[Lang]

Mike

The factory paint was put on after proper preparation - clean surface, primer, undercoat and top coat, maybe several coats.

Any subsequent repaint risked a not perfectly clean surface (most respray photos show outside operations) but more importantly they were just top coat on top coat. This is guaranteed to fail as anyone who has ever bought a resprayed car from a dodgy operator will tell you - even if they used $100 a litre paint given to them by the Rolls Royce dealer.

Neither yours nor Keith's body panel photos are proof of quality or long life. Apart from unknown storage conditions and climate, your vehicle paint was hermetically sealed by a coat of grey when it was almost new, Keith's also appears to be over painted with a grey, jet blasted? off in the right shot. The upside is, because they were sealed they are probably a good indication of colour.

Lang