Car resprays in Grantham: how we match paint properly

Paint is the part of a repair everyone can see, which is why a poor match is so obvious and a good one is invisible. Here is how the process actually works at our Grantham workshop.

It starts with the paint code, not the colour name

Two cars can both be described as silver and be nothing alike. Your paint code is on a label, usually in the driver's door shut, under the bonnet or in the boot. That code gives us the manufacturer formula, which is the starting point rather than the finished answer.

Then it gets adjusted for your car

Paint fades. A car that has spent ten years parked outside on a Grantham street is not the same shade as the factory formula. We mix, spray a test card, and compare it to your panel in natural light before anything is sprayed on the vehicle.

Blending is what makes it invisible

On metallics and pearls we do not stop at the edge of the repaired panel. The colour is faded out into the adjacent panels so the eye never sees a hard line. This is the single biggest difference between a professional refinish and a cheap one, and it is why a one panel job sometimes needs three panels of labour.

Preparation and baking

The panel is stripped back, filled where needed, shaped, primed and flatted before any colour goes near it. Colour and lacquer are applied in a spray booth and baked, which hardens the finish so it resists stone chips off the A1 and the salt that goes down on Lincolnshire roads every winter.

Full resprays and colour changes

A full respray means removing or masking trim, lights, handles and glass seals so paint does not sit on rubber edges. It is a week or more of work and typically £2,200 to £5,000 depending on the car and how much preparation the old finish needs. A colour change also means painting shuts and jambs, otherwise the original colour shows every time a door opens.

What you should expect at handover

Matched colour in daylight, correct texture so the repair does not look glassier than the rest of the car, clean edges in the shuts, and no overspray anywhere. Our paintwork is guaranteed for as long as you own the vehicle.

For a respray quote in Grantham call 07956 786622 or send photographs and your paint code through the estimate form.