Paint thickness gauge

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Darren

Darren

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Hey guys..
I'm doing some paint work on my 68 barracuda.. just wondering if anyone knows of a paint gauge that can measure
Clearcoat thickness only?
Thanks for any advice.
 
Not to say there isn't such a thing but All the ones I have seen measure total thickness of all layers.
 
toolmanmike said:
Not to say there isn't such a thing but All the ones I have seen measure total thickness of all layers.
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Yes.. I have been looking too.. and that's all I can find.. kinda useless on a aftermarket paintjob.
 
Darren said:
Yes.. I have been looking too.. and that's all I can find.. kinda useless on a aftermarket paintjob.
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I think the total mil thickness is what's important. The testers usually use a magnet and a calibrated scale.
 
toolmanmike said:
I think the total mil thickness is what's important. The testers usually use a magnet and a calibrated scale.
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Yes its wetsanding I'm doing so I want to know the thickness of CC only .
Thanks
 
Wouldn't all you need to do is paint a separate piece (scrap piece) of metal at the same time at the same thickness as your base coat then measure the paint thickness of the scrap piece giving you how much to subtract from the final clear coat (on the car) to know the thickness of the clear coat?? Problem solved!! Treblig
 
Treblig said:
Wouldn't all you need to do is paint a separate piece (scrap piece) of metal at the same time at the same thickness as your base coat then measure the paint thickness of the scrap piece giving you how much to subtract from the final clear coat (on the car) to know the thickness of the clear coat?? Problem solved!! Treblig
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Too bad the car is already painted and the op doesn't know how much primer/sealer and base coat there is. Good thought though.
 
Find a “Tooke” gauge. You need an area that you can “hide” to use the gauge. Also you could always weigh/strip/weigh a sample to determine the weight and thus thickness of the coating. Again would need a sample of the material and an accurate scale and some calculations.
 
The reason why I'm Asking is I recently had my 68 barracuda painted although it looks pretty good overall there is some orange peel, mainly on roof, the roof was really bugging me , pretty sure the painter skipped it ( bad idea on a fastback). I talked to the painter and asked him how much clear is on roof , his response was there is lots.??
So I went ahead and wetsanded roof with 2000 grit and hopped for the best because there was no way I was leaving like that.
Well I finished the roof and it looks great.
Now I am a bit worried about how much clear is left..
Is there any product I can put on to protect it ( just in case it's a bit thin) from sun and whatnot besides wax?
I will post a picture of the roof
Left side is before..right side is after.
Thanks

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If you wet sand and buff, and all is glossy you did well, the finalized thickness of the clear coat has no bearing on the suns rays,.......Depending on the car paint, no wax for 30 days to 4 months.
 
That's good news..
The paint is PPG Omni. It's the only paint I could find that matched my original color GG1.. Car was painted 8 months ago
Thanks
 
sscuda said:
The Elcometer 456 T model will give you what your looking for but it`s probably over the average guy`s budget.
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Yes .. a little out of my budget.. thanks Al..
After finishing the roof I am extremely pleased with results, I think I might go ahead and do rest of the horizontal parts only of car (hood, top of fenders, doors rear 1/4's and deck lid) even tho the painter already wet sanded these parts already, is it fair to say I should be able to duplicate the results of roof on these parts also, if I stick with the same technique?
It might be a dum question but looking for advice from the experienced guys ..
Thanks
 
Most accomplished painters will try to flow out all surfaces to cut down on the time it takes to wet sand and polish a job. I know I do! I hate wet sanding and polishing.

Normally two coats of a high solids 2K clear applied properly will give you about 5 mils. of clear film build on the horizontal surfaces, slightly less on the vertical surfaces. Water sanding with 2500 wet paper will take about 1 to 1.5 mils of film away (unless there was some serious orange peel issues).

Machine polishing compound material will take about .5 of a mil. of clear film away. Machine glazing and waxing will have minimal effect of film build. I prefer 3M products but there are several other product lines out there that are equivalent.

You might be concerned for nothing.

I hope this helps.
 
sscuda said:
Most accomplished painters will try to flow out all surfaces to cut down on the time it takes to wet sand and polish a job. I know I do! I hate wet sanding and polishing.

