Paint thickness gauge is necessary before buying any used Corvette C7 Stingray or Z06-used cars buyers beware!!!

There is absolutely no surprise that truly shitty paint quality continues with the second year of Corvette Stingray and the new Z06 is certainly not immune to the dubious trademark of the latest Corvette generation: excessive orange peel.

There is absolutely no surprise that the buyers of these cars continue their idiotic quest for better paint through removal of a part of the clear coat in a desperate attempt to remove the bumpy paint surface that happened to resemble orange skin. The problems with this practice have been indicated a while ago but since this practice continues, it may be worthwhile to expand a bit on this subject.

In essence, due to lack of thickness of clearcoat, there is no effective way to remove the orange peel completely and the cure may be considerably worse than the disease due to removal of ultra violet inhibitors that are included in the clearcoat formula.

The thickness of the clearcoat on C7 Corvettes is 2 mils and as before, +General Motors prohibits removal of more than 0.5 mil of total thickness of paint finish. 

Now, the typical process involves wet block sanding of the car using a very fine grade of sandpaper.  If done correctly, this part will remove between 0.2-0.3 mil alone.  On top of it, a single pass with orbital polisher and cutting compound will remove additional 0.1 mil per single run (it takes at least two runs using cutting compound plus another polishing and then another final fine run, using finer pads and compounds).  What does this mean?  The typical "paint correction" will ruin the paint finish of the brand new car, with almost full certainty. 

The problem with the damage to the clear coat is that it is not visible and the effects do not come out immediately, especially if the car is driven rarely, spending the remainder of time in a garage and under cover.  The other problem with the damage is that the UV inhibitors tend to migrate to the surface of the clear coat.  Thus, removal of clear coat is typically not linearly related to the remaining UV protection.

Finally, the base color coat has no catalyst, relying on catalyst containing clearcoat to complete the paint curing process.  When clearcoat is removed even partially, the base coat becomes susceptible to contaminants migration and paint etching (including but not limited to water spots and acid rain).

In summary, this short term visual gratification, even without burning completely through the clearcoat, is worse than the disease of orange peel and will result in GM finding a way out of honoring warranty claims related to paint finish.

Without any doubt, none of the DIY "correctors" and major portion of so called professional detailers do not use the paint thickness gauges because they are expensive.  Even if a pro detailer happens to have a paint thickness gauge, it is unlikely it is one designed for fiberglass and plastic since metal bodies are the majority of cars on the road currently.

Unless the paint correction is documented by the owner, including all before and after paint thickness measurements are documented in writing, anyone considering a purchase of a used seventh generation of Corvette is advised to invest in a correct paint thickness gauge before considering a purchase of the car, even if offered with factory warranty.  Setting aside adequate amount of money for a future paint job is a viable alternative as well.  Again, BUYER BEWARE!!!