[yankee]

Originally Posted by 1hprush

That looks like a body shop repair. Looks like they will need to realign the panel and repaint. Get 3 quotes from reputable shops and go with the one that you feel most comfortable with. This is not a difficult repair and a respray should not be a problem either. A good shop will guarantee their work, no worries about rust. Good Luck!

Thanks for the encouragement! I am more worried about repainting since I don’t want to see any differences between panels.

[yankee]

I went to an independent shop, it's not that bad after all. The guy just pushed the panel a bit and it looks much better. But of course, I have to take the car in to fix it properly. It seems that a piece of plastic from the rocker molding (part #23399023) touches the door when I open it and it's pretty scratched so that I will have to replace and repaint that. I just hope they can match the paint 100%.


Is it made out of two pieces?

[Gunkk]

Paint match is a piece of cake on solid colors like ours.

[camaroJD]

Originally Posted by mrgoodbytes

Damn. Those kind of curves are nearly impossible to see in the Camaro. That is my only gripe in regards to visibility.


What kind of damage has happened underneath the rocker panel? The rocker panel itself is plastic.

Glad it isn't just me, I almost hit one last week and still don't understand how I didn't see it.

[yankee]

Originally Posted by Gunkk

Paint match is a piece of cake on solid colors like ours.

I don't know why, but that's my biggest concern. Maybe because I see way to many repainted panels on cars on the street and they look so bad...


I was thinking if they can fix this rocker panel since it's plastic and easy to work with.

[Alain]

Plastic rocker piece won’t be a perfect match to the metal paint on the door and fender, they are two different surfaces. You can get it pretty close though. I had to have my passenger door and fender repainted last winter after the car fell of the floor jack.

My shop did an amazing job matching the paint. Don’t cheap out on the paint job I’d you are that worried about the paint matching.

Good work ain’t cheap and cheap work ain’t good.

[yankee]

Originally Posted by Alain

Plastic rocker piece won’t be a perfect match to the metal paint on the door and fender, they are two different surfaces. You can get it pretty close though. I had to have my passenger door and fender repainted last winter after the car fell of the floor jack.

My shop did an amazing job matching the paint. Don’t cheap out on the paint job I’d you are that worried about the paint matching.

Good work ain’t cheap and cheap work ain’t good.

Yes, that's why I think it's safer to repair the plastic than replace it. It's not about the money at all, but I don't really trust anyone repainting it. Can't find the perfect paint shop in Toronto or GTA.

[NYJets12]

What about the dealer? They should be able to match the paint no problem.

[yankee]

I went to one but I don't really trust dealerships. Yesterday when I asked, they wanted to replace and repaint the front panel, front bumper and rocker. That's too much ... So I am trying to find a very good independent shop that can do it properly.


Plus, the dealer said 90% match.

[mrgoodbytes]

Originally Posted by yankee

I went to one but I don't really trust dealerships. Yesterday when I asked, they wanted to replace and repaint the front panel, front bumper and rocker. That's too much ... So I am trying to find a very good independent shop that can do it properly.


Plus, the dealer said 90% match.

Good call on finding an independent shop. To me the damage looks like it is easily fixable. The panel can probably be bent back and adjusted into shape.

[mrgoodbytes]

Where is the actual paint damage?

[yankee]

Originally Posted by mrgoodbytes

Where is the actual paint damage?

There isn't any, but the rocker panel and front bumper are scratched underneath. I hope that's fixable too, so that I will not have to repaint a new one.

[hjdca]

the guy did a good job re-bending it back into shape. My advice -- leave it like that for 1 year, then, decide if you really want to get it perfect.

[yankee]

Originally Posted by hjdca

the guy did a good job re-bending it back into shape. My advice -- leave it like that for 1 year, then, decide if you really want to get it perfect.

I have to do it because:


- it still looks bad and it annoys me like hell (OCD right there )
- I don't know how bad is the inside of the rocker panel, a piece of hard plastic touches my door when I open it and will scratch the paint eventually
- I don't know if there's any risk of rust, since I cannot see how damaged it really is... that's the reason I didn't wash the car yet
- I am obsessed about looks and I want to add ceramic coating as soon as possible, so it must be fixed by then


I know I am stressing too much, this is my soul car and it hurts just by looking at it