# Orange Peel on a brand new van



## Juicy Jen (May 4, 2010)

Wonder if somebody can give me some options if possible....I collected a brand new 10 plate white astravan se on saturday and set about giving it a little detail yesterday.

Bodywork was covered in swirls and some areas with scratches which I can sort out with the DA no worries, however I've noticed that the orange peel is quite bad all over.

I'm a bit annoyed with the look as I want it perfect  .....so is there anything I can do? Wet n dry it??

Oh and sorry if this is in the wrong section wasn't quite sure where to put it and looked through the search too


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## Dougster (Jun 12, 2007)

You get orange peel on brand new Bentleys.

Live with it.


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## Juicy Jen (May 4, 2010)

Dougster said:


> You get orange peel on brand new Bentleys.
> 
> Live with it.


I realise that most vehicles have orange peel but just wondered if time wasnt an object if there was anything that could be done?


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## ABYSS (Oct 30, 2005)

Dougster said:


> You get orange peel on brand new Bentleys.
> 
> Live with it.


someone's up passed their bedtime... :wave:


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## HornetSting (May 26, 2010)

Dougster said:


> You get orange peel on brand new Bentleys.
> 
> Live with it.


I must admit reading a lot of your posts, you always seem aggressive about things and constantly wound up.


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## ivor (Sep 24, 2008)

I reckon you could flat it and then go through the whole polish it up again but I also reckon it would throw your warranty out the window unfortunately it seems like one of those you have to live with


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## ozzy (Jan 1, 2007)

Orange peel is just the nature of todays water based paint i so i am lead to believe


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## Guest (Jun 22, 2010)

ozzy said:


> Orange peel is just the nature of todays water based paint i so i am lead to believe


Rubbish,ive sprayed a few items with water based and left a perfect finish.


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## Guest (Jun 22, 2010)

Juicy Jen said:


> Wonder if somebody can give me some options if possible....I collected a brand new 10 plate white astravan se on saturday and set about giving it a little detail yesterday.
> 
> Bodywork was covered in swirls and some areas with scratches which I can sort out with the DA no worries, however I've noticed that the orange peel is quite bad all over.
> 
> ...


What i suggest you do is....buy a paint depth gauge,take some readings,if it is acceptable then you can wet and dry the paint


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

Juicy Jen said:


> Wonder if somebody can give me some options if possible....I collected a brand new 10 plate white astravan se on saturday and set about giving it a little detail yesterday.
> 
> Bodywork was covered in swirls and some areas with scratches which I can sort out with the DA no worries, however I've noticed that the orange peel is quite bad all over.
> 
> ...


It's a shame that a brand new van should come with swirls and scratches however to answer your question, yes if done carefully, wet sanding will remove the orange peel effect. As said though, if anything goes wrong with the paint it could invalidate the paint warranty, if they can prove you've wet sanded it.


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## Guest (Jun 22, 2010)

Which is why you should buy a paint depth gauge!!^^


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## Juicy Jen (May 4, 2010)

Guess I'll have to leave it then as I don't want to invalidate the warrenty in the first week 

Thanks for your help :wave:


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## abbotsmike (Jun 5, 2010)

I can't imagine most dealerships would understand, let alone be able to spot, orange peel or wet-sanding!
And surely by that thinking, bad wash technique that damages the paint could invalidate the paint warranty?


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

I thought you was a detailer offering a "professional" service, surly you should know how to sort it...


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## justina3 (Jan 11, 2008)

I would complain myself go back check out there demo van is there demo van covered in orange peel then say thats the finish i ordered or course there not going to be able to do anything about it but you might get a freebie out of it somewhere along the line.


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## justina3 (Jan 11, 2008)

Dougster said:


> You get orange peel on brand new Bentleys.
> 
> Live with it.


I have never bought a ew Bentley but i find that hard to beleive that people paying 100k ish for a new car would be covered in a sub standed paint finish.


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

Well they are let me tell you, however Bentleys paint finish is still one of the best on the market.

