Thanks in advance.
What is Orange Peel?
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 127
Likes: 2
From: Paris IL
all factory paint jobs
Look along the sides of your car in varying light conditions and you will see dimples in the paint, looks worse on different colors and some cars may miraculously get a better spray from the factory than others. It's a result of a robot painting your car without any sanding and all cars have it to some degree.
Show quality paint jobs require wet sanding between coats of paint and that's how you get that glassy smooth appearance, it costs a lot to look "perfect". That being said no car looks perfect and it's a good reason to get the car out and drive it and not obsess over the car, leaving it in the garage to protect its "stunning factory orange-peel" paint job
Show quality paint jobs require wet sanding between coats of paint and that's how you get that glassy smooth appearance, it costs a lot to look "perfect". That being said no car looks perfect and it's a good reason to get the car out and drive it and not obsess over the car, leaving it in the garage to protect its "stunning factory orange-peel" paint job
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,492
Likes: 808
From: West coast CA
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 3,307
Likes: 111
From: Tucson AZ
It is the small irregularities in the paint surface as you look at it in good light, similar to the surface of an orange. Most paint has even flow additives to reduce orange peel, but it is a fine line between flowing evenly and developing runs.
Supporting Vendor
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 11,216
Likes: 178
From: Pensacola Florida GO GATORS!!! www.rlsebring.com www.c6c7vette.com
St. Jude Donor '17
Yeah, just look at your finish, That's Orange Peel. No biggie unless you want to pay 10 to 15K to not have it.
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Verdad Gallardo
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,611
Likes: 5
From: Thousand Oaks California
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Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 40,412
Likes: 792
From: Redondo Beach, California
Pro
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 579
Likes: 0
that all new cars have varying degrees of orange peel, but it does not have any effect on paint longevity.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 923
Likes: 37
From: Green Bay Wisconsin
Orange peel looks exactly what it's called, the surface of the car looks like an orange.
Many car manufacturers actually require that their paint jobs have orange peel. Orange peel hides slight imperfections in both the finish and in the metal or fiberglass that is being painted. If your eyes have no orange peel to focus their attention on then your eyes will pickup on any small imperfection that remains.
I know this because I used to work for BMW in Southern California back in 1989-1990. We repainted 2000 brand new cars that were paint damaged on the way over from Germany. Took 50 guys an entire year to sand the paint, apply filler primer and then paint and buff/polish. BMW required a small amount of orange peel and the above explains why.
Hope this helps,
Douglas in Green Bay
Intermediate
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 46
Likes: 0
You can improve any cars finish by wet sanding it with 2000 grit wet sandpaper and then using a orbital buffer and 3m buffing compound make it just like glass. As you wet sand keep looking at the finish and when it is smooth without the dimples you are finished. Corvettes have more than the usual clear coats and can be wet sanded and polished much better than the factory finish. That is how show cars get their high gloss. You don't need to repaint your car to get it, just wet sand, buff and polish and you have it.
