When to worry about clear-coat depth?

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imported_kgb

New member
Ok, last year I did a Griot's polish #1, #2, and #3 on my car. This year, before I put it away for winter, I did a Poorboy's Polish with Carnuba topped with EX. My question is this, I have some scratches in the paint and swirl marks and when I pull it out in the Spring I am going to want to take care of these. Will doing a Poorboys' SSR polish on it, to get the swirls out, be cutting the clear too thin seeing I already did a Griot's on it once? I just don't want to find out I went through the clear is all.
 
The only way you will know the answer to this question is by measuring paint thickness. For that you'll need a gauge or meter. Electronic meters are in the $500 range. Magnetic gauges are cheap but not very accurate.



There's no point in guessing about this. You've got to measure paint thickness to know how much paint is left on a panel.
 
I'm not an expert by any means but here's my opinion based on what i've learned over the last year, hope it helps...



I wouldn't worry too much about it... If the clear was that easy to remove, i think a lot of us OCD types would be in a lot of trouble...



I figure you maintain and keep your car pretty well protected so you've had or have layers of protection already (you've got the wax for sure), which from what i've gathered is where most swirls appear anyways...



Fixing stratches is going to depend on the depth but there are several products that work well on light scratches... if they ripped through your clearcoat after a couple of uses... i don't think they'd stay in business very long... (think about the dude that doens't believe in "less is more" and uses a tonne of product or works repeatedly over a stubborn stratch mark).



just my $0.02



edit: if you're really concerned about it... then Bret's advice is the only way to go...
 
Only if you are using a rotary buffer with a wool pad would you need to worry about taking off too much clear coat, that and sanding of course. If just using by hand or with foam pads and an orbital buffer you will be fine...
 
2001civicex- Considering what you've used, *I* don't think you need to worry about it too much YET. But then, you ALWAYS have to consider it, I suppose...



If you used the Griot's polishes with Griot's pads, then you did NOT remove much clear at all. *I* found that even Griot's #1 was actually VERY mild, not strong enough for Audi applications. But it (and #2) worked a LOT better with a (wet) Lake cutting pad.



Bretfraz- Heh heh, who do you think's gonna be the first Autopian to spring for a digital gauge? I'm resisting the urge, but I fear it's a losing battle :o
 
WaxGuru said:
Only if you are using a rotary buffer with a wool pad would you need to worry about taking off too much clear coat, that and sanding of course. If just using by hand or with foam pads and an orbital buffer you will be fine...
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Heh heh, I dunno If I'd go THAT far...an experienced, knowledgeable, and well-regarded Autopian recently cut through the clear on a late model Benz with PC/DACP/foam. It was a real :scared :sosad :angry moment.
 
Accumulator said:


Bretfraz- Heh heh, who do you think's gonna be the first Autopian to spring for a digital gauge? I'm resisting the urge, but I fear it's a losing battle :o
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If I had a decent paying job I'd buy one. It would be a nice little toy. Hopefully someone that's gainfully employed will spring for one, then loan it out to their Autopian friends.
 
Get friendly with your local body shop or body shop supply store. If you swing by around lunch and ask nice, I bet they'll let you "demo" one occassionally.
 
PAW said:
Get friendly with your local body shop or body shop supply store. If you swing by around lunch and ask nice, I bet they'll let you "demo" one occassionally.
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Good idea. But in *MY* case my LOCAL paint/body guy doesn't have one :( His one supply REP does, he gets him to check out my cars when I'm willing to set it up/wait.



Bretfraz- I was thinking the same thing.. certain expensive and seldom needed tools oughta be part of some Autopia Tool Crib.
 
I wouldn't worry so much about "breaking through" the clearcoat, unless you are using real harsh compounds with a rotary, it won't happen. The only thing the enthusiast detailer needs to be concerned with over time is cutting the clear more than .3 of a mil and removing the UV in the top part of it, causing eventual resin failure and an early demise. And without an electronic gauge, that( knowing what .3 mil is) too will be impossible to determine.



Avoid wet sanding and compounding it frequently and that won't really be a concern. Cheers. :)
 
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