Some of the rubbish advise spouted on here really cracks me up, polishing your car will not invalidate your warranty, a paint gauge is only any good if you know what your doing other wise your still working blind, and ALL modern sprayed paint finishes have orange peel unless flatted out, most high end MFR,s flat and polish there cars straight out the factory, most are sprayed by machines, and iv never seen some someone get a 100% glass like finish out the gun with out flat and polishing.

You have brought a COMMERCIAL VEHICLE, as such its painted as a commercial vehicle, not a roller.


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## MRGTRSman (Mar 6, 2009)

Just Hit the nail on the head there James b


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## Guest (Jun 22, 2010)

Who's the supposed professional?

As for the warranty LMAO


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## Mullins (Aug 7, 2009)

A lot of agressive posts in here today :lol: as for the upmarket paint finishes, one of the pros put up some pics of a bentley at a show that had orange peal the same as any other car on the road, the pro painters here have also stated on many occasions that you cant get a finish with todays politically correct paints like the old paints :lol:

As for it being a commercial vehicle it will be sprayed the same as there top of the range car, just because its a commercial they dont install a braindead chip 1.0 into the robot that sprays them:doublesho


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

MOST (not all) commercial vehicles are not made on the same lines as cars, they dont tend to develop the paint systems as far for commercial vehicles, COSTS! are involved, and the finishing stage is not anything near the same. 

Most are made in a different factory, id imagine Astra vans are on the same line as the Astra cars (just a guess) but a transit aint going to go through the same as a focus.


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## David (Apr 6, 2006)

most vans wont be painted the same way as cars

go look at any mercedes vito or mercedes sprinter or ford transit

compare them to a car of the same age

vans will be dripping with rust


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## Mullins (Aug 7, 2009)

james b said:


> MOST (not all) commercial vehicles are not made on the same lines as cars, they dont tend to develop the paint systems as far for commercial vehicles, COSTS! are involved, and the finishing stage is not anything near the same.
> 
> Most are made in a different factory, id imagine Astra vans are on the same line as the Astra cars (just a guess) but a transit aint going to go through the same as a focus.


So basically you dont know, your assuming they thin the paint down, fit crap spray nozzles to the spray arm as its a commercial vehicle? Is this the same for my metaliic navara that cost more than the average car? because its a top of the range truck it gets a ****e paint job?

Didnt think so....


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## KennyC (Aug 11, 2008)

Who mentioned crappy nozzles 

What he means is that they probably use faster hardeners which leave more op. Most vans are/ were single stage paint so the paint syastems are not as advanced, there are exceptions to every rule i.e. pickups are usually clearcoated.


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## Mullins (Aug 7, 2009)

KennyC said:


> Who mentioned crappy nozzles
> 
> What he means is that they probably use faster hardeners which leave more op. Most vans are/ were single stage paint so the paint syastems are not as advanced, there are exceptions to every rule i.e. pickups are usually clearcoated.


But its the same old story, we can all be armchair experts, no point spouting crap that you dont have a clue about. The old white transit from years back i can understand, but todays full on metallic will go through the same process as the cars, why would the hardners be any faster? more private vehicles are sold than commercial, that means they would need the quick hardner?

Navaras and pathfinders as far as im aware are both built in Spain, so the Pathfinder gets a quality paint job and the navara a ****e one?


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## rgDetail (Jul 16, 2009)

On my transit (not brand new, '06 reg) one of the side pannels is nice and flat and the other, right next to it, is full of orange peel  :lol:


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## Guest (Jun 23, 2010)

Alot of people guessing in here......find out which factory the ****ing vehicles are made in them make a comment???? Has anybody actually painted using water based?or painted anything at all?Anybody with experience in painting?

Original question was will it fix........use a paint depth gauge and find out!!!!!!


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

@ Mullins i think you fall in to that all knowing all talking Arm chair expert league, not me.

I dont paint cars, but i have a fair knowledge of how cars are painted, the fact i dont know what line an Astra van goes through is cos im basically not really interested, i know plenty about how high end vehicles are painted cos thats what i work on day in day out 



T4RFY said:


> Alot of people guessing in here......find out which factory the ****ing vehicles are made in them make a comment???? Has anybody actually painted using water based?or painted anything at all?Anybody with experience in painting?
> 
> Original question was will it fix........use a paint depth gauge and find out!!!!!!


