Paint Thickness Gauge worth it?

C

cptzippy

New member
I don't have a PTG. Never did worry about it much when I had new cars. Now that I'm looking at probably doing a somewhat aggressive polish/compound on my 18 year old Jag, I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea. However, i'd probably only use it once. I see that the Highline II at something between $200-$300. Would one of the cheap ones on ebay work? Should I not worry about it?



TIA<

Tony
 
For peace of mind you may want to go ahead and purchase a paint gauge and then after your paint correction , put it up for sale. There is always a good market for a used gauge. Hint,hint.
 
Personally I would stick with a well known name brand. I have looked at ETG,Highline,Defelsko,Elcometer and will make my choice from these most likely.
 
I use the ETG, both of them, one is ferrous read only, the other is ferrous and aluminum.

Had them for over 10 years, work like a champ.

Grumpy
 
Good tools are always cheaper in the end. I love my Highline II and would not consider doing spot defect removal without it anymore. Also very useful for getting a feel for the overall condition of paint on a car. Plus if you are a pro. a paint map will impress your customers.
 
I wonder if the cheaper ones are less accurate than a professional one for example, a ebay unit might be +/- 5 microns whereas a better unit might be say less than 1 micron. For a weekend warrior +/- 5 microns might not be that significant.



If you can afford a professional unit, it will be a good tool to own and significantly cheaper than a respray. I still vividly remember seeing primer on the second pass when I was polishing a door and did not know the car had been repainted with a very thin layer of top coat
 
i just bought a HL2 couple days ago and used it on my car for the very first time. I was shocked when I found out that only my roof,left side quarter, and trunk is oem specs...
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I however am not a pro detailer, just do my own cars. So is $249 dollars for an HL2 REALLY worth it for my Jag for the initial correction? Just having a hard time justifying the expense in my mind.
 
cptzippy said:
Thanks for the suggestions. I however am not a pro detailer, just do my own cars. So is $249 dollars for an HL2 REALLY worth it for my Jag for the initial correction? Just having a hard time justifying the expense in my mind.
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How much is it to repaint a single panel if you strike through? :D The cheapo guages might work, but if you decide you don't need it, good luck selling it. You can ditch the highline for probably $50 less than it costs.
 
I dunno ....regulars here know I'm a big proponent of ETGs...hey, I got into a good :argue with Barry about it back before he used one regularly! But in this case... hmmmm...:think:



I guess I'd get one just in case some panel is really, *really* thin. On an older Jag you just never know. But eh, if my PhaseII died (oh please do....I simply hate that thing!) when I had that car in my shop I'd go ahead and do it without an ETG and I wouldn't worry all that much. I wouldn't be trying for real perfection on it, and I wouldn't get all that aggressive, and I bet I could get by without the ETG (as I did for many, *many* years before finally buying one).



I could argue this one (this specific case) either way :nixweiss
 
In the interest of not spending 5-10 grand on a paint job I ordered a Highline II just now. Now I just have to figure out how to use it :noidea:
 
Congrats, its a wise move. Just play around on a bunch of different cars and you'll get that a-ha moment. I also like to do paint maps on my own cars.
 
cptzippy said:
Read somewhere that re-painted panels are generally thicker - have you guys noticed that?
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And not just because there's often/usually post-production paint on top of the oe stuff.



Where this stuff gets tricky is when you're trying to figure out repainted areas. Is it repaint-over-oe? Is it repaint-over-bare metal? Did the painter sand/etc. it down after spraying, maybe just in places? IF so, did he then reshoot more paint? I've run across stuff that simply left me :confused: but at least I could tell that something was funny there so I was forewarned to go easy.
 
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