blcksilv08

I know we talk a lot about paint correction and things of that nature.  What isn't discussed as frequently is how to know when you're safe to correct and when you're not, or how aggressive you can be in doing so.  For those purposes, a paint thickness gauge is invaluable.  There's a number of gauges out there that range in price from a little over $100 to thousands of dollars.  The one we use is a mid level gauge.  Before we take a polisher to any vehicle, we want to determine how aggressive we can be and if it will stand up to polishing.
The way we commonly do this is to measure the paint in multiple areas.  We then measure an area that won't have as thick of a clear coat on it (door jambs are a good one) and subtract it to get a feel for roughly what thickness of clear coat we are working with.  We can also discover quickly if a vehicle has had any paint work done on it.  Body shops will commonly lay down a much thicker clear coat than the factory.  
 
Here you can see a paint reading of 100 microns on an Infiniti G35 we recently did some work on.  This is a pretty common reading among paint that hasn't been touched.

In taking more readings, we came across a few panels that had much thicker readings.

This let us identity that those panels had been repainted.  While working with this vehicle, we found an isolated deep scratch that we wanted to pull out.

We took a quick reading and found the paint was VERY thick in this area thanks to the repaint.

Yup, 297 microns.  That's some thick paint to work with.  We went to work with some compound (that wasn't Adam's as we wanted a super quick cut and had something more aggressive on the shelf).  We followed it up with some correcting polish and finally a finishing polish.
In that photo, there was plenty more to be done on the vehicle, we were just working that one isolated spot.  A quick final reading shows we actually removed a significant amount of clear coat to remove the defect.

Through the use of a paint thickness gauge, we were able to determine how aggressive we could (or couldn't be) and could work confidently while choosing a product that would offer fast results.  Every vehicle has a story to tell.  And before we write our chapter on it with polishes, correction and general awesomeness in detailing we should take a moment to understand what's really going on.  On a vehicle with a much thinner coat of clear, I don't know as though we would have been quite so aggressive.  
Paint thickness gauges are an invaluable tool for anyone who's doing paint correction on a regular basis or where you're working on vehicles you don't really know the history of.
Just thought I'd share an experience with an area of detailing that is often not talked about much here.  
Enjoy and have a great weekend.

I finally got to see my Der Stuff Donation in the cabinet.

Dan Tyger is definitely a good guy, very helpful every time I talk with him!

The whole story is in the copy / paste email that I sent to the upper echelon of Adams.
 
XXXXXX,
 
I want to take the time and tell you about one of your employees, Daniel Tyger.  I cannot say enough how impressed I am with the way he handled the logistics issue that I created.  Long story short – I had my order shipped to my old house in Arizona vs. my new house in North Carolina.  I called the 720 number at 0938 and explained the problem to Dan who was very engaged and told me he would handle the issue by calling FedEx and updating the shipping address and when he had taken care of everything that he would email me the updates - we were off the phone at 0941.  10 minutes later I received the reply (screenshot included) from him with every bit of info that related to the situation.  I worked in the logistics field and a 10 minute turnaround is IMPRESSIVE to say the least.  You make great products and with this being my first time dealing with the customer service side I can say you definitely have a customer for life.  Again, I cannot tell you how impressed I am - Daniel’s professionalism is second to none!
 
Thanks again,
Chris

Wife and I carved Jack-o-lanterns! 

Chris said it well!
It does a pretty good job, during the winter here in southern Ohio they use quite a bit of salt. My black Silverado quickly turns gray/white.  I pressure wash my truck at least once a week during the winter, even if it isn't a full wash.  If you were to wash every other week, I'd apply it every month or 6 weeks.  The biggest thing is to have an initial coat of paint sealant down for a base layer. So lay down some Liquid Paint sealant, top it with H2O Guard & Gloss every few washes and you'll be set.

Sorry for such a late response and update on things with my first attempt at paint correction.  I was able to finally get started on this and give this a try, words can't even begin to describe how nervous I was to do this.  I've heard sooo many horror stories of burning through paint.  That alone has had me kinda finding excuses to put this off one more day lol.  Well this morning I woke up and put my big kid pants on and set out to try as well as learn this process.  My goal today was not to do a whole car, it was to focus on the hood, try different techniques, and learn the process in general.  I started this morning by doing a strip wash on the entire vehicle, followed that by visco claying the entire vehicle, and then just to be anal I strip washed the car again.  With the help of my sidekick blaster I got the car completely dry and got started.  I pulled up the video yet again on the paint correction process and watched it one more time to build some confidence lol.  I started small with just the correcting compound and the orange foam pad, it didn't really seem to do much.  I stepped up to the heavy correcting compound and blue foam, this didn't do much.  I was getting a little discouraged and then the light bulb went off, this car had a generic ceramic coating applied at the dealership. 
I moved to the microfiber cutting pad and the heavy correcting compound and worked slow constantly checking my work and progress to see what different sweep speeds did for me.  I used speed setting 5 on the 15mm swirl killer initially and bumped up to 6.  After getting into a groove with things I was starting to get it dialed in and things started progressing nicely.  Once I got done with the microfiber cutting pad I moved to the blue foam and gave it another quicker pass.  From there I moved to the orange foam and correcting compound and was REALLY starting to see some great results!!!  Once I was satisfied with how things looked after the orange pad and correcting compound I decided to go for the gusto and use the finishing polish.  The orange correcting compound and orange pad had the paint looking pretty damn good, especially considering how the paint looked before I started.  After the polishing compound and white foam pad, all I can say is HOLY CRAP!!!!  This hood looks amazing and I couldn't be happier with the results!!!  The paint looks sooo smooth and clear and a foot deep, almost like you could stick your hand into it. 
I want to thank everyone who provided tips and input for my first time at paint correcting, I'm VERY happy with the results even though it's just the hood at this point!!!  Here are some before and after pics to show off the results.  The only bad thing with the pics is they really don't give you a true sense of just how fugly the paint was prior.
Again, thank you all for your help, tips, and input!!!
Tony

