Paint at 95micron thickness

[NeoSA]

Hi all,


Sorry for using my first post to ask a question. I hope my future posts will be more of a help to others than leeching off of you :)


I recently got some nasty stuff on the tailgate and rear bumper of my VW Golf 6 GTi. I went with a soft approach and ultimately ended up using Meguiars Ultimate Compound with a polishing sponge on a cordless drill (low RPMs).


I made about 4-5 passes with the setup and managed to get my paint back to a smooth feel by hand. Using some cling wrap you can still clearly feel the stuff on there, but I stopped using the compound for fear of going through the clear coat.


I had a professional detailer come out and look at my car. He took some readings with his paint thickness gauge and told me he saw reading of about 105microns to 95microns along my tailgate. Obviously he told me never to use compound or any abrasives on my tailgate or rear bumper ever again. We also had a good long look and couldn`t find any places where I might have struck through the clear coat. Thank goodness.


My question is - am I okay with 95micron thickness paint on my tailgate? I`ve been reading that it should be in the region of 115microns. That means I took off about 20microns worth of clear coat. That`s a lot. I know. But do you think the paint will still hold up?


At the moment I`m only using a non abrasive cleaner, some clay bar and wax on it to try and preserve it.

[RaskyR1]

Now real way to know for sure. What is the rest of the car reading at?


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I`ve had some brand new unpolished cars with readings in the 75-90 micron range....

[Accumulator]

NeoSA- As Rasky said, you need to have comparative measurements taken from other areas; maybe your vehicle simply has very thin paint (I had a Mazda that was that way).


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For future reference, and I don`t mean to sound all critical or anything...


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-UC isn`t all *that* harsh, but four or five passes with it on a drill-setup isn`t exactly a`"soft approach"; it`s more like something you`d do to correct a severe scratch


-It`s not about "going through the clearcoat" but rather thinning it so much that it loses the ability to block UV radiation


-The compound isn`t the way to deal with contamination issues like what you described.` More effective, *and nonabrasive* methods would have been better, either clay, or much better yet, a chemical decontamination.` Save abrasives for when you need to level out the clearcoat itself, not to clean stuff off the clearcoat

[Thomas Dekany]

I wish I was lucky to have 95 microns before I started compounding sometimes. You can still compound it. Not sure who came out to see you.

[NeoSA]

Hi guys,


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Thanks for all the replies.


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Some background to the issue: I was washing my car as normal one day when I ran my hand over the soapy surface and noticed a "matte" finish on the rear of my car. After drying off the car, I noticed the rear was covered in, what looked like, a fine mist of tree sap - but SUPER adhesive and even got underneath my rear spoiler. This tells me it`s not tree sap but rather some "stuff" that I drove through and it collected on the rear of my car. The stuff was even on my rear window - so that`s where I decided to see what takes care of it:


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I first tried normal warm soapy water - Nothing.


Then I tried some light, non abrasive polish - Nothing.


I tried Meguiars Bug and Tar Remover, and let it soak - Nothing.


I then tried a paint renovator which is slightly abrasive - Nothing.


I then tried Meguiars Clay kit - Nothing


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As a final step, I bought some of Meguiars Ultimate Compound and that actually took care of things. Obviously since the areas where so large, I thought a sponge polisher that fits on my cordless drill would do the job. I have a proper Rotational polisher, but the slowest that thing does is 1500rpm, and I would have struck through the paint with that thing for sure. So, I kept on using the polishing sponge/pad on my drill until I felt that the smoothness returned. After that, I got a professional detailer to come out an inspect my car. He showed me a product from Swissvax that is non-abrasive AND manages to get rid of the stuff on my car. So, whilst feeling like a supreme dumbass, I asked him to at least check the paint thickness.


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The rest of the car has readings of about 115 microns average, so when he saw 95 microns in the area that I "worked", he immediately said "never use compounds or any abrasives on this car again". That`s when I started to worry about UV protection and seeing my rear paint job failing after a couple of months.


