brand new accord and in certain light and viewing angle there's a halo on the quarter panel at the tail light. is it possible for someone who's actually competent to repaint that area and not have a trace of halo, i.e., have it look in all lighting and all viewing angles like it's the factory finish?

i'm asking because i'm wondering if it's worth my time and effort to see about getting another shop to fix this halo in the paint. not the worse thing imaginable by a long shot, but the fact that it's there and that i was stupid enough to let them touch my car in the first place irks me to no end.

thanks for any input.

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PostPosted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 6:52 pm
Of course they can.. The repair should be invisible.. If you can see the repair it was not done properly :!: :!:
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 7:07 pm
Yes you should not be able to see a blend. Of course the paint is and looks different, that is why it is blended, right? :D


Silver blends are not easy to do and I would say that a lot of the blends done at a run of the mill shop will be able to be seen if looked at closely enough.
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 7:47 pm
From your previous post it sounded like they blended the color from the quarter into the door?? is that correct?

If so they'd really have to mess up if a blend is showing. An average shop even should have no problem when doing entire panels. Doing an actual spot repair when blending clear is when haloing becomes a problem, even for experienced painters. Often they try to keep the repair extremely small and have troubles because silvers like to have some room to blend.

But to answer your question, a proper repair would be 100% undetectable.
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 8:53 pm
just to clarify, the repair was from the pointed curve on the rear driver's quarter where the tail light meets the panel (recall this is an 8th gen accord) and the "blend" goes out from the tail light to about halfway between the tail light and the fuel filler door, in a sort of rounded triangular pattern, if that makes sense. (i'll try to get a pic of it and post.) but i think you've all got the idea.

basically, if standing at a 45 degree angle from the rear driver's quarter, sort of in a straight line from the point where the rear quarter meets the rear of the car and trunk, in lower light (like a cloudy or overcast day), you can see the halo. in some lights you can even pick it up looking at the quarter panel straight on anywhere from 6 feet to farther away. in bright light, sunny day, etc., it's tough to see. about the only angle at with you cannot see it under any conditions is standing towards the front driver's side of the car, say at the driver's door or front quarter, and looking towards the rear of the car.

anyway, i just can't believe there's a halo there. i don't know much about body work, but from what i've read such a repair should be virtually undetectable. in any light and at any angle. i'm just a little p.o.'d about the whole thing, in no small part because of my stupidity in having the work done in the first place.



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PostPosted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 10:30 pm
Just to clarify what I said before (I reread it and I think I came across as sounding like its ok or the norm to be able to see a blend, ITS NOT OK).


What I meant to say is that a lot of shops put out work like you are describing :( I was not saying that it is ok or should be accepted.


You might have a lemon law type of deal here, if you stir up enough s**t with Honda I am sure that you can get the car repaired right or maybe a new car.

At this point you need to be going over the fact that the quarter panel has been repainted twice right? so if it is repainted again then you will have too much film build (you will have 4 coats of paint, way too much for a car that is only a few months old).

So the quarter panel should be striped to the original paint and redone. This will mean that the door and trunk lid and rear bumper cover need to be blended. This is way too much paint work for such a new car,if you ask me. Since it was a factory warranty issue Honda needs to step up and take care of you however you see fit. I think that you need to be screaming about how you can't have so much paint millage on such a new car and that you also can't have the panel striped since it would require so many adjacent paned to have to be painted, so the ONLY solution would be a new car :D :D

There was a guy on here a few months ago who had a new Honda Civic. The dealer removed some pin striping with a razor blade. They made such a mess that to repair the damage multiple panels would have had to be repainted. He argued that having the parts of the car repainted would devalue his brand new car, guess what? He ended up with a new car!!!!
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 10:36 pm
Take a look at this post, The situation is not quite the same but if you really push the "I can't have a car that has that much paint thickness, and if all the repaints are removed then too many panels will have been repainted, which will devalue my brand new car" they you should be able to get whatever you want out of the deal.


http://autobody101.com/forums/viewtopic ... er&start=0
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 11:39 am
here are some pics of my halo'ing, in case anyone is interested. see my last post on the tread i've linked to. the smaller the pic, the easier it is to see. i think you can pick up the darker area fore of the tail light. definitely more noticeable in person in lower light.

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/showt ... post355242



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PostPosted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 11:58 am
Looks like the painter narrowed down the fan width a lot and made quick
bursts or used a mini gun. Either of which would do what you see now.

I would have masked off the entire panel and shot paint only into the recess.
Then cleared the entire quarter. Actually, i would have grabbed some paint
and touched up the spot with a brush and send you on your way without
charging. And tell you to come back when you have something significant
for me. :wink:

Anyhow, from the looks of it, that rear door may need to be blended into.
You're looking at approximately, $800.00 to do things properly. That will
include removing/reinstalling all necessary items to refinish both panels.
You best bet would be to get referrals.
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:26 pm
alexflacco,

since you mentioned it in your post, i decided to contact the general manager of the dealership and see what he had to say about this situation. bottom line is, he was very courteous and professional, and offered me $19,000 for the car I paid $21,295 for about two months ago, now with 2100 miles on it, and would sell me an identical car for $21,000, which is $126 below invoice. with TT&L i would have been out of pocket a total of about $2,400. thinking this wasn't a bad deal, i looked at each of the 3 identical cars on the lot, 2 of them built in japan and 1 in OH, and got a bit depressed.

the first japan-built i drove, i turned back before we got off of the lot because of a "drub-drub-drub" coming from the wheels or brakes, increasing in speed as i drove faster. my salesman asked a service guy who told him that that's normal because of something that builds up on the wheels (this car had 3.7 miles on it) but as you drive it the sound will go away (?!). funny, my OH built car brand new didn't make that sound.

on both of the other 2, the fit and finish on the exterior at least just wasn't up to the one i'm driving now. actually, i'm beginning to see some truth in what the detroit guys are saying about the myth of better quality foreign brands. my 1999 and 2002 tauruses had better fit & finish, IMO, than a lot of the accords i saw on that lot. so i thanked them for their time and said i'd get back to them. again, actually perfectly nice to deal with and at least on the surface were sympathetic to my situation.

i don't know, maybe i should just keep the car i have now and learn to live with this cosmetic problem that i figure 90% of the population would never notice. it's paid for, has 2100 miles on it, and seems so far like a solid and pretty well put together car (fyi in case you forgot it is OH built and has better fit & finish, other than the stupid tail light issue that kicked this whole sorry mess off, than the 2 japan-built accords i looked at), and consider this whole fiasco a lesson learned (i.e. never let the dealership, especially its body shop, get its hands on your car after you drive it off the lot if you can help it).

any thoughts or advice welcome.
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