Painting & Galvanized Panels

[danmartinic]

I am looking for a shop to repair deep scratches in a panel. I understand that painting requires removing the original paint (unless you can paint on top of old paint? I don't know anything about painting).

So far, all the shops talk about "grinding" or sanding away the original finish to bare metal. Does this not remove the galvanizing that has kept my daily driver rust-free all this time?

When I ask about this, the response is "it won't rust, trust me". Yes, like all the cars around here "don't rust".

Is there a way to re-paint a panel without losing the galvanizing feature? What can I ask for at these body shops?

[danmartinic]

One shop has offered to keep the "grinding" to a minimum, essentially only around the scratches, then lightly sand & paint the rest. This should preserve most of the original zinc coating.

Took a while to find someone willing to listen to my concern.

I also understand that up here, something called spot-painting options were available, but due to a law change in 2007, this is no longer the case. The "materials" are no longer available.

One place suggested I go cross-border to Buffalo for spot-painting. As usual, plenty more options on the other side *sigh*

[Tom]

I think you're smart to preserve the factory metal and primer for a small repair like that. Plenty of good aftermarket rust protection products, but I doubt any are as good as the original factory seal. In the California Bay Area, local regulations limit paint shops (and others) to environmentally friendly paints (e.g., water based low VOC paints). Even so, somehow, there's a local Porsche certified shop that has spot blended scratches on both my 991 and 992 (base/clear) and made it look 100% perfect -- even to a very critical eye. They said they thin the paint way out and blend, but are pretty vague about the process.

[blueline]

I think you're smart to preserve the factory metal and primer for a small repair like that. Plenty of good aftermarket rust protection products, but I doubt any are as good as the original factory seal. In the California Bay Area, local regulations limit paint shops (and others) to environmentally friendly paints (e.g., water based low VOC paints). Even so, somehow, there's a local Porsche certified shop that has spot blended scratches on both my 991 and 992 (base/clear) and made it look 100% perfect -- even to a very critical eye. They said they thin the paint way out and blend, but are pretty vague about the process.

We don't have the same restrictions here but no matter, being able to accomplish what you've had done is good to know, no matter how it was accomplished.

The 992? Ouch! Was it relatively small?

[Tom]

I think you're smart to preserve the factory metal and primer for a small repair like that. Plenty of good aftermarket rust protection products, but I doubt any are as good as the original factory seal. In the California Bay Area, local regulations limit paint shops (and others) to environmentally friendly paints (e.g., water based low VOC paints). Even so, somehow, there's a local Porsche certified shop that has spot blended scratches on both my 991 and 992 (base/clear) and made it look 100% perfect -- even to a very critical eye. They said they thin the paint way out and blend, but are pretty vague about the process.

We don't have the same restrictions here but no matter, being able to accomplish what you've had done is good to know, no matter how it was accomplished.

The 992? Ouch! Was it relatively small?

It was on the under side of the front wing, so not visible unless you got down and looked for it. Body shop thought I was crazy to fix scratches that were on the underside of the car, but it was a white painted surface and I wanted to erase all memories of my bone head move.

viewtopic.php?t=189

[blueline]

I think you're smart to preserve the factory metal and primer for a small repair like that. Plenty of good aftermarket rust protection products, but I doubt any are as good as the original factory seal. In the California Bay Area, local regulations limit paint shops (and others) to environmentally friendly paints (e.g., water based low VOC paints). Even so, somehow, there's a local Porsche certified shop that has spot blended scratches on both my 991 and 992 (base/clear) and made it look 100% perfect -- even to a very critical eye. They said they thin the paint way out and blend, but are pretty vague about the process.

We don't have the same restrictions here but no matter, being able to accomplish what you've had done is good to know, no matter how it was accomplished.

The 992? Ouch! Was it relatively small?

It was on the under side of the front wing, so not visible unless you got down and looked for it. Body shop thought I was crazy to fix scratches that were on the underside of the car, but it was a white painted surface and I wanted to erase all memories of my bone head move.

viewtopic.php?t=189

Your saga was before my Carpokes days, so thanks for the link. Good comments with a good ending which is what counts. It affirms that you're living right!

PS - I'll agree with the others who commented - yours is a great-looking Turbo S!!

[danmartinic]

Wow nice that there are skilled painters who can blend & spot paint... dead art on this side.

Not only do I wish to preserve the original coatings... but... shiney new quarter panel will look too obvious vs. rest of car's original paint geezzz

[gruhsy]

https://www.aircraftspruce.ca/catalog/cspages/zinc.php

Use a primer like this first.

If you are willing to drive to Calgary Cosmos Collision is fantastic.

They are who Porsche recommends here.

Caswell has some great learning material on conversion coatings.
https://www.caswellcanada.ca/

[danmartinic]

The one shop here so far that seems to be sympathetic to my needs is called... Cosmo Autobody.

Now that's interesting

The guy also mentioned they use the "green" primer. The Tempo primers come in both yellow & green. This industry is like primary school with all the colours

[gruhsy]

You should ask them if they are related to Cosmo in Calgary.
Cosmo here is a family owned business to.
Owner is Loc Ngo.

https://www.cosmoscollision.com/index.php

The one shop here so far that seems to be sympathetic to my needs is called... Cosmo Autobody.

Now that's interesting

The guy also mentioned they use the "green" primer. The Tempo primers come in both yellow & green. This industry is like primary school with all the colours