How long will the factory paint on the NSX last?

[RyRy210]

I was at a classic car show awhile back and noticed that all the vintage ferraris with low miles all had complete repaints. Speaking to owners they told me that the factory paint, no matter how well they are maintained, will give way sooner or later. Caring for it will increases its life span, but it won't live forever. Is this true for the NSX as well? Paint technologies must be more advanced now compared to the time when those Ferraris were new. Would like hear more comments with regards to this. Thanks.

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2001 NSX-T
- Bilstein Shocks
- '02 OEM Wheels

[This message has been edited by RyRy210 (edited 25 January 2003).]

 

[matteni]

I have heard that the longevity of paint has gone down quite a bit with the removal of lead from auto paints.

I had an original 76' 930 that had an incredible paint quality in 97' when I sold it - much better then the current paint I have seen. That said the NSX paint (especially Red) is unprecedented even to this day.

Really - beauty is in the eye of the beholder so it will last as long as you can "live with it".

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Nick M

91' Red/Black with Many Mods
99' Honda Odyssey with Many Kids

 

[nsxtasy]

Originally posted by RyRy210:
Speaking to owners they told me that the factory paint, no matter how well they are maintained, will give way sooner or later. Caring for it will increases its life span, but it won't live forever. Is this true for the NSX as well?

Sounds like the Ferrari owners are assuming that the deficiencies of their cars automatically apply to all other cars too.

Of course, to answer your question, you will need to define "forever".

Will original, well-maintained NSX paint last 200 years? I don't know.

I can assure you that original, well-maintained 12-year-old NSX paint looks outstanding, aside from the accumulation of tiny chips on the front end ("road rash") that is a function of mileage, not time.

Will original, well-maintained NSX paint last 30 years? Check out my car at NSXPO 2020 and let us know what you think.

 

[5inchfatlip]

I agree- as long as the paint has been taken care of it can still look brand new from afar with minor flaws up front..

mine is a 93, with some swirl marks, and chips here and there, but I get asked all the time if its at least a 2000, and even brand new..

I see alot of early year NSX's that with maybe a clay bar and some good care, can look REAL GOOD, and only we would know it is an early year due to the black roof...

 

[mikec]

My 88 928 looked brand new when I finally sold it 13 years later.

My 72 Mercedes 280SE 4.5 with 60K miles that my Mom bought new still has the origional paint that is still has a deep shine.

I expect that modern paint, given care, will last longer than I need it to.

Of course Ford owners of the late 80's - early 90's may disagree.

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keep the shiny side up
MikeC 01 #46

 

[MvM]

As far a Ferrari paint quality goes, I've heard (but not witnessed) that it is not uncommon for the Dutch Ferrari importer to have brand-new Ferrari's fresh from the factory (partially) repainted because of the lack of quality the factory offers.
As far a the NSX pain-quality, anyone of us out there who owns a well-maintained but older NSX will have experienced the surprise of other people hearing the car is not actually new but in fact sometimes up to 10 years old.

 

[NeoNSX]

A really good source of knowledge on NSX paint procedure is available here:
http://www.nsxprime.com/Gallery/press/tidh/tidh-20.htm

it proves they didn't leave anything to chance when it comes to paint-fading.

I have a friend with a '92 NSX; it's his daily driver, so it gets parked outside; exposed to all the elements (rain, wind, intense sunlight for prolonged periods of time) ... and it still looks good!

 

[gheba_nsx]

RyRy210, you are speaking of vintage Ferarris. Probably the paint used 30 or more years ago was not as good chemically as teh one that was used 10 years ago!

MvM, that sound like a urban legend to me! Really...

 

[MvM]

gheba_nsx
Heard it from a certain Dutch NSX-driver (and racer) and racer we probably both know when I was helping Mich out with the headers on his NSX two weeks ago.
I tend to believe it will not be the case with each and every car that gets deliverd but on the other hand it would not surprise me.

 

[gheba_nsx]

Come on

, at Ferrari they do not work perfectely but on the new models (360 and 575) they are doing a great job. And they do know that people who pays 200k$ for a car wants "some" quality...

...at least where you can see it (paint).

Really, I would be very surprised if this was true. Every car is checked for over 2h by a technician because they are trying to take away that "low-quality" image they cumulated in the past...

 

[randall]

i know that some of the older paints like lacquer and enamels would shrink and crack over time.

