Fish eye imperfections in factory paint

[e90steve]

In my younger days, I used to detail cars at a a Nissan dealer. Im not a AMMO NYC level expert but I’ve successfully restored bad paint on plenty of older vehicles.

I noticed upon delivery that my Bronco had some water spots on the hood. The car was a dirt mountain detainee so I wasn’t too surprised. They ended up being pretty pesky. At first I thought some cleaner wax and polish would knock them out, and it helped but they still remained. Ended up having to compound the whole hood to knock them out. Wasn’t a big deal but took more time than I was expecting.

What I wasn’t expecting was to find what appears to be fish eye marks in the original factory paint. For those who don’t know fish eye marks are imperfections in the paint due to contaminants. Usually these imperfections are more found in repaints vs factory. These definitely won’t come out with buffing and wet sanding probably would only take down the clear coat and not help.

I think a few things like the flat nature of cactus gray and lack of a metallic pigment is emphasizing them a bit but they are def there. The car is about a month old and I haven’t had time to detail thoroughly yet so just noticing them. Parked in a garage so I doubt these marks are from anywhere but the factory. Or maybe it is dirt mtn related?

Wondering if anyone else has them on theirs. My lighting in the garage is all LED so it really pulls out the imperfections if you catch the right light. All of these marks you cannot distinguish in normal lighting. The paint to a normal person looks flawless, but myself having experience detailing can identify with the right lighting.

The marks are difficult to capture but I attached a picture look around the lighting at the tiny pinhole marks. In pictures you can only see them immediately around reflections, but in reality they are pretty much everywhere on the hood.

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[WuNgUn]

That isn't what I'd call fish-eye marks in paint...
Maybe some strong wind/dirt blasting your car while on DM?

 

[e90steve]

That isn't what I'd call fish-eye marks in paint...
Maybe some strong wind/dirt blasting your car while on DM?

Yeah I’m not sure if actual is fish eye since there isn’t really a crater so don’t really know what to call it. It’s is very consistent so I assumed it had been done when painted not from elements in the wild.

 

[JohnForyt]

What you’re looking at is called solvent pop. It happens when solvents aren’t allowed to flash off long enough prior to entering the oven and erupt through the semi-cured paint. Root cause is probably a thicker than normal application of clearcoat film given that flash times are set by line speed.

 

[Lab00Rat]

Closer to orange peel than fish eye.

 

[e90steve]

What you’re looking at is called solvent pop. It happens when solvents aren’t allowed to flash off long enough prior to entering the oven and erupt through the semi-cured paint. Root cause is probably a thicker than normal application of clearcoat film given that flash times are set by line speed.

Thanks for that! You have some awesome knowledge. I don’t really have any of this on my other cars paint so def noticed it as being different and somewhat of a defect vs others.

 

[JohnForyt]

Thanks for that! You have some awesome knowledge. I don’t really have any of this on my other cars paint so def noticed it as being different and somewhat of a defect vs others.

I used to be a paint chemist for a company that supplies to the OEM’s, so I’m particular about this sort of thing. It’s definitely a defect they should’ve caught in QC.

 

[Dubsesd]

A lot of imperfections in my paint as well. I have at least 4 paint nubs. Nothing is perfect even if a robot is painting it. Still better then Tesla paint lol

 

[Bronco21fan]

In my younger days, I used to detail cars at a a Nissan dealer. Im not a AMMO NYC level expert but I’ve successfully restored bad paint on plenty of older vehicles.

I noticed upon delivery that my Bronco had some water spots on the hood. The car was a dirt mountain detainee so I wasn’t too surprised. They ended up being pretty pesky. At first I thought some cleaner wax and polish would knock them out, and it helped but they still remained. Ended up having to compound the whole hood to knock them out. Wasn’t a big deal but took more time than I was expecting.

What I wasn’t expecting was to find what appears to be fish eye marks in the original factory paint. For those who don’t know fish eye marks are imperfections in the paint due to contaminants. Usually these imperfections are more found in repaints vs factory. These definitely won’t come out with buffing and wet sanding probably would only take down the clear coat and not help.

I think a few things like the flat nature of cactus gray and lack of a metallic pigment is emphasizing them a bit but they are def there. The car is about a month old and I haven’t had time to detail thoroughly yet so just noticing them. Parked in a garage so I doubt these marks are from anywhere but the factory. Or maybe it is dirt mtn related?

Wondering if anyone else has them on theirs. My lighting in the garage is all LED so it really pulls out the imperfections if you catch the right light. All of these marks you cannot distinguish in normal lighting. The paint to a normal person looks flawless, but myself having experience detailing can identify with the right lighting.

The marks are difficult to capture but I attached a picture look around the lighting at the tiny pinhole marks. In pictures you can only see them immediately around reflections, but in reality they are pretty much everywhere on the hood.

Take to the dealer on,y thing they will do is repaint it

 

[Bronco21fan]

I used to be a paint chemist for a company that supplies to the OEM’s, so I’m particular about this sort of thing. It’s definitely a defect they should’ve caught in QC.

your forgetting there is no qc with this vehicle

 

[wrbix]

There WIIL BE imperfections in my Bronco paint shortly after I get it - plan to drive it through the brambles and mud holes.

 

[e90steve]

A lot of imperfections in my paint as well. I have at least 4 paint nubs. Nothing is perfect even if a robot is painting it. Still better then Tesla paint lol

The paint appears to be evenly applied which is good.

Take to the dealer on,y thing they will do is repaint it

I Would never repaint it. Like I said you can’t see it in normal light. Only with intense LED/side lighting etc.

 

[e90steve]

I used to be a paint chemist for a company that supplies to the OEM’s, so I’m particular about this sort of thing. It’s definitely a defect they should’ve caught in QC.

What is ironic in what you say about waiting to cure times is that they rushed the paint through production only for it to sit for months on Dirt Mountain. I still love the car though and you can’t see it at all under pretty much every lighting condition.

 

[RagnarKon]

Let me just say as someone who isn’t a paint chemist or a professional detailer… this conversation is fascinating.

I’ll clay bar / wax my car twice a year… maybe three times if I get bored.

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