[audioholic]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

3. They did a test paint on a metal piece and held it up next to the hood to compare the shade. I feel it is almost perfect. I've attached a couple of images but dont go only by the images. In real life, they looked the same.

The top half of the below image is of the original paint on the hood and the bottom half is of a metal panel which was spray painted about 7 minutes before this image was taken. You can see, it's almost perfect.

Shade looks not almost, but perfect. The minor difference could be due to reflection and spray angle. When you put so much efforts and spend time with your car, you are bound to get good results! Hoping to see the car back to form soon

[Nikhilb2008]

All the prep work has been done and the car is in the paint booth now.

[ashwinmanuk]

The more I see these pics, the sadder it makes me for the VRS and for you. I would go on to say it's a mixed dose of anger and sadness.

The scratches are so deep that it has gone all the way down to leave their mark on the metal!

I am sure this Tafe will restore this beauty to perfection! Waiting to see the pics once she rolls out of the paintbooth in flue blue glory!!!

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

All the prep work has been done and the car is in the paint booth now.

Sorry to say but this looks like a very poorly maintained paint booth.

I hope no dust and other particles settle in the finish. Wasn't expecting this from a Skoda workshop. AFAIK, dust in the clear coat can be removed to some extent but not if it settles before the clear. Shade matching looks perfect in the pictures. Hoping for the best.

Regards,
Shashi

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Sorry to say but this looks like a very poorly maintained paint booth.

I hope no dust and other particles settle in the finish. Wasn't expecting this from a Skoda workshop. AFAIK, dust in the clear coat can be removed to some extent but not if it settles before the clear. Shade matching looks perfect in the pictures. Hoping for the best.

Regards,
Shashi

Hahaha, going by Indian standards, if the paintbooth doors close properly, the burner works and there is positive pressure inside the booth, it's better than 90% of the paint booths in our country!

Anyway we know that dust will get in and settle on the body. Cant be helped. That's why we are asking for an additional layer of clear coat, so Sunny can sand it a bit more aggressively.

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Hahaha, going by Indian standards, if the paintbooth doors close properly, the burner works and there is positive pressure inside the booth, it's better than 90% of the paint booths in our country!

Anyway we know that dust will get in and settle on the body. Cant be helped. That's why we are asking for an additional layer of clear coat, so Sunny can sand it a bit more aggressively.

Been following this thread since the start and this is something that no guy who loves his car should go through. In addition to the wanton vandalism it is the knowledge that no amount of money can guarantee the quality of repair that the car actually deserves that really disappoints. I mean, these guys spend so much on setting up the workshop..what is it going to cost them to ensure that the booth is hermetically sealed, temperature controlled etc. A very simple thing to do in that booth as pictured is to tile it so that dust is easily spotted and can be removed. Paint shops should be literally spotless which is not such an expensive task if you really put your mind to it.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[ShubhamGhute]

Sad to see such a beauty getting vandalised! This shows the kind of destructive mentality people have. Nonetheless, generally skoda dealers have superb repainting facilities and their dealer paint jobs are 95% factory finished. I had repainted my Yeti’s rear door(right side). Mine was a mato brown shade and even though it was a metallic shade, Viraaj Skoda in pune did an impeccable job.

As it is already mentioned in earlier posts, you know the exact locations of scratches and you know where the repainting has been carried on. Hence you will always realise it, but a person unfamilier with your car would never even realise. Your car will surely be back to her glory!

[shaktisarangi]

Shocked to see such wilfully destructive behaviour by the vandal. I have really enjoyed reading your experiences with the VRs and almost booked it. However having driven the Yeti for 5 years I could not let go of the SUV bug and finally picked up a VW Tiguan. Skoda body shops do a good job and the car should be back to its pristine self.

[Nikhilb2008]

My detailed feedback about my experience at TAFE will come in a different post. This post will only focus on the car.

The repainting itself was completed on Tuesday but the bodyshop head Mr Sanjeev and my adviser Sunny suggested I dont rush it and allow the car to stay inside the workshop overnight.

So, yesterday, Sunny and I went to the bodyshop and collected the car.

Under bright sunlight, there is absolutely no difference between the unpainted panel and the repainted panel. I was especially concerned about the metallic flakes in the Race Blue paint. They give a fantastic finish and look to the car and I was hoping that the paint shade at the workshop would be as close as possible to the original paint.

I am happy to report that when talking about the paint shade, TAFE got it SPOT ON! It's absolutely perfect.

I was warned earlier by Mr Sanjeev and Shankara Narayan (the spare parts manager who is more of a friend for me) that there may be minor differences in the metal flakes.

