What's The Deal About Orange Peel?
07-01-2008, 04:43 PM
#21
Corvette Enthusiast
I had a VR and I could see it on some panels more than others but on the VY its real hard to see or atleast on mine it is. Really only place I can see it is on the doors and thats if its just in the right light and I get real close. In my opinion I wouldn't change the color just because of OP. Get the color you want and enjoy it! I learned that lesson on my VR because I was wanting a VY but settled on the VR then I ended up changing up. Its and expensive lesson to learn so pick the right color the first time!
07-01-2008, 05:20 PM
#22
Safety Car
I wouldn't worry about orange peel. It can happen with any color. Just choose the color you like best. Victory Red is one of my favorites. 
07-01-2008, 06:09 PM
#23
Racer
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Yep. When I had my C6 in a body shop for paintwork about three years ago I was asking the paint manager how they went about duplicating the orange peel on my DSOM so that it would match exactly and he said it was done mainly by regulating the air pressure on the painting equipment and that all vehicle manufactures had some degree of orange peel and required different pressures to match. He then took me around to several different vehicles in the shop and showed me the orange peel on all of them. On some vehicles you had to look real close and on others it was horrific, much worse than any Corvette.
I love my brightly colored DSOM. I would never even consider orange peel in my color decision. I almost never notice it or think about it. My two cents: get what you want and don't worry about it.
I love my brightly colored DSOM. I would never even consider orange peel in my color decision. I almost never notice it or think about it. My two cents: get what you want and don't worry about it.
07-01-2008, 11:10 PM
#24
Racer
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I have a 2008 CRM, and YES there is orange peel, but just look at the car and you will forget about it. I also have a 2006 Acura TL and a 2005 Silverado and they both have orange peel. I guess today we have to look beyond the imperfections in the paint and look for the beauty in the car itself.
07-01-2008, 11:16 PM
#25
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Your car will have orange peel - all current Corvettes do to some degree. Some people are REALLY bothered by it and have their cars wetsanded to smooth the paint. Most of us live with it and enjoy the vehicle for what it is - the best performance bargain out there. IF you want that performance and perfect paint (especially in red) you need to start shopping Ferrari.
Don't worry about it - your car will be fine and you'll love it. Remember - most of the news you hear on a forum is bad news.
Don't worry about it - your car will be fine and you'll love it. Remember - most of the news you hear on a forum is bad news.
07-04-2008, 08:33 PM
#28
Racer
Thread Starter
Once again, this Forum ROCKS! Sometimes it just helps to know everything will be OK and where better to find that out but here on this Forum. Thanks to all who replied. We've scrutinized every car we could find and it is true: they all have orange peel!
07-04-2008, 08:50 PM
#29
Safety Car
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Corvette paint process:
Adhesion Promoter: air spray application to make parts conductive.
Primer/surfacer: air spray application (not sure about elctrostatics).
Basecoat: waterborne applied with dual head guns.
Clearcoat: solventborne applied with electrostatic rotary atomizers.
No OEM paint shop tries to make orange peel. They all want to eliminate it as much as possible, but the process is so hard to control. You would have to control the process to an even finer degree to acutally make orange peel on a consistent basis.
Orange peel will ALWAYS be worse on the vertical surfaces than on the horizontals. Gravity itself helps the paint flow out smoother on the hood, roof and rear hatch. It tends to hang rather than flow on the verticals.
Adhesion Promoter: air spray application to make parts conductive.
Primer/surfacer: air spray application (not sure about elctrostatics).
Basecoat: waterborne applied with dual head guns.
Clearcoat: solventborne applied with electrostatic rotary atomizers.
No OEM paint shop tries to make orange peel. They all want to eliminate it as much as possible, but the process is so hard to control. You would have to control the process to an even finer degree to acutally make orange peel on a consistent basis.
Orange peel will ALWAYS be worse on the vertical surfaces than on the horizontals. Gravity itself helps the paint flow out smoother on the hood, roof and rear hatch. It tends to hang rather than flow on the verticals.
07-04-2008, 08:53 PM
#31
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My guide at the Museum Delivery discussed orange peel with me during my plant tour. Per him, GM does the orange peel intentionally. That's right; it's deliberate. Why? Because it does an excellent job of hiding any surface imperfections, which can pop up from time to time on fiberglass based body panels.
