Let's see your orange peel: Ferrari paint quality - 1980s/90s

Soap Box ON:

Now, here's the interesting question. If you restore a car and paint it to this level of quality (i.e., original orange peel) and another restored car is next to yours with smooth as glass paint, which one do you think would get the higher point total from the judges??

The same holds true for gaps for example. Judges unfortunately invariably reward the "prettier car" not the more correct car. Very, very few restored cars retain their original (in some cases horrendous) gaps or original paint quality (orange peel, etc.) because they just don't look good. However, doing so destroys the originality of the car.

I'll bet any amount of money that the non-original, over-restored, smooth as glass paint, perfectly gapped car will win EVERY time, even if it is NOT correct.

Soap box OFF


Thanks for posting the photo, it's good to see what the paint really looks like from the factory on these cars. You are correct, it looks like your typical Honda Civic quality (or maybe even worse if you use today's new car paint standards).

Alberto

 

Comparing the quality of a Honda to an aging F-car is a mistake.

 

Comparing the paint isn't though.. my 96 BMW has less orange peel then that =\

 

Actually, comparing a Honda to a NEW Fcar is a mistake. My 430 never would have gotten out of a Honda or Toyota factory, even though Ferrari uses a new "state of the art" painting facility.

Dave

 

My 1999 Plymouth Neon has zero orange peel.

 

interesting, i just had this discussion with the guy that is gonna redo my '70 challenger. I told him not to fix the factory gaps and leave orange peel in the paint. he isn't too happy. he is a pebble beach guy. he's lucky i don't make him use acrylic enamel! anyway, the mopar guys have been going this way for over a decade. you should see the messy body caulking in the trunk. Gobs of it with huge finger marks where they spread it. very valuable. proves the trunk and quarters have never been off. I have never been a big fan of over restoring cars.

oh, and by the way, i have seen many current ferraris with factory orange peel.

 

Paint is technically only there to protect the underlying substrate.

 

+10

there is a contingent of followers who have disdain for over-restoring a car. If the orange peel came from the factory, then that is the factory look.

 

Ok, so I will be the one in the crowd to ask, "What is orange peel?"

 

Interesting! I painted vehicles for +10 years and the paint on my 84 GTB QV is as flat as glass everywhere (sail panels, around tail lights etc.) and it is factory paint.

 

See the photo. Look closely. Take a look at an orange peel and look at the photo again. See the dimples?

 

``just to be clear, orange peel is normal for paint. it can take alot of work to get rid of it completely.

 

Is this something that happens over time or is the car painted like that?

 

Not surprised you got push back on this. I am completely convinced that folks like this fellow just cannot understand the desire to be true to the original and it is VERY hard for them to do anything than absolutely perfect.

Alberto

 

I saw a repainted 328 and it looked wrong. Too much like a plastic barbie doll.

The paint had no "character". My paint is pretty nice but doesn't at all feel overly plastic or out of character for the vintage car.

Kind of like chromed rims on many classics.

Robb

 

Simple solution is to drive fast enough that paint imperfections cannot be seen.

 

This may be true in many cases, but not always. For example, my father and I both have matching 1966 Triumph Bonnevilles.. granted, not nearly on the same scale as a vintage Ferrari, however we both entered our bikes at a local Concourse. My bike was done perfectly, by an actual owner of a Triumph dealership, and verified by a certified Triumph mechanic. My dad, did his on his own and opted for the prettier/less maintenance route, IE, powdercoating the frame instead of paint, and chroming the wheels/spokes instead of nickel plating, etc etc.. So his bike was definitely the prettier of the two, but I placed and he didnt I have to say it was fun and interesting competing with my father like that. Good on the judges for knowing the more correct bike! In this case, anyway..

Now... If I were restoring my car, it would be hard for me to decide to have a "correctly crappy" paint job or a world class finish.. tough call.

 

+1

Regards, Jim

 

When was that photo taken?

Many paints "shrink" or "tighten down" over time, so that a finish that is polished to glass smoothness when new can slowly develop waves or orange peel. The car in the photo could have left the factory looking smoother than that, but gotten a little ripply with passing years if it was just left alone and never sanded/buffed/polished with a machine.

Same thing goes for factory orange peel, especially on quickly produced cars; paint is smooth leaving the factory, but the solvents haven't all evaporated yet, and within weeks or a few months it shrinks down. I've been told that modern paints do it more than paints of 20 years ago because today's formulations have to meet stricter environmental guidelines; on the other hand, a body shop I recently went to told me that many modern paints have very high solids content -- i.e., more substance and less solvent and transfer agent in the paint -- which means less "shrink down" after it dries.

 

To the guys with more experience: is the black car what they looked like when they left the factory? That looks to me like a mediocre repaint, but I defer to the experts.
Tom B.

 

The reason is that I’d like to offer my findings on my 1979 308GTB, red on tan.

I have no reason to believe that my vehicle was ever re-sprayed and even looks original with a fair amount of “orange peal” complemented with a few paint drips. The paint drips under the passenger door are/is obvious if you’re lying on your back looking upward, they almost resemble that of stalactites in a cavern. A few other paint drips are on the body panels.

After a series of conversations with other 308 enthusiasts concurring with my findings, I’ve come to peace with the imperfections and attribute them to the overall uniqueness and hand built cache’ that seems to be present in some Ferraris. Hey, no two are alike, right?

If I didn’t know any better I would have thought that back-in-the-day, Ferrari had very poor quality control as it concerns the painting of their products. I even heard from a well-respected enthusiast in this community, that spot (repair) painting might have even taken place on the docks during shipping….

Regards,

Chris.