MCano's 97 Spa Yellow Build

The paint shop is running a little behind. I hope to get the car back on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. Then I'm off to Ramon's to get the Brembos installed. I need a new clutch too, so Ramon will be busy some day in the near future. The last parts to be installed are the two under trays. I'll post PICS as soon as I can.
 
Well guys,

I got my car back from the paint shop today, and I have to say that I'm very disappointed in that the paint shop could not match the Spa yellow color when they painted my ducted hood, 2002 rear valance and Shine front lip. The new paint is noticeable darker than the original paint, it looks more like Rio yellow. I asked the paint shop if they were sure that they ordered Spa yellow and they said they did. I'm going to go back next week and see for myself that the paint they used was Spa yellow and not Rio yellow by looking at the codes on the paint can. The paint shop stated that the original paint must have faded or had bleached out over the 18 years of exposure.

What do I do now? It looks like I will need to paint most if not all of the remaining panels of the car. The paint shop said that they will work with me on the cost.

Dam this is frustrating.

I'll keep you all posted!
 
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Well guys,

I got my car back from the paint shop today, and I have to say that I'm very disappointed in that the paint shop could not match the Spa yellow color when they painted my ducted hood, 2002 rear valance and Shine front lip. The new paint is noticeable darker that the original paint, it looks more like Rio yellow. I asked the paint shop if they were sure that they ordered Spa yellow and they said they did. I'm going to go back next week and see for myself that the paint they used was Spa yellow and not Rio yellow by looking at the codes on the paint can. The paint shop stated that the original paint must have faded or had bleached out over the 18 years of exposure.

What do I do now? It looks like I will need to paint most if not all of the remaining panels of the car. The paint shop said that they will work with me on the cost.

Dam this is frustrating.

I'll keep you all posted!

Personally from what I read Spa Yellow is very difficult to match especially if you are just spraying the new parts and not blending into the surrounding panels. I myself am not too happy with the paint match on my Spa on the Stacy's skirts and 02 Downforce rear valence. In the sun the paint looks to match well, but under florescent lights you can tell its off. I'm going to bite the bullet and have everything repainted and blending at the same time. I know some people want to keep the original paint and I would have as well, but my OEM skirts and front bumper were already resprayed by a previous owner for cosmetic reasons so I'm not all original paint anyway.
 
Spa Yellow Pearl is not that hard of a color to match. The paint is one color and the pearl is just that, with no pigment. The problem arises from the clear c-o-a-t-S. Let that sink in a moment and now focus on the last letter "S". Each layer of clear coat will add a tint. One coat does little, the second coat now gives you a tint of green (if I recall correctly). The third coat will get you closest to the original color.

If this shop is reputable, have them try four (4) test panels. Spray each one with the Spa Yellow and add the Pearl over each one. Now, for each test panel have them spray one to four coats of clear over them and mark them accordingly. Once dry, hover each of these test panels against an untouched OEM painted panel to see which one matches. Good luck.
 
Thanks JC!

Well, as I suspected, the paint the shop used was Rio Yellow. I took my car to a fellow NSXer's house and compared my paint to his Rio Yellow car, and the two colors matched. So, someone made a mistake. I think the paint supplier is the culprit. I have a part from the Rio Yellow car, and I'm going to present it to the paint shop as proof. I just hope I don't have to go to small claims court to get this resolved. Im hoping that one or both of the parties step up to the plate.

I'll keep you posted.
 
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When I first laid eyes on your car today it had much more orange to it , Like Rio Yellow. I would certainly hope the paint shop would make it right because they supplied the wrong paint. And the body shop should step up too as they saw it was the wrong paint and continued to spray all the panels. Let us know how it goes.
 
My car is back into the paint shop. Also, the paint shop is finally coming around and is no longer making excuses. They have told me that they are committed to making things right. A paint expert from their paint supplier is coming in on Monday to help resolve the paint match problem. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything will turn out well in the end.

Ill keep you posted.

- - - Updated - - -

When I first laid eyes on your car today it had much more orange to it , Like Rio Yellow. I would certainly hope the paint shop would make it right because they supplied the wrong paint. And the body shop should step up too as they saw it was the wrong paint and continued to spray all the panels. Let us know how it goes.

Thanks JC,

I do have one ace in the hole. The regional manager for the paint shop company is goods friends with my son-in-law. If necessary, I'll get him involved, if he is not involved already!
 