07-04-2008, 09:10 PM
#32
Melting Slicks
All cars have orange peel, regardless of price, since day one. There are some cars with less than the Corvette, but more that are worse. Get the color you like best. Worry more about how the color shows dirt (like black). Silver shows the least dirt and surprisingly, JSB hides it well too.
07-04-2008, 09:12 PM
#33
If you want to get rid of orange peel, take your car (any car you choose to buy because they all have orange peel) to a good body shop. Have them wet sand it and reclearcoat the car and then wet sand and repeat. Soon you won't have orange peel.
07-04-2008, 09:28 PM
#36
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If you don't want orange peel, find a quality painter in your area to paint the car for you. Wet sanding is the key. You can't spend that much time on a car's paint in a factory situation and keep the margins where they have to be. 
07-04-2008, 10:16 PM
#37
Safety Car
My opinion is that you will not find a Corvette (color not withstanding) without orange peel. Some colors do a better job of hiding it. The orange peel is caused by a combination of panel materials and their surface, paints and the application process itself. SMC is a tough material to get a true class A surface. The industry is making strides with mold finishes and surface treatments.
The panels are plastic, the paint process is an electrostatic process and you must concern yourself with grounding, gravity and paint viscosity. The paint technician must find the right balance of a thick enough paint that won't run off the panel vs a paint that will flow out smooth as it is dried. The panels are painted in the orientation that they hang on the car, horizontal panels painted horizontally and vertical panels painted vertically.
The paint shop must do all of this fast enough to keep the assembly line moving while slow enough to get the best finish they can. The painted panels take 10 hours in the paint shop. They also have to balance all of this for a primer coat, a color coat and a clear coat. Same process for all colors.
Where some colors can help is the size and level of pigmentation or solids content vs. the amount of liquid (surfactants, cleaners and water)
What I'm trying to tell you is that you should pick the color you want based on what you like. As you poll the forum you will get input that color "X" has no orange peel. Five minutes later you will get input that color "X" has a ton of orange peel from another owner. Everyone's threshold is different. The process has some variation in it. At the end of the day if you look long enough and close enough you will find the orange peel condition in every Corvette (and current production vehicle from GM or other marques) that you see. Just pick what you like and don't sweat the small stuff.
The panels are plastic, the paint process is an electrostatic process and you must concern yourself with grounding, gravity and paint viscosity. The paint technician must find the right balance of a thick enough paint that won't run off the panel vs a paint that will flow out smooth as it is dried. The panels are painted in the orientation that they hang on the car, horizontal panels painted horizontally and vertical panels painted vertically.
The paint shop must do all of this fast enough to keep the assembly line moving while slow enough to get the best finish they can. The painted panels take 10 hours in the paint shop. They also have to balance all of this for a primer coat, a color coat and a clear coat. Same process for all colors.
Where some colors can help is the size and level of pigmentation or solids content vs. the amount of liquid (surfactants, cleaners and water)
What I'm trying to tell you is that you should pick the color you want based on what you like. As you poll the forum you will get input that color "X" has no orange peel. Five minutes later you will get input that color "X" has a ton of orange peel from another owner. Everyone's threshold is different. The process has some variation in it. At the end of the day if you look long enough and close enough you will find the orange peel condition in every Corvette (and current production vehicle from GM or other marques) that you see. Just pick what you like and don't sweat the small stuff.
just go with the color you want
07-05-2008, 01:56 AM
#38
Race Director
Orange peel is a vettes best friend.
07-05-2008, 02:32 AM
#39
Even Ferrari's come with orange peel. Its normal for the paint to cure this way. Its also one of the signs that a car might be repainted, you can check if the orange peel matches from panel to panel. Be leary of adjacent panels where the paint is sanded flat, which is normally a sign of shoddy repair. A good body shop will actually come close to matching the orange peel so it appears original.
07-05-2008, 03:44 AM
#40
Safety Car
I'll agree with the mob here. My arctic white 07 has orange peel and plenty of it. It's really not a big deal. When it's clean it still looks great and most people don't even know what orange peel is until you point it out.