Fantasy332

Hello, so I need to remove the fuel lid for my painter to have a reference of the paint when painting my front bumper. Unfortunately I am unable to give them my tow hook lid because i was involved in an accident.

So... how do you take off the fuel lid? I don't see anything i can disconnect.

arentz07

Can't they just paint the front bumper according to the proper paint code and then blend? I think that's the normal process.

Sorry if that was an unhelpful answer, just curious if you even need to do this.

HOMER350

I don't operate an auto-body shop but...That seems like a very odd request.


If you know and trust whoever is asking, then cool maybe there's a reason for that beyond me.

However, if they're someone new to you than requesting this it may be a sign they're not very professional.
Referencing paint color to existing material is not how it's done. I'm like 99% sure on that.

But rather, like arentz07 said, paint shops order the paint by paint code.
That's as much of a sure thing we got to get the color right.

Fantasy332

They asked for a paint code and also a sample (Piece of the car), so they did ask for both.

Sasnuke

Ok...so what I'm understanding here is that they have the bumper and you have the car.
They want to paint the bumper using the paint code and a sample of the car to get the color match as close as possible...so they don't have to bend into the fenders and hood to color match.

So they asked for the fuel lid door...which for any car is likely a chore to remover, and for sure on the Lex.

I would suggest an alternative...give them the cover for one of the side mirrors.
It's easy to take the mirror apart...the only down side is you would have no mirror. You might be able to put the glass back without the colored cover though...I haven't tried personally.

Isaac88

Find a new painter.

unioncorps

I would agree that it's odd for a body shop to ask for a piece of your car to 'match' the paint.

I've taken my previous cars to reputable auto body shops many times for repairs and paint jobs - never once have they asked me to provide something from the car to match the paint. All they needed was the paint code and they would blend in the area that would be painted. I never had a problem with the results.

SSworks

Its to match the color, different companies sell different brand paints and while the color code is the same and the measurements for it is the same, different companies or even different batches may have very slight shade differences, to make sure its an exact match they want a piece of your car. Personally I would stick with them, it shows that they want it done right the first time.

Sasnuke

I kinda have to agree with SSworks on this one.
What they're asking for seems odd, but this could be a next level painter that is confident he can mix the paint to match the car without blending into the existing panel. That takes experience and skill.
The fuel door was a bad ask though...what car has an easily removal fuel door?!?!?!

Fantasy332

So apparently, i figured it out. You just slide the door towards you and it comes off.....

Sasnuke

Lol...I stand corrected...maybe it was that easy.

Could you attach a pic of the inside of the door? Just so we can see how it's held on.

Glenluster

REf (: Paint code ) dont aways match , Ive had front and rear hit two seperate times and both times paint was not close enough to blend . With that being said
is a good reason to take the gas lid off so your paint supplier can do a closer match . Just my 2cents ! Good luck !

E46CT

Yeah what a shop would do is take a little device to your car that takes a highly accurate reading of your particular paint and tells the paint man what #s to punch in his paint mixing computer. You can take 10 cars of the same year and paint code and all will come back with a slightly different hue (in any direction) based on how that paint was applied, cured, cared for, sat in the sun, etc). i'd be willing to bet that you can also take certain brand new cars from different dealers all across the country and they'd be slightly different as well depending on what batch of paint was used to paint those cars, regardless of paint code.

so in op's case, they probably couldn't take their device to the car for whatever reason and wanted him to take a piece of his car to the device. ideally though you'd want to use an adjacent panel.

Atav25

Hit the nail on the head with this one! Really make me glad to hear some places actually care about their work enough and have the skill and experience to do this kind of work. Last time I heard a car being painted like this was atleast 15 years ago when my dad took one of his cars to his friends body shop. This is how OG's paint cars. Devil is in the details