# Front end Respray? Severe stone chips



## andyleem (Sep 9, 2011)

Hi,

I've just bought a red GTR and it has severe stone chip damage to the front bumper, splitter, grill, bonnet and a little on the wings. It looks like the front bumper was resprayed poorly at some point before.

Has anyone else had their front end resprayed? If so, how did it turn out and what kind of price did you pay?


Thanks


----------



## Hashlak (May 26, 2013)

Good question.. I would also like to know what the best solution is to clean up those stone chips on the front.. Even after a respray i believe there is still some evidence left from stone chips


----------



## andyleem (Sep 9, 2011)

I've just booked it into an extremely good paintshop in Harpenden, Herts. Should be finished by next weekend. I'll update you on it next week


----------



## Mookistar (Feb 5, 2004)

andyleem said:


> I've just booked it into an extremely good paintshop in Harpenden, Herts. Should be finished by next weekend. I'll update you on it next week


Let us know the outcome. Good bodyshops are hard to find.


----------



## andyleem (Sep 9, 2011)

Google
Harpenden Classic & Performance

A lot of supercar dealers use them for work


----------



## Adamantium (Jun 24, 2002)

bit of an odd question.

Your car needed painting, what happened when you had it done?

It's a car, it's paint, it's no different from any other car that needs to be painted - not quite sure what you are hoping to get from this thread.


----------



## Mookistar (Feb 5, 2004)

Adamantium said:


> bit of an odd question.
> 
> Your car needed painting, what happened when you had it done?
> 
> It's a car, it's paint, it's no different from any other car that needs to be painted - not quite sure what you are hoping to get from this thread.


Have you actually read the first post?


----------



## ASH-R35 (Jun 7, 2013)

He's probably just seeking reassurance that the chips can be done away with, which of course they can.

Personally I wouldn't buy a car that needed so much paintwork doing, but each to his own I guess......


----------



## andyleem (Sep 9, 2011)

_*Has anyone else had their front end resprayed? If so, how did it turn out and what kind of price did you pay?*_

A GTR in Red is not easy car to do a front end respray on. Ask any paintshop. So I am asking how other peoples frontend respray turned out and matched. Secondly, I'm asking the approx price it costs so I can see if I'm getting a good price or not.

Pretty self explanatory i'd say. Unless you didn't read the opening post at all?


----------



## andyleem (Sep 9, 2011)

Mookistar said:


> Have you actually read the first post?


Lol, exactly my thoughts.


----------



## andyleem (Sep 9, 2011)

ASH-R35 said:


> He's probably just seeking reassurance that the chips can be done away with, which of course they can.
> 
> Personally I wouldn't buy a car that needed so much paintwork doing, but each to his own I guess......


It's not really much paintwork. Car went around europe so had some pretty bad stonechips which you can expect with how thin the original GTR paint is. If it is resprayed it'll probably turn out better than a new (I hope).


----------



## ASH-R35 (Jun 7, 2013)

I'd guess £400-£500 for a decent front end tidy up....a bit more if wings need doing....just my guesstimate!


----------



## deankenny (Feb 5, 2013)

My 350z when i bought it was extremely bad and covered in stone chips and all way up bonnet too, i paid £400 for Bonnet and Bumper respray and ended up with this  First pic is before spray job and added splitter 

This was before the spray job










after spray


----------



## willgts (Jul 17, 2004)

ASH-R35 said:


> He's probably just seeking reassurance that the chips can be done away with, which of course they can.
> 
> Personally I wouldn't buy a car that needed so much paintwork doing, but each to his own I guess......


Don't think I 've seen an unwrapped GTR without stonechips? Paint is really soft and chips very easily.


----------



## andyleem (Sep 9, 2011)

deankenny said:


> My 350z when i bought it was extremely bad and covered in stone chips and all way up bonnet too, i paid £400 for Bonnet and Bumper respray and ended up with this  First pic is before spray job and added splitter
> 
> This was before the spray job
> 
> ...


Mine is similar, but 70% is on the bumper. The bonnet and wings are not major. But I want it to be perfect and blend well.


----------



## Adamantium (Jun 24, 2002)

I read the first post entirely, you just want an idea of price.

Red is going to be a hard colour to match, it's gong to need proper blending and a trust worthy paintshop.

Skimping on the price would be a bad idea.

I typically pay £250 per panel which isn't cheap but if the quality isn't to my standards (never happened) I know I can comfortably send it back until it is.


----------



## saucyboy (Nov 1, 2009)

Hey op, I too have a red R35 and have the same prob with chips. Lets us know how you get on mate as I'm willing to travel for a decent job ; )


----------



## Hashlak (May 26, 2013)

Just came across a nice video on the 3M venture shield/clear bra for protecting against stone chips..

