I have to admit the paint they put on is not the best at all... I have many chips on the hood above even where the clear bra would protect. I use a Colgan bra for all highway trips and usually keep the small peice on the hood just cuz I like the way it looks...

Also I noticed I have a "orange peel" finish which is notceable an the front fenders and doors. Is this something they should take care of at the service dept.? I don't think when you pay 40k on a car you should have a orange peel paint job. If they fail to take care of this problem I will probably have the whole car repainted at a very good auto paint shop for about 3k.

I was thinking about painting my beloved Twilight Blue Coupe the Daytona Blue that the 350z comes in. I went to a Nissan dealership today to check it out and it would seem to me that the Daytona Blue would look good on the "G" and stay clean looking much longer than the TB. I LOVE the Twilight BLue do not get me wrong it just can be a pain and every little defect is so much more evident.

What do you all think of the Daytona Blue?. Or are there any other colors out there any of you have thought of on a "G"?

Thanks for your input.


2004 Coupe, 5AT, Twilight blue / Willow int, K&N Typhoon CAI, Hyper Grounding Kit, Mtek Xenon Fog/High, Clear corners, Hypers, 18's, Aero, tint, Premium, Val 1.

 

I think the paint is fine.

every single car that has rocks thrown at it WILL have chips. you're just unlucky it seems. stop driving behind salt trucks and the like. i just got back from a 4 hour trip to seven springs for some snowboarding, and there are no new chips that I can notice (nor hear hitting my car).

btw, a little off topic, snowboarding is hard as hell. This was my first time, and I have to say, my body is sore from constantly falling, getting up, falling, etc...all day long for 3 days.



181377-100-0003_IMG.JPG

 

I know how you feel....I don't think its the paint as much as the enviroment which we have to drive it in...I drive up and down a major highway here in the Northeast....it is only used for passenger cars and suv's no big trucks or vehicles of that type...I have my car only 3months and already I must have forty to fifty little knicks on the front bumper...mostly on the bottom part where it's not so noticeable, but nonetheless they are there!!!...since my car is ivory pearl...the knicks show the black on the bumper so its visible but only from a short distance away....I was thinking of getting a darker color so you may not see as many but I guess thats not the case either....any way I have seen pics of your car and it's really a nice color....if you feel the 350Z blue is good for you...then you have it painted.....as far as the orange peel effect....if you take your time and rub out the areas with a fine polishing compound and finish it up with a polish and then wax....you could probably remove alot of it yourself...if not I'm sure the dealership or any detail shop could do it for you....since your car is a darker color be careful not to put alot of swirl marks in it....LOL 2old4this

04 cpe ivory pearl/willow/5at/prem/sport wheel pkg/clear corners and Piaa's to be installed

 

I think your paint is good; every new car has an original orange peel pattern. Its orange peel or fish eye you are talking about? Even European car usually has bigger orange pell pattern than Japanese car. This is what I mean, those car you saw at the show (custom color) is usually a repainted. That is why it's has a smooth finish, even smoother than a brand new car. It is almost impossible for them to make or match factory orange peel finish. Every repaired car does not have an orange peel, because body shops usually sand the paint to remove the orange peel to make it smooth. It is normal to have an orange peel on a brand new car and it is not normal to have a fish eye on a brand new car. In the factory, our car is painted by a machine (robot) and it will has an orange peel finish, but it will has an even orange peel sizes on every parts of the car. Orange peel is caused by air pressure and distance of spraying machine or spray gun. The closer the sprayer the bigger the orange peel. Normally body shops paint the car by hand and it's almost impossible for them to measure the distance and adjust the spray gun to match the pattern of original orange peel. So, that is why they always sand down the paint to remove the uneven pattern of orange peel. I was working for my father back in my home country, He has an automobile showroom. It is my job (almost everyday) to check the used car that he's going to buy whether it has been repaired or not. Today I'm an auto body student in L.A. It's totally up to you to paint your car. It's just my opinion, for me I will keep my original paint. Anyways, as long as you happy Go for it.[img]/w3timages/icons/smile.gif[/img] Good luck Bro !

 

Dark candy red.

Black / Black 2004 GcoupeMT. Premium. Splash Guardz.

 

haha, is that color in any way similar to the color that Baby from Cash Money is into and has on almost all his cars? I personally like the color of that red too. It's very sexy.

