Newb orange peel question

[WhatsUpDoc]

Is this what is meant by "orange peel" or is this normal?

 

 

This is after the 3-step correction, but before glaze and wax. (yes there are still some minor scratches...this was my first attempt!)

[Team Adam's]

Yes... that would be orange peel... its the bumpy texture of unsanded paint. Gets its name from the fact it kind of looks like the outside of an orange. Not 'rough' but kind of lumpy.

 

Only way to remove orange peel is to have a car completely sanded down smooth. A scary proposition given the overall thin application a factory car gets. I only recommend it if you've paid to have an aftermarket paintjob done.

 

The good news is that 99.9999999999999% of cars have it so you're not alone.... pretty much any factory car will have orange peel to some degree. Everything from Lamborghinis to Hyundais... if its an OEM paintjob it'll have orange peel.

[WhatsUpDoc]

Cool, thanks Dylan. I don't think I'll be taking any sandpaper to this car...

[Team Adam's]

Nice Vette... probably a good plan to stay away from sanding

[Loop]

Any ideas what causes the "peel" Dylan? I don't know enough about paint to say but I would guess a hand laid job would have it as well. You just dont see it because most of those are sanded out I guess?

 

I know when I used to work at a large Japanese automotive manufacturing facility, the cars coming out of paint would be "spot sanded" for defects but orange peel was perfectly acceptable.

 

A paint engineer there told me it was a result of the lack of cure time the cars were subjected to during the paint process but I dont know how true that is.

[Team Adam's]

Any ideas what causes the "peel" Dylan? I don't know enough about paint to say but I would guess a hand laid job would have it as well. You just dont see it because most of those are sanded out I guess?

 

I know when I used to work at a large Japanese automotive manufacturing facility, the cars coming out of paint would be "spot sanded" for defects but orange peel was perfectly acceptable.

 

A paint engineer there told me it was a result of the lack of cure time the cars were subjected to during the paint process but I dont know how true that is.

 

No amount of cure time will fix orange peel... might make it better to let the paint cure longer, but it definitely wouldn't 100% alleviate it. Even shops doing $50,000+ custom paint jobs have orange peel prior to sanding... its just part of the deal. Part of what makes a high end custom/show-quality paint job so expensive is the man hours invested to sand every inch of the car smooth.

 

Orange peel is essentially how paint settles out when its sprayed... its never going to lay down perfectly smooth on its own. Theres not so much a "cause" its just a symptom of paint spraying.

[mc2hill]

No amount of cure time will fix orange peel... might make it better to let the paint cure longer, but it definitely wouldn't 100% alleviate it. Even shops doing $50,000+ custom paint jobs have orange peel prior to sanding... its just part of the deal. Part of what makes a high end custom/show-quality paint job so expensive is the man hours invested to sand every inch of the car smooth.

 

^Truth spoken here!

 

I had the chance to speak to someone who does wetsanding on very high-end paint work (Riddler cars, etc.). He said he has can spend a week on JUST THE HOOD! He creates sanding blocks for different areas and contours so each area is made perfect.