Clear Bra: Invisible Paint Protection -- /DRIVE CLEAN - YouTube


----------



## ASH-R35 (Jun 7, 2013)

Hashlak said:


> Just came across a nice video on the 3M venture shield/clear bra for protecting against stone chips..
> 
> Clear Bra: Invisible Paint Protection -- /DRIVE CLEAN - YouTube


How much would it cost to have rhis applied to say the front of the car and the wings?....


----------



## Grimblin Gibbon (Jul 16, 2009)

ASH-R35 said:


> How much would it cost to have rhis applied to say the front of the car and the wings?....


Had the whole front end, wing mirrors, rear arches, and doors and sills done on mine by Nissan when I bought it cost was £1200.

One thing I would suggest is to get the front 2-3 inches of the roof above the front screen done! (Got a couple of hum dinga chips up there!)

Cant tell you how many times that stuff has saved my paintwork, including taking a hit from a suicidal pidgeon at @ 70mph. :bowdown1:


----------



## Adamantium (Jun 24, 2002)

Paint shield self healing film would be my choice.

About £1200 for the area mentioned but that's after a respray.


----------



## pwpro (Jun 6, 2009)

Grimblin Gibbon said:


> Had the whole front end, wing mirrors, rear arches, and doors and sills done on mine by Nissan when I bought it cost was £1200.
> 
> One thing I would suggest is to get the front 2-3 inches of the roof above the front screen done! (Got a couple of hum dinga chips up there!)
> 
> Cant tell you how many times that stuff has saved my paintwork, including taking a hit from a suicidal pidgeon at @ 70mph. :bowdown1:


i'd do the whole roof as the line across would annoy the crap out of me 

plus sods law dictates if you have just the leading edge done you'll get a chip just behind where it finishes !!

only one company to even consider and thats paint shield 

current price is £1400 plus vat for a full frontal


----------



## m33ufo (Nov 23, 2011)

Hashlak said:


> Good question.. I would also like to know what the best solution is to clean up those stone chips on the front.. Even after a respray i believe there is still some evidence left from stone chips


If you spray over a stone chip without preparing first then you'll still see the chip - all be it below several layers of new paint. Do the job properly and there's no reason why you would see signs of a chip. 

The GTR is no different to any other car to paint.


----------



## Crafty_Blade (Jul 11, 2012)

Had front (not bonnet, wings or splitter) sprayed on mine because of annoying chips. Had it done by a firm that deal with Aston Martins/Bentleys from the local dealership. Cost £285. The paint applied was to the nissan paint code but seemed more durable. The colour was Storm White. On another note I had wheels reburbed at £65 a corner, finish wasn't as bright as OEM but very good otherwise


----------



## m33ufo (Nov 23, 2011)

So just the front bumper cover? 

Davies Motor Company? They just did my roof and bonnet due to bird crap!! I've used them for years and they do have the occasional lapse but are always ready to rectify.


----------



## Neanderthal (Apr 5, 2013)

Does a colour wrap provide as good a protection as the clear 'bra' stuff? I assume not as you're not far off the cost of wrapping the whole car?


----------



## Steve (Sep 21, 2001)

pwpro said:


> i'd do the whole roof as the line across would annoy the crap out of me
> 
> plus sods law dictates if you have just the leading edge done you'll get a chip just behind where it finishes !!
> 
> ...


Wow, I'll get my missus to strip off for a full frontal at that price!!!

After you have had the stone chips sorted, the next thing to do and this THE ONLY TIME I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS, is to get a CLEAR wrap on the front end, wings & mirrors (like wot I ave dun!

Steve

PS I get my 33 front bumper painted at the edn of the track day season as its gets a fwe stone chip for about £300 to £400


----------



## Steve (Sep 21, 2001)

typing too fast, sorry !!!


----------



## DWC (May 18, 2009)

I was quoted £700 for a whole front Respray. I paid a bit more & had the sides done/rear bumper/spoiler. Very good job. You do have to understand that a human has sprayed it trying to remove all your chips so it very difficult to get complete perfection.


----------



## pwpro (Jun 6, 2009)

Neanderthal said:


> Does a colour wrap provide as good a protection as the clear 'bra' stuff? I assume not as you're not far off the cost of wrapping the whole car?


pretty much yes 

a few of our customers who particular like hard driving and track days have had double wrapped bumpers / bonnets for extra protection


----------



## Paulsmig (Feb 24, 2013)

I had a red 360 with a badly chipped bumper. I took it to get sprayed. He said I should do the full front end so it matched. Cost 600(cash) . This is two years ago. A place in South Shields.


----------



## Hashlak (May 26, 2013)

When the front end gets resprayed does it stick out at all compared the rest of the cars paint ??