Just fine! You should get a couple months or so of protection (apply every 4-6 washes). So you know, you can apply it with the "dry" method... With a dry and clean car, wet a MF towel, ring it out so it's not dripping wet, spray the HGG into the towel, apply, then wipe dry. You'll use more product this way, but it does work. Another option is spray the car with a spray bottle, then apply it as normal. No hose needed!

This sounds like a job for Ceramic Boost!  
From the website
"Adam's Ceramic Boost is a cutting-edge new product that complements Adam's Paint Coating, adding an even slicker surface, more gloss, and prolongs the life of the ceramic coating. "
 

Ok great advice thanks

Good advice Eric.
If the bugs are very thick try soaking a thin MF towel in the wash solution and laying the towel over the bugs for 5-10 minutes.  This allows the wash solution to penetrate the bugs better.  
You can also use APC (diluted or full strength), but do not let it dry, and know you will have to reapply your wax/sealant after.

Thanks I will try soaking it with the wash solution last resort I will use apc 

I always soak down bug guts with either waterless wash(diluted rinseless) or a car shampoo water dilution and let it work while I do the rest of the car. If it dries, not going to hurt anything.

I've been layering Brilliant Glaze over our Paint Sealant and waxes for years, no issues. Make sure to shake it up thoroughly before and during use for even application.

Hoping I can sneak out there to this one.

Definitely worth going to anyone that can. I've been to a few Lingenfelter events and the crew there always does a top notch job. The collection is phenomenal and worth the trip itself. Wishing I could go but I'll be assisting with another Adams event Saturday!

Join us this Saturday at the Lingenfelter Collection Open House in Brighton, Michigan supporting The Pink Fund from 10am - 5pm.
 
Looking forward to having Adam Pitale on site at the Collection!!  He will be hosting the Detail Clinic along with several other staff members.  This is worth the drive!! 
 
Cauley Ferrari will be hosting their fall drive with approx. 40 Ferrari's and will arrive around 9:30am -10:00am. 
 
Lots of giveaways, silent auction items donated by Adam's Polishes, Snap on Tools, Continental Tire!! 
 
Don't Miss out!! 

even if someone is interested in going but thinks it may be too far to travel will miss out on a very special unique experience........................ 
 
WORTH the drive if the trip takes you 3 or 4 hours each way................. a great event put on by a great group to support
 
charitable organizations and the opportunity to see some very cool, unique vehicles...................... 

Wife's Volvo; Ceramic Coated May 27th, washed on Friday October 6th, rain shower this morning, Sunday October 8th.
Hood:

Roof:

My Malibu; Ceramic Coated September 2nd, washed Thursday October 5th, Waterless Wash wipe down Friday October 6th, rain shower this morning, Sunday October 8th.
Hood:

Rear Deck Lid:

I use Brilliant glaze all the time, it's a great for adding a ton of shine for a short period of time. Uses include glass, chrome, paint before a sealant or wax, paint after a sealant or wax, inside of the windshield to cut off that haze that can build up. Glaze has minor fillers in it to help hide minor imperfections to add to the shine.  
They haven't changed the name in a long time, it was called Brilliance Spray glaze I believe at one point but, that was probably 5 years ago.

I use Brilliant glaze all the time, it's a great for adding a ton of shine for a short period of time. Uses include glass, chrome, paint before a sealant or wax, paint after a sealant or wax, inside of the windshield to cut off that haze that can build up. Glaze has minor fillers in it to help hide minor imperfections to add to the shine.  
They haven't changed the name in a long time, it was called Brilliance Spray glaze I believe at one point but, that was probably 5 years ago.

I use Brilliant glaze all the time, it's a great for adding a ton of shine for a short period of time. Uses include glass, chrome, paint before a sealant or wax, paint after a sealant or wax, inside of the windshield to cut off that haze that can build up. Glaze has minor fillers in it to help hide minor imperfections to add to the shine.  
They haven't changed the name in a long time, it was called Brilliance Spray glaze I believe at one point but, that was probably 5 years ago.

Rinseless that has been diluted to a waterless wash solution can be used or Waterless wash as it comes will work great. Waterless won't necessarily ADD shine but it will make the surface clean to reveal the shine from the coating and Boost. Normal procedure for me on a coated car is, wipe down with Waterless/Rinseless and every couple months wipe down the car with Boost after the Waterless

Boost is designed to work with it, not detail spray.
 
"Adam's Ceramic Boost is a cutting-edge new product that complements Adam's Paint Coating, adding an even slicker surface, more gloss, and prolongs the life of the ceramic coating. "