Fender redo

[jester911]

Well I posted here a little while back that someone had dented my fender in a parking lot. (And of course left the scene).
Anyway I really didnt want to have any body filler on my car even though the damage wasn't too bad.
I bought a used fender from another member here and my car and the fender are guards red but they don't quite match ( I really didn't expect them too, but I was hoping maybe...) so here is my question.
What is the best way/place to get the paint matched? I would like to paint the fender before I put it on the car.
Eventually I will paint the whole car but for the mean time I would like the car to look decent.
Should I go to a body shop and have it matched? I would really like to just get some paint that is matched and do it myself but I don't know if a body shop will give me the paint.
Any help out there would be appreciated

[dtw]

Guards red is probably the toughest color out there to match, and made worse by the age of your car's existing paint.

Find a reputable body shop with references, that is experienced at paint matching. Be warned though, that you will likely still be able to tell a difference. This difference will be more pronounced when the paint is dull and dirty- you can minimize the effect by keeping the car clean, buffed, and waxed.

Good luck - I feel your pain

-d

[Oliver911]

If you want to do the repair yourself, I am assuming you have the tools and experience needed to complete the task. To get about as close to the color you want to match without having all of the tints at your disposal, you need to go to an autobody store that has a spectrometer and can analyze the paint on adjacent panels. This won't be a perfect match, but it is about as close as you will get.