I dont know exactly what factory or paint line a Astra van goes through, cos despite owning one its not actually the type of car that interests me (i dont tend to work on many Astras) and to be fair it dont really matter what paint line it went through, if it was painted by hand or machine is irrelevant, its got orange peel same as most main stream manafacutres these days.

When it comes to "will it fix" "get a paint gauge and see".... see what? you tell me  i dont think you know what your talking about, a PTG is not going to say yep it will fix or not it wont  a combined depth reading is only going to let you know so much, your still making an "educated guess" (or un educated as the case usually is with most on here) and then the only real benefit is being able to measure removal rate as you work, you still need to know what your doing, to do it safely, a PTG will help but its not ALL YOU NEED.

If you want to pick holes in what others say try to know what your talking about your self first 

So will it fix.... sure if you know what your doing.


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## JJ_ (Oct 26, 2005)

To the OP, the only thing to worry about apart from a paint depth guage is how long will you keep the van and how often will you turn a rotary to it? 

I have a Golf financed over 3 years, I limit how often I try to get it 'perfect' because everytime I turn the rotary on it, I am skimming a layer of clear. 

If for instance I removed 2 microns on a panel measuring 80m then I am limited to say 5/10 rotary sessions, 10 being not ideal as this takes us down to 60 micros about the threshold DEPENDING ON THE CLEAR COAT. 

As far as I remember from my days of pro detailing 60m is about as low as you want to go. 

If it were me I would get the vehicle sign written because anyone worth their weight in gold will understand that orange peel is a factory paint defect not an end user instilled paint defect. 

Being white also you probably wouldnt spot it straight away compared to a dark metallic. 

So I would think how long you are going to have the van and take into consideration how often you could rotary it, wet sanding will reduce the clear coat possibly by two rotary sessions. 

For the paint depth guage what you ideally want is one which tells you clear coat depth, this means you can safely work, if it just a total depth then we have no idea how much clear is left. 

If for instance the orange peel is in the paint it is impossible to fix, if it is in the clear then you can flatten the "roundness" of the orange peel to appear more flat. 

I am sure tarfy or James B can tune into this as it's a while since I wet sanded my car so I might be off with the numeric's a bit.

It would be ideal if KDS tuned in as he has recently wet sanded a BMW M3. As I say the last time I wet sanded a full panel it was a good 3/4 months ago.


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

james b said:


> Well they are let me tell you, however Bentleys paint finish is still one of the best on the market.
> 
> *Some of the rubbish advise spouted on here really cracks me up, polishing your car will not invalidate your warranty*, a paint gauge is only any good if you know what your doing other wise your still working blind, and ALL modern sprayed paint finishes have orange peel unless flatted out, most high end MFR,s flat and polish there cars straight out the factory, most are sprayed by machines, and iv never seen some someone get a 100% glass like finish out the gun with out flat and polishing.
> 
> You have brought a COMMERCIAL VEHICLE, as such its painted as a commercial vehicle, not a roller.


James, not wanting to spout rubbish at a later date as you put it, I'd like you to clarify the above so I know I'm giving good advice in future. Surely if I *modify *or *alter* the paint by wet sanding or polishing and by doing so at a later date suffer clearcoat failure, and accepting it for a moment that a dealership might go so far as to question that failure, is it not possible that a claim on warranty could be refused? I accept as a professional detailer you may know more about this than I do, but I do seem to remember a post about this situation some time ago stating this very point. Interested to hear your further thoughts on this.

On DW I always try to give answers to the best of my knowledge. I don't knowingly spout rubbish. My appologies to the OP if I'm wrong.


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## Guest (Jun 23, 2010)

james b said:


> @ Mullins i think you fall in to that all knowing all talking Arm chair expert league, not me.
> 
> I dont paint cars, but i have a fair knowledge of how cars are painted, the fact i dont know what line an Astra van goes through is cos im basically not really interested, i know plenty about how high end vehicles are painted cos thats what i work on day in day out
> 
> ...


