Hood looks like a golf ball!

[twytch38]

Hey gang! First time poster, long time reader!
First off, I just want to say thanks to all the helpful people on these forums! It has inspired me to go above and beyond on my car's finish!
On to my question. I'm working on my 2007 Honda Civic Si. I did a full wash on it this morning. Hopefully you guys will see a pic of a light reflecting in the hood of my car. My question is, what are all the little "golf ball divots" in my paint and is there any way to get rid of them? It seems like the whole car has them and it's drivin' me bonkers!
I started with a Gold Class car wash, followed by a clay bar, finishing with a cleaner wax application.
Any help is GREATLY appreciated!

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Hood looks like a golf ball!

First off, welcome to MOL!


Now to answer your question: what you're seeing is called "orange peel" and it is very common in factory paint jobs. It can happen for a variety of reasons and it's quite hard to find a factory, or even body shop, paint job without it.

There is only one way to really get rid of it, and that is to wet sand and then rotary buff out the sanding marks. Please understand that we are NOT recommending that you do this. We are only pointing out the process to eliminate it. Do NOT, repeat, do NOT attempt this process! Heck, don't even think about it too much. Wet sanding is a very advanced process, and the requisite rotary buffing that follows is almost equally advanced. Custom painters will lay down several layers of clear coat so that wet sanding can take place without fear of cutting completely through the clear. Unfortunately, factory paint jobs just don't offer that luxury. That is to say there simply is not enough clear coat present in a factory paint job to allow for wet sanding the finish to perfection. The results can be very impressive when done by a skilled professional. When an unskilled person attempts it, though, it usually ends in tears.

Bottom line - you're going to have to live with this orange peel, just like the rest of us!

[APR Tuned]

Re: Hood looks like a golf ball!

Welcome to MOL!

I feel your pain with the orange peel, Twytch. I have a 2009 Si in black and it's all over the car. Unfortunately we'll just have to live with it or go through the crazy process mentioned by Michael above. The funny thing is, the more you shine it up, the more you're gonna see it. Oh well. Crappy honda paint.

[twytch38]

Re: Hood looks like a golf ball!

Thanks very much for the quick info! Here's another question though. We have hard water here, and it's starting to show as water spots on the roof and windows. What is the best way to combat this? Thanks for helpin' a newb!

[Mr Miyagi]

Re: Hood looks like a golf ball!

First off, welcome to MOL!


Now to answer your question: what you're seeing is called "orange peel" and it is very common in factory paint jobs. It can happen for a variety of reasons and it's quite hard to find a factory, or even body shop, paint job without it.

There is only one way to really get rid of it, and that is to wet sand and then rotary buff out the sanding marks. Please understand that we are NOT recommending that you do this. We are only pointing out the process to eliminate it. Do NOT, repeat, do NOT attempt this process! Heck, don't even think about it too much. Wet sanding is a very advanced process, and the requisite rotary buffing that follows is almost equally advanced. Custom painters will lay down several layers of clear coat so that wet sanding can take place without fear of cutting completely through the clear. Unfortunately, factory paint jobs just don't offer that luxury. That is to say there simply is not enough clear coat present in a factory paint job to allow for wet sanding the finish to perfection. The results can be very impressive when done by a skilled professional. When an unskilled person attempts it, though, it usually ends in tears.

Bottom line - you're going to have to live with this orange peel, just like the rest of us!

I've always wondered why they don't wet sand the base coat first rather than just the clear coat?

[oldmodman]

Re: Hood looks like a golf ball!

I've always wondered why they don't wet sand the base coat first rather than just the clear coat?

They do.

A show car paint job will generally have several hundred hours of prep sanding. The car will get many coats of primer which will be almost all sanded off until the surface has been leveled. Then the color is applied. Which may involve many different colors and steps. Possibly stripes, flames, etc that make the surface uneven again. Then three to five coats of clear. Which is carefully sanded and polished to get a perfectly smooth surface. And even after all that sanding and polishing it will still have more clear on it than a factory paint job.

That is why it is not recommended that you try sanding down the clear on a factory paint job. By the time you get it leveled it is possible that more than 25% of the clear might have been removed. And that can lead to clearcoat failure.

[RaskyR1]

Re: Hood looks like a golf ball!

My '06 Si was the same way too.

Boo orange peel!

[Zuke]

Re: Hood looks like a golf ball!

My '06 Si was the same way too.

Boo orange peel!

Notice how Rasky says WAS

[RaskyR1]

Re: Hood looks like a golf ball!

Notice how Rasky says WAS

Shhhhhh! I only did the hood!

[SVT Lightning]

Re: Hood looks like a golf ball!

Be thankfull your rig isn't dark colored....it's much more noticeable. The trick is not to stand so close that you see it. Outa sight...outa mind! My truck has OP front to back. But when it's freshly detailed, it stll looks better than any car in the neighborhood. Most folks don't even know what OP is anyway.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Hood looks like a golf ball!

Hello and welcome to mol.

Orange peel It makes a person

[Eddie6th]

Re: Hood looks like a golf ball!

I find that production cars today have much more orange peel than they did 15/20 years ago.