TurboMark

I am looking at an 07 TT. the paint meter check came back with these numbers:

Left front fender: 4.5-5.5
Left door: 4.5-5.5
Left rear quarter: 5.5-6.5
Roof: 4.0-4.5
Right front fender: 7.0-8.5
Right door: 7.0-8.5
Right quarter: 6.5-8.5
Hood: 4.5-5.5
Rear deck lid: no measurement due to material

I was told that they are still painting 997s by hand and that this accounts for the variation. Any thoughts on this? Thx!

Macster

Try to measure the paint of several various 997s and see if the variations hold.

The panels can have some variation even if painted by machine. Depending upon how the panel is positioned during painting -- a fender for instance -- can have more (or less) paint in one area than another cause the surface region with more paint received a more direct spray of paint or the area with less paint received a less spray of paint. Then you have paint settling issues and finish sanding which can affect the paint's thickness.

Checking paint thickness is good but you need to check for other signs of (poor) paint work: Feel all painted surfaces looking for any roughness from overspray. This means not just the easy to sand/smooth out areas but the door jams, under the hood and trunk lids. Lift the rubber weather seals and feel for a ridge of paint caused by taping. Look at where the lid hinges bolt to the body and to the lids for signs of bolts/fasteners being moved.

Check for too much -- or believe it or not -- too little "orange peel" on various panels.

Sincerely,

Macster.

eclou

having seen the production line at Stuttgart, I can confirm that they were not painted by hand

dianic

The data that you are posting shows a bit too consistent a variation at the right front... However a minor fender bender (or even a scrathc, or a key mark that extends to part of the right side) shouldnt be a deterrent for the right price and documentation... If the top of the fender needs more paint for it to sit better, it should be on both sides, and not one...
If you can tell orange peel levels that is also a very good tell tale as Macster points out. However it is not easy to spot...
It may be the case that the seller (if its a dealer) may not know if the front right corner has had some owrk done, they bought it as never painted, they are trying to sell it as such. If you are happy with what you see and you cant really tell if it has been painted or not (or perhaps someone qualified to do so if you dont trust your eyes) then you should consider it if it ticks the right boxes...
Good luck!

eclou

A repainted panel will show a thickness many times that of factory - 20 to 30+ mils instead of the 4-7 mils you are seeing from the factory. 4-7 is a normal variation

911SLOW

Porsche cars are painted by robots. So in a 997 all of the outside panels are painted by a machine except some tricky parts of the car in the interior *(tight corners etc ) that are still sprayed by hand.

I measured a black colored 996 gt3 and a silver 997 turbo today and all readings were in the 3.5 to 5.5 range.
One rear fender that was painted on the turbo was 7 to 10 apart from a particular spot that had a bigger dent repair there, and was reading 10 to 40 and sometimes the meter showed ∞.

Hope this helps.

John

TT Surgeon

Yes, all done by robots, and it's been sprayed. The fact that it's been painted is not nearly as relevant as the fact that they are not disclosing it to you. Pass.

TurboMark

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the insight and feedback. That is what i suspected. Always amazing what people will say to sell something. M

BlackBear

Right front fender: 7.0-8.5
Right door: 7.0-8.5
Right quarter: 6.5-8.5

Easy. The entire right side has been repainted on top of the old paint.

Had the parts been swapped the #s would be lower. Sometimes on new fenders, doors etc the readings are as low as 2.5. With a good body shop the meter will read within factory spec and prior paint work will be much harder to spot.

eclou

Respectfully you will not ever encounter a human that can shoot a 4-7 mil repair panel. It will be more like 20-40 mils since the blend areas will have the original undercoat/zinc, primer, color coat, clear coat, repair primer, repair color coats (tack coat, primary 1-2 layers), clear coats. Metallic repair coats are usually thicker than non mets since the amount of flake is difficult to hit the first time

TT Gasman

Did the rest of the car check out? I wouldn't want to pass up a good deal if there was just a scratch or something resprayed, seems like there would be more evidence if there was major damage.

larry33legend

My 08 turbo with 9k miles in showroom condition, 6 to 7 for the entire car ...mechanic who did the ppi inspected it and said the car has never been repainted

JoeFromPA

So I'll slightly disagree with others on this but that IS within the range of a factory reading. What's unusual is that you have an up to 4.5+/- in readings and all in one area - right side of the car. Now paint meters all read differently and can even be calibrated differently, but that's a substantial deviation within the same paint meter. So normally I'd say an 8.0 doesn't indicate paint work, but with that level of deviation it COULD.

However, there's an entirely different possibility here which is that the top and left side of the car had some paint issues that required an extensive paint correction with either wet sanding or extensive compounding.

Paint correction REMOVES material and lowers paint meter readings. And significant paint correction in certain areas of a car will create significant deviations.

I'm not saying that's what happened either, but I wouldn't jump to conclusions on that paint readings without an inspection. If you can't find evidence of paintwork (i.e. lift up the trim in frunk that covers the bolts holding the right front fender in place and see if those fasteners have marks on them from removal), then I wouldn't jump to the conclusion those paint readings indicate paintwork or major repairs. Or that someone is hiding something.

jayzbird

Paint meter is one tool in the arsenal. All those numbers look high (e.g., I just did my black 997tt and most numbers were in the 3.x to 5.x range). Probably just calibration. But different colors can have differences. It’s really the deltas you are looking for to double-click on. A 1 mil difference side to side is probably not a repaint; that is more like 3-4+ delta. You’ve got to use your eyes too. Look for color and texture variances, paint lines, cracked or blobbed paint on the bolts where the body panels attach to the frame, etc. It’s not unusual for plastic bumpers etc to have a different shade due to the different material underneath.

TT-911

So people bring back topics from 10 years ago?
My youngest wasn't even born when this topic was started