Orange Peel

[BLUGGA]

Newbie question here

Is it possible to remove the orange peel from factory paint on a C-6 Corvette?

Thanks,
Bill

 

[Mike lambert]

It is but with the minimal clear on new cars I would not attempt it. I get corvette owners all the time who want that and we won`t. We compound with Griots fast cut and a microfiber pad and that will reduce some of the texture. You also are seeing the texture of the substrate the car is made of.

 

[TheMeanGreen]

Newbie question here

Is it possible to remove the orange peel from factory paint on a C-6 Corvette?

Thanks,
Bill

I like orange peel… it tells me the condition of the paint, ex. if the car has had body work.

 

[JSFM35X]

Just cuz you can, does not mean you should.

Factory paint is the thinnest the company can get away with on ALL production cars. There is minimal amounts to spare with regular polishing forget about wet sanding required for orange peel removal.

If you have your car re sprayed, have them pack on many extra coats of clear, then you have some base to sand back to totally flat. That how show cars get that look.

 

[Accumulator]

Besides the clearcoat-thinning issue (nice to see people here taking it seriously), there`s the whole issue of successfully pulling off the subsequent compounding/polishing. Plus, on a `vette you`d need an awfully fancy ETG to measure the paint thickness in order to gauge your progress (oops, no pun intended ).

On the thinning, I wonder what GM`s specs are for what`s allowable/not and whether the Corvettes are a special case. I never see GM specs, only Ford (which are basically "you can`t take off much at all, ever").

 

[Mike lambert]

The industry average for clear was recently 2.5 mils. However I`ve had Asian cars here with 3.0 mils total! The fancy org you speak of is not very accurate according to many guys I know who have used them. I just will not sand a factory finish to remove orange peel no matter what price is offered. Because when you go to court to defend yourself after the paint fails, the judge is going to say you knew better!

 

[Rsurfer]

If you shot several coats of clear over an orange peel surface, after wet sanding, would the original peel show through?
Or would the respray level out the original op?

 

[Accumulator]

Mike lambert- Good on you for not doing the wetsanding regardless of what the customers want.

And yeah, my last Mazda had spots that were under 3mils when new, only vehicle I`ve ever done the clearcoat-damage thing to, and that was with a PC using 3M PI-III Machine Glaze no less.

Rsurfer- I`ve had blends where the repaint`s texture was different from the OE, and based on the overlap areas it does indeed fill in/replace the OE texture. But IMO finding a shop that`s willing and able to do that kind of work (to a proper standard) would be a mighty tall order.

 

[Poorboy]

Newbie question here

Is it possible to remove the orange peel from factory paint on a C-6 Corvette?

Thanks,
Bill

Is it possible ? Yes ! is it advisable NO !

as others have stated it would take a very skilled person with proper tools and a good insurance policy

the longer I am in this industry the more I discover how the evolution of the paint process has not always move forward

 

[xtremekustomz]

If you want a smoother finish your best option would be to take it to a custom shop and have it flow coated. The would sand the clear down with 600-800 grit and spray 3-4 more coats of reduced clear on top of what is on there. To take it a step further you could have it color sanded and buffed after that too but this usually yields excellent results.

 

[BLUGGA]

Thank you all so much for your input! It looks like I will leave well enough alone and just work on removing some swirls and be happy with a nice shine.

Thanks again,
Bill

 

[Mike lambert]

Excellent decision!