I am glad ot say that if there are differences, they arent visible under a bright torch or under direct sunlight. That's good enough for me.

In some angles, the repainted panels look a bit darker. A teeny tiny bit. However, I am not going to be unhappy over that because the repainted panels havent been finished yet.

Normally after repainting, there is some wet sanding and then polishing that is done. We asked them not to do that as sometimes they could be more aggressive than required. Sunny has some high quality sandpaper from Germany which he will use to flatten the paint without taking off too much clear coat.

Also, we requested TAFE to spray an extra layer of cleat coat which they have done.

There was a patch at the top of my car (above the front passenger door). It was quite deep. Only that patch was sanded down, primer applied and repainted. But to ensure perfect paint matching with the rest of the quarterpanel, the guys at TAFE "smoked" the paint to ensure no one will be able to make out the patch that was repainted.

And I am again pleased that they have done it perfectly. That patch is absolutely invisible now. Of course, the entire quarterpanel now has a lot of orange peel as it has a fresh coat of clear, but again, once Sunny works his magic, it should be perfect.






A video I made combining 3 different clips trying to compare painted and unpainted panels.

https://youtu.be/Yv4LTXOjVHg

Just some pics of the repainted car below.

[Jaggu]

Superb! so happy for you. My only suggestion let it dry really well, wait for BLR sun to really work and then only do any further steps. Especially adding ceramic layer, ideally do it after a month of sun bake.

Your perseverance has paid off! Happy motoring!

[Motard_Blr]

Originally Posted by shibujp

...these guys spend so much on setting up the workshop..what is it going to cost them to ensure that the booth is hermetically sealed, temperature controlled etc. A very simple thing to do in that booth as pictured is to tile it so that dust is easily spotted and can be removed. Paint shops should be literally spotless which is not such an expensive task if you really put your mind to it.

Drive on,
Shibu.

Buying the paint booth is the easy part of setting up a paint shop. The running costs of a paint booth are very high and is common to find booth upkeep is poor because every rupee counts. Is this paise wise, rupee foolish? Probably, but business is tough and the temptation to save money is strong.

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Superb! so happy for you. My only suggestion let it dry really well, wait for BLR sun to really work and then only do any further steps. Especially adding ceramic layer, ideally do it after a month of sun bake.

Your perseverance has paid off! Happy motoring!

Yes, absolutely.

It also suits me that Sunnyboi is busy till the 20th. So, any further work like wet sanding, polishing and coating will happen only after that.

Actually, the ceramic coating will happen even later as we are waiting for our friends/family to come from the US. So they can hand carry the coatings. Sanding and polishing is supposed to be done around 24 hours after painting, but in my case it will be around 2 weeks.... so, I am playing very safe there too.

The only concern I have (over which I have no control and will not be worrying about in a big way) is that the paint on the entire car will fade with time. I am concerned that the factory paint will fade slowly compared to the paint done at the workshop.

Anyway, as of now, I'm a happy man. Not as happy as someone who's car has never been vandalised but as happy s possible after this incident.

[Turbanator]

the ceramic coating will happen even later as we are waiting for our friends/family to come from the US. So they can hand carry the coatings.

Can you share details of the products and vendor/ links?

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Can you share details of the products and vendor/ links?

I buy the Kamikaze stuff through esotericcarcare.com

http://www.esotericcarcare.com/kamikaze-ism-coat/
http://www.esotericcarcare.com/kamikaze-miyabi-coat/
http://www.esotericcarcare.com/kamikaze-over-coat/

Videos:

https://youtu.be/yoNc-7uollE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQBEpP9XgCU

https://youtu.be/T08GLf2XkyY

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Under bright sunlight, there is absolutely no difference between the unpainted panel and the repainted panel. I was especially concerned about the metallic flakes in the Race Blue paint. They give a fantastic finish and look to the car and I was hoping that the paint shade at the workshop would be as close as possible to the original paint.

Great to see how well the paint job has come out. Even the reflections on the painted sections are quite close to those on the unpainted ones. Kudos to your perseverance and to TAFE.

Originally Posted by Motard_Blr

Buying the paint booth is the easy part of setting up a paint shop. The running costs of a paint booth are very high and is common to find booth upkeep is poor because every rupee counts. Is this paise wise, rupee foolish? Probably, but business is tough and the temptation to save money is strong.

Most of these bodyshops are contracted out just like washing. I am sure these bodyshop contractors have volume on their side to spread out the cost.

Drive on,
Shibu