 

[NSXaholic]

Originally posted by NeoNSX:
A really good source of knowledge on NSX paint procedure is available here:
http://www.nsxprime.com/Gallery/press/tidh/tidh-20.htm

it proves they didn't leave anything to chance when it comes to paint-fading.

I have a friend with a '92 NSX; it's his daily driver, so it gets parked outside; exposed to all the elements (rain, wind, intense sunlight for prolonged periods of time) ... and it still looks good!

In looking at this procedure I would speculate that anybody who repaints their NSX (such as their nose for chips, etc.) is running the risk of having the paint fade, and show up as different from the OEM, a couple of years after application.

Regards.

 

[akira3d]

I've heard that it is not uncommon to see orange-peel in the factory paint even on more recent model Ferraris.

A couple of months ago, my boss got his 355 back after being repaired and repainted (it had been in an accident) and both of us were stunned by how good it looked (the paint looked better than we remembered it). The guy delivering his car said he was not surprised by our reaction...stating that the repaint SHOULD be superior to the Ferrari factory job. Interesting, eh?

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--akira3D
'00 Acura NSX-T (red/black), '97 Honda Civic HX (black), '01 Lexus IS300 (black/black)
"Reality is better than the dream..."

akira3d.com/nsx

[This message has been edited by akira3d (edited 28 January 2003).]

 

[LJSB]

When you think of it the paint on cars is really remarkable. It is used in all locales, in all weather/temperatures, at all speeds and still functions year after year and looks good and we expect not to replace it.
Leather, vinyl, rubber, glass wear out with the same exposure but today's paint needs little attention to look great and last. Really impressive stuff if you think about it.

 

[Midnight_Raven]

Hey I have a question when you go like lets say a honda or acura dealer and tell them you want to repaint it in a stock factory color. Do they use the same procedures that they do in the nsx factory or they just paint it like any other car. The reason why is because when I get a acura nsx, probably a 91-93 or even better a 97-99 coupe, I want to paint it either kaiser silver metallic or magnum gray pearl, but would love the finish of the original nsxes. So can you help me out here.

 

[nsxtasy]

Originally posted by Midnight_Raven:
Hey I have a question when you go like lets say a honda or acura dealer and tell them you want to repaint it in a stock factory color. Do they use the same procedures that they do in the nsx factory or they just paint it like any other car. The reason why is because when I get a acura nsx, probably a 91-93 or even better a 97-99 coupe, I want to paint it either kaiser silver metallic or magnum gray pearl, but would love the finish of the original nsxes. So can you help me out here.

Well, very few people would want to repaint an entire NSX. (It's a bad idea for a whole lot of reasons.) And most dealers don't have body shops. And chances are you're not going to have an NSX for a long time, since you still have to finish high school and go to college and maybe even graduate school of some sort before you start working and saving for an NSX. So this is not something that anybody needs to worry about.

However, to answer your question, no body shop can duplicate the procedures used at the factory unless they dis-assemble the entire car into individual pieces, which is not worth the effort. The reason is that the factory paints the entire car body and bakes it on at high temperatures. There are 27 steps in the factory NSX paint process (shown here and six of the steps consist of baking. The temperatures that the factory uses would melt the plastic parts such as the interior, the bumpers, and lots of other parts. So body shops cannot use the same temperatures or the same process as the factory does.

[This message has been edited by nsxtasy (edited 30 January 2003).]

 

[NSX2F1]

I know that Tochigi offers "reconditioning" program for older NSXs.

They will replace interior bits and parts, and you can even choose different interior color.

I am not sure though if this program offers a factory repaint.

 

[NeoNSX]

Originally posted by Midnight_Raven:
The reason why is because when I get a acura nsx, probably a 91-93 or even better a 97-99 coupe, I want to paint it either kaiser silver metallic or magnum gray pearl, but would love the finish of the original nsxes. So can you help me out here.

i think NSXTASY's comments answer ur question perfectly. if i were u, i wouldn't re-do the paintjob because the factory is so much better. It might look okay at first, but then it would lose its sparkle. A non-gleaming NSX is like a woman with dull-eyes.

akira3D: ur comments about the ferrari paint job bring up an interesting point... how does an F50 paintjob look over time (since it has the carbon-fibre body, which apparently u can see the texture through the paint)?