A&Q about Lotus
Q:
how does lotus finish these cars? are they hand sprayed? I seem to remember my first exige having a nicer finish while this second one has some orange peel finish all over...... jUst wondering if it happens to all...
thanks
A:
No orange peeling on mine, spider webbing but not orange peel. Sadly even high end cars have orange peel, dimpled paint patches now. Next time you are up close to a brand new Caddy or Mercedes in a show room walk around in the light and you will see it on the sides usually. At the last LA car show I was amazed at how many major high end cars have orange peeling ! I have noticed even brand new elises, and a lot of other fiberglass painted cars have major spider web and scratch issues, I think it is just the nature of painted fiberglass. Unless you want to do 8 coats and clear coat urethane.
I beleive they are hand painted at the factory in a spray room
A:
Oh yeah, plenty of orange peel here.
Not nearly as much as a modern BMW though - those cars are chocked full of Vitamin C.
A:
Orange peel on right rear buttress, looks crappy and won't wax/buff out. Oh well, at least the water based paint used by Lotus is environment friendly.
Imolas, I watched a video detailing the painting procedure. Yes, the cars are painted and finished by hand. Wonder why they didn't see my car's flaws.
A:
Originally Posted by Imolas54
how does lotus finish these cars? are they hand sprayed? I seem to remember my first exige having a nicer finish while this second one has some orange peel finish all over...... jUst wondering if it happens to all...
thanks
any good detailer can always have it wetsanded, re-polished and all of the orange peel removed
A:
Originally Posted by Imolas54
how does lotus finish these cars? are they hand sprayed? I seem to remember my first exige having a nicer finish while this second one has some orange peel finish all over...... jUst wondering if it happens to all...
thanks
After taking the factory tour this summer, I know why Lotus is having all the paint problems. I think the paint department was left over from World War II. It is ancient and always breaking down. The number of cars that needed paint work fixing after assembly was amazing. Most good body shops have better facilities, and better painters. Just an observation, I'm not looking to get flamed.
A:
Orange peel on ardent red. And also on Laguna Seca Blue M3.
Now if I see a BMW without orange peel paint, I know it has been repainted.
A:
I've got considerable orange peel.
I'm not sure about being able to wetsand it out.
Clear coats are not inpenetrable.
A:
can't be worse than Honda "thin" clearcoats and I helped a guy do it on his ricebox s2000.. so it can be done no doubt on a Lotus. But personally I wouldn't , but customers from time to time do want it
A:
Funny--the paint was one of the things on my car that
actually wasn't a problem. The only issue I had was from
the detailers at the port--whorls around the rear clam where
they scuffed it up. No orange peel though.
A:
No orange peel here! Paint looks awesome!
~anxiety
A:
Mine's pretty good on the exterior, but HUGE paint runs on the underside of the hatch. If it ever needs repainted, I will insist on matching the factory "quality"!
A:
Originally Posted by fstshrk
Orange peel on ardent red. And also on Laguna Seca Blue M3.
Now if I see a BMW without orange peel paint, I know it has been repainted.
You should have seen the service writer's face when I was having a panel repaired on my old BMW: "Yeah, if you don't mind, ask your painter to try to match the factory orange peel."
A:
I can actually feel small bumps in areas on the door and the hard top. It's a bummer to feel this after waxing, esp compared the rest of the car that is as smooth as a babys bottom.
A:
Originally Posted by GRIN&DRIVEIT
I can actually feel small bumps in areas on the door and the hard top. It's a bummer to feel this after waxing, esp compared the rest of the car that is as smooth as a babys bottom.
Defect in the paint or some form of contamination that needs to be chemically cleaned or clayed out?
A:
I have some orange peel on my ST, but it's pretty good everywhere else..
A:
Lotus paintwork is not impeccable, but the body curves are. That makes up for paint shortcomings... and paint doesn't help the car through curves.
On a chevy impala, the paint would cause me concern. On a Lotus, its BEAUTIFUL.
A:
too bad, it seems to be a lack of more skilled painters @ Lotus
A:
It is hard to get a car with an absolutely perfect finish. My 06 Exige is Aspen White with a 98% good finish with no orange peel. There is however a couple of spots (small) that have a slight cloudy look. After having the car a couple of months, I finally invested in a Porter-Cable 7424 DA polisher. Took my time from washing with Dawn dishwashing liquid, clay baring, polishing, glazing, and finishing with Mazerna (sp) FMJ. Even thought the finish had a high gloss after the washing, it was amazing what a differance the proper prep and finishing made. Even those couple of spots are much less visible. If you did not know they were there, they would be easy to miss.
Now you may ask why did I clay bar a 2 month old car. This car never sat on the lot as I bought it a few days after it arrived to the dealer. Suprising (at least to me) though is the amount of contaniments. I live and work in a very sandy part of NC and of course there are lots of bugs. The use of a clay bar is not hard (follow directions) and other finishing products will result in really make a differance on the orange peel. Yes it will still be "there", but if you take your time, will be almost invisible after finishing.
Sorry for the rambling. Robert
A:
Originally Posted by tumbler
can't be worse than Honda "thin" clearcoats and I helped a guy do it on his ricebox s2000.. so it can be done no doubt on a Lotus. But personally I wouldn't , but customers from time to time do want it
Mine has one area of rough-looking overspray on the left rear quarter and there is no color coat up under the B-pillar. Overall, fit and finish is about what I expected from a hand-built, low-volume car theat is hand painted.
The paint on my "ricebox S2000" is flawless by comparison.