Frosty

I know that lately there have been a lot of threads about paint and colors, but they have now become buried with all the constant posts. I am asking to have a dedicated thread covering the panel paint color transition from the old paint shop to the new.

I wanted to start a new thread on this subject because of my interest in ordering a 2018 that has its panels painted using the new process. I believe others are also interested so I want to get the word out on what is known so far about which colors are going to be painted in the new paint shop and in what order. Hopefully as the panel painting transition "schedule" becomes available to forum dealers and others potentially in the know, they will share with the community so everyone who wants to order a 2018 can make an informed decision.

I watched the NCM 2017 Bash video and it was clearly stated that the first color to be painted in the new shop will be Arctic White and this will be followed by Racing Yellow Tintcoat. The reason given for Race Yellow is that yellow has white as its base.

The transition will proceed based on how popular a color is known to be. So the next popular color after Arctic White (with the exception of the white-based Race Yellow) will be the next popular color and so on.

It was also stated that panels will not be mixed on a car because the paint used is actually different between the old and new shops. In other words, all the panels on any particular car will be painted in total either in the old paint shop or the new one and not both.

The transition could take a year before all the colors are painted in the new shop but management is working hard to accelerate this for obvious reasons. Please post what you know when you know it! Thanks in advance.

Frosty

Added color popularity 2017

General Motors has released the final 2017 model year Corvette stats. A total of 32,782 Corvettes were produced: 34.3% Stingray Coupe, 30.2% Grand Sport Coupe, 18.9% Z06 Coupe, 7% Stingray Convertible, 6.2% Grand Sport Convertible and 3.3% Z06 Convertible.

Once again, automatics more than doubled the production of manuals at 77%. The 1LT package was the most popular for Stingrays and Grand Sports, while the 3LZ package was the most popular for the Z06.

For colors, Arctic White was the most popular with 18%, followed by Watkins Glen Gray with 17.7%, Black with 16%, Torch Red with 14%, Admiral Blue with 9%, Blade Silver with 6%, Long Beach Red with 6%, Corvette Racing Yellow with 4%, Black Rose with 4% and Sterling Blue with 2%. Note that if you add the two shades of red together, then “red” would be the most popular color with 20%.

Bill Dearborn

Why would they switch between two different paint shops? They paint the cars in batches with one color being painted for a certain number of cars and another color following that for a certain number of cars. I can see sequencing the first cars through the new shop based on popularity of color but why would they want to paint using the old no longer certified process shop? That would be against all ISO9000 guidelines I know about.

Bill

Frosty

During the 13 week shutdown they estimate that they can get about 1/2 of the colors ready to go in the new paint shop. This "getting them ready to go" requires development and testing that must be done on the actual different paint composition that is to be used so that it is compatible with the new baking and application processes. They see this as a major undertaking that should not normally be attempted in the middle of a vehicle production cycle as it could create production halts on some of their ability to deliver some colors. They feel that the only way to accomplish this is to phase in the new paints one by one. Thus to keep production rolling along on all the colors they will be painting some colors in the old paint shop using the existing paint formulas and processes while painting the other colors that they have been able to put through their development and validation in the new paint shop. In other words they do not have the ability to switch everything over in one fell swoop and keep production at the levels it needs to be.

nuke_1

Does anyone know what base is being used in the new shop, will it be waterborne paint? Are they already spraying waterborne paint in the old shop? What do we know about the changes taking place so far?

Maybe the new paint won't be as good as the old paint?

JimNeedsC7

That makes perfect sense and also explains why it is important to know which colors are getting shot where, in order to make your best choices as this transition progresses.

I think this thread is a great ideal

Pisswilly

I would definitely stay away from an 18 until the new paint shop is 100% transitioned in, so probably 2019 to be on the safe side to order a new Vette.

mschuyler

Why? If you want an Arctic White or a Racing Yellow, you know those will be the first the new paint shop produces. As we learn what colors go when during the transition process, why would you wait until the transition process was complete?

Frosty

I am guessing here, but if they can transition 1/2 the colors during the 13 week plant down time, I am thinking that they can do the other 1/2 in about the same time. So maybe all the colors will be transitioned by early to mid February 2018.

I am hopeful this won't be close hold and that some plugged in forum dealers will let us know what the color transition schedule becomes- i.e. the purpose of this thread.

If you look at the briefing given by the plant manager Kai Spande, you can see why they are spending the really big bucks on this major initiative and shutting the plant down for 3 months. They will be able to match car assembly to panel painting capabilties; and they foresee significant quality improvement materializing in both the assembly process and the painting of the panels.

Although I am itching to place my order, I am going to wait to get a 2018 that is built after the plant re-opens (already fait accompli for ordering) and if I don't have to wait too much longer after it re-opens, I will continue to wait to get my first choice of color which is Watkins Glen Gray. If that wait looks like it will be too long, I will most likely order my second color choice which was Arctic White.

http://www.corvetteblogger.com/2017/...2017-ncb-bash/

jagamajajaran

We also already know that red and black will be the third and fourth colors to transition to the new shop after white and yellow.

Pisswilly

They'll still be fine tuning the process and some will still be painted in old facility, it's better to be safe then sorry.

Perf n Restore

I currently have an '18 Blade Silver on order, (ordered 7/3). Can I or should I assume that Blade Silver will be painted in the old paint shop when production starts up?
Opinions?

Frosty

I don't think you can necessarily assume that because when production starts up again in November, they say they will have transitioned 1/2 the colors to the new paint shop and Blade Silver might be one of them. However, they have also said that after Arctic White and Race Yellow, it will be based on which colors were the most popular. I have a post above which reports the color choices made by buyers for the 2017 model year and the Blade Silver percentage is on the lower side at 6%

Frosty

I would think that Watkins Glen Gray is in that mix to transition during the 13 weeks plant redesign based on its popularity- see color order percentages above for 2017.

What it all comes down to for all of us who want to know whether to make our order for a 2018 is whether the color we want will be part of the group that is planned for transition during the next thirteen weeks

Frosty

My guess is that the new panel painting process is being tested during this 13 week period. If you look at the briefing provided (see link above in my post), they already have the new paint shop built and ready to go because they have been working on it the last couple of years- it actually increases the size of the overall plant by 50% I think.

Its the actual new paint colors to be used that must be tested and validated as one of the reasons they are doing this is to marry up the the redesigned assembly lines with the new paint shop location. They are trying to avoid having to move the panels the longer distance necessitated by the location of the old paint shop as there is a higher risk of damage. The new paint shop is much larger and will probably have higher throughput. I can't see any reason to paint a specific particular color simultaneously in both paint shops and that this would actually increase cost since the paints used are different

Perf n Restore

I am hoping that when production starts they will run the 2 paint shops in parallel with the less popular colors running in the old paint shop. ???

Larry/car

The EPA mandates waterborne paint. The formulas will be basically the same adjusted for the spraying ability of the new machines. The spray pattern of the new equipment (paint flow) is most likely the reason why components will not be mixed between paint shops on the same vehicle. I am not expecting any major improvement in paint quality from the new facility, my 2017 is really nice.

Patman

I plan on ordering a 2018 in Torch Red sometime between January and February of next year (trying to time it for an early spring delivery) While it would be cool if mine was painted in the new shop, I won't delay my order for that reason. I was looking closely at a bunch of Torch Red cars at a local dealer, a couple of 2017s and a 2018 and they all looked fantastic to me. Sometimes as car enthusiasts we can be too picky, when in reality most people are only going to see your paint from a few feet away and from that point it will already look perfect to them.

Frosty

The fact is that the current paint shop at Bowling Green is the oldest continually operational paint shop in the US. The reason GM states they are investing over $400M in the paint shop alone and enduring a major disruption to their production in the middle of a model year is because they state they cannot consistently deliver the paint quality that they know is possible because of the challenges of painting these panels. They know they need to bake them longer and at a lower temperature

I too have looked at the paint jobs on showroom floors and they look pretty good to me. But based on some posts on this site, there indeed exists some small percentage of customers who ordered this rather expensive car (and I know expensive is relative) and were not happy with the quality of the paint they received. I read a post recently where the owner received a new Watkins Glen paint where the metal flake was so splotchy and uneven that in the sunlight it was evident to everyone. If I was in his shoes that would take away from my enjoyment of ownership for sure.

Right or wrong, my perception is that the plant is on the verge of a major improvement in production quality because of an investment that is approaching $1B overall and I am willing to wait a bit longer.

If you order a Torch Red in January/February you will most assuredly get a car built and painted with the new processes. For me, I want to order a Watkins Glen in November and right now I am not so sure.

Frosty

Here is a good article to read. I posted this before:

https://automotivemanufacturingsolut...two-paintshops

IMHO, everyone wanting to purchase a 2018 should read this article before forming their strategy