Any of you guys following my other threads probably have seen my snafoo with the door glass. After the glass shattered and scratched the paint up I decided to suck it up and make a few other adjustments to the window opening and repaint. Currently the doors have probably 10 mils of paint. 2 mils epoxy 3-4 mils of high build some places more/some less after blocked) 1 mil sealer 2 mils urethane ss 3 mils Clear I have sanded these down, but have not been able to sand all the scratches out of the clear from the coarser grit from removing the window nicks and body work. Question is, do I just seal this and then go...another 6 mils? 2 SS, 3 CC, pushing 16 mils total? Or try to knock it down the original high build with some coarser grit, then high build, block it, SS, CC? And be back to the 10 mil mark? Am I over thinking this? (The SS was used because the paint comany didn't have the color I wanted in base, it probably isn't 2 mils as I thinned it down and shot it more like Base)
Without a mil gauge it’s just guess work You’ll get different answers for maximum total thickness but I think GM says 13 mils We had a restoration that had a major boo boo. The paint store mixed the wrong shade of British racing green. We blocked the incorrect green down. Basically used it as primer to keep the” mils” down. The question is, do you count filler as mils. The products used to straighten the vehicle. Body fillers and/or primer fillers. Measure the total thickness on a hand built car. You’ll have several times that 13 mil threshold.
I say you are way over thinking this... I'd long board the door with 320.. and take some paint off... be sure to cross hatch as you have been and easy on the edges...I would next shoot another coat of primer lightly over the door skin, and feather it to the edges, meaning turn your gun away from the door as you get too the edges... where you don't want mil build up is on the edges because it causes the paint to loose it's durability and if it gets bumped big chips happen... I used to feather fill show cars and try to blend fenders to the doors ,,, the high build up looked great... but the edges were weak and one bump would cause damage... so more of a look at then use type of car...for paint to have the highest durability is more about how close it is to the metal surface.... a couple of mils wont matter, thats of coarse unless you are in a lab testing... Years ago I painted a car, got a thick coat of color on.. and mixed half and half color and clear... and 2 top coats of clear..... color sanded it and buff... car looked like jolly ranch candy.. deep deep shine.... sold the car to a guy who let it sit out in the vegas heat.... made a deal with him to get the car back bout 10 years latter.... the paint was checked like lacquer , all the way to the metal.... had to completely strip the car to bare metal,... where as if it wouldn't have had all the clear it would have just faded
correct.... thats why people that skim bondo on the whole door have problems down the road with hunks falling off on the edges...proper applied bondo away from the edges seldom is a problem... and a lot of time is a necessity..... most metal guys that don't paint get the metal to 80 grit with very light filler.... then the painter prep guy does the glaze and primer blocking.... and again.... it'll be way more than 13 mils on the base panels before paint if it's a show car ...
What you “should do” and what you can get away with are two different things. I personally wouldn’t worry about it. My Ranchero has 3 coats of slick sand, 2 coats primer, 2 coats silver base, 3 coats clear with silver metal flake, 2 coats clear, sanded. Kandy, 2 more coats of clear, sanded then 2 final coats of clear It’s been 8 years and still hanging on just fine. Lots of miles and lots of weather thrown at it.
I can get a mil guage at work....probably will...just for fun. We paint bridges.... On some of the metal I cut out to fix glass issues, I actually measured it with a caliper and confirmed with a feeler guage. I am right at 10 mils....not counting any filler areas.
This question depends on a couple things. What is the time and effort compared to expected result? Are you are towing across the country gunning for a bunch of trophies, or is this a nice cruiser/grocery getter/local show regular? Are you keeping it in a climate controlled garage, never washing it but keep it detailed and never park it in sunlight for more than an hour, or is it sitting outside the garage in the dirt on the South side?
That's where I am at. Maybe not even blocking it.....depending on how it looks after the sealer/build. The sealer I use is just 2k high build thinned.
There you go. Another bit of the "How Deep Do I Go" question is if you are doing it yourself and can fix future issues. That leans toward quick fixes as needed.
I'd paint over the top of that. depending on the base color, you may want to reseal in the same color as the rest of the truck so the paint matches. Hope they aren't metallic. Lite coats of sealer and base, good clear coats, wet sand and polish. I had to repaint a cowl panel, rear fenders and a door on my PU last year, same state as you are in, worked fine. Don't over think it, paint is not that smart.
@Moriarity I worked for an automotive manual company. The stories I could tell you about spellcheck that was curated in-house would curl your hair! Computers have made our lives easier, but there are always stumbling blocks. Some members I'd have chalked it up to user error. I saw that you posted that and figured it was software.
I have an old coating thickness gauge that belonged to my dad that I was always “borrowing” to check for bodywork. It was a simple hand held device that you would set two prongs onto whatever piece of steel you wanted to check. If it went off scale then you could assume there was a lot of paint or bondo covering it. You can find them on eBay for around $50. BTW they were made in England. The gauge looked similar to this.
Most paint manufacturers state that 12 mils is the most that can be applied. Not sure if that is just how they sell ridiculously priced paint -or- if the science tells them so. You be the judge. VR&C.
The Jalopy Journal