Normally two coats of a high solids 2K clear applied properly will give you about 5 mils. of clear film build on the horizontal surfaces, slightly less on the vertical surfaces. Water sanding with 2500 wet paper will take about 1 to 1.5 mils of film away (unless there was some serious orange peel issues).

Machine polishing compound material will take about .5 of a mil. of clear film away. Machine glazing and waxing will have minimal effect of film build. I prefer 3M products but there are several other product lines out there that are equivalent.

You might be concerned for nothing.

I hope this helps.
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Thanks for the expert advice.. I am getting great results, just a bit worried about burning through clear..
 
Darren said:
Thanks for the expert advice.. I am getting great results, just a bit worried about burning through clear..
Click to expand...

Never take more film off when you don't have to translates to don't colour sand the surface perfectly smooth. The polishing will finish the job for you.

Your buffer speed shouldn't exceed 1700 RPM, any faster than that the paint film will heat up and you will have a problem.

Good luck and we want to see pictures when you're finished.
 
sscuda said:
Never take more film off when you don't have to translates to don't colour sand the surface perfectly smooth. The polishing will finish the job for you.

Your buffer speed shouldn't exceed 1700 RPM, any faster than that the paint film will heat up and you will have a problem.

Good luck and we want to see pictures when you're finished.
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Thank you for the advice. I went ahead and did the rear of car, I left the deck lid because the painter painted the deck lid at a later time then the car, he must if spend more time wet sanding it because it's good..
I attached a few pics. I am very happy with results..
Thanks

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plumkrazee70 said:
Are you using a block? And what buffer, compound and pads are you using? Looks great.
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I am using a soft flexible block, for polishing using a random orbit polisher with orange and white pads. I do have a rotary polisher too but I feel more comfortable with the orbit polisher and results are what I'm looking for.
Thanks

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plumkrazee70 said:
Are you using a block? And what buffer, compound and pads are you using? Looks great.
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I am using this compound wizards finish cut with orange pad. Then went over it with Meguiars swirl remover 2.0 with white pad. Then apply wizards mist n shine ( spray wax) it might not be the correct method or product but it is sure working for me..

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Looks good so far!!!!!!

Do whatever you are comfortable with. Use whatever products you are comfortable with.

Take your time and stay off the character lines (high points) as much as you can with the polisher. They will burn through quicker than you can react. I sometimes will tape a sharp character line to protect it. Make sure the buffer rotation is moving away from a character line too, not into it.

Make sure the buffing pads are damp before you begin to polish or glaze the surface. A dry buffing pad (wool or foam) will scratch the finish.

For dark colored cars I use NuFinish liquid wax. It`s easy to use and does an amazing job taking micro scratches out. It`s cheap too!

OK, have fun!!!!

I`m headed out for two rounds of golf today. :)
 
sscuda said:
Looks good so far!!!!!!

Do whatever you are comfortable with. Use whatever products you are comfortable with.

Take your time and stay off the character lines (high points) as much as you can with the polisher. They will burn through quicker than you can react. I sometimes will tape a sharp character line to protect it. Make sure the buffer rotation is moving away from a character line too, not into it.

Make sure the buffing pads are damp before you begin to polish or glaze the surface. A dry buffing pad (wool or foam) will scratch the finish.

For dark colored cars I use NuFinish liquid wax. It`s easy to use and does an amazing job taking micro scratches out. It`s cheap too!

OK, have fun!!!!

I`m headed out for two rounds of golf today. :)
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Thanks for the good advice.. for dampening the pad (before starting ) i mist pad with this blue "pad prep spray" not sure of product name off hand.
Also should I apply wax (NUfinish liquid wax) by hand or with orbit polisher?
Thanks..
Hope you had fun golfing.. luckey guy.
 
The nice thing about the NuFinish liquid wax is you can do either a hand or machine application. Polish by hand with a micro cloth for best results.

And it's perfect for dark coloured cars because of the scratch and swirl remover in it and no residue or clouding. I've used it since the early 80's on everything from my DD to my show cars with great results. Plus it's cheap!!!

Thanks, golf was great yesterday. Chores today though. LOL!!
 
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