The Color thickness before Polishing by rotary machine

I

iamwashmania

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5068gt2_018.jpg


5068gt2_002.jpg




I just got this machine for measuring the thickness of the color.

I dont have a specification of this machine. I tried it with 911 Gt2 for the information of the thickness of his color.



I found that front hood is thicker than other parts of the car.



But I cant measure the modena because the body made from Aluminum. The machine doesnt work!!!.



Well I will measure most of the new car that come to my shop that make me know what is the standard of thickness that the car factory painted.



I just would like to know that who had ever tried this equipment. Please share your experience or your opinion.



I took photos with every part of the GT2 for my information.......



bye guys
 
I use a similar machine. The actual measurement is only a baseline from which to start. Most pros agree that removal of more than .3 mil will compromise the clearcoat, and lead to failure, overtime.



Pay particular attention to measuring the SAME SPOT b4 and after buffing. Even a small shift in position can give a .1 difference... and that's the kind of reading that should make you cautious about further buffing.



Get a used panel from a body shop. Measure, buff, measure...



Good Luck!

Love your Shop!



Jim
 
~One manâ€â„¢s opinion / observations



Before buffing itâ€â„¢s always a good idea to check the paint film thickness to see how much of the paint film thickness is available, check periodically during the process and on completion to see how much was removed. Take measurements with a paint and coating thickness gauge (Check-Line Model DEF-900 approx. $500)



Paint Film Thickness:

Most modern vehicle paint film systems (paint build) comprise a Primer coat of 2Mils, a Colour coat of 1-2Mils, and Clear coat 2-3Mils thickness. Removing more that 0.3 mil (0.0003") of clear coat will cause premature paint film failure. As a point of reference a sheet of copy paper is 3.5Mil (0.0035")



The clear coat provides protection from a hostile environment and an excellent brilliance, but is easily scratched; once it is compromised repairs involve re-painting, as the base colour has no brilliance, shine or depth, start with the least abrasive product to accomplish desired results, and only if necessary move up to the next grade of abrasive.

~Hope this helps~



Knowledge unshared is experience wasted [each one / teach one]

justadumbarchitect / so I question everything/ JonM
 
Information source: http://www.checkline.com/coating_thickness_gauges/dcf900.htm



German and Japanese cars: 4-5 Mils (1 Mil=1000th of an inch)

With the exception of:

Lexus-White and Tan: 5-7 Mils, Lexus- Black and Silver: 4.5-6 Mils

BMW: Silver: 6-7 Mils

FORD: Approx. 5.5-7 Mils

GM Cars and Trucks: Approx. 4.5-6.0 Mils, Jimmys and Blazers: approx 7 Mils

Chrysler: Approx. 5.5-7 Mils (Note Sebring hoods are fiberglass)

Dodge Cars: Similar to Chrysler

Dodge Trucks and newer Ram Pick-ups: Cab approx. Mils and the boxes approx 9 Mils

Jaguar: approx. 6-7.5 Mils (but they tend to vary)

Jeep Grand Cherokee: These read approx. 6-8 Mils, Wranglers: approx. 4.5-5.5 Mils



~Hope this helps~



Knowledge unshared is experience wasted [each one / teach one]

justadumbarchitect / so I question everything/ JonM



Jaguar XK8 '02 BRG (surprise)

Audi TT Roaster 3.2 Silver '04

Mercedes 380SL '84 Beige
 
wblynch said:
Off Topic, but do you know if Jaguar recently changed their paint process?



My 2005 S-Type doesn't seem to have the same high quality paint as my 2002 X-Type.



Thanks
Click to expand...



They are made at a different factory.



S-Types are only made at Halewood (Liverpool), Its a old Ford place but (I believe) completely revamped. The S is the only Jag to come out of that plant. They do a nice factory tour (If you can walk 1.5m) but they wont let you in the paint plant.



Not sure were the X-types are bolted togeter.



WD :xyxthumbs
 
WD Pro said:


Not sure were the X-types are bolted togeter.
Click to expand...



Thanks, my X-type was assembled in Coventry. I'm not sure what plant that would be.



The difference in the paint is tremendous. The X-Type was like a hand painted and polished custom car. The S-Type is more like a factory job, looks pretty but lots of orange peel. I figured they are probably cutting costs due to having a woman in charge now. (she probably doesn' t relate to quality paint)



Okay, thanks and I promise no more OT from me on this thread.
 
just found this thread. do you remember what year the grand cherokee was that had the nice thick paint like that? i need to wetsand the whole jeep to get rid of my factory orange peel. if it doesnt work, i'm going to repaint the whole damn thing.
 
I'm assuming that reference to Grand Cherokee paint thickness 5 posts up at least applied to the first year or so it was out. If I had to guess, I'd assume that if the paint thickness changed on that model, it probably came somewhere around the time the corporation became Daimler Chrysler. The paint sure seems awful on Jeep and Chrysler products since. I knew of one Grand Cherokee with clear coat the simply failed on the driver's side fender within months of production and a Sebring Convertible with the worst patch of OP I've ever seen :eek:.
 
so far the only place my clearcoat has chipped is on the plastic rear bumper where someone bumped the little plastic protrusions that stick out.
 
Flexin said:
What do those machines go for?



James
Click to expand...



The electronic thickness guage I have is actually used in the paint shops in the auto factorys and measures thickness in microns instead of mils. I believe the list price is about $1000 CDN. The ETGII guage is about $700 CDN and it measures in mils.
 
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