Paint depth readings

[Butler]

Had a look around an edition 30 and took some readings, inside door jams was 75-85 microns and the panels ranged from 105 on the bonnet to 134 on the sides. Has anyone else took readings just interested to see what others are coming out like.....

[Butler]

This is a good read....

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CEwQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cleanyourcar.co.uk%2Fforum%2Fviewtopic.php%3Ft%3D15242&ei=LsdvU77qJMiy7Aao0YDQBw&usg=AFQjCNFRNcgtLAAb8oevvAUZAluc7IvSEQ&bvm=bv.66330100,d.ZGU

[Dave7692]

When I took mine to VW the other day mine were between 130-145 across all of the panels except my front wing which had (now obviously) been patched at a depth of 280!!

Thats on an '06 GT TDI (Graphite Blue) now I just need to get the wing repaired myself 

[xjay1337]

Yes the insides of the doors etc generally get much less paint.

Usual reading for VAG cars of the Mk5 era are between 100 and 140.

The paint is also pretty hard.

[coolhandluke]

Does the gauge measure the lacquer thickness as well as the paint?

[xjay1337]

It depends what kind of gauge you have.

Most will only measure the amount of paint from the surface to the metal.

You can't tell what is clear coat and what is base coat/primer.

Generally anything below 85uM I would be very cautious of and only use very light polishes, anything below 80 I would not touch at all. As a rough estimate it's about 30-35% each. So if you have a panel with 120uM on it, as a rough estimate around 40uM of that will be clearcoat.

In paint correction terms you are only interested in how much clear coat you have.

You can buy gauges which measure remaining clear coat, they can display individual levels, but I've never used one of those, plus they cost about £4k. Not worth it.

[coolhandluke]

Thanx for that info,you learn something new every day,very informative.