----------



## ASH-R35 (Jun 7, 2013)

Hashlak said:


> When the front end gets resprayed does it stick out at all compared the rest of the cars paint ??


Only if its a crap job!

The hallmark of a quality job is where the repair is not recognisable


----------



## Paulsmig (Feb 24, 2013)

ash is right. they normally machine polish the full car so you cant tell.


----------



## pwpro (Jun 6, 2009)

Paulsmig said:


> ash is right. they normally machine polish the full car so you cant tell.


this should be done as the rest of the car is bound to be duller than the freshly painted area unless the car is detailed regularly 

you cant expect them to age the new finish to match the existing 

dont expect perfection though as the perfect paint job does't exist


----------



## deano555 (Apr 22, 2012)

Red cars that have been painted show up really bad under those semi-bright coloured street lights. I had one that looked perfect in daylight but under a lamp post you could actually see the gun strokes where the panel had been blended in.


----------



## Hashlak (May 26, 2013)

pwpro said:


> this should be done as the rest of the car is bound to be duller than the freshly painted area unless the car is detailed regularly
> 
> you cant expect them to age the new finish to match the existing
> 
> dont expect perfection though as the perfect paint job does't exist


Cool, thanks for the info.. I am planning to get the front bumper re-sprayed on my brothers C63 AMG soon.. We have done a lot of 'spirited' driving in that thing and its just been peppered with stone chips all over the front :/ Car is generally kept in good condition and is detailed regularly.. All carbon fiber work is untouched so i hope i can get good results on that..

Ill see you tomorrow morning paul  Will try to be there by 9


----------



## pwpro (Jun 6, 2009)

Hashlak said:


> Cool, thanks for the info.. I am planning to get the front bumper re-sprayed on my brothers C63 AMG soon.. We have done a lot of 'spirited' driving in that thing and its just been peppered with stone chips all over the front :/ Car is generally kept in good condition and is detailed regularly.. All carbon fiber work is untouched so i hope i can get good results on that..
> 
> Ill see you tomorrow morning paul  Will try to be there by 9


no worries buddy 

we need you by 8 not 9 mister !! get that alarm set :chairshot


----------



## Hashlak (May 26, 2013)

pwpro said:


> no worries buddy
> 
> we need you by 8 not 9 mister !! get that alarm set :chairshot


Haha ok, ill have to leave earlier then


----------



## andyleem (Sep 9, 2011)

Front end respray is almost done, they are just doing the splitter and centre grill. Should be finished tomorrow and I'll post pics!


----------



## saucyboy (Nov 1, 2009)

Cool mate, bet you can't wait for her to look all sparkly new


----------



## andyleem (Sep 9, 2011)

Car is finished and I got it back on Saturday. Some of you who attended Japshow might have spotted my car there on Sunday. 

I am very impressed with the result. You wouldn't know it has been resprayed and the colour match is 100% perfect. I wouldn't have accepted the car back if there were any imperfections. I had the bumper, grill and splitter done. After they painted it, they spent a further 5 hours flatting/sanding and polishing the paint which I was impressed with. 

Here are the pics:


----------



## Steve (Sep 21, 2001)

Nice, how much ? THE BEST COLOUR CAR TOO 

Looking at geting my 33 front bumper done too


----------



## andyleem (Sep 9, 2011)

Been using this bodyshop for years so I got a preferential price, but for a full front end repspray to this quality would range from £800-£1300. You may find a bodyshop offering you the work for cheaper, but you pay for what you get. This bodyshop does the work for most of the supercar dealers in the area so it's as good as you'll get.


----------



## DWC (May 18, 2009)

I had mine done a couple of months ago & was very impressed. Why do they use white primer/undercoat though. Every time I get a small chip it stands out big time. Surly they could use a colour to match the paint so it doesn't show up so much. Still looks awesome though. Well worth doing after a couple of years.


----------



## saucyboy (Nov 1, 2009)

Mate that likes top work from those photos, bet you're well chuffed 

Any chance you could Pm me the details? Need mine doing at some point in the near future.


----------



## Steve (Sep 21, 2001)

Where is the Body shop ?


----------



## andyleem (Sep 9, 2011)

Harpenden, Herts. 

Harpenden Classic & Performance


----------



## Hashlak (May 26, 2013)

Nice ! They seem to have done a great job.. Im glad to see that the bumper re-spray matches 100%  Need to have mine done and thought maybe because of the plastic it wont match as well..

Gotta sort out this dent soon :/

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/57333195/DSC_0253.jpg


----------



## Paulsmig (Feb 24, 2013)

Looks real impressive. Now to keep it clean in the winter


----------



## Crafty_Blade (Jul 11, 2012)

Looks like new..great result :thumbsup:


----------

