Calling the PTG guru's.. Paint REALLY thin..

So I saw this E46M about a month ago and we set up a detail for this weekend and I went to meet up with him again today to make sure everything was fine. He said he had just gotten a rockchip and was wondering if I could repair it for him, I said sure! But to be safe, I brought the PTG along with me to re-inspect the car.

The hood, and pass.rear quarter were both repainted with all new sheet metal, and the readings were around 30-45 microns (1.1ish mils) :yikes::yikes::yikes:

My question is this.. isn't the paint usually thicker AFTER a repaint.. though I suppose not if new metal was used.. I asked him to ask his bodyshop what paint and clear was used.. this seems abnormally thin for even a re-painted panel. The rest of the car was in the healthy 4.x+ range.

Any thoughts? I'm thinking I'm going to have to DA the whole car.. at least it's carbon black so it's really soft paint.

Thanks in advance! :thumb:

Aaron

 

hmm that is pretty thing, unless its SS. typically repainted panels are thicker, but its not always the case. I came across a respray that was almost the same thickness as factory, around 130 microns. Though with resprays you still cannot be certain how thick each layer is (unless you have a REALLY good PTG). Use the gauge more of an indicator. You could have 210 micons of a resprayed panel, but it could be a very bad job with only 5 micons of clear. Just an extreme example.

 

Oooh that is thin, I would caution you using a harsh combo (polish and pad) on the vehicle, I would have to agree with you, your probably going to use a DA...you could use a rotary but you just can't use an aggressive polish and pad combo. Not to mention keep the rpm's way, way down...but a DA is best.

As to why it's so thin, well each body shop uses different methods to paint a vehicle but sounds like they barely put paint and clear on that vehicle...that's just my personal opinion, I'm no expert so just sharing my :2cents:

I have a friend who owns a body shop and he tells me that body shops have a guideline as to how much paint and clear coat is applied to each vehicle..but it's up to each body shop to follow or ignore the guidelines

 

maybe they want you to burn through the clear, so you come back for a respray

 

Tell him to take the car back to the shop.... And show how its inconsistent with the rest of the car.

 

With paint that thin you'd be crazy to use anything other than a glaze. I personally wouldn't even take 85RD to paint that thin. Makes me shudder!! Does your PTG have calibrating chips with it?

 

Yeah, it should unless Aaron lost them, haha.

 

I don't even know what ptg your talking about.... :

I will recallibrate it and take a look again tomorrow.

I remember reading over on autopia. that the KB method didn't even remove .1 mil from the car (gmblack3a was using a Positest 200A). I will PM him and ask though..

Thanks guys.. I think I may have to turn down this job :shrug: :acry2:

 

Ooh I remember a vehicle we had to pass from polishing and the reason was...:nod: thin, thin clear coat...how thin..well about the same readings your getting:

I'f you'd like to read it and see what I'm talking about here is the link:
http://www.detailingbliss.com/forum/f46/divine-detail-2008-z06-twin-turbo-1960.html

 

I would work with micros and not mils. in my mind its a bit more accurate since removing even .1 mil may be too much.

 

From what I gather, you are an exceptional detailer. If you have any doubts surrounding assertive polishing on the refinished panels, you should compromise and opt for the conservative approach; especially since you presume the finish may be soft.

 

I like working in microns as well.

 

I think that's what I'll do.. danase wet glaze and then follow it up with a good LSP.

Sigh. I was REALLY looking forward to this job too!! I guess sometimes that's "how the cookie crumbles".

I've got to give a HUGE thanks to Denzil though. Without him letting me borrow his PTG, I would have surely burned through, and it would have been my fault..

THanks Denzil! You saved me thousands for sure!!!!

 

I do too.. but I switched to mils just so I knew I was seeing what I thought I was.. Also, I just checked the callibration, and eventhough the Nonferrous was off by 10.. that'd still only make the hood at 50 microns :yikes:

The FE was spot on though.. so the quarter was still at 40-50..

 

Haha, no problem bud! Glad to hear that you really made use of that PTG! I'm sure you may save me sometime in the future as well! :giggle: :giggle:

 

That's exactly what paint gauges are for, cover your rear end from having to dish out your hard earned money :thumb: if you think about it, the gauge just paid for it's self :idea:

 

I thought it was so I would look cool.:applause2:

 

Well yea that too

 

Maybe the paint is so tick, that the ptg starts from zero again? I have seen that before.

 

Wait so does your PTG work on aluminum? Becuase I know for 100% fact that the E46 M3 have aluminum hoods to save weight. About the other sections I have no idea.

Just a thought.