Porsche paint and Paint depth readings

[willmac]

Hi there,

Just looking for some general info on what sort of paint / clear coat thickness I should be looking for on my Porsche 996 turbo. ie what would original readings would have been, and what to expect to see on a 7 year old car that will have no doubt have seen some machine polishing in the past. What is safe thickness to attempt DA polishing ?

Also what would be the recommended gauge to buy to check this ? I have seen most people advise to go for the PD8 Paint Detective ? Not cheap at about £200, but I suppose the only way to ensure clear coat is in good order.

I will be using a Kestral DA polisher.

Any feedback will be much appreciated
Thanks
willmac

[domster]

I personally feel, as a paint thickness gauge owner myself, that they tend to be over-relied upon and far less useful than people assume.

The chances are you have approx 160 microns of over coating thickness, with around about 40 of that being the final clear. Minor swirls will typically be 1-2 microns deep, and if someone has polished it properly, I'd guess only once or twice. You'll still have over 3/4 of clearcoat left as a general and common assumption. In your case, with such a gentle machine as a Kestrel DAS-6, I would simply get stuck in - you'll be amazed at the effort needed to remove a micron or two with your machine. It will show you that the prospect of striking through to the colour coat is rarer than imagined, although care must be taken on door and panel edges etc. If you can still see swirls after a wipedown you will have probably removed less than 1-2 microns, although deeper scratches can be much more tricky to remove (and even dangerous) to remove entirely.

It's a bit like getting full sonar depth instrumentation for a dinghy. Sure, the pros may use it and harp on about it, but how many dinghies really run aground? But every newbie worries they will hit the rocks on their first trip out. It rarely happens that way and 200 GBP is quite a large amount to give what tends to be false security (it won't tell you depth of clear, just overall coating depth).

Just go steady, do your research and watch out for edges. You'd have to be a moron to strike through Porsche paint using a clutched orbital in the middle of a panel. I'm not even sure I could do it if I turned it up to 6 and leant on it with fast cut plus. Save yourself 200 GBP, or give it to a pro for half a day's tuition

[willmac]

Thanks very much for the reply, it certainly gives me a bit more confidence to get stuck in as you say.
Great advice , cheers

[PJ S]

The edges and any style lines will be thinner than the centre of the panel, so exercise caution in those areas, masking off to be absolutely sure.