I received an email from the paint shop and they said that with the help of the paint supplier's experts help they have have come up with a test panel that matches the color of my car.

So , it looks like we are moving in the right direction. I'm looking forward to seeing the results of the new paint work.

I'll keep you posted!
 
OK, the paint shop asked me to come in to look at color match for the parts that they have painted so far. It looks like they finally were able to get the right formula and made the necessary adjustment in that I could not tell the difference from the new paint and the original paint. There were a few parts missing parts from the car, so I have not yet seen the finished product. But, I feel a whole lot better now. I'll post some PIC's when I get the car back.
 
I picked up my car yesterday, and finally they were able to match the original paint. The car looks good. The only area where there appears to be a slight color difference is between the trunk and the adjacent side panels. However, the difference may not be in color but in light reflectance due to them being on different planes. I'll post pics later.
 
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Looks good Mario! Glad to see you are enjoying your 2nd NSX even more than the 1st.
 
Looks good Mario! Glad to see you are enjoying your 2nd NSX even more than the 1st.

Hey Dennis, how have you been? I hope you and your family are doing well!

Thanks for you comments. I have had fun throwing a ton of my inheritance into the car. However, some times, like when they botched the paint job on my car, it gets a little frustrating.

Anyway, I see Henry a lot. It would be nice to see you again. You know, we are having our annual beach BBQ on Sunday 9/27. Perhaps you can take a drive and join us?

Anyway, thanks again for your compliment, and take care!
 
Hey Dennis, how have you been? I hope you and your family are doing well!

Thanks for you comments. I have had fun throwing a ton of my inheritance into the car. However, some times, like when they botched the paint job on my car, it gets a little frustrating.

Anyway, I see Henry a lot. It would be nice to see you again. You know, we are having our annual beach BBQ on Sunday 9/27. Perhaps you can take a drive and join us?

Anyway, thanks again for your compliment, and take care!

I am doing well, thanks! I will see what is on the schedule for that weekend :)
 
Well another set back, sort of. I was hoping to my new OS Giken clutch in time for NSXPO, but I was informed today that the clutch did not ship right away, and will not likely get to me in time to be installed for NSXPO. Oh well, its out of my hands. I just hope my current clutch will hold up during the HPDE.

See you in Palm Springs!
 
Update!

The front bumper and battery under trays are currently being installed. The first problem that my mechanic encountered is that the parts don't come with any instructions. So, I did a search on Prime and found several threads that discuss the fact that there are no instructions. The threads also discuss the various difficulties encountered while installing the trays, including that most holes and inserts in the trays do not line up with any of the bolts on the undercarriage, that the existing bolts that hold the front lip are not long enough when the front bumper tray is added to the mix, the after market front sway-bar that I have on the car dips below the plane of the battery under tray, and that there is poor fitment between the front bumper under tray and the wheel well liners. One way or another, my mechanic believes that he has a solution for each problem. He installed longer bolts at the front lip. He will drill holes and install inserts in the battery tray and parts of the undercarriage to secure the under trays, and he will trim some of the wheel well liners to get the liner and the front bumper under tray to fit together properly. My mechanic will work around the front sway bar by installing spacers to drop the battery under tray so that it clears the sway-bar. I'll posts photos later.

Up next is my new OS Giken clutch. There is an outside chance that the clutch will arrive from Japan by the end of this week. If it does, I hope that I can get it installed before NSXPO!
 
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OK,

The front bumper and battery under trays have been installed. As I stated above, the install was not easy for various reasons. One issuse that my mechanic pointed out and had to work around was that a small square piece of the front left and front right of the front under tray needed to be cut out so as not to obstruct ducts that discharge air at these two locations. This issue was never mentioned in any of the past threads that dealt with the under tray install. I'll post pics of the finished installation and the cutouts after NSXPO.
 
Update:

My OS Guiken clutch finally arrived form Japan.
My OS Guiken LSD with 4.4 final drive is still on order with no estimate of when it will be shipped.
Harness bar has been received from Titanium Dave.
Still trying to decide on which 5 or 6 point harness to buy - any suggestions?

There was a thread here on NSXPRIME on how to alter the OEM seat to allow the installation of a harness. I cant find it. Does anyone know the tread name or can provide me with the link to the thread?
 
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