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Hindsight has taught me a valuable lesson. I understand now that no matter what crap gets stuck onto your car, abrasive polish is probably never the answer. I get that now.


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What I`m trying to ascertain is whether the rear of my car is still going to last me a couple of years, or whether I should start saving for a re-spray. Also, should I ever get light scratches on the rear of my car - is that now "non-fixable" due to my clear coat thickness?


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Products that I intend to use from now on:


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Swissvax Cleaner Fluid (Non abrasive)


Swissvax Onyx wax


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*note: I`ll tell you one thing though; that Ultimate Compound stuff is pretty damn good. I managed to get my surface to a mirror finish, and I`m a moron. Still, I feel crap knowing I could have skipped it altogether and not have touched my clear coat at all.

[RaskyR1]

Yeah, I`d tread lightly from here on out if readings on the rest of the car are about 20 microns higher.

[NeoSA]

Yeah, I`d tread lightly from here on out if readings on the rest of the car are about 20 microns higher.



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Exactly. But what`s the quality of the clear coat that`s still on if it`s 20 micron less than the rest? Still okay?


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Like I said, I`m not planning more buffing or polishing again - ever. So now it`s just to find out if I`m still "good to go" with what`s left. OR - is there a respray in my future?

[Accumulator]

NeoSA- You could always take the "time will tell..." approach and see how it turns out.` No real point in worrying about it now that it`s done.` I`d just keep it well-LSPed and try your [darndest] to avoid marring it so it won`t *need* polished again.

[NeoSA]

NeoSA- You could always take the "time will tell..." approach and see how it turns out.` No real point in worrying about it now that it`s done.` I`d just keep it well-LSPed and try your [darndest] to avoid marring it so it won`t *need* polished again.



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That`s one way of dealing with it. The ironic thing is, if my boot and bumper had a coat of wax on it, that stuff would have never managed to stick the way it did. Luckily it`s the rear of the car. Chances are that scratches and scuffs don`t happen there, so it will be good for the next 3 years until I sell the car - Hopefully :)

[Thomas Dekany]

Are you trying to say that you removed 20 microns? What was the reading next to the area that you worked? What kind of car and are in the US?

[NeoSA]

I gave that info multiple times.


Yes, i probably removed 20 microns

The readings on other panels range in the 115 microns region.

The car is a VW golf 6 gti, like I said.

I`m from South Africa, not that it matters.

[Guru17]

Not necessarily true that you removed 20 microns - it could as well be 10. It`s quite normal for some panels to have thinner / thicker paint (+/- 10-15 microns) than the average reading.

[Street5927]

It is nice to see that the guy you took it to took measurements in Microns and not Mils. A micron is a much more precise measurement of what you have left. My Paint Thickness gauge does both, but I always measure in Microns.`


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As others have said, I would take a look at what other readings are. In my experience, all the new cars I have done, I have gotten readings from 4.0 to 6.0 mils There are 25.4 microns in one mil, so at 4.0 to 6.0 mils, you are looking at a range of 101 microns to 152 microns. (This is clear and paint) so you may not be that far off and may have some material left to work with. Again, check the other parts of the vehicle if you can and see where the gate comes in compared to the rest and that should give you a pretty good idea.


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Here is a good reading article on the topic as well:


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http://www.autopia.org/forum/topic/122357-clear-coat-thickness-and-paint-removal-by-polishing/ (`http://www.autopia.org/forum/topic/122357-clear-coat-thickness-and-paint-removal-by-polishing/`)

[Thomas Dekany]

First it matters where you live. The regulations are different in different countries, so your VW`s paint may not be the same as what is sold here. Sounds like it is very soft, because the first reaction from me was: no way did he remove 20 microns. I know you don`t know, but do you know how much effort it would take to remove 20 microns? Even with a rotary? Most late model cars have uneven readings even within the same panels. Not saying it is not possible, but with small pads you would burn the paint before you could remove it. That is my 2 cents.

[Accumulator]

NeoSA- Get some wax on it ASAP ;)` Lesson learned on that account, huh?