Vauxhall Star Silver body paint problem

Hi,

I am trying to repair a dent in the bonnet of my 2002 "52" Corsa which
is Star Silver. I brought the spray paint and lacquer aerosol cans from
the local Vauxhall dealer but I cannot get the paint to match.

The paint I have been given is Star Silver L157 but it is far darker
than the paint on the car. The dealer says it is the right paint
according to Vauxhall but it doesn't look the same. Is there something
I'm not doing right or has any else had this problem.

Any help welcome!

 

Sadly it is almost impossible to match a solid colour from a spray can
let alone a metallic with clear coat as the way the paint particles
catch the light will be different from the original. A body shop who
can mix paint using paint card swatches to achieve a much closer match
would still spray the whole bonnet and possibly "feather" the new paint
over the wings as a way of disguising the colour difference.

 

But it shouldn't be "far off" as the OP says. Usually the colour code
is marked somewhere under the bonnet.

 

If you put it on too thick you will get a different colour. This is most
noticable using a touch up pen on a stone chip - the particles all sink to
the bottom of the blob, giving a graduated 2 tone effect... A thin coat or
two, followed by the laquer is best.

Bob

 

I gave the number from under the bonnet, and the guy said "Eh?" - the colour
code for mine was on a plate in the drivers side door pillar.

Bob

 

There are three slightly different shades of Star Silver. Check that
the paint code for your car is actually 157 - the plate on the
suspension strut under the bonnet will tell you (there are two
three-character paint codes, a Vauxhall one and an Opel one plus a four
character trim code littering the plate amongst other details).

Tariq

 

I did think of this after a couple of attempts but even the lightest of
sprays dries darker. It's almost like I've used a light grey primer!

Could it still be that I am spraying too thick?

 

Thanks for this. I had only taken the details of the plate above the
front grill. I'll take a look when it stops raining and see if I do have
the right colour.

 

My paint codes on my R reg Vectra and my 53 reg Signum were on a plate on
the drivers door pillar.

Bob

 

Bob Smith wrote:

My paint codes on my R reg Vectra and my 53 reg Signum were on a plate
on
the drivers door pillar.

Bob

Correct, the bottom left line of the chassis plate sticker on the
drivers side 'B' Pillar gives a paint code which has to be cross
referenced by your main dealer, sometimes you will have e.g 20Q or L579
these distinquish where the vehicle was built. 'Star Silver' + II III
are available and there is a slight difference in shade, being an R reg
counts star silver III out.

In other models e.g. Corsa 'C' the chassis plate has been put on the
O/S/F strut mounting housing!

 

I finally got the chance to look for the paint code and as Tariq
suggested, the plate is on the O/S suspension strut. It says "157" which
is the colour the dealer has give me. I have also bought a can of
Duplicolor paint and this is the same as the Vauxhall colour.

No matter how I apply the paint, it is darker and by this I mean that it
looks more grey than silver and it really is a big difference. What I
think I need is a lighter shade but which one?