A paint depth gauge reading well over 130/140/150 will tell you it is good for wet sanding,with a pd8 you are making an educated guess,buy or borrow a posi tector and your getting readings of individual layer's,therefore able to tell if its 'fit' to wet sand to remove orange peel,i never said a paint depth gauge will 'fix it' but it will allow him to find out if it is possible to fix,i know he need's the skill and knowledge to do this,not just slap a paint depth gauge on and fire away,who dosn't know that....i would personally take readings with a good gauge and see what is achievable,not take readings and think 'oh this paint is thick' and attack it with a rotary! Most on here have no idea of the in depth details of removing orange peel/defects etc,no point speaking to me like i have no idea what im doing,iam happy to send you a folder off over 30 cars and over 800 photos of in depth detailing i have completed,i don't know if your having a personal dig,or to the people who are giving wrong advice,all i said was use a paint depth gauge to begin to see what is achievable...nothing else,i respect you for replying as you are well known professional,sorry that iam not well known like you,it does not mean im guessing(which im not) when i leave a reply saying use a paint depth gauge.


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## JJ_ (Oct 26, 2005)

spitfire said:


> James, not wanting to spout rubbish at a later date as you put it, I'd like you to clarify the above so I know I'm giving good advice in future. Surely if I *modify *or *alter* the paint by wet sanding or polishing and by doing so at a later date suffer clearcoat failure, and accepting it for a moment that a dealership might go so far as to question that failure, is it not possible that a claim on warranty could be refused? I accept as a professional detailer you may know more about this than I do, but I do seem to remember a post about this situation some time ago stating this very point. Interested to hear your further thoughts on this.
> 
> On DW I always try to give answers to the best of my knowledge. I don't knowingly spout rubbish. My appologies to the OP if I'm wrong.


If you go below a certain reading then yes clear coat failure will happen.

The numeric value I think is about 60 but I need this clarified.

If you stay above this then you should be ok  with polishing the car its all if's and but's. Not every car coming off the line will have the same paint depth.

For instance the side which I have had repainted is 140 the side which isn't touched some of it hits the 200 odd mark for a non painted car thats quite high.


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

T4RFY said:


> A paint depth gauge reading well over 130/140/150 will tell you it is good for wet sanding,with a pd8 you are making an educated guess,buy or borrow a posi tector and your getting readings of individual layer's,therefore able to tell if its 'fit' to wet sand to remove orange peel,i never said a paint depth gauge will 'fix it' but it will allow him to find out if it is possible to fix,i know he need's the skill and knowledge to do this,not just slap a paint depth gauge on and fire away,who dosn't know that....i would personally take readings with a good gauge and see what is achievable,not take readings and think 'oh this paint is thick' and attack it with a rotary! Most on here have no idea of the in depth details of removing orange peel/defects etc,no point speaking to me like i have no idea what im doing,iam happy to send you a folder off over 30 cars and over 800 photos of in depth detailing i have completed,i don't know if your having a personal dig,or to the people who are giving wrong advice,all i said was use a paint depth gauge to begin to see what is achievable...nothing else,i respect you for replying as you are well known professional,sorry that iam not well known like you,it does not mean im guessing(which im not) when i leave a reply saying use a paint depth gauge.


HA HA HA, dont try to spout stuff you dont know about....


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## Guest (Jun 23, 2010)

james b said:


> HA HA HA, dont try to spout stuff you dont know about....


Im not spouting anything:thumb:

Lets leave it at that


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

Play nice gents, or a few people will find themselves in my 'office' and believe me I'm in NO mood for messing about at the moment, as a few people have found out to their cost over the past few weeks!


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

JJ_ said:


> If you go below a certain reading then yes clear coat failure will happen.
> 
> The numeric value I think is about 60 but I need this clarified.
> 
> ...


Yes JJ, I understand the theory, my post relates to the warranty question though. In theory, is it possible for a warranty claim to be refused as a result of polishing or wet sanding? James seems to be saying ( without wishing to put words in his mouth) not so.


