When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Really got up close and personal for the first time with the z06 for the first time a few days ago and gave her a good detailing with some clay and Meg's mirror glaze. While you can't really tell any difference w/ the white paint, the mirror glaze really made any of the darker trim features and rims pop (I have painted black rims).
So far, my only gripe about the car would be the paint job it first received. Certain sections, like the roof, have some serious paint texture issues - even after smoothing the surfaces with the clay. Any reflection of any light, you can see some pretty easily noticeable orange peel. So even if the car is perfectly clean and a mirror glaze applied, it still looks dirty because of the blurry reflection created by the orange peel.
For a car that probably had an initial MSRP of > $90k, I found the quality of the paint job pretty disappointing. The good/bad aspect of it is it's tough to see the actual orange peel since the car is white. I've got a black 2012 F-150 Lariat that's been stored outside pretty much it's entire life, and aside from the waterspots, you can tell that the quality and smoothness of the paint job on that car is better.
As far as I know, orange peel type texture in the paint can really only come from the initial paint job, so short of sanding the hole dang car and starting over with a new paint job, is there anything that can be done to smooth the appearance of orange peel?
Really got up close and personal for the first time with the z06 for the first time a few days ago and gave her a good detailing with some clay and Meg's mirror glaze. While you can't really tell any difference w/ the white paint, the mirror glaze really made any of the darker trim features and rims pop (I have painted black rims).
So far, my only gripe about the car would be the paint job it first received. Certain sections, like the roof, have some serious paint texture issues - even after smoothing the surfaces with the clay. Any reflection of any light, you can see some pretty easily noticeable orange peel. So even if the car is perfectly clean and a mirror glaze applied, it still looks dirty because of the blurry reflection created by the orange peel.
For a car that probably had an initial MSRP of > $90k, I found the quality of the paint job pretty disappointing. The good/bad aspect of it is it's tough to see the actual orange peel since the car is white. I've got a black 2012 F-150 Lariat that's been stored outside pretty much it's entire life, and aside from the waterspots, you can tell that the quality and smoothness of the paint job on that car is better.
As far as I know, orange peel type texture in the paint can really only come from the initial paint job, so short of sanding the hole dang car and starting over with a new paint job, is there anything that can be done to smooth the appearance of orange peel?
Yes the initial paint job is slightly better than pathetic.. Unfortunately the accountants are painting the cars, and can save $5.00/car if they reduce the amount of clear they spray. When I paint a car, it gets enough clear, that it flows and eliminates the orange peel, most manufacturers can cut costs by reducing the amount of clear.
There are some minor options like buffing with a heavy compound, then with two-three more passes bring the shine back up.
I do this for a living(shameless self promotion - Deep Reflections Auto Detailers, in Los Gatos, CA)
Having said the above, the best way is to wet sand and let a professional do it. The C7 has so many angles, it is very easy to break through the clear on one of the edges if you have never done it before.
I charge a premium for doing a C7. It is a very time consuming job to do it right.
Was going to try to fix some cosmetic stuff - like rock chips and what not on the vette - but was going to practice on the wife's car or my truck first. Probably try her car first since it looks like it's one color and mine's black with metal flakes in it. Seems like the flakes would make it harder to properly match? I'm not a total painting noob. Used to repair salvage bikes and did a pretty decent job painting some bodywork - though that was from scratch (and probably easier) and w/ a compressor & gun. The small stuff and little chips look like they'd be harder....at least judging by the repairs already made. Maybe a noob made the repairs, because they don't even look like they've been sanded. The edges around the 'repairs' are easily noticeable.
Anyways, I've got the arctic white z06 and figured a fun winter project would be cleaning up some of the rock chips. I'm just not sure what type of paint kit to get, and figured I'd see what you'd recommend and if you'd mind running through the basics on how you could make a rock chip disappear?
As for the orange peel, I remember reading somewhere that the vettes are made at one of the older plants in Bowling Green ( if I remember correctly ), and that the paint jobs leave something to be desired. Strange GM would cut a few corners to save a few bucks (lmao...ok, not really), but kinda frustrating that a bit more clear could solve their problem. Can't say I've come across many euro's that have orange peel issues. Hell, my wife's 9 year old XC90 doesn't have orange peel issues! Too bad, as there is something pretty damn sexy about a mirror-like reflection. Right now, my Z makes any reflection look like the image produced by a 2003 1.3mp digital camera
Anyways, I've got the arctic white z06 and figured a fun winter project would be cleaning up some of the rock chips. I'm just not sure what type of paint kit to get, and figured I'd see what you'd recommend and if you'd mind running through the basics on how you could make a rock chip disappear?
As for the orange peel, I remember reading somewhere that the vettes are made at one of the older plants in Bowling Green ( if I remember correctly ), and that the paint jobs leave something to be desired. Strange GM would cut a few corners to save a few bucks (lmao...ok, not really), but kinda frustrating that a bit more clear could solve their problem. Can't say I've come across many euro's that have orange peel issues. Hell, my wife's 9 year old XC90 doesn't have orange peel issues! Too bad, as there is something pretty damn sexy about a mirror-like reflection. Right now, my Z makes any reflection look like the image produced by a 2003 1.3mp digital camera
You got me with the 1.3mp digital pics... 30 minutes later I am still laughing at that one
Ok, you get it, go to your local O'Rielly's and look for a 3" sanding disk kit. Use 1500, then 2000, or 3000. 3000 is huge exercise in patience, but produces amazing results.
