A buddy of mine is the manager of a centralized very high end collision repair shop connected to the local Mercedes/BMW/Porsche/Lexus dealer and to whom I recently took my S550 for a relatively minor fender-bender repair. We got to chatting and I brought up the orange peel thing on the new Corvettes. He related that it is pervasive in ALL mass produced cars that are not individually hand finished as part of the production process. It all boils down to water soluble or water borne paints now required by the eco-crowd to be used by all manufacturers, especially the Germans. Essentially, the paint dries before the atomized droplets coalesce into a smooth surface.

His problem is that after a repair, they need to leave behind or "create" some orange peel to match the rest of the car. No one wants a mirror-like shiny fender when the rest of the car has "texture" in the paint. This is true of ALL makes. Recently, his guys were sent to a training seminar specifically put on by one of the German carmakers about how to "match repainted texture to the factory paint" or in other words, how to duplicate some orange peel as we know it.

Since I took delivery of my car, I've paid close attention walking through parking lots/decks...in fact it's become a bit of a hobby. Just look around, guys...orange peel is pervasive, everywhere.

 

I might add that I sold an AC Cobra replica that I built and had professionally painted before purchasing the C7. My car had no orange peel whatsoever...a perfect black paint job. The cost was exorbitant and the time spent by the painter to get it right was significant, involving multiple coats of color and multiple coats of clear with wet/hand sanding between. Mass produced vehicles manufactured at an acceptable cost/price just can't duplicate this.

 

I disagree a bit...yes, orange peel is common but ours are pretty bad. And other chevrolet plants can do it better - this is my 13 camaro and this is three days after getting it. It had no orange peel and certainly did not have any hand sanding done to it...we can ask for better and not throw up our hands and accept it. I'm getting rid of it.

 

That makes complete sense. Now let's all go out and kick a spotted-owl hugger in the crotch!

What's saddening is that they are now training their spot repair technicians how to match the orange peel. That's so bass ackwards to me...I must be getting old.

 

Once I was a waxer..... never drove the car in the rain etc......

Worried about every little mark, chip etc.

I got a saying.... If i got to squint it's not there..... Try it!!!

 

Gotta say...the longer I have my C7, the more I agree with you. My body shop buddy mentioned above had his best paint and finish guy (30 years experience, 52 years old) look at my C7.

He felt that:

1. The orange peel wasn't bad at all and he wouldn't do anything about it.

and...

2. The clear coat on Chevy's and most domestics is so thin that even wet sanding could take away enough protection to be troublesome...not recommended and he wouldn't even attempt it.


Mine is fine the way it is ("not bad at all") and I love driving the car. It will never be and wasn't designed to be a show car. It is my driving toy.

 

I agree totally GM can do better GM has done better..your Camaro looks great by the way...

 

My "body shop buddy" feels differently as we discussed this at length. (B&R autobody, Pompano) ....the clear is between 25-30 mikes - 3000 wet sanding takes away 2-4 mikes and I'll put back 1-2 mikes with a perm coating....It is NOT taking away enuf protection to be worrisome all...not my first Rodeo on this stuff...

oh and I drive my car too - I have no garage and have done 4300 miles since Oct 18th. Been to Bondarant and Barber, and owned many, many Porsches..I fail to see what good beating your chest about how you are a "driver" adds to this thread at all............

 

Your car...your paint...your call.

Enjoy.

 

Has the C7 replaced the Cobra in your heart? That AC would have been tough to give up. Beautiful.

 

FWIW, I also have a Shelby Cobra replica (Superformance). Purely a weekend car but way too much fun to part with. And the paint on that car is P-R-E-S-T-I-N-E from the factory...easily an $8-10K repaint if done right locally. I'm fortunate enough to be able to keep it and use my C5Z as a DD...and God willing plan to replace the C5Z with C7 sometime this calendar year. Since the C7 will be a DD, I'm still on the fence whether or not I'll go through the effort to "make the paint right" when I know it's going to get a daily pounding on the 55 Freeway in The OC.

But I'm such a detail freak that I'll probably not be able to resist.

-Dean

 

Looks good OP. Thanks for the info. My car is black and has what I consider an unacceptable amount of orange peel in a few spots. Also agree with the poster that said Chevy should be doing a better job considering what we pay for these beauties!

 

Used to think I was **** about my cars until I started reading this forum. Just got our black on tan convertible on Saturday and took some pictures of it next to our black on tan e90 M3. Don't really see an appreciable differences in the way the paint looks. Maybe I am lucky or am not looking hard enough. The way I see it I am very fortunate to have cars like this and am thankful for the good in them. We all choose our attitude in life.

 

Keep looking....some are really bad....some are ok.......there is nothing really **** about this, some are unacceptable....

 

My 2013 M3 (Le Mans Blue)had the worst orange peel of any car I have ever had. The horizontal surfaces, hood, roof, trunk lid, were not too bad, but the vertical surfaces were terrible. It seems hit or miss on most cars now.

 

I like the industry standard! 3M get it at a Body shop supply.
Quart 3M polish
Quart 3m rubbing Then your wet and dry 2000-3000!
About 50.00 per bottle!

 

I don't immediately recognize that make - especially with the cross bar between the bumperetts. I'll guess Factory Five due to the roll hoop?

 

I can't say I know of a show Car paint job done by anybody that isn't sanded and buffed to perfection after it is painted. Color sanding after painting is the only way to get a close to perfect paint job.

 

As I have read through the various posts in this thread, I basically find three kinds of people:

1. [*]
2. [*]

It amazes me that those who are in the third category can look at photos that have been posted and still think the way they do.

 

About how much of the clear coat do you think you are removing with this process? Finally, shouldn't the car just come from the factory with an acceptable finish?