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Step 1
Examine the car's paint to determine whether the paint is even in appearance or has areas that are lighter than others. Faded areas are signs of poor quality car paint.
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Step 2
Measure the thickness of the paint to determine the quality. The thicker the paint, the better the quality of the car paint. Choose a mechanical gauge containing a magnet when measuring car paint on steel. This gauge will contain a calibrated spring as well as a magnet and a graduated scale. Thinner coats of paint will result in the gauge being able to be pulled away from the steel more easily.
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Step 3
Use an eddy current device when measuring the quality of paint on other metals, including aluminum. A coil in the device generates a magnetic field that alternates. This creates eddy currents on the surface of the metal which is sensed by a second coil—thus measuring the thickness of the paint. You can read the results on an LCD readout. A gauge that combined both a magnet and an eddy current can measure both steel and other metals.
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Step 4
Test the quality of paint on plastic portions of your car with an ultrasonic device. The device consists of an ultrasonic transducer that measures the thickness of the paint by sending out a pulse. The pulse is converted into an electrical signal that measures the thickness of the paint.
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Step 5
Find the above paint gauges at automotive stores or at online retailers like DeFelsko.
