sipar69 Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Some of you were good enough to advise me about body shops recently when I needed to get a scratch on the door of my Z sorted. I thought I'd share my experiences and a few lessons I've learnt along the way. About 3 weeks ago I opened my door on to a stone lamp post. Didn't seem like much of a knock and I didn't realise I'd put a scratch on the door until a few days later. The scratch was only about 1.5cm long, but quite noticeable because of where it was. To say it bugged me would be a major understatement. First lesson - I must have spent about £100 and many hours on DIY solutions - Chipex (actually quite good for stone chips), Paint4u touch-up, rubbing compound, coloured wax etc. Nothing got the desired result. In the end, I made it worse by rubbing off a patch of clear coat. Second lesson - When we (I say we, I mean "she" ) got a nasty scratch on our previous Z's bumper we went for convenience and booked into the nearest body shop to our house. Result - a repaired area that I could see due to poorly matched paint. They even lacquered a bit fluff into the finish . This time, thanks to some great advice from folks on here, I ended up taking the car to TGM in Fleet. TGM already have a great reputation on here for their mechanical work (Tom fitted my Stillen), but I think the body shop run by Tom's brother Willie, is less well known. Their quote was quite high compared to other places, but I'd figured you probably get what you pay for so I booked in. Due to my previous experiences I was quite nervous picking the car up on Tuesday. I didn't need to be. TGM did a fantastic job. No matter how hard I try, I cannot see any trace of the repair. It's flawless. I've posted a pic of the door. The scratch was a few inches below and to the right of the door handle - no trace of it or the repair now. I guess what I've learnt overall (apart from to be more careful near lamp posts) is that it's best to bite the bullet and go to the pros in the first place! I wasted so much time and money trying to sort the problem out myself - money I might just have well put towards the pro repair job! Cheers to everyone who PM'd me with advice from a happy and relieved forum member! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Looking good!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zugara Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrnet Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Happy to have helped Looks bloody good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 Happy to have helped Looks bloody good Thanks - advice from you and others was a huge help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveRS Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Glad you got it sorted mate, looks great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will370z Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Ah so it was your car i parked up against yesterday at TGM looked lovely. Yeah tom has been great. They had my car in today and have given me peace of mind. Great chap, very friendly and very knowledgable. Will definitely go there again being so close. Good to hear the did a good job on the door. I may have to enquire too as i noticed a scratch on rosie which i didnt notice til her first clean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 Ah so it was your car i parked up against yesterday at TGM looked lovely. Yeah tom has been great. They had my car in today and have given me peace of mind. Great chap, very friendly and very knowledgable. Will definitely go there again being so close. Good to hear the did a good job on the door. I may have to enquire too as i noticed a scratch on rosie which i didnt notice til her first clean Don't think it was mine Will if you went yesterday, as I picked up on Tuesday. Funny though - I asked Tom about getting some Berks fitted having seen your vid and he mentioned someone who had the Stillen/Berks combo was coming in due to an issue with a rattle/vibration - I guessed that might be you. What was the issue and did you get it sorted? I am seriously considering the Berks now so be good to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebized Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Good news to hear TGM have worked their magic again and that the self-healing paint on the 370's is not an issue for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will370z Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 That was odd then as i parked rosie up next to a charcoal black edition when i dropped her off last night. Assumed it was yours from the post. Must be another one Dont ask about the exhaust. Its proving problematic, but all is in hand. Tom is sorting it all out and tarmac is being a real star Will post up about it when its all fixed. Then if you wanted to pop over for a cuppa and see what the berks and stillen cbe sound like you are more than welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 Good news to hear TGM have worked their magic again and that the self-healing paint on the 370's is not an issue for them. Thanks Colin - You get a for recommending them to me in the first place for my Stillen. Top outfit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 That was odd then as i parked rosie up next to a charcoal black edition when i dropped her off last night. Assumed it was yours from the post. Must be another one Dont ask about the exhaust. Its proving problematic, but all is in hand. Tom is sorting it all out and tarmac is being a real star Will post up about it when its all fixed. Then if you wanted to pop over for a cuppa and see what the berks and stillen cbe sound like you are more than welcome. Thanks - be really interested to hear about it. I had a problem with rattle from my Stillen a while back - turned out to be vibrating a part of the heat shield. Seemed to go away when Tom removed the offending bit of the shield (which he reckoned wasn't doing anything useful anyway). Look forward to seeing the write-up. I'm very close to getting the Berks but my one worry is increased vibration problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev T Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Nice to see another Titanium Grey, very shiny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Good to hear about the excellent work and that they can match Quartz should I ever need it Used Tom for mechanical work in the past but only ever saw Adrians car go through their paint shop. They did a great job on that but he was pretty much mates with them so didnt know if they spent extra time on it to do it perfect. Appears its the same standard no matter who you are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Agreed - going to the PRO's will pay off in the long run. Glad you got it all sorted. It could have been a lot worse with endless visits and still the job isn't done right.... hmmmm sounds a bit familiar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will370z Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Agreed - going to the PRO's will pay off in the long run. Glad you got it all sorted. It could have been a lot worse with endless visits and still the job isn't done right.... hmmmm sounds a bit familiar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Agreed - going to the PRO's will pay off in the long run. Glad you got it all sorted. It could have been a lot worse with endless visits and still the job isn't done right.... hmmmm sounds a bit familiar Thanks mate, feel better now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoogyRev Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Repair looks flawless Well done TGM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ioneabee Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Nice to see another Titanium Grey, very shiny. I think its Quartz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Nice to see another Titanium Grey, very shiny. I think its Quartz Yup. Red callipers = 40th Edition so it Quartz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 Nice to see another Titanium Grey, very shiny. I think its Quartz Yup. Red callipers = 40th Edition so it Quartz Thanks guys. Also another example of great info from folks on this site. Yep - a 40th anniversary in "Quartz". I had read on a US site that the paint was difficult to match so I was relieved when it turned out to be such a great job. I've looked at all angles and in very bright light - can't see the repair for the life of me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pr1ngle Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Great result. Looks fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zollburgers Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 I was at TGM on Wednesday 4th and saw the owner of the mystery 370z I think, it was having suspension work of some sort, I seem to remember a spring might have snapped but I may be wrong. I was in custard (the new car). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted April 10, 2012 Author Share Posted April 10, 2012 I was at TGM on Wednesday 4th and saw the owner of the mystery 370z I think, it was having suspension work of some sort, I seem to remember a spring might have snapped but I may be wrong. I was in custard (the new car). TGM seem to be legends in the Honda world and it looks like their rep is growing amongst Z owners. It goes to show that first appearances can be deceptive - their premises is not as flashy as some, but their work is first rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swifty Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Glad you got it sorted mate. Looks superb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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