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## Guest (Jun 23, 2010)

I would contact the dealership the car came from about the warranty,or even the manufacturer,nobody can give a definate answer on here as they do not know the term's of the exact warranty on that car.....or am i wrong?do manufacturers have fixed terms on all paintwork?


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

Mark i respect your wishes, but im not going to be mugged off by idiots, so il have my last say:

@T4FY if you want to sware and be a shirty git in posts (ie "_find out which factory the ****ing vehicles are made in them make a comment_") then dont be surprised if i treat you the same 



Mullins said:


> So basically you dont know, your assuming they thin the paint down, fit crap spray nozzles to the spray arm as its a commercial vehicle? Is this the same for my metaliic navara that cost more than the average car? because its a top of the range truck it gets a ****e paint job?
> 
> Didnt think so....


Just to clarify, i never mentioned anything about spray nozzles (i think you dreamed that one up by your self ) what im refering to is a commercial vehicle is not going to get the paint FINISHING (ie flatting and polishing) that say a Rolls Royce or Aston gets after painting.


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## Guest (Jun 23, 2010)

james b said:


> Mark i respect your wishes, but im not going to be mugged off by idiots, so il have my last say:
> 
> @T4FY if you want to sware and be a shirty git in posts (ie "_find out which factory the ****ing vehicles are made in them make a comment_") then dont be surprised if i treat you the same


Fair enough,i genuinenly apologise for that comment and the swearing,nothing personal at all,sorry.


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

James, if you don't wish to reply further on the thread could you PM me please.


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

Depends what about? if its a proper question about the matter in hand il comment.


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

I thought I had asked a proper question about warranty? I'll Pm you.


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## balsak (Jun 4, 2010)

james b said:


> what im refering to is a commercial vehicle is not going to get the paint FINISHING (ie flatting and polishing) that say a Rolls Royce or Aston gets after painting.


I'm no expert mate but I think u got a point there a low budget car let's say for example a Vw Polo 1.6 isn't going to get the same paint finish and care that say a Ferrari is going to get

If I recall correctly when my uncle use to work in the spray booth at Hyundai they only painted the cars and then applied polish no wet sanding of that sort ever came close to the cars I'm speaking under correction now


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

spitfire said:


> James, not wanting to spout rubbish at a later date as you put it, I'd like you to clarify the above so I know I'm giving good advice in future. Surely if I *modify *or *alter* the paint by wet sanding or polishing and by doing so at a later date suffer clearcoat failure, and accepting it for a moment that a dealership might go so far as to question that failure, is it not possible that a claim on warranty could be refused? I accept as a professional detailer you may know more about this than I do, but I do seem to remember a post about this situation some time ago stating this very point. Interested to hear your further thoughts on this.
> 
> On DW I always try to give answers to the best of my knowledge. I don't knowingly spout rubbish. My appologies to the OP if I'm wrong.


Sorry i missed this reply....

I dont know the ins and outs of every manufactures paint warranty, and each one will have different terms and conditions, we dont wet flat that many cars, (maybe 10 a year max) and we are very honest with the risks and commitment involved in that type of finish, removal will be an average of between 4-8m, thats fine on most vehicles finishes and will not create a problem latter down the line, however you need to then look after the paint very very carefully as it dose limit polishing work in the future, if looked after correctly all it will need is a single stage polish with a finishing polish to remove any fine marks put in over a years detailed washing, and the removes -1mic.

Clear coat failure will not happen latter down the line due to flat and polishing the finish, if done properly and maintained properly, most vehicles (like Astons) are flat and polished right out the factory, its a recognised way of getting that "perfect finish" and has been for many years.


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## JJ_ (Oct 26, 2005)

spitfire said:


> Yes JJ, I understand the theory, my post relates to the warranty question though. In theory, is it possible for a warranty claim to be refused as a result of polishing or wet sanding? James seems to be saying ( without wishing to put words in his mouth) not so.


Best to phone your dealer, you would have to go ape **** to ruin your clear right enough.


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## johnnyguitar (Mar 24, 2010)

ozzy said:


> Orange peel is just the nature of todays water based paint i so i am lead to believe


I had a bit of work done to my car the other day and mentioned the orange peel on my 8 year old Focus to the bloke who ran the bodyshop. He said it would have come out of the factory like that and that orange peel was more prevalent since factories switched to water based paint. I don't really know any more than that to be honest.


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

JJ_ said:


> Best to phone your dealer, you would have to go ape **** to ruin your clear right enough.


Never the less, there are still many on this forum who are prepared to polish and god forbid, wet sand without a PTG. It's not as hard as you may think to polish through the clear. All it takes is to go over a previous wet sanded and polished area (possibly dealer corrected) and your in trouble. It would be hard to prove liability either way in that instance.


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## JJ_ (Oct 26, 2005)

spitfire said:


> Never the less, there are still many on this forum who are prepared to polish and god forbid, wet sand without a PTG. It's not as hard as you may think to polish through the clear. All it takes is to go over a previous wet sanded and polished area (possibly dealer corrected) and your in trouble. It would be hard to prove liability either way in that instance.


I have polished and wet sanded without a PTG for around 8 years now :lol: but shhhhh don't tell anyone.

Don't get me wrong if I was a pro I would opt for the Posi but I am not, I look after c.3 cars now and I know they're history (all bought new) so it's an easy shift.

I can't bring myself to spend £400 upwards on a machine I will ONLY use twice maybe three times a year. Yes it keeps me safe but one side of the car measures 200 odd and the repainted side measures 150 so I am safe using the rotary for the next wee while anyway.

I'd rather spend £400 on a holiday, golf clubs etc


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## Mullins (Aug 7, 2009)

james b said:


> Mark i respect your wishes, but im not going to be mugged off by idiots, so il have my last say:
> 
> @T4FY if you want to sware and be a shirty git in posts (ie "_find out which factory the ****ing vehicles are made in them make a comment_") then dont be surprised if i treat you the same
> 
> Just to clarify, i never mentioned anything about spray nozzles (i think you dreamed that one up by your self ) what im refering to is a commercial vehicle is not going to get the paint FINISHING (ie flatting and polishing) that say a Rolls Royce or Aston gets after painting.


Agreed, and as i said it will probably get the same finish that any family car on that line gets, therefore as before mentioned because its a commercial doesnt mean it gets the lowest of the low paint applied.

RR do have orange peel (also mentioned earler)

I hope you dont talk to your customers with the same type of attitude you show here:lol:


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## HeavenlyDetail (Sep 22, 2006)

Don't think this van has a clear...


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## P4ULT (Apr 6, 2007)

mate all i can say if its your van you treat it as you like it dont matter if its a ferrari or an astra good luck seems to me someone has got there head up there ass on here.


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## Goodfella36 (Jul 21, 2009)

I used to work for stadco engineering in quality control at one time or another we supplied most of the body panels to different make cars vans etc so I got to visit a lot of the factory’s what I will say most cars are painted with machine now within a factory tolerance of paint levels these are measured now and certain manufactures are getting wise to people machine polishing their cars and if a warranty claim is made on paintwork issues they can and will measure your paint if this falls below their specs it can make claims hard and be refused. 

as for quality of paint on vans vans are work horses these are still painted by machine but what you might find is a cheaper paint is used and cheaper clear coat they don’t need to spend the money on top quality paint for a work horse that most people neglect over time orange peel is more noticeable in water based paints and wet on wet application it’s a fact of a lot of new vehicles coming from the factory only other day I was in bmw garage and well the orange peel on the new cars was terrible.


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## MK1Campaign (Mar 27, 2007)

Commercial vehicles wont get a finishing. What comes out the gun is what you will get.


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## Guest (Jun 23, 2010)

Factory's must be using crap gun's,my uncle who's been painting for 40years,and has used water based since it was introduced,laughed when i asked will water based orange peel compared to 2pak etc,absolute bull****! Makes no difference! Coats of paint are applied wet anyway....between coats allow the paint to flash off and re-apply the next coat! The only advantage is safer contents and the ability to wipe the paint off if you make a mistake(only when the paints wet obviously)for commercial vehicles the are using cheap paint and not sanding refining.


