Paint hardness and thickness

[singlespeed]

Going from an Audi to the Twingo, I guess I will need some softer pads for the Porta Cable.

1. The question is, how soft is the Renault paint likely to be on a met blueGordini?
Yes, I know the general rule of starting with the softest/finest grade and working up, but theres not much point in investing in more super soft pads if the paint is as hard as german ceramic paint. I currently have Lake Country Green(heavy polishing) and Orange (light cutting) with Menz Final Finish as my finest compound. If no one has any pointers, I will play it safe and get some softer pads

2. How thick it the paint/top coat likely to be? I haven't even seen my new car yet, so haven't had a measure. The PTM will be going with me before I collect it.

 

[Dazza1]

Ask monster detail he is the man to talk to

 

[Alex_225]

I couldn't tell you exactly although I have heard that VAG paint tends to be at the top end of the toughness scale and Jap paint at the other. Renault seems to come in the middle somewhere.

From what I've seen you'd be best off with a paint gauge to test how many microns you have to play with.

 

[singlespeed]

Thanks Alex

after some reading, it looks like Renault is usualy soft to medium as i suspected. So Lime Prime for a tart up or Final Finish worked fully should get rid of 90% of the swirls.

I have a ptg, so no problem. Was just curious what to expect as a guide. The paint on the roof and boot of my old fiat ***** sporting was so thin the base coat showed through. Polishing wasn't an option as there was no thickness to use. Hopefully it won't be too bad on the new motor.

 

[Monster Detail]

Thanks Alex

after some reading, it looks like Renault is usualy soft to medium as i suspected. So Lime Prime for a tart up or Final Finish worked fully should get rid of 90% of the swirls.

I have a ptg, so no problem. Was just curious what to expect as a guide. The paint on the roof and boot of my old fiat ***** sporting was so thin the base coat showed through. Polishing wasn't an option as there was no thickness to use. Hopefully it won't be too bad on the new motor.

Yeah, I've found it to be soft-medium. A word of warning though, the plastic bits (sideskirts, flared arches, front and rear bumpers etc are extremely soft)! But as said, PTG is definitely a good idea for checking out how much clear coat you've got to work with.

 

[singlespeed]

Thanks for the info Matt

Unfortunately my PTG is only a basic total thickness gauge, not a multi coat profiler. So theres still a bit of guess work involved in gauging the depth of the clear coat. Normaly a fair guess is 50% clear, 25% colour, 25% base. however compare the thickness to areas that have less clear (door and boot shuts) to gauge the difference.

I have seen pictures of damage to bumpers on a few Renaults due to rotary polishing, where chunks of paint have broken away. I know that rotary polishers genetate a lot of heat which is normaly not a problem on metal panels as the heat is conducted away. However plastics don't conduct so the heat builds up in the paint, leading to it softening and burning through or peeling.

The Porta cable is a dual action, but has quite a long throw compared to some DA machines, so can acheive prety good correction. When fully working down a cutting compound it is certainly possible to get a panel hot to the touch. So, with the likely hardness being soft/med, I think a couple of finishing pads are in order which should sort most of the minor swirl marks when teamed with some Final Finish. Theres not much point in me going for 100% correction as it is a daily driver when I'm home and the roads round here make it not worth it.

 

[singlespeed]

Having had a measure of the paint thickness on the metal panels (My PTG doesn't do composite or plastic panels), I was rather surprised in how inconsistent the cover was.

On the roof, there was a range of 124micron, up to 180micron but mostly around 135.
Lower portion of the N/S rear wing was the thinnest reading I found at 108micron, whilst the boot was between 185 and 205.

Inside the doors and boot, was about 85micron, so the topcoat laquer could range anywhere between 23 and 93microns :shock:

Not knowing what thickness the plastic panels are covered with and the randomness of the overall coverage, I will only ever be using a finishing pad and 'Final Finish' or 'Lime Prime' for normal refinement. Maybe a soft cut pad for occasional use.

 

[Matt]

That is quite worrying. The paintwork on mine is quite shocking (orange peel everywhere etc) but I didn't expect it to be that bad!

 

[Alex_225]

That is surprisingly thin but that said, it doesn't mean it's non-correctable. Just means being very careful.

Thankfully my paintwork on both cars is not in my opinion, in need of a machine polish.

I'm actually rather cautious of machine polishing partly for the reasons above so I'm sticking with hand polish and filling any swirls.

 

[singlespeed]

On my way back from Aberdeen I called into Polished Bliss to top up on supplies. I also asked if they could get some readings of the paint thickness on the plastics.

As Rich explained, taking readings with a composite PTM is a bit of an educated guess, as the layers of paint on modern cars tend to merge into one single layer, which the ultrasonic meters have dificulty in differenciating between. Also, the paint is often put on slightly different, with the primer layer being part of the mouldings manufacturing process, so what the meter shows is usualy colour and clear coats.

The results were in his words a reasonably healthy thickness of between 78 and 90 micron

Oh. and he liked the car, which is a real compliment when you see the motors they get in :mrgreen:

 

[maggi200]

Did you get to have a lookie at his car? I hate team dynamics, but his c30 looks the nuts!

 

[singlespeed]

Nah, was just a flying visit really but there was a rather nice looking Maserati Quattroporte inside and a Porch out on the mat, getting pressure washed down.

Hopefully heading back down for their open day on 16th April.