Hey guys, I'll be beginning my first detail in a few days (finals week grind right now.) and I was wondering if there was an easy way to tell ~how much clear coat is left so you don't burn through it when polishing. The car in question is a ~12 year old Volvo. Can provide pictures if needed - I don't have that gauge thing I see others using unfourtunately. Thanks in advance for the help!
The guage thing is really the only way to tell for sure. Even if you had a paint thickness guage, most still will not tell you how much clearcoat is left. It will only read all 3 layers (primer/color/clear) as 1 reading. Unless you have deep pockets and want to shell out the thousands of dollars for one that can distinguish between layers. I doubt that you want to make that kind of investment for a 12 year old volvo though : If it has not been polished/repainted at all, you should be safe though. Just don't wetsand I probably would be careful with wool/compound too. UV can eat away a clearcoat too. Was it garaged most of it's life? or out baking in the sun?
Answered all my questions, thanks! :thumb: Oh, and it has been toasting in the sun most of it's life (minus like 3 years). However I do live in Seattle so that time spent in the sun is pretty minimal:giggle:
