whitec7

Picked up my 19 the otherday and I think the paint looks great

Always Red Dave

I am happy for the guys that have less OP in their paint jobs from the new factory but I sure in hell would never trade my 2017 just to get less OP which does not bother me in the least. I have seen both new and old paint shop cars and without perfect lighting cant tell the difference. Now for the people with paint defects like paint peeling and chipping on the fenders ETC. I hope the new paint facility has fixed those problems.

fourmat

And lets not forget the new paint shop's real goal was consistency 14-18 some were not bad some were not good

Foosh

True, but it's also true that all 18-19s painted in the new plant since November are not only more consistent, they have a consistently smoother/better finish.

Excellent point Dave, and I've seen 20+ 18-19s built and painted in the new plant now. There have been no reports of chipping at the joints on the new cars that I'm aware of. One goal of the new plant was to achieve more even coverage on all parts of the panels, including edges. The fit and finish of all panel joints also seems to be very consistent on the new plant cars, and the revamped assembly line probably has a lot to do with that. In addition, the longer and lower heat curing process is apparently a big part of the improved panel finishing process.

B&BVettes

Our new ‘19 Z06 looks like a better paint quality over the ‘17 we traded and the ‘16 we kept. Orange peel on the AW ‘14 wasn’t as noticeable.

Foosh

White makes any paint job look decent, even bad ones.

Skid Row Joe

Since the 2017 is basically the 2019, there's no reason for me to trade up either, for fractionally less orange peel than I've noticed on a new paint shop '18 C7. For example, the front cameras my 2017 has are an invaluable option shared with the 2019 2LTs, and above. I use it every time I drive my 3LT. About Arctic White's orange peel being less noticeable? I guess so, but others are claiming their colors have less noticeable orange peel too. So that's not hard and fast about AW's orange peel.

Outlaw Joe

The early 18 were painted in the old paint shop.

JimNeedsC7

Good to hear that paint quality has improved - there was definitely room for improvement on some Corvettes.

Any mass produced car that costs less the a quarter million will have some OP - people need to quit being so **** retentive and remember that a Corvette is a mass produced automobile, not a rare museum piece.

A very few manufacturers like RR and Bentley will hand sand all of their cars to eliminate OP, but otherwise there will be some OP present on any car - it is just part of the paint process. I would be more concerned about blatant paint blemishes and peeling paint, than the slightly dimpled surface that is just part of spraying painting a car.

6speedsteve

Skid Row Joe

Video really helps to provide some insight into what the new paint facility is turning out.

BrunoTheMellow

Oh. Ok.

No. It's a whole new shop. All equipment is 20 years newer.

Yep. And a big big big difference is the current cars get sanded completely between primer and color.

Bob-G

Post some pics of your car. I have a 2018 LBR (old paint shop) but haven't see a 2019 new paint shop LBR. Thanks.

DWS44

Really? Surely not by hand, right? Would be an interesting to see that part of the new plant process.

Frosty

I have been interested in this and looked at dozens of C7s painted in prior years and the post plant upgrade ones coming from the new paint shop, including mine. What I think the new paint shop has achieved is greater consistency. I haven't found any cars coming from the new paint shop that don't look good. Although I have seen some small 1-2" dulled areas where it looks like something spilled on the paint; but those buff out easily.

With the old paint shop it was more of a crap shoot. Some looked really good, maybe even better than the ones from the new paint shop, while others, well, not so good.

BrunoTheMellow

robotic is all i know.

BrunoTheMellow

this is what people that have no idea what it takes to manufacture a car can't seem to understand.

BMadden

The dealership where I bought my '17 Z06 just got a '19 Sebring Orange Z06 in last week so I went to check it out. Honestly, I could not tell a bit of difference in the paint between my car and the new one. Orange peel is there on both and while it's not severe on either car you can definitely tell it's there if you're looking for it. I guess my expectations from the new paint shop were a smooth as glass finish that looked like something from a custom paint shop, but that's definitely not the case. Don't get me wrong, the paint still looked nice, but you just as easily could have said my '17 was a '19 and vice versa and nobody would know the difference.

JimNeedsC7

I still think that might represent real progress on C7 finish quality. In the past there were some very nicely finished cars, as it sounds like your '17 is. But there were some really bad outcomes and it sucked to feel like you were rolling the dice to see how yours turned out.

Now from what I am hearing, the finish is consistently, extremely nice, if not leagues ahead of the best older C7's. I see that as great progress on what is after all a mass produced car that hits a budget - which is what let's a lot of us own one after all.

I don't see how any of that can be a bad thing and none of us thought we were buying a 1/4 million dollar Bentley, did we?.