Color matching Tungesten Gray - Your experience

[mfergel]

I'm wondering if Tungsten Gray is one of the harder colors to match. I bought a used hood early summer from someone. My aftermarket Ram Air. It was already painted Tungsten and looks fine in bright light but in shadows (such as a parking garage) it's really obvious that it doesn't match. It's missing that purplish/blueish color of the rest of the car. Same thing with a used Roush bumper I had got. Doesn't match the hood or the car. Missing that color component - the purplish/blueish tint. Almost makes me afraid of having anything painted down the road.

Anyone else have the same experience with Tungsten?

 

[JeremyH]

Color matching is really impossible for any car when just buying a piece pre painted since the color will change overtime. Unless you get the new parts paint blended to your car specificly.

 

[UltraKla$$ic]

Tungsten is MURDER to match!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even the most skilled painter will have to work like a slave to get a perfect match for Tungsten.

My old '07 Tungsten Gray

 

[loots06]

When I had my hood painted I took it back because the color match was so off. When I had the chin painted at a different shop the workmanship and the color match was so much better. As you could see it gonna be hit or miss.

 

[retfr8flyr]

Tungsten Gray is almost impossible to match exactly. The painting I have had done on mine has been a nightmare for the painter, getting everything to match acceptably. You would have to paint the whole car for a perfect match.


Earl

 

[mfergel]

I think one thing I might do is take in my gas cap and have a computer color match just to see how close it comes to the stock color formula. I think someone had posted here (maybe another site) the ratio of color components. I know I had similar problems with a Dodge Neon many years ago. I had a bumper painted and it was spot on. Took it in for hailstorm work and the blend was horrible. Had them do it a second time and it was even worse. Ultimately did a custom paint job/graphic on the side that allowed me to avoid the problem with the color blending not matching. I think that whole experience scares the heck out of me too. Really don't want to paint the whole car.

 

[Hatchman]

Not sure how hard Mineral Grey is to match compared to Tungsten, but I had a CS bumper painted by these guys and it was pretty close. I'd say 99.99% people couldn't just look at the car and tell the bumper was painted separate. However, if you know it's painted and stare at it long enough, you can tell. And since everyone on this forum knows there was no Mineral Grey S197 California Special ever made...

But, here is the place, it's in Chesapeake so a little bit of a drive for you from Richmond:

http://www.micarcollision.com/
"We guarantee a perfect blended color match."

They matched the paint with the paint code, VIN and 5 different color cards for Mineral Grey. Apparently there is more to it than just taking the paint code off the door.

Not sure what is up at the Nissan plant, but they are horrible and matching grey/silver/beige paint on their cars, especially the Maxima.

 

[mfergel]

That's not too bad from Richmond and ultimately I would rather spend the money on gas to get a good job done that have to drive the car with pieces that don't match all too well. I don't expect a 100% match but the pieces I have now are painfully obvious. Would be one thing if it were just a side scoop but a hood and bumper are pretty big pieces.

 

[00colburn]

when i had to get my hood repainted cause of some fu@#$r decided to key my hood all the way down to the metal, the shop i took it to said it was going to be hard to do because of it being a metallic paint but they did a great job. it took them about 3 days total to do everything from: prepping, painting, and buffing the hood. when it was done it looked like nothing happened at all to my hood.

as far as parts that are already painted and you are trying to match them to your car thats another problem, because the paint on our cars fade during time and that paint on the new part can be newer or older.

 

[cavero]

when i had to get my hood repainted cause of some fu@#$r decided to key my hood all the way down to the metal, the shop i took it to said it was going to be hard to do because of it being a metallic paint but they did a great job. it took them about 3 days total to do everything from: prepping, painting, and buffing the hood. when it was done it looked like nothing happened at all to my hood.

as far as parts that are already painted and you are trying to match them to your car thats another problem, because the paint on our cars fade during time and that paint on the new part can be newer or older.

Definitely. I ordered a new front bumper from NewTakeOff.com in Tungsten and there was definitely a difference between that paint that sat in a warehouse for 6 years and my car that sat out in the elements. It wasn't huge but if you knew about it you could see it right away. Luckily when I got my stripes painted the shop did an expert job of matching everthing. They literally blended everything :bumpers, hood, roof, trunk, fenders--all except the doors,which you can't tell weren't touched. Granted the hood, roof, bumpers, and trunk were mandatory because they laid the silver first and then did the tungsten over it