bobjason9301

So what, if anything, does the new Bowling Green paint shop affect the quality 0f the 2018+ Corvettes paint compared to the old paint shop productions?

thrilled

This is only rumors.Less orange peel.I feel like taking mine there and saying to them to give me A decent paint job.They didn’t give me one the 1st time 4 years ago.

teejake

Foosh

i had a 14 and just took delivery of a car from the new paint shop. There is no question that the finish is better. OP is significantly less pronounced but can still be found by close examination under bright fluorescent lighting and when viewed from certain angles. In sunlight, I'm hard-pressed to see any.

I have NEVER seen any mass-produced vehicle w/o OP, including all the Audi, BMW, MB, Porsche, etc. I've owned. I would say cars from the new shop are now nearly equivalent to best of any other mass-produced car.

stillcrazy

I'll back that up, My 18's finish is so much better, no orange peel that I could find. The 18 is much better than my15 as far as the finish.

silberma

Picked up a 2019 last week. The long beach red metallic is amazing. The black louver in the hood looks like a jewel.

C5Driver

FYI, The hood vent comes pre painted from its manufacturer. The only real process change they made was baking the panels at a much lower temperature over a longer period of time. By doing this it gives the paint a longer time to flow hence less OP.

Foosh

That wasn't the only change. All the painting equipment including the robotic sprayers are all new and state-of-the-art. They also designed new jigs for all parts to ensure more even coverage.

dvilin

My 2019 Z06 looks great, have to really look to find any op and so far all good. I am sure there is some but it is minor compared to past years.

Skid Row Joe

The January 2018 manufactured '18 I inspected, had a tad less evident orange peel than my 08/'16 manufactured 2017 C7. Fractionally improved, but still there. I've not started to inspect the 2019s. I'll report my findings when I do.

Foosh

There's no difference between 18s and 19s painted since the new plant opened in November. '18s were produced until 1/26/18 and '19 production started 1/29/18. There were no changes, and they simply started a new VIN sequence, started filling w/ 0W-40 oil, and called it a new MY.

Normally, there's a 4-6 week shutdown between MYs, but not in this case since the big changes happened during the July-November shutdown in the middle of the 18MY. When looking at 18s, you have to look at production date. There's the "18.1" built June-July 2017, and then there's the "18.2" built November 2017-January 2018.

It's not just a difference in the new paint shop. All cars built since November were built on an entirely reconfigured assembly line designed to improve assembly quality. Jeremy published a detailed Powerpoint presentation here awhile back detailing the many process improvements in the newly reconfigured and retooled plant.

I also completely disagree with your observations above. The new finishes are way more than a "tad" better.

Skid Row Joe

I suspect the louvers are treated a lot different in their coloring/paint process. It's quite a production piece to admire. I don't notice orange peel on my 2017 louver, either.

tail_lights

I'm guessing not all 18s are painted at the new shop? I saw a new 18 while getting my oil changed and the orange peel was dare I say worse than on my 2015. This was a black car, not sure of production date.

Reading through this thread maybe it has to do with Foosh's explanation of the 18.1 vs the 18.2 cars? I'm thinking so, no way they would let something that bad come from the new paint shop... yet....

stillcrazy

There were some 18's painted in the old booth just prior to the opening of the new operation in the factory. These I understand were found to be badly painted.

Foosh

It was reported by Zymurgy that when the plant re-opened in early November, 15 or so cars were assembled with panels painted in the old plant prior to the shutdown. However, GM reported that all 18s built after the Nov. re-opening would be painted in the new plant. I can't explain that inconsistency, except that anything built after mid-November would have been painted in the new plant.

Skid Row Joe

The January 2018 manufactured C7 '18 I inspected had a tad less evident orange peel than my 2017 C7. Unless the '19s, prove to have less orange peel than the obvious orange peel the '18 I inspected recently, there's nothing to get positively excited about. I'll be inspecting new C7 '19s on Chev. dealers' lots as the year unfolds.

Foosh

Thanks, you've now registered your opinion twice, which conflicts with the majority of opinions which I trust more, including my own eyes.

I spent hours on every square inch of my old C7 and have been over every square inch of my new one during the polish and wax after delivery. It's no contest in favor of the new plant finish. I can't put much stock in your reported inspection.

Fortunately for you, white cars are very forgiving with regard to hiding paint imperfections.

Skid Row Joe

Unless it's known where and when panels were painted, there's no way to randomly identify which C7 they eventually end up on. Hopefully, the '18s were the last of the odds and ends mentioned previously. Esp. since you report there's no orange peel on your '19.

Foosh

His '18, and my '18 were built on the same day 1/18/18. Any car built from mid-November on have panels painted in new plant.

stillcrazy

That's correct, our cars were built on the same day, There were just a few bodies painted in the old booth in the June to November time frame that were pretty bad. I have no totals but by that time the back lot at B/G was stuffed with unsold cars added to the fact that B/G was in middle of it's redo of the production floor there weren't to many built.