Rubbishy paint jobs on new vehicles

Looking at the recent 1977 z650 thread, reading what 650ED said - rather than go off topic on a tangent about auto paint I though I'd start a new post.


So if that is the original paint it has been kept covered most of its life. If it is a re-paint, the painter took the time to get the striping correct. Very nice. I sincerely hope you do not plan on changing the paint - what you have there is exceedingly rare.

Funny isn't it, where modern 2k paint technology has taken a quantum leap, modern paint jobs on many new vehicles seem to have got worse, much worse. Orange peel spraying and graphics stuck on without even a clear coat.

I was looking in a dealers recently at £50k new cars (not for me i might add) and my first thought was how much work would be required to sort the paint out to an acceptable standard.

Looking at the candy motorcyle paintjobs of the 70's it seems that factory auto paint is moving backwards here.

I don't know how many General Motors products you have in the UK, but here in the US GM simply can't keep the paint stuck on their cars and trucks. If you ever see a car in the US with paint pealing down to the primer it will be be a GM product. This has been true for decades.

jakedude wrote: I don't know how many General Motors products you have in the UK, but here in the US GM simply can't keep the paint stuck on their cars and trucks. If you ever see a car in the US with paint pealing down to the primer it will be be a GM product. This has been true for decades.

It was intentional... it's considered graphics that change over time. :laugh:

It seemed like the blue GM vans from the late 80's were always zebra striped blue and gray. :laugh:

You can blame the Liberals for this. No oil based primer, no this no that and still pay top $ for junk. It's their way. :evil:
Steve

jakedude wrote: I don't know how many General Motors products you have in the UK, but here in the US GM simply can't keep the paint stuck on their cars and trucks. If you ever see a car in the US with paint pealing down to the primer it will be be a GM product. This has been true for decades.

Paint peeling was a real problem not just for GM, but for all US manufacturers. See samples below. It may have been the result of laws that prevented decent paint from being applied. I believe most of the problems have been resolved. I'll say this - the 1989 Chevy truck I had peeled like a cheap stripper! However, my 1997 Cadillac with more than 215,000 miles still has perfect original paint. Ed

www.google.com/search?q=dodge+paint+peel...GIAQ&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ

www.google.com/search?q=dodge+paint+peel...q=ford+paint+peeling

I still like original paint. Call me goofy, but looking at an old truck with no paint left is kind of cool. There is a 1989 era F350 4x4 Ford 4 door driving around here that has, or at least had silver paint at one time, but now has no paint, just rust. I'd prefer a new truck paint, but still prefer rust over a repaint job.

A surprising amount of 'new' vehicles get damaged during the delivery process, even the low standard of general auto paint shops struggle to match the crap that a lot of modern vehicles come out of the factory with now.

A lot of the paint technicians have the skill to do great workmanship, just the insurance companies where most of their work comes from won't pay the money for a quality job. Despite this, sometimes either they have to do an orange peel paint job to match the other panels, or compound the rest of the vehicle to bring it to their own low standards.

Looking at the beautiful candy finishes on 70's CB and Kz for example, some of it still looking great 40 years later,
factory paintjobs on a lot of new vehicles leave a lot to be desired.


ps Ron love that colour, I did a 550 in something very similar. Peugot vert flouride green I seem to remember.

Out here in the desert the old style paint is still good with a little buffing. In the central valley like Fresno and Tulare, the acid in the air will destroy any paint in a year or two. I left my Chevy for two weeks and came back to a sticky mess. I left my bike out in the rain last year in Fresno/Reedly and the next day my new top box was dull. I've been trying to buff it out but guess I'll have to paint it. The air is dank, it smells like cow chips in the morning, the women are shaped like pears, sticky hot in the summer and damp cold in the winter. Welcome to Hell. :evil:
Steve
BTW, English is a second language there too.

Well, I know there are some shops that can still do good work. My Nissan must have come with a stupid rear spoiler, and someone with a brain decided to have it removed, professionally. I had no idea until one day I noticed the bolt holes on the underside frame of the trunk lid. That meant there was bodywork on the outside. It blew my mind. The trunk looked factory and the paint matched the rest of the car perfectly. (It was black, maybe black is really easy to match?). I then took the car to a body shop to get an insurance estimate from when someone hit me. He mentioned the rest of the car was in decent original shape, and I blew his mind when I said the trunk was a re-paint with body work. He wouldn't believe me until I opened the lid to show him. He was very impressed.

Now, if only I knew where that work was done...

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationSurprisingly, black is one of the hardest colours to match. I use London Taxi Black, has a touch of violet in it which pops nicely in the sun.

The quality of accident repair work varies immensely, from what you can see just walking around the vehicle to something you genuinely can't tell. The real test is what it looks like 5 years down the line. There are meters available that an show the paint thickness when in doubt.