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## Planet Man (Apr 12, 2008)

Interesting post this. All I can say is I have seen lots of Orange Peel defects made to look a lot better following wet sanding however some have shown no improvment whatsoever.

Orange peel on the basecoat and then the clearcoat layer added!!


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## JJ_ (Oct 26, 2005)

I was going to ask this, the base and colour coat could have orange peel and the have a clear applied ? Thus sealing orange peel which nothing short of a respray will help. 

Anyway has the op tried anything yet ??


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## ABYSS (Oct 30, 2005)

The van is currently being "pimped"..
































































not bad for a commercial vehicle, 200bhp, 40+mpg and as quick as an Astra VXR  (but not as fast as a TTRS)


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## JJ_ (Oct 26, 2005)

What model is it? 200bhp. I may be letting go of the car soonish.


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## ABYSS (Oct 30, 2005)

JJ_ said:


> What model is it? 200bhp. I may be letting go of the car soonish.


a tuned 1.9CDTI 150PS 16V, its what i do for a living 

And to be honest i dont think the paint is as bad as the white Astra VXR i had last in 2008


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## JJ_ (Oct 26, 2005)

Hmm interesting. How much can you get out an edition 30 Gti ? 57 plate if that helps.


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## ABYSS (Oct 30, 2005)

JJ_ said:


> Hmm interesting. How much can you get out an edition 30 Gti ? 57 plate if that helps.


Hi mate, i only work with the fuel of the devil lol

Derv :driver:


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## BAXRY (Aug 11, 2009)

Juicy Jen said:


> I realise that most vehicles have orange peel but just wondered if time wasnt an object if there was anything that could be done?


funny one, short answer is yes by wet sanding long answer is...

its hard and depends where the defect is, if the peel effect is on the clear coat then yes but if its under on the paint then its a respray job 
*unless you want to sand back the clear coat to correct the paint and then respray the clear coat but to be honest thats a waste of time better to repaint the whole pannel*
but orange peel under the clear coat on the paint is very rare because its hard to spot but can happen if the job was totally crap should never come out of a factory with it

its time consuming and it takes a huge amount of practice to get right if you have never tried it before you should ready your self for the worst and expect to sand straight through the paint and have to respray should start on a old panel get some cheap clear coat its easy to make some orange peel let it go off for a week or two though before you start sanding it just so you know its totally dry

try avoid the edges of panels this is where paint is the thinnest and there isnt much surface area so you can unintentionally apply to much pressure and sand the paint off in as little as 5 strokes

use loads of water it will wash away the sanding dust which can build up on the paper and cause deep scratches also a couple sprays of DJ born slippy to keep things lubed up will help a lot

use only light pressure to avoid keep scratches or going through to the paint take your time do small areas keep drying them every so often to check how its going just keep going until there is no peel left you will be left with a matt finish thats smooth to the touch will look like you have destroyed the clear coat

next is to get the machine polisher out and buff the shine back on its hard to say what polish/pad combo to use due to all coats varying in toughness but megs 205 and a megs soft buff 2.0 finishing pad should get the job done on majority of paints might need to go a little tougher for some and then go back to 205 though :buffer:


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## BAXRY (Aug 11, 2009)

oh and it wont void your warranty if you ruin it all you would do is put the shine back on the remaining clear coat with your DA (yes it will rub the paint where the clear coat is rubbed off) and return it to the dealership and say you were polishing it *BY HAND* and the pad was covered in *colour of paint* substance so you kept going thinking it was over spray and you were horrified when it went to metal, it will go down as a missed patch when they put the finish on at the factory and they might respray for free :thumb: and when you get it back if it has orange peel then reject it and say your not happy with the finish and they will do it for you that time

and a paint depth gauge wont do nothing orange peel is a visual defect doesnt matter how thick the clear coat is your only taking it back to the lower bumps your not actually removing clear coat to a whole new level


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