[Dave KG]

Originally Posted by exoticGuy

Do many people on here use these? In the years I've been detailing, I haven't ever come across someone who uses them, and never even heard of them until I saw Paul's video online a while back..

I use them

[matrix_808]

so why are resprayed panels so much thicker than stock? What paint layer makes it thicker? or does it just vary depending on who sprayed the car?

[Dave KG]

Originally Posted by matrix_808

so why are resprayed panels so much thicker than stock? What paint layer makes it thicker? or does it just vary depending on who sprayed the car?

Cars painted by hand typically have thicker paint than those sprayed by robots in the factory - just humans are not as able to get a thin even layer as a programmed machine.

Hand painted cars, like the F355, are thick out of the factory: 300um+ not unknown. My robot sprayed S60 is around 120um.

The thickness does depend on who sprays the car, and also how many layers o base, colour and clear coat are applied. I have seen a car that had 17 layers of CC applied, gave a very deep gloss to the paint job, and the paint was 500um+!

[matrix_808]

wow you are like the detailing genius. thanks for the help

[togwt]

Bear in mind that a clear coat has a thickness of 1.5 – 2.0 Mils, removing more that 0.3 mil
(0.0003-inch or 14 µ) of clear coat will cause premature paint film failure. As a point of reference two sheets of Saran wrap placed on top of each other measure 1.5Mil (0.0015") a surface scratch that will `catch' your fingernail is approximately 0.003-inch - 14 microns deep and will usually require wet sanding and refinishing.

There comes a point when you must judge wither removing a scratch will compromise the clear coat and if so you’ll have to ‘live’ with the imperfection. Check the paint with a PTG to see how much paint there is available before attempting repairs Clear coat that is too thin looses its ability to adhere effectively (delaminating) to the underlying paint layer and will flake off


For our British readers- Comparison between millimetres and microns; a Mil is equal to 1/1000 of an inch which can also be represented as 0.001- inches or 0.0254mm (mm = millimetre). A micron is equal to 1/1,000 of an mm or 1/25,000 - inch or 0.00004- inches. There are approximately 25 microns to one mill (0.001- inch) Microns to mils: divide by 25.4

Sorry Dave couldn't resist as I know you teach physics

[m4gician]

Originally Posted by togwt

Bear in mind that a clear coat has a thickness of 1.5 – 2.0 Mils, removing more that 0.3 mil
(0.0003-inch or 14 µ) of clear coat will cause premature paint film failure. As a point of reference two sheets of Saran wrap placed on top of each other measure 1.5Mil (0.0015") a surface scratch that will `catch' your fingernail is approximately 0.003-inch - 14 microns deep and will usually require wet sanding and refinishing.

There comes a point when you must judge wither removing a scratch will compromise the clear coat and if so you’ll have to ‘live’ with the imperfection. Check the paint with a PTG to see how much paint there is available before attempting repairs Clear coat that is too thin looses its ability to adhere effectively (delaminating) to the underlying paint layer and will flake off


For our British readers- Comparison between millimetres and microns; a Mil is equal to 1/1000 of an inch which can also be represented as 0.001- inches or 0.0254mm (mm = millimetre). A micron is equal to 1/1,000 of an mm or 1/25,000 - inch or 0.00004- inches. There are approximately 25 microns to one mill (0.001- inch) Microns to mils: divide by 25.4

Sorry Dave couldn't resist as I know you teach physics

copied and pasted to a note pad for my reference in future.