I need all the feedback I can get---- I bought a 2004 Black Corvette Conv. 500 miles ago (June 2004) and it has god-awful orange peel. When I picked the car up it was outside and the sun was at it’s best so need less to say I did not notice the extent of the orange peel. As soon as I got it home and put it in the garage I almost had a cow. I call the dealership that I bought it from and explained how bad the paint is. No problem they said bring it back and we will take care of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After 3 weeks of waiting for the zone rep to come out and look at it I was told to take it to the local body shop and they would pay to have it block sanded and buffed. After the owner of the body looked at the car he immediately said he didn’t want any part of it. Soooooooo they sent me to another GM dealer to get the work done, this time after I talked to the shop manager I back away they have never painted or even buffed a Corvette!!!! Now it is back in the zone reps hands. After a few e-mails from Yello 95 (Corvette Forum) I have told GM there is no way that I want them to sand or paint this car I want them to replace it with a new one. (Thanks Yello 95) Is anyone else having or had problems with orange peel and if so how did you get it resolved?????

 

All modern factory paint jobs have orange peel. I see it on all domestic, japanese, Mercedes, and Porsche cars. I believe black is one of the worst colors to show orange peel.

 

Known problem with Corvettes. That is one reason why I did not pick black. It is to easy to see flaws. I love my yellow color, hides them flaws nicely.

Be glad they didn't block sand your car. You only have two clear coats.

 

I can't wait to see how this turns out. I knw we all have it, but for the stealership to even make an effort? I almost fell out of my chair when I read that! I hope it all works out for you! Good luck.

 

I know all factory paint jobs have some orange peel especially corvettes. I have had corvettes since 1971 (a total of 15 (5 were black)) but none of them had orange peel this bad, it will make you seasick.

 

Here is a topic that I know well! I started at the top with GM customer service who then got the body shop mgr at my dealership on the phone. I hadn't taken it there first so Cust service said there was no record of the complaint (which I knew) but they gave me a reference # and told me to take it there. Mgr looked at it, and scheduled an appointment for it to be wet sanded. Dealership had it for 3 days. Told them NOT to wax it so I could see it. Came out beautiful!! Some folks have asked if it was repainted as it looked very good. Probaably, your dealer doesn't have the talent working there to pull this off, but if you are near SE Pa. I can really recommend someone. If you search the archives, there are several posts about getting this resolved. Good Luck...persistence pays! Black is beautiful (when clean)

Dan

 

Did they replace the clear coat you lost from the sanding?

 

Thanks, Dan as you can see I am a "junior" haven't been called that for may be 100 years. How do I get to the archives? again Thanks
Darrell

 

Hey Dan forget it I figured it out!!!!!!!!!!!! I am in the St. Louis, MO area anybody know a good GM or private body shop for the wet sand?????

 

This is typical BG robots painting with water-based paint. It is normal. The clearcoat is too thin to sand. You will have to apply new clear. If you can get someone to pay for it, great. Even Dave Hill knows the paint sucks on these cars (no better on C6 or XLR). Just something GM is unwilling to address.

 

No, they only took the high spots off. To do this, according to the NCM delivery folks, 2000 or 2500 grit is used. Came out very good, like looking into a TV that is turned off, good detail in the reflection. THAT was the look that I was after.

 

So then is it the actual paint or the clear that is the problem?

 

I have a white 04 coupe and can honestly say that my paint is close to perfect. one small area of orange peel near the drivers side rear fender that is hard to see. I am one of the most finicky people on the planet when it comes to my cars and i can live with the little amount that it has. I would also like to point out that my wifes mercedes has perfect, and i mean perfect paint with no orange peel at all. light wet sanding will make a big difference as i have seen it done on a black car.

 

Where do you get this information... 2 coats...did you make that up yourself
is a coat, how many passes the robot makes over a section of the car..or is it the amount of passes divided by a certain number... is it the flash off
?????????
explain to me what a coat is...
There is (SPC) done on these cars.. statistical process control... and believe me , they dont dial in "2 coats" as the criteria for the amount of clear the car gets...
many people have block sanded their clear coat.. with fantastic results..
there are afew cars on the forum that are black and have zero orange peel .. they look wet all the time...
There is one guy on the forum, that has the reflection of the american flag on his trunk... I forget his name but that Black car looks really deep and wet and free of all orange peel...

 

go to any manufacturer on you will see it

 

EVERY new car I have looked at has it...

 

After they are done with the wet sanding but before it is buffed what will the surface of the car look like??? If they only sand the high points will it look spotty?????

 

The clearcoat. When magnified it is like a mountain range. The Idea is th flatten the tops of the hills making them even with the valleys. I guess that it should look spotty before buffing, but not TOO spotty. That would mean that the tpos of the hills aren't yet even with the bottom of the valley. At NCM they go right to buffing to evaluate the finish.

 

We have an Arctic White '04 convertible and the orange peel is barely noticeable at all. I have seen quite a bit of difference in Corvettes regarding this and not just in certain colors but in all colors, even though it is more noticeable on darker colors. But orange peel is orange peel and if you know what you're looking for, you will see it no matter what the color.

 

Hey guys,

what exactly is orange peel.

what should i be looking for???