Orange Peel

[nick98338]

My new truck, bought in March, has orange peel. Not super bad, but you can see it if you look close. Is there some way to tell if the orange peel is in the pigmented paint, or in the clear coat? Is it even possible for the orange peel to be in the clear coat? I know that if the orange peel is in the pigmented paint, then I'm gonna live with it. But, just maybe, if the orange peel is in the clear coat, it might be possible to smooth that out, over time.

[tguil]

Re: Orange Peel

In a new truck, "live with it". You really shouldn't be messing with factory paint. Most new vehicles have it...even Toyotas. My wife's Tacoma and my Dodge Ram both have some orange peel.

Tom

[meguser2002]

Re: Orange Peel

Almost all factory paint has orange peel. The good thing about it that it is almost allways minimal and very uniform so it looks clean.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Orange Peel

Most new vehicles have it...even Toyotas.

Even Rolls Royces.


The orange peel is in the clear coat but the primary issue is that there isn't enough clear coat there to allow you to safely remove it all. Or most of it, even. A typical clear coat, regardless of manufacturer, is only about 2 mils thick. That is a mere 2/1000 of an inch, and it contains all the UV blockers that protect both the clear and color coats. The only way to remove orange peel is to wet sand the paint and then rotary buff out the sanding marks. Both are very advanced processes, and together they will remove a lot of paint. So much so that, even if you did manage to stay within the manufacturers recommendation of removing no more than 0.5 mil, you'd likely come so close to that limit that you would be done buffing that paint for the life of the car. That means if you get swirls in the future. Tough luck. Got a scratch? Live with it.

[dvtldav]

Re: Orange Peel

In "THEORY" if you have orange peel and you do paint correction 1 to 2 times a year, eventually (over a period of a few years) shouldn't you remove the high spots on the paint get down to the low spots? My thoughts are that every time you do paint correction you should be helping the orange peel. Is my thinking wrong?

Dave

[Fly Bye]

Re: Orange Peel

if you do paint correction 1 to 2 times a year, eventually (over a period of a few years)...

I think, depending on how aggressive you get in you're polishing, that you could level the finish slightly. So, I don't think you're totally off base here.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Orange Peel

Machine polishing alone, especially the sort of work you do to remove light scratches, cobwebs, etc, won't really remove orange peel over time since the pads will conform to the high and low areas pretty equally.

If you were to wet sand with a foam finishing disk, even at 1500 grit, and use a foam interface pad you would still follow the contours of the orange peel pretty well and remove almost none of it. This process is designed to intentionally leave orange peel in place. Why? Well, if you use 1000 grit sanding disc (no foam backer) and no interface pad you'll mow down that orange peel pretty quickly - and the area you worked on will appear vastly different from the rest of the car. That's not a good thing. So if you can contour match with sandpaper you'll certainly do it with a nice thick buffing pad.

[dvtldav]

Re: Orange Peel

Thanks Mike. I was afraid my theory was to good to be true.LOL

Dave

[69cents]

Re: Orange Peel

Hi guys, new to this orange peel and did a search and found this site, check it out, he is using meguiars too.
www glossycar.com

[Spidey]

Re: Orange Peel

the only cars i see very minimal orange peel on are bimmers... and higher end cars.. btu it is a lot more prevalent in cheaper cars like fords and hondas etc

[HealthyCivic]

Re: Orange Peel

Who cares? I've always thought it looked good. Removing orange peel is like getting a brand new car and removing the new car scent - it just doesn't much make sense to me unless the car is a showroom car.