last lemming

My digital camera is not linking to my computer so please bear with me on this.

I bought my car with 1800 miles on it from an Infiniti delaership, and of course I checked carfax and everything was good. But when you buy a used car you are just never 100% about the cars history. And if your an **** guy about your car like me (whick I assume most of you are since your on a car forum) then you notice little things now and and then that make you question your ride. This feeling is increased 10X if your car is used.

To the point, the other day I was in my garage with the garage door open and the light was coming in making my black car produce a glare when looking at it and I was surprised at just how much orange peel it had. Maybe its the light hitting it, maybe its because its black you can see it better, i dont know. The OP is pretty constant around the car in its "look", but seems a bit more on both sides and rear bumper than on the front and top. However the gas cap seems almost perfectly smooth (maybe this is just because of how the parts are orginally painted?)

So my first thought is has this car been in an accident. But I've been under this car and all around it there is just no evidence of a previous wreck or repaint. When I bought the car I looked it over first and it did have the typical road rash on the front and sides. So I thought that the car has only 1800 miles on it and if it had been in a wreck and repainted then the car should have zero road rash - at least in the areas where OP is present, and since this road rash goes through the OP and not under it is another hint.

So ultimately my question is this orange peel normal for our cars?

PSYH

I've gone over the whole car with a clay bar before and I definitely don't have it, that's all I can say.

Sorry to hear you have it...

last lemming

well that sucks - Just to be clear when I'm talking orange peel Im talking that same oragne peel every car has to some degree except mine seems more noticable. I bet if you look at your cars surface very closely the paint isn't mirror smooth, the clear has slight variation in thickness. I've never seen a car without it - but I havn't seen all cars. My question is that the severity of mine might only ba attributable to the fact that its easier to see on a black car and is completely normal.

Dan1

Bumpers and other plastic parts are usually painted separately from the rest of the car. Thats probably what you are seeing.

You will notice color differences between bumpers and the rest of the car on many cars.

PSYH

Well that's splitting hairs. I have looked at my car very closely, and the "orange peel-ness" of my car's paint is at a degree where I don't even consider it orange peel. Either you're really nit-picking or it's actually noticeable, in which case what I meant was mine doesn't have orange peel to the point where it's noticeable at all.

Black Betty

iTrader: (60)

I'm ****. I detail a lot. I have a BO G37 that I bought with 8 miles on the odometer; I saw it roll off the transport. I have it too. I think it's just Infiniti's paint finish. If indeed you are talking about the same amount of surface imperfection that I am.

last lemming

I am nit picking here, so it's probably totally normal. but I just had to ask.

KnoxvilleG37

My car also has the "textured" or orange peel look to the paint as well. It's best seen with indirect light. Looking at it outside in direct sunlight you can't notice it, but in my garage with lights or with the garage door open.....yup, it's there. I agree with Black Betty, it's just Infiniti's paint finish. No worries!

fkat

I have it also. these imperfections are mosty on the vertical surfaces and tend to be on the lower part of the car. I saw it on the delivery date at 12 on odometer so normal.

san~man

Since the tree huggers got the solvent based banned, almost every car will had a noticable amount of orange peel. There is not much you can do about it.

PSYH

wtf?

Someone ban this guy pls kthxbai.

Blackjack

iTrader: (3)

He's history.

TOGWT

Orange Peel

Orange peel is paint film surface that has a dimpled or textured appearance that paint takes on due to an equipment/operator caused defect. Like wrong paint-gun pressure and/or distance from panel, an operator not knowing how to set-up the equipment to get a good enough mixture to atomize for that particular type of paint, or even a partly blocked paint-gun nozzle, improper pre-paint preparation and /or paint application, or uneven drying of the clear coat.

It should be eliminated after the final shooting of clear coat by wet sanding the paint film surface, and polishing with a mildly abrasive polish and a high-speed rotary polisher.

Correction- it can be removed (with limitations) by wet-sanding (colour sanding)

This kind of work should only be undertaken by a very experienced enthusiast or a professional detailer; experienced in colour-sanding (wet-sanding) / paint renovation, more so than detailing, someone who uses a paint thickness gauge (PTG) to measure and document the vehicles paint. This is a technique that takes a lot of practice to perfect.

An extract from one of a series of in-depth, unbiased detailing articles © TOGWT ™ Ltd Copyright 2002-2008, all rights reserved.

G4me

Nearly all cars have orange peel unless it was wet sanded during the original paint process. For instance, this is why the GTR Super Silver is $3000 more than the "normal" paint colors.

eusedhe

So, to be clear - orange peel must be wet sanded, it cannot be polished out?