Paint codes - Paint on Honda NSX
Discussion
First of all, yes, that's exactly how Formula Red would have been applied by Honda, and yes, those ARE the problems when refinishing a tinted-clear finish.
As for your questions - orange peel on bonnet/door, well, there are a couple of options. If these are a flat clear, rather than tinted, the texture can be cut back with very fine polishing papers, and the resulting flat surface polished back up to a high gloss. Machine buffing to alter lacquer imperfections WITHOUT cutting the problem out with papers can remove up to 7 times more lacquer than cutting first, so I wouldn't recommend it.
It's tremendously unlikely that there is significant texture in the paint coat. Texture in the paint would mean a much much deeper lacquer coat was needed to bury it, otherwise peaks of paint would be above the lacquer, and the finish wouldn't last.
As for the swirls in the original panels, bear in mind that ANY polishing is an abrasive process, and will remove an amount of lacquer - since you have a tinted clear finish, this will alter the perceived colour of the panels, even if only slightly. You could speak to a local detailer - some will happily take a full day to break out their Porter Cable (or whatever) and gently work on tired lacquer until you have a lovely gloss again. A few will test the depth of the existing finish with a digital film gauge first and tell you if the panels have been polished too much for further work to be a good idea.
Wax may fill in the swirls, although obviously it's only temporary.
Don't know if it's within your budget, but if you're having at least one panel completely refinished, and two more that have a poor lacquer finish, you could get the wing repainted, and the whole car relacquered with a modern, flat clear. That would sort the wing's colour problem, and if done properly you should be left with no swirls or orange peel anywhere on the car, and a tough lacquer that won't affect the tint of the car if it ever needs slight finessing at any point in the future.
HTH
Tol
As for your questions - orange peel on bonnet/door, well, there are a couple of options. If these are a flat clear, rather than tinted, the texture can be cut back with very fine polishing papers, and the resulting flat surface polished back up to a high gloss. Machine buffing to alter lacquer imperfections WITHOUT cutting the problem out with papers can remove up to 7 times more lacquer than cutting first, so I wouldn't recommend it.
It's tremendously unlikely that there is significant texture in the paint coat. Texture in the paint would mean a much much deeper lacquer coat was needed to bury it, otherwise peaks of paint would be above the lacquer, and the finish wouldn't last.
As for the swirls in the original panels, bear in mind that ANY polishing is an abrasive process, and will remove an amount of lacquer - since you have a tinted clear finish, this will alter the perceived colour of the panels, even if only slightly. You could speak to a local detailer - some will happily take a full day to break out their Porter Cable (or whatever) and gently work on tired lacquer until you have a lovely gloss again. A few will test the depth of the existing finish with a digital film gauge first and tell you if the panels have been polished too much for further work to be a good idea.
Wax may fill in the swirls, although obviously it's only temporary.
Don't know if it's within your budget, but if you're having at least one panel completely refinished, and two more that have a poor lacquer finish, you could get the wing repainted, and the whole car relacquered with a modern, flat clear. That would sort the wing's colour problem, and if done properly you should be left with no swirls or orange peel anywhere on the car, and a tough lacquer that won't affect the tint of the car if it ever needs slight finessing at any point in the future.
HTH
Tol
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Can't really help on the polishing front, I just used autoglym when I had mine, but it had already faded as yours has and I wasn't worried about getting it back to concours. The guys on the UK NSX board are pretty knowledgeable, so might be worth asking there as well as NSXPrime www.nsxcb.co.uk/
As to what I moved on to, it is with both joy and regret that I now own a TVR Cerbera
ah, re-read your reply, you already know about the nsx club and prime, so no help at all then, sorry
Edited by trooperiziz on Wednesday 25th October 09:15
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