Few things are more frustrating (and time wasting) than painting a new bumper, then fitting it only to find it looks different to the adjacent panel even though it was painted with exactly the same colour. Often, it comes down to what’s underneath the basecoat colour – applying the correct spectral grey groundcoat will get the job done faster, with less material and a better colour match. 

There are plenty of downsides to applying basecoat colour straight over the black fi nish on a new bumper or an incorrect undercoat colour – lots more application and flash-off time, significantly higher material usage and poor stone-chip resistance due to too high a film build. And when it’s done, it’s extremely likely the black will ‘grin-through’ so the colour won’t match adjacent panels. 

To provide an effective solution, the Protec colour retrieval system provides handy formulations for spectral grey groundcoats. From the ‘Standard Search’ screen, adjust the ‘Source Type’ to ‘Layers’ and hit ‘Search’ – this displays the formulations for different shades of Spectral Grey from the lightest, SG01, to SG03, SG05, SG06 to the darkest, SG07. If the vehicle in your paint shop has a light colour, choose a light spectral grey (SG01). If it’s a medium colour, try SG05 and if it’s a dark colour, SG06 or SG07 should be appropriate. After priming the bumper, simply mix and apply the appropriate spectral grey and then apply the basecoat. You’ll benefi t from reduced material usage and application and a better colour match. 

You can also refer to the Protec Spectral Grey Identification Chart below.