21 year old Mustang advice

[ERS]

This past May I purchased a 1 owner, 87,000 mile 2000 Mustang GT. Original factory silver paint and does have some swirls. I've paint corrected my 2006 Black Mustang GT-H with great results. My question, with the GT's paint being 21 years old, is it risky to paint correct? I'm thinking the clear coat is expectedly thin at this point, and I do not want to take a chance of speeding up process of clear coat failure. Am I thinking correctly or should I go ahead and do it? Admittingly, the silver with the swirls is much more tolerable than the black. Thanks.

Ernie

[Bosko]

Imposible to answer without knowing the history of the car...I.E. how was it stored...how many times was it polished.
You can get a paint gauge but IMO the are worthless without knowing what the depth was at delivery of the vehicle brand new.
Many people are misdirected with paint depth gauges as they can't tell you how deep the clear coat is.
They tell you primer/base/clear totals


I'm no expert whatsoever with paint gauges, I hope someone that is chimes in, I'd like some further education myself

[98CayenneTA]

Imposible to answer without knowing the history of the car...I.E. how was it stored...how many times was it polished.
You can get a paint gauge but IMO the are worthless without knowing what the depth was at delivery of the vehicle brand new.
Many people are misdirected with paint depth gauges as they can't tell you how deep the clear coat is.
They tell you primer/base/clear totals


I'm no expert whatsoever with paint gauges, I hope someone that is chimes in, I'd like some further education myself

Not worthless if you know how to use them and how to measure.

Under the hood on that Mustang is not cleared. Measure under the hood... probably going to read around 45 microns.

Then take exterior measurements..... probably going to read around 115-125 microns.

Take 120 microns (total paint thickness) and subtract 45 microns (uncleared paint measurement)

120 - 45 = 75 microns of clear. (Very healthy clear)

Most factory painted vehicles in the last 30 years will have around 45 microns of primer and base coat.

If you measure 100 microns of total paint thickness polish away.

A semi aggressive 2 stage correction that will remove most paint defects will only remove around 5-8 microns.

Now you can't do that every spring but you absolutley can do that a few times during the life of the vehicle.

[Bosko]

you are the first one to make more sense out of the matter...assuming the clear is as thick as you claim.
Is there reference material to back up the claims as well as it a standard measure of ALL manufactures?

[98CayenneTA]

you are the first one to make more sense out of the matter...assuming the clear is as thick as you claim.
Is there reference material to back up the claims as well as it a standard measure of ALL manufactures?

On higher end foreign vehicles I find they do clear under the hood.

Most American vehicles do not clear under the hood and a lot of mainstream foreign vehicles do not clear under the hood.

I do find total paint thickness on foreign vehicles to be around 90-105 microns and America vehicle's to be 100-125 microns with both measuring similar under the hood but foreign under hood being a bit thinner but also looks like it lays down better.

So on a foreign vehicle if under hood is 35 microns and total paint thickness being 90 microns that's so 60 microns of estimate clear and considered healthy.

Door jams are also another place to measure with limited clear being sprayed here and I usually find it to be about 20 microns more than under the hood.

So what I do is measure under the hood (40 microns)
Door jams (60 microns)
Total paint (100 microns)

Then I take the under hood measurements and add to jam measurements and divide by 2.
40 + 60=100 ÷2 = 50 microns

Than I take my total paint measurements and subtract 50 microns (bare minimum bottom with primer, base and clear)

100 - 50 = 50 microns of clear

That was a bit of rambling post there but hope it kinda answers your question.

[Klasse Act]

Test spot with an orange pad, medium speed and an AIO and go from thereI'm subscribed because I wanna see how this turns out...real car, real owner and real results coming

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

[Bosko]

Thanks 98...educated on Thanksgiving!

[2black1s]

98CayenneTA's explanation of how to use a PTG is the best explanation I've heard.

That said, there will always be some subjectivity in whatever conclusions you reach from the measurements.

Personally, I've never felt the need for a PTG.

[Bosko]

98CayenneTA's explanation of how to use a PTG is the best explanation I've heard.

That said, there will always be some subjectivity in whatever conclusions you reach from the measurements.

Personally, I've never felt the need for a PTG.

how many times you polish dat chevey?

[2black1s]

how many times you polish dat chevey?

I'd guess 10-12 times. It's 6 years old and I've done it probably twice a year. The first polishing when it was brand new was with a rotary/wool followed by a DA/foam. Since it's always been a DA/foam.

Mind you, other than the first polishing, it has always been very light polishings as it is well cared for and never needs any serious correction. I'm a little over-the-top-crazy. Whenever I start to see even the slightest of swirling/marring, I'll polish it.