Black GTi..orange peel paint normal?

[rh203]

My GTi's paintwork seems to have an orange peel paint effect. I've had the usual mechanics itching to suck in air and tell me itd been resprayed. Is this normal for black GTi's oreven GTI's in general or is it the sign of a spray job?? What could I check?

[jamiea7x]

may well be,,depending where it is cheack around the rubbers, inside the door shuts etc for signs of overspray or unperfect masking,

[rh203]

Theres nothing like that. The whole car has a very slight orange peel effect. Wonder if it's normal...

[99hjhm]

Mine has it, let me look for some pics.

[pro3mark]

I have a black Lupo and the orange peel looks excessive, the GTis I've seen are like it also.

[99hjhm]

Mine has it, let me look for some pics.

Rear bumper has been resprayed, and is much flatter that this.

Edited February 28, 2010 by 99hjhm

[LupoGTiNAB]

My Black GTi was like this too!

[lupo_gg]

all cars have orange peal from manufacture, its just how the the clearcoat is applyed. you only notice the peal effect on dark colours. the paint will look alot flatter on the bumpers as they wont be painted by a machine and generaly clearcoat flows round the curves more.

To remedy the peal effect you would have to flat the full pannel and machine polish the car but if you have never picked up a polisher before you cud be quit lethal to your paint ie burning throught the paint and generally making a mess lol

in other words leave it to the pros (me) lol

[ry203]

I have a polisher but it's not amazing. If I wanted rid of it what kind of compound would I use?

[CasperGTI]

I asked the same question about mine when i was down with my painter.

This is the answer he gave me.

Basically, the base colour under the clear coat is a water based paint, and when it dries it doesnt actually completly dry. So the colour actually moves about under the clear coat creating an orange peel effect under cold conditions, as the base colour is more flexable than the harder clearcoat.

But in direct sunlight and warmth you will find that the paint actually looks smoother as the base colour expands ever so slightly under the hard clearcoat skin which straightens out the clearcoat enough to make it look smooth.

He seemd to know what he was on about, and it did make sence as thats what it does. Dunno if its 100% correct though?

John

[lupo_gg]

best to use compound head with either g6 or g3(if youre not confedent i wud reccomend g6 not as harsh) and to finish off with a black mop finishing head use g10 or any other finishing compound (3m finesit)

[lupo_gg]

parts of it is correct lol but the bit about the base not dry isnt correct, cus if the base wasnt dry it would cause many other problems down the line wen applying the laquer and even after. orange peal down to how the claer coat is applyed and wot gun setup you have, ie if you get closer to the pannel your guna get a flatter finish but run a high risk of it running away lol

[CasperGTI]

I dont think he meant that it doesnt dry, i think he meant that it dosent dry as hard as the clearcoat so moves underneath it.

[99hjhm]

Basically, the base colour under the clear coat is a water based paint, and when it dries it doesnt actually completly dry. So the colour actually moves about under the clear coat creating an orange peel effect under cold conditions, as the base colour is more flexable than the harder clearcoat.

But in direct sunlight and warmth you will find that the paint actually looks smoother as the base colour expands ever so slightly under the hard clearcoat skin which straightens out the clearcoat enough to make it look smooth.

He seemd to know what he was on about, and it did make sence as thats what it does. Dunno if its 100% correct though?

John

I think he is correct, but maybe not what fully causes the orange peal from the factory, it's just the way the paint is done at VW, no hand prep between primer and base coat. It is overcome on a show car, once the car is lacquered and baked off, it can then be flatted down and lacqured again and then again if desired. That will leave you with just an uneven clearcote which can be then flatted down before polishing.

You see on Detailing World where detailers do full paint correction by first flatting down the panels with very fine grades before polishing... They can measure the paint thickness, and know what there doing... Not something I would want to try myself.

Still get orange peal with solvent base coats, might not be as bad though, have to ask the painter at work.

A good machine polish might make it better(I've tried, and a polished panel seems to make it look worse), but as far as I know wont get rid of it... Casper knows alot more than me on that though

[northwick]

Mine has had a panel re-sprayed and if anything that is a better finish than the rest of the car. So yes, I have orange peel as standard.

[Defcon5]

Same here, though it seems more obvious on the doors and wings than it does on the bonnet and roof for some reason, maybe just the way the light hits it

[rh203]

oh well...automatic carwashes bring it up nicely

It's definitely more noticeable on the doors rather than bonnet etc.

[99hjhm]

Same here, though it seems more obvious on the doors and wings than it does on the bonnet and roof for some reason, maybe just the way the light hits it

same.

[99hjhm]

oh well...automatic carwashes bring it up nicely

Please no.

[rh203]

nah, i took it through once when I was hacked off with the weather and it was pitted in salt. It was promptly hand washed the next day and meguiars tech waxed the next day.

[heartagram]

The paint on a lot of modern cars is shocking. A lot of the newer BMWs have horrendous amounts of orange peel. But I suppose joe public see its shiney and thats as much as they care.

[pro3mark]

Yeah, my sister had a new mini, someone ran into her and the bonnet and a panel was reaprayed, that finish was spotless but really showed off the orange peel on the rest of the car.

[PaperWeight1]

As said, most GTi's I've seen have fairly poor orange peel but nothing like newer BMW's which are horrendous.

To get rid you're never going to remedy 'medium' amounts of orange peel with machining, the panels need sanded then machined.

Not something worth doing on a daily driver IMO as you compromise clearcoat thickness meaning it's more likely to fade and allow UV damage to the underlying colour coat.