Always wanted to ask

[DEXTERITY]

Same question I was wondering, what products, pads will not harm the clear coat? I ask regardless of how bad the paints condition is.

[Andr3wilson]

So using M205 or SF4500 would not remove very much clear coat? I just used M205 on soft clear with a LC white pad and wondered how much I took off.

I have a EPG coming in so soon I will be able to tell for sure.

How about for instance if I wanted to maintain with SF4500 or Optimum Finish Polish on a black LC pad. Would that remove much on soft clear coat paint?

Also, I guess rocker panel (same thing as door jamb?) may not be the best place to test original factory paint thickness and I should look for a place that the buffer may have not been able to get to?

Drew

Well I cannot speak for Opti polishes (never used them yet) but as for 4500. I do not know of a gauge (i am sure somewhere, some one has something) that could read how much you have taken off. On a EPTG, 4500 will not change the reading (too much margin of error and not fine enough measurement). Maybe .2, .4 of a micron? The previous pics on my Lexus with 4500 on a white pad did not change the thickness. That car has soft CC (600 gsm mf can mar it)

As for EPTG's, you have to remember thermal expansion to deal with. Take a measurement on cold paint, compound heavy and polish then measure right after, you will have almost no change. This comes to the fact as it heats up, it expands. Always measure on equal temps to get accurate readings.

As for taking measurements. I find the door jams are good to set a benchmark; ie no thinner than whats there. I find near the wiper spindles, badging, spoilers, above the licence plate or behind the licence plate are great places to get an idea of what it started with.

Same question I was wondering, what products, pads will not harm the clear coat? I ask regardless of how bad the paints condition is.

What do you mean by harm? If you mean by no abrasion or removal you need to look at glazes, waxes, and sealants.

Pretty much anything can harm the paint if used incorrectly.

[WRXINXS]

Nice info! Thanks!

[TH3M B0N3Z]

I always recommend daily drivers to go for paint enhancement if they will not change on how they wash their vehicles.

Some want 100% correction and they still don't want to change their style of getting the car washed.

When I first got into machine polishing, I wondered how many times I could polish the paint and get away with it. It wasn't until I watched Junkman's paint polishing videos where I learned that I need to polish once and then maintain. Since then, which has been several months, I started using the 2 bucket system with grit guards along with the foam gun and 2 wash mitts. It was odd at first because I wasn't used to using so many gadgets and extra buckets and mitts during my wash, but once I got a system going, it's just become second nature and I never stray from it. Well, I did wash my car today and didn't bother with the foam gun because I just washed my car on Sunday, lol. Had a crappy day at work and I needed some therapy... washing my car helped.

Anyway, once I started using the foam gun and 2 buckets and all of that, I realized that I was truly maintaining my paint and I really didn't need to polish anymore other than a spot or two here and there. And then that particular car visited the body shop one last time for some corrective repairs and they washed the car when I asked them not to... totally swirled the paint. I was annoyed to almost no end. Funny how a body shop with the words "Pro Detailing" on their sign can mess up beautiful paint in one wash. Don't get me completely wrong, they've painted parts of my car twice and it looked awesome, but the way they washed the car made all sorts of swirls. That heap is gone, anyway.

I've kinda strayed from the point. I basically learned that I need to maintain the paint. You can polish all you want, but the way the paint is maintained by washing and drying can make or break the whole detail.