Stock Orange Peel & Coating?
 

Hey guys.

Should a coating like Opti Guard reduce/remove the orange peel effect of the FRS / 86 / BRZ from factory?

Its kinda frustrating that the standard paintwork has this orange peel effect on the clear coat, but will the above reduce it?

Any tips otherwise?

No I doubt it, since you are just coating over it like a clear coat.

wet sanding gets rid of orange peel.

I clay barred the car and then proceeded to buff/polish to cut down on the orange peel. 0 degrees, then 90 degrees on low and 0 and 90 degrees on high. After two passes much of the orange peel was gone. The rest was hand buffing and waxing. It took about 5-6 hours of labor.

Dumb question, but can you explain the whole 0 and 90 degrees thing? I've never used a buffing tool but this orange peel needs to come off :thumbdown:

Just buff in directions that are 90 degrees from one another. Up and down and then left and right, or +45 degrees and -45 degrees.

I would like to see some pictures of buffing that removed orange peel.

That was one of the first thing i noticed when we had the BRZ in the shop. It maybe a Subaru, but it has toyota's paint quality. The orange peel really disappointed me. I have sprayed drift cars in make shift paint booths with less orange peel. I think they need to have someone at the dealerships finish off the cut and buff jobs. I get the feeling the factory probably feels they are needless expenses.

I'll take pics when it stops raining here.

Seriously. I've done better in a community college paint booth.

To remove OP, you've got the level the finish by removing layers of paint. This can't be done by polishing. Especially with 2 passes. What you basically did was shine/increase the gloss making the OP less obvious.

On a daily driver like this I would never recommend to completely remove the orange peel. It's quite a bit of paint removal but if it really really bothers you then get in touch with a professional to have "Orange Peel Reduction" it'll make it less obvious while still retaining a good amount of paint in case you have any future problems like swirls or scratches.

Wetsanding will remove it. There is enough clear so don't be afraid. Pick a spot on a fender and make 10 passes (each direction is a pass, so 5 back and forth movements), then wipe off and check your work.

Then hit it with something like Meg's 105 and a wool pad. I did this to my MR2 and while it is frightening to take sandpaper to your car, the results are worth it. If you're afraid of doing it on your own you can take it to a reputable detailer.

IMO this is a little mis-leading. These cars will have a average amount of clear coat. If the OP was to be the one in 10,000 that had less then now you have a screwed up paint surface. Please seek a member or local detailer that has a paint thickness gauge. Just the other day a friend of mine who is a nationally known detailer had a new Nissan "Z" brought to him for a coating . The customer had failed to tell him the car had been returned to the dealer for a scratch repair on the rear deck 3 times already. As soon as the rotary buffer was put to it ,bang, burn through. my friend was sick and he admitted he knew better but had thought since it was a brand new car...duh ! So for a daily driver please think twice before jumping in with both feet.

I would not recommend this for the average person that's never sanded "factory" clear coat. Sanding a custom paint job and a factory one are totally different. I'd be ok with a new to sanding person sanding a car with 4 layers of clear, but your entire paint system, both color and clear coat (120 microns) are thinner then a human hair (140 microns). Ask yourself is it really worth me screwing up a 25k dollar car?