Factory Paint vs. Aftermarket Paint Clarity

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Imatk

New member
I guess this is a question for the body shop guys here... or maybe some of you more experienced detailers can answer it.



I got an aftermarket hood put on my car about a month ago. They had to blend the front fenders (gray metallic) to get the paint to match seamlessly which it does.



But I noticed when polishing my car with Menzerna FPII this weekend that the front fender looked much clearer under the halogens than the door right next to hit. I beleive the gloss is a bit better as well.



I thought maybe I could get that same clarity and gloss if I polished the door but after polishing the two panels looked just as they did before. The front was clearer and glossier and the door wasn't as clear or glossy.



Now I didn't notice this until I put the halogens on there. Under normal circumstances you really can't tell a difference... until you know what to look for.



So my question I guess is... is there any way to get the factory paint to look as good as my aftermarket paint job... and why does the aftermarket paint look so much clearer and glossier?



Thanks for any suggestions :)
 
Damn good question

All I can think of is better paint, more prep, more coats of paint.
 
What kind of car do you have and how old is it? I can think of a couple possibilities:

1. Your original paint is harder, and thus harder to correct than the paint on your new hood.

2. The paint on your hood isn't as old and hasn't seen as much abuse so its starting in better condition before polishing and finishing in better condition.
 
What kind of car?? Some cars have VERY nice factory paint, some have garbage. I've had some of each. I was VERY pleased with my BMW's paint, and the Range Rover wasn't too shabby either. My first car was an oldsmobile with mettallic gray paint. It was ummm....disappointing.



I had some bodywork done 2 years ago on my WRX. I selected a local high line bodyshop to do the work, and specified I wanted Glasurit. I'm not sure how they get away with it, but they still can shoot solvent based Glasurit. The results were stunning. In detailing my car this past weekend, I was again reminded of how nice it really was.



Good paintwork isn't cheap. Some manufacturers do it right... some don't.
 
Sorry I should have said. I have a Ford Mustang 2006 model.



The paint is in very good shape... the car is garaged and mostly only driven on the weekends.



Also I noticed the difference before I started to polish it. Also after but there didn't seem to be any difference in clarity for the door panel. Looked pretty much the same as it did before.
 
Automotive clearcoat isn't what it use to be. Take for instance a car that came out of the dealership in 1988. I promise you that if the vehicle was taken care of properly the clear is still on there and not coming off. Now take for instance a vehicle from around 2000, particularly a Honda or a Mitsubishi. Most of the time clear is coming off of the top of the car or either the hood. You could actually paint something and then come back 3 months later and paint something else and they would look different. With all the VOC regulations they have having to cut down on the "good stuff". It won't be too much longer before all automotove paints are waterbased. If I'm not mistaken, most shops in California have already moved over to it. As for higher end vehicles. they should have better material on it because it is a high priced vehicle.
 
Yeah I was just wondering if maybe they did some type of wetsand and hard wool buffing/compounding to get that clear look as opposed to the factory job.
 
I would imagine that the shop that painted the hood buffed it all as well. Alot of quality shops do that before the vehicle leaves. How is the orange peel on the vehicle? Does all of it match up or did they shop do a better job painting than the factory? I know on mine I wetsanded with 2000 and then buffed with 3M rubbing compound (I think it was 05936 I've still got it out in the bin) with a foam pad and then polished with 3M 05937. Actually the compounding took the least time of everything and removed all scratch marks with 1 pass. It probably had to do with 2 factors. Better quality clear, and spray technique. Most factory paintjobs are awful.
 
Yeah there is A LOT more orange peel on the rest of the car than on the hood or front fenders for sure.



I'm too scared to do any kind of wetsanding or anything. Do you think a pro detailer could get it as clear as the new paint or would it really need to be painted all over to get a match?
 
I'm pretty sure a pro could do it, BUT like I said they don't put clear on very thick from the factory so you gotta be careful. If nothing else just get another clearcoat put on it and then you should have plenty to work with without worrying about buffing through. I've got 4 coats of clear on my truck. Well....probably 3 1/2 with all the wetsanding and buffing.
 
The new paint is probably just of better quality (clarity/finish/flatness) that the factory finish. Mustangs have never been know to have the greatest paint out there. I'm sure you can sand down some of the orange peel on the doors to have it blend in better. (like extremekustomz mentioned). Probably just a little 2000 grit sandpaper starting at the edge and slow walking it out to the center of the door.
 
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