It's all JL's fault. Really. It just is. :lol: Ever since JL bought a Highline paint thickness gauge, measured it side by side with his Delfesko, and found it to measure exactly the same numbers, I've been wanting to pull the trigger on one of these things. So, I finally did. My procrastination meant I didn't get it for $200 - the price has gone up, as of about a week ago, to $225. Still a bargain, and something I'm going to get a heck of a lot of use out of. This will even be handy next time I buy a used car - a pretty surefire way to know if a vehicle's had significant body work done to it. Nicely packaged for shipping, this is the case the Highline comes in: The label has contact information for Elcometer, who is the distributor of this PTG: Here's the case opened up. Pretty nice actually. Nicely padded, with cutouts for the meter, the two metal pieces to calibrate against, and the four calibration strips: The calibration strips, measured in microns. They came with the factory-measured thicknesses written on the labels: And here's an action shot! The paint on this particular S2000 - one of two that I own - is a little on the thin side. But, it's nice to see that the Highline automatically detects the aluminum hood! Just like the real S2000, the model has an aluminum hood: I'm really glad I decided to pull the trigger on one of these. Now I'll know how much paint I've got to play with. Thanks for looking! --Karl
Congrats on the purchase, you'll enjoy knowing how much clear and paint you have to play with :thumb:
why did you post this? you guys keep this up and you'll be making payments on my American Express for me:doh:
I want one of those so bad! Gotta wait for the 1st job or 2 to pay off. Got one booked for next weekend
As I'm totally ignorant re: PTGs, it's my understanding this type of meter tells you the total thickness of the paint on the metal. So how does one know how much CC they have to play with? TL
You'll definitely enjoy it Karl, I know Aaron is, haha. I'm really glad I bought it when it was still for under $200 shipped.
:nod: you are correct, this particular paint gauge will only tell you the total reading, it wont seperate the paint and the clear coat. As to how woul dyou use this paint gauge to see how much clear coat you have, well there are some tricks that som emembers have mentioend here. For example, some members suggest taking a paint gauge reading inside the door jam then compare that reading with a reading on any surface on the vehicle. I personaly haven't done this my self, just sharing what some members here have suggested.
so the other day ... my manager walks up to me saying "hey your into car detailing right ? know of any decent priced paint gauges for the shop ?" my answer "yup sure do" we currently have ecometer paint gauges (some orange one that does steel and alluminum) but i think they spent like 600+ bucks on them .. we use them at our dealership to check for body work repairs to determine non warranty related claims so i showed them the link to the highline .. they bought two .. my manager said since i gave him the info he bought me one =) hope this gauge doesnt let me down
