I'm just wondering can a aftermarket paint job look as good as a
factory paint job or can you always see the difference? Case in
point, my brother in law showed me his repainted car and from a
distance (say beyond 2 feet) it looks great but at about 1 foot or at
certain angles of view in the light, you can see a pattern of mini
pock marks or maybe should I say, bumps and valleys in minute size
thruout the paint job (inotherwords not a smooth paint job).

Common factory paint usually has some 'orange
peel.'

Top quality paint has none.
--
pj

Go find a new dark colored Corvette, squat down, and look at your reflection
in the door or fender.

It won't look like a mirror.

It all depends on $$$.
A really high dollar professional re-spray can be *WAY* better than the
factory.
Go to any car show.
You get what you pay for.

Crabs
'90ZR1 #792

Thanks all for the replies. I've since looked at one other car with a
factory paint job (year 2003) and it had the same surface effect
looking at the paint from an angle. Perhaps (maybe my imagination
because it was a different mfg and different color) the paint was
slightly flatter but not flat like glass.

Thanks again all.

Most flat like glass paint jobs come from being wet sanded and
polished. I think Ferrari still does that and a few of the other 7
digit price tag autos.

Hey Dad, Where you got the decimal point in that 7 digit number??

Story:

A high school classmate went on to GM-U and his apprenticeship included
a stint as import manager for GM's corporate dealership in Tokyo. Post
WWII, the Japanese divided imports into several categories and Cadillac
was grouped with Jaguar, Rolls et al.

Japanese customs demanded Geo. Barris-like finishes on that group of
cars. If they didn't pass, "beauty inspection," they couldn't leave the
pier.

When I visited Yokohama in 1957, Jerry had a tiny tent out on the end of
a pier where a team of "very small guys in flannel coveralls" were
polishing the orange peel out of four Cadillacs. In those days it was
cheaper to wet sand & polish in Japan than it was for Fleetwood to lay
on smooth paint.

Judging by the bonnets of XLRs I've seen, they aren't in Dad's 7-digit
league. But I don't see really good paint on BMW 7's or Lexuses (Lexii
??) for that matter.

I wonder if the quick-dry we demand in today's production is at the root
of our inability to produce smooth surfaces??

Do any marques offer a "no clear coat" option that would facilitate new
car re-finishing by the dealer ?

--
pj

First off give me today's clear coat any day, makes for a great finish
to polish and buff out to mirror like smoothness.

Particulate size plus VOC demands of today promotes the finish we now
get on all painted products. Not so much in the foreign manufacturing
facilities yet but it's coming as their production increases.

As far as that decimal point there is none on a real class automobile
with a corresponding paint job, they go through more than one paint,
sand, and polish before they even begin to put the car together. What
do you think George would be getting for his work today? Barret -
Jackson is killing us with their pricing influence in the rebuilds
now. I looked at a black Porsche last night at an awards banquet that
compares favorably to a Saturn, yuck! On the other hand a military
buddy had a Countach that was damn near perfect for 1/4 that price,
but that was in '84.

Most people that jump on the orange peel surface of a paint job have
not paid to much attention to what they think they have been seeing as
this poster realized when he checked other finishes.

On the other hand there were some paint jobs in the past from acrossed
the pond that were very smooth but they were very thick hard enamel
that was allowed to flow out before they were oven cured. Nice
technique but not practical in today's world of manufacturing.

--
Dad
05 C6 Silver/Red 6spd Z51
72 Shark Black/Black/4spd
64 Red/red/white top/4spd

On the 1970 BB Vette, my aftermarket paint job done by a professional
painter , called 'Blue Fire Poly' by PPG ... is far better than the
original Blue that came from GM . But then again...my 2006 Vettes
factory paint job exceeds that .

==================
Kind of hard to believe that your 06 got a better paint job at the
factory then your 70 did at a GOOD private paint shop.... Maybe I
go to way too many cruise ins and shows but the GOOD paint shops
put out a product that far exceeds the factory AND CHARGE ACCORDINGLY

Bob G....

..