Topic: Orange peel question.

[J_Speegle]

How do you judge the amount of orange peel? To much, to little or spot on?

It's a range one looks for like paint overspray, sound deadener application or the amount of gloss or flatness in some of the semi-gloss finishes .

[ruger]

Thanks everyone.  My problem is that when my car was painted the orange peel was heavier in some areas and in others the paint was pretty slick.  Possibly due to my smaller air compressor.  Overall I am happy with the paint but am in a situation due to the slicker part of the painted areas.  I sanded down the heavy peel to a more reasonable appearance.  I do have orange peel but just not over the entire car.  For instance,  somehow the side scoops look pretty slick.  I just can't justify going back and respraying these areas again. 

[65,66,67UNRESTORED]

If you are over restoring your car spend many hours aligning/fitting body body panels, block sanding primer and sanding your paint finish smooth and buffing to a high luster. Early Mustangs are very easy cars to do a correct restoration on as the body panel finish and alignment was mediocre and all panels have orange peel. The majority of cars I see today are nice but over restored. BTW, I have 33 years in the Auto Body business.

[J_Speegle]

If you are over restoring your car spend many hours aligning/fitting body body panels, block sanding primer and sanding your paint finish smooth and buffing to a high luster. Early Mustangs are very easy cars to do a correct restoration on as the body panel finish and alignment was mediocre........

Have to respectfully disagree as a general comment as far as panel alignment and fit. Allot of unrestored cars after 50 years fit good today. And we've posted some examples of this in prior threads. Cars don't fall back into prefect or close to it alignment after all these years use as daily drivers.  Sure a few might have slipped through with visible issues that could be seen standing onside the car but believe this was not the general practice or something that would have been ignored by the inspectors of which there were a ton (Ford estimated 1 for every 10 workers). Inspectors carried gauges to measure the fit of panels though with experience I doubt they needed them very often

As far as over restored we can agree - unfortunately the things we see on original and unrestored cars are considered by many as flaws and not up to Pebble Beach standards 

[edwardgt350]

the trunk lid fit on many 65/66 fastbacks was less then desireable on fasstbacks. just my observation.

[65,66,67UNRESTORED]

I have an unrestored 65 Fastback and I'd say the fit is just "good"

[shelbymann1970]

Jeff have you ever seen any cars  where the paint doesn't have orange peel from the factory-well after dealer prep?  Without getting into a long story an OO and retired Ford worker bought a black 69 Mach1 and said it had no peel on it. He wanted maroon but that wasn't going to happen as his maroon ordered car was damaged off of the hauler in the summer of 69.  The dealer couldn't find a maroon and asked him to come see an identical black car and when he saw the paint he bought the car. Gary

[J_Speegle]

Jeff have you ever seen any cars  where the paint doesn't have orange peel from the factory-well after dealer prep? 

No orange peel any place? Well no can't recall seeing one like that. Remember that dealer prep did not normally include buffing the paint or anything close to that.  After 50 years of a high mileage original paint many cars have paint that has been waxed and cleaned so many times it can be difficult to find it on major panels but would not consider those great examples reflective of cars at the dealership nor the assembly plant.

Who knows on this particular car and if the owner really looked at the inside of the head light buckets and other areas or if the car had received special attention since the car was black or it had sat around the dealership as a show car for the product line.  Hard to take one example (especially one we can look at our self) and draw any conclusion IMHO. We often gloss some details over, over time. Have hand plenty of original owners explain how their cars had nothing but the original paint only to be shown where touch ups and repairs had been made

[1969 Cale II]

Doing paint jobs for others on their toy cars they want glass smooth. Look how much orange peel is on a brand new car, some worse than others, and they accept it from the factory. Back in the early 80's I used to hunt with my uncle and his friends, rode up in a Chevy truck that it was so bad you could see the primer through the paint.

[PerkinsRestoration]

Jeff have you ever seen any cars  where the paint doesn't have orange peel from the factory-well after dealer prep?  Without getting into a long story an OO and retired Ford worker bought a black 69 Mach1 and said it had no peel on it. He wanted maroon but that wasn't going to happen as his maroon ordered car was damaged off of the hauler in the summer of 69.  The dealer couldn't find a maroon and asked him to come see an identical black car and when he saw the paint he bought the car. Gary

 There was not enough paint (3 mil or less) on a original paint 69 Mustang to remove the orange peel without exposing the gray primer.

[ramblewood390GT]

Here's a photo I took at the NPD musuem.

[ruger]

Thanks,  the last picture shows me what I needed to know.  My paint is not that drastic but is showing peel at least. Thanks

[ramblewood390GT]

Walking through the museum, and seeing them side by side,  it was obvious which cars had clear coat and which ones had original (or original style) paint. The custom "hot rod" look is cool, but for my own taste I really like the way the single stage paint reacts to light. You see the car and its outline, not the reflections of a polished surface.

[CharlesTurner]

Keep in mind that the hood and fenders were painted off the car at the assembly plant and were hanging on hooks.  Orange peel appearance could vary panel to panel depending on how it was painted.