If you go vertical with the 1500 and steer clear of the edges, you will nail it. Once you feel you have 95% of the OP gone, do 2000 or 3000 and go horizontal with those pads. Going opposite until the more aggressive sanding marks are gone, says you have it ready for buffing and removed the 1500 sanding scratches. This is not a fast process. I have been known to put in 20 - 25 hours wet sanding a C7.
My secret to the orange peel issue on mine...... I quit looking at it. I did wet sand/polish certain areas on mine to lessen it.. Now almost 4 years later, I'm too busy enjoying it to dwell on the orange peel anymore.
You got me with the 1.3mp digital pics... 30 minutes later I am still laughing at that one:thumbs
Make sense?
Not sure if you're as old as I am, but do you remember the bulky old cybershot sony cameras? I sold a ton of them at Circuit City back in college. I want to say our top model was 1.3mp, but we had like .8mp and cheaper ones too.
Want to say the 'big' cards at that time were all of 64mb, and you could hold like 50 pictures on them or something like that. They took awful pictures, but were still $300+ since they were the 'new' thing at the time. Funny to think that the DSLR I got about 5 years ago is 24mp and stores the images on a 64gb SD card - now the cameras are more than capable of taking incredible pictures...the damn things are just so complicated, I think my pictures now are worse than the 1.3mp pictures from days of yore. I'm ashamed to admit it, but had to watch a 40 minute video on my nikon today to 'hopefully' get some better shots tonight of the Z!
Originally Posted by John Ulrich
My secret to the orange peel issue on mine...... I quit looking at it. I did wet sand/polish certain areas on mine to lessen it.. Now almost 4 years later, I'm too busy enjoying it to dwell on the orange peel anymore.
Not sure if you're as old as I am, but do you remember the bulky old cybershot sony cameras? I sold a ton of them at Circuit City back in college. I want to say our top model was 1.3mp, but we had like .8mp and cheaper ones too.
Want to say the 'big' cards at that time were all of 64mb, and you could hold like 50 pictures on them or something like that. They took awful pictures, but were still $300+ since they were the 'new' thing at the time. Funny to think that the DSLR I got about 5 years ago is 24mp and stores the images on a 64gb SD card - now the cameras are more than capable of taking incredible pictures...the damn things are just so complicated, I think my pictures now are worse than the 1.3mp pictures from days of yore. I'm ashamed to admit it, but had to watch a 40 minute video on my nikon today to 'hopefully' get some better shots tonight of the Z!
JU...as in RoadRacing World JU?
OK, I am old, and I had a 1.3 MP Kodak Digital where I could write scripts to control F-stops and shutter speeds. Was a kick. and going way off topic it took this picture
Yes the initial paint job is slightly better than pathetic.. Unfortunately the accountants are painting the cars, and can save $5.00/car if they reduce the amount of clear they spray. When I paint a car, it gets enough clear, that it flows and eliminates the orange peel, most manufacturers can cut costs by reducing the amount of clear.
There are some minor options like buffing with a heavy compound, then with two-three more passes bring the shine back up.
I do this for a living(shameless self promotion - Deep Reflections Auto Detailers, in Los Gatos, CA)
Having said the above, the best way is to wet sand and let a professional do it. The C7 has so many angles, it is very easy to break through the clear on one of the edges if you have never done it before.
I charge a premium for doing a C7. It is a very time consuming job to do it right.
All of this, wet-sanding. (Same-Innovative Auto Detailing in South Carolina lol). I have rarely seen a car get completely rid of orange peel by not wet-sanding. Definitely a professional job.
Saw your second post, 1500 got me my first time practicing on a buddy's truck. Good thing he did not care. 1500 in the hands of someone who has not done it before should practice on something else first.
orange peel is your friend... on a daily driver. For a garage queen... probably not so much. Claying will remove bonded contaminants from the paint, but won't do any "leveling". Yes, you have some options. Ideally, you want to try the LEAST aggressive methods first, til you reach the desired level of correction. Compounding would be a good place to start. Lots of combinations to try... medium to hi-cut compounds... foam to microfiber to wool pads... DA to rotary polishers. Beyond that, you get into wet-sanding of the clear. You REALLY need to be aware of what you're doing here... in all cases. If you go too far... you burn through the clear & into the color coat... you're screwed. Same can be said for an aggressive pad/polisher combo. If you're not comfortable doing it yourself, go to a professional... or, practice practice practice on a beater/rental car/or used/spare auto body parts before trying anything on your baby.
The new paint shop in Bowling Green is turning out much better paint jobs now. My 2018 was built the last week of November, and painted in the new paint shop and there is very little orange peel. The hood, roof and hatch have pretty much ZERO orange peel and the sides have only a very minor amount. Fit and finish of the body panels is excellent too.
The new paint shop in Bowling Green is turning out much better paint jobs now. My 2018 was built the last week of November, and painted in the new paint shop and there is very little orange peel. The hood, roof and hatch have pretty much ZERO orange peel and the sides have only a very minor amount. Fit and finish of the body panels is excellent too.
OK, I am old, and I had a 1.3 MP Kodak Digital where I could write scripts to control F-stops and shutter speeds. Was a kick. and going way off topic it took this picture
I guess either I got a really good paint job on my '12, or the amounts of flake in the Carbon Flash paint make any orange peel difficult to see (the likely answer) It's the best paint job on any vehicle I've ever owned I believe.
01-08-2018, 08:46 PM
Orange Peel?
Not bad for a 1.3!
