Really thought a paint thickness gauge was for measuring the mental intelligence of a professional detailer , lol
How to polish quickly?
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Especially one that has a serious roid rage issue!!!
Paul Hasney
New Member
I work for an industrial painting company who cover paint inspection and quality control: the dry film gauge we use is from elcometer and costs £1200 and is the best on the market. the gauge works on a magnetic field principle and must be calibrated using the correct shims, we also have to change the probe when taking readings on metallic paints. Anyway i took some readings on my blackberry t6 when i first got it and the readings were all over the place each panel has readings of anywhere between 100 to 156 microns, to put this in perspective 1000 microns = 1mm so not a lot of paint thickness. This in mind i done a bit investigating and found that the paint is only for aesthetic purpose and offers very little protection as the panels are galvanized and this is what gives you the corrosion protection. So with all this in mind and the paint being only a 10th of a millimeter thick in some places i would suggest being very careful when trying to do any paint correction, Don't let this post put you off trying to do it yourself as the clear coat will be the thickest coating with the base coat and primer probably only being 20% of the total paint thickness.
Paul Hasney
New Member
1000 microns = 1mm so your readings would be 138 > 154 microns and not 1.35 > 1.45
just to add to this thread
POLISHING = cutting into clearcoat (NOT PAINT) to remove uneven surfaces, troughs and peaks (light bounces of these especially sunlight on swirls etc)
Polish as LITTLE as possible = clear coat is finite, don't cut too much or too regularly or you either BURN through and /or need a respray.
Paint Thickness Gauge (PTG) = beg borrow or steal, if you're attempting machine polishing, to see how much clearcoat you have to play with.
Determine Clearcoat Thickness = usually paint is sprayed everywhere on said vehicle however, in the interest of costs, under the hood/bonnet clearcoat is not usually applied.
use this to determine clearcoat thickness
e.g. take multiple readings at different points on the bonnet surface with it shut.. get an average reading,
open the lid, take multiple readings from under the bonnet ( you should see the paint difference ) = subtract average underneath reading from average surface reading et voila you are left with CC thickness
POLISHING = cutting into clearcoat (NOT PAINT) to remove uneven surfaces, troughs and peaks (light bounces of these especially sunlight on swirls etc)
Polish as LITTLE as possible = clear coat is finite, don't cut too much or too regularly or you either BURN through and /or need a respray.
Paint Thickness Gauge (PTG) = beg borrow or steal, if you're attempting machine polishing, to see how much clearcoat you have to play with.
Determine Clearcoat Thickness = usually paint is sprayed everywhere on said vehicle however, in the interest of costs, under the hood/bonnet clearcoat is not usually applied.
use this to determine clearcoat thickness
e.g. take multiple readings at different points on the bonnet surface with it shut.. get an average reading,
open the lid, take multiple readings from under the bonnet ( you should see the paint difference ) = subtract average underneath reading from average surface reading et voila you are left with CC thickness
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I got a pro detailer to machine polish a few scratches in our T6 and was actually rather disappointed. Almost no difference at all after a fair while of trying.
So I'd say its fine for very very light scratches but for anything else use Chipex or get a respray.
So I'd say its fine for very very light scratches but for anything else use Chipex or get a respray.
From a painters perspective the clearcoat of the T6 and general VW is very thick by industy standards. You can wet sand it with 800 grit, 1500 and 2000 and polish it all day long and not burn through. The only thicker clearcoat i have come across is BMW and Mercedes ceramic clearcoats and that is rock hard, takes ages to polish out wet sanding marks.
yep German clearcoats are notoriously hard, I'm no pro detailer, I've just done about 3 cars but i work with rust prevention coating for cars.
... layers go like this steel-galv-ED-prime/base-top-clear. it's the ED thats my field but galv was the big game changer in automotive oxidation prevention
... layers go like this steel-galv-ED-prime/base-top-clear. it's the ED thats my field but galv was the big game changer in automotive oxidation prevention
Yep our two German cars have rock hard paint, the Subaru has a light dusting on powdered glitter or something like that. Very soft paint.
just checked under my bonnet/hood .. no top coat underneath mine ..vw tight bar stewards just base coat
Paul Hasney
New Member
I can understand the inside of the doors behind the door cards or any internal voids but under the bonnet should have clear coat on in my opinion.
it should but rarely does, my van doesn't even have top coat
Paul Hasney
New Member
So galv tee wash etch primer base coat and tha't it
It will be a 1k clearcoat on the underside of the bonnet. Pretty standard across most manufactures. Saves cost.
nope no clearcoat
where you at?
