How "Thick" is a high quality paint job
 

Curious if anyone knows what a quality base coat clear coat paint job should measure when tested with a quality electronic paint tester..?

Good topic!
Is thicker better? Does it matter if its waterbased? How reliable are the thickness gauges? So many questions I'd love to ask about this...

I've seen a handful of videos where guys were measuring a whole car, panel by panel...amazed at the varying thickness around the car... but it also stands to reason because of how each panel is shot and how the paint flows.



Jeff-

MY 2 cents the more clear you have the more depth your paint will have. The more clear you have the more you can wet sand and correct imperfections. The only time too thik would be an issue is if was think because of thick layers of filler. From the research I have done seems like the gauges are reliable if you get a good one..

i do know that ppg 2021 clear is about a mil per coat once dry.prob about the same for most similar products.based on that ,i would say that a good quality paint job(base/clear)before cut and buff could be in the 6-8 mil range not including primers and fillers.cut and buff can remove 2 mils or more depending.a paint manufacturer we use in our shop(not automotive),needs be in the 3-4 mil range to be waranteed.once paint starts to exceed 10 mils problems will develop over time faster than expected.

paint gauges dont measure just paint, they also measure body filler. they are nothing but a weak magnet calibrated to measure depth via magnet holding strength. you would have to measure prior to paint to know how thick the top coat is.

yes I know you can use it to find heavy filler. My car was sent to Body shop in Bare metal I know there will be s skim coat only.. and my research leads me to believe that you can take many measurements per panel to get a read on average paint thickness. You can also use it to identify below average areas.

Lastly the paint correction / detail guys swear by them..

because they measure before they start and after. Unless you measure after bodywork and before paint, you won't know how thick the paint film is.

I've heard figures of between 10 and 15 mils

You want it as thin as possible, provided:
-Minimum 2mils of clearcoat thickness for UV protection
-Adequate color coverage
-2 full coats of epoxy primer.


The thicker you lay primer on, the more it can shrink in the future, and the weaker it is. (generally.)