'03 G35c DG/G 6mt, full options

 

I'm not sure any wax of any kind will prevent chipping of the front of your vehicle....Clear Bra is probably the only sure way to eliminate most rock chips IMO....I have alway used premium wax ....Liquid glass as well...but at 70-80 mph even a grain of sand is like a marble when it hits your car...20ld4this

04 ivory pearl/willow/5at/prem/sport wheel pkg/clear corners and Piaa's to be installed..chipped front end compliments of the NJ Department of Highways!!!!!

 

Lol, I wash and wax my car too much if anything... I wash it nearly every weekend being it is a Twilight Blue and I live in Arizona. I also wax it at least once a month with Zymol and with a hard wax every 3 months, I use Mcguires scratch X for extra protection when needed. I do drive a stretch of highway reaching speeds in excess 100+ a couple times a week which probably does not help the situation. Now since the waxing is not the issue... Is the orange peel considered a factory defect? or is it the mark of a factory paint job as mentioned above?


2004 Coupe, 5AT, Twilight blue / Willow int, K&N Typhoon CAI, Hyper Grounding Kit, Mtek Xenon Fog/High, Clear corners, Hypers, 18's, Aero, tint, Premium, Val 1.

181603-DSC00132.JPG

 

Ivory Pearl is one color that really shows paint chips due to the contrast of the factory black bumper to the white paint. I have gotten my front bumper repainted due to many chips and now am getting the clear bra. Some colors are less noticeable and many owners are not even aware they are loaded with chips!

04 G35C/IvoryPearl/5AT/Premium

 

EVERY single car board I have ever been on on the internet...from is300's to Audis to Civics even...EVERY single forum people complain about the paint.

I dont think any specifc car brands paint "sucks" per se, I just think thats how it is with ALL cars. Your driving and car care habits dictate how well the paint holds up.

2004 Twilight Blue Coupe
6 spd
Premium Package
Aero Package

 

After reading this post...even though I'm quite skeptic...I touched up a dozen or so tiny knicks on my front bumper and then proceeded to give the whole car another coat of carnuba wax and detail spray...although my car is smooth like glass and shines quite nice for ivory pearl,,,,I still know my ride to work tomorrow with the rain predicted will inevitably leave some more damage.....If i was to repaint my bumper in the spring....don't you have to wait at least a month for the paint to cure before applying a clear bra? by that time my bumper would need paint again!!! I'm really confused....maybe I'll just wait until I can park my car for a month or so and let the paint cure...then have the clear bra installed....thats my 2 cents...20ld4this
P.S. I wonder how the G would look in pearl or candy orange!

04 cpe ivory pearl/willow/5at/prem/sport wheel pkg/clear corner and Piaa's waiting to be installed

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by GR8TG35 on 02/02/04 02:02 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

I had my Ivory Pearl Coupe's front bumper repainted one month ago and am getting the clear bra installed this wednesday. The dealer told me the paint has cured and there should be no problems. During the waiting procesess, I did get one very small chip low down on the front bumper. It can't be helped. Just be careful.

04 G35C/IvoryPearl/5AT/Premium

 

Is my G the only one that doesn't have this so-called "orange peel effect"????

My paint ("Silverstone" in Canada) is absolutely perfect. Everybody that looks at my paint job says its incredible. I thought that it was that way because it was manufactured in Japan and that they pay special attention to detail, like the paint. As far as stone chips, I had the clear bra installed the second day after I picked it up so I can't comment on that.

Also, I was in the Nissan dealership the other day and was looking at the new 350Z convertible and the paint looked terrible with the orange peel effect all through the paint.

So what gives??? Am I just really lucky that I got a car without this problem?


Silverstone 6MT Maya DTM 20's

 

Hey Guys, I just thought I'd read some "AMERICAN MADE" threads,after all I am Canadian. I ought to see what the Americans have to say about their G35coupes etc. Anyhow, I 100% agree that the actual paint coating on these vehicles are thinner. I know for a fact that the paint coating put on G35coupes at the production plant in Japan has been set up and calculated to use minimal paint. An Auto body specialist told me that this is one of their ways of saving costs, and also CUT CORNERS. The G35coupe has thinner paint than the average vehicle out there believ e it or not. Its not about the weather, its not about the environment. Its about NISSAN?INFINITI poor paint standards. Any Auto Body Paint specialist will tell you that the vehicle contains minimal paint! I am also unsatisfied, chips, marks are created very easily.