polishing after painting-how long to wait?

[dionnfr]

I just had some damage repaired on my wife 2004 Honda Odessey, when I picked it up the body shop told me no wash or detailing for 2 weeks.

[Accumulator]

Originally Posted by David Fermani

These both sound like a paint hardener issues, where the painter didn't mix his hardener right. Rydawg does tons of work for a shop that uses Spies Hecker and their fresh clear is super hard.

Accumulator - I know you have a relationship with your body shop/painter. Did you ever discuss these softness issues with them?

Interesting about the differing experiences

The case with the RM paint might've been a QC issue, it was done by a shop I no longer patronize But had it been a bad mix I would have expected it to *stay* stupid-soft instead of hardening up eventually.

On the SH paint (done by Mike at Stoddard Imported cars), it wasn't all *THAT* soft right away, but the hardening sure was noticeable. Same with the Glasurit they've used on a few jobs (which, BTW, doesn't seem to blend nearly as well as the SH, and this is on a fair range of different colors).

Yeah, I have discussed this stuff with them, and even asked if they could tweak the hardener to effect a quicker what-I-want. They said nope, it just takes as long as it takes. Heh heh, when Mike and I get to talking paint, the shop manager just and thinks "well, he won't be gettimg much more done this afternoon"... No communication problems there

When a section of the Jag had to be done with b/c (gee, guess how happy I was about *THAT*! ) it was the same story...he said it wouldn't harden up enough for a final polish for a few months. He expected it to be fully hard before the ss laquer areas though...that stuff takes forever to outgas. This is my other painter, the *really* good one, who just finished a RR Silver Ghost; he's been doing this longer than I've been alive.

I can't help but wonder if it's *that* much hotter in FLA or something I do keep my repaints indoors (climate controlled) but I wouldn't expect that to make a huge difference. Eh...

If you guys are getting optimal hardness right away, more power to you; we're both just going by what we experience first-hand and that's what we oughta put our stock in. Experiences simply differ so when somebody tries to choose between your take on this and mine, well.... you pays your money and you takes your chances

[Accumulator]

Originally Posted by dionnfr

I just had some damage repaired on my wife 2004 Honda Odessey, when I picked it up the body shop told me no wash or detailing for 2 weeks.

The cynic in my always thinks that they say that so you don't wash the glaze/fillers out right away, figuring that you'll be less likely to complain in a couple of weeks

Note that the shop almost certainly *already* washed/polished/etc. the areas in question

[Superior Fine]

Originally Posted by David Fermani

I'd say it's as hard as it will get after a few days. Even if it isn't baked.It's the solvents that are outgassing for what some say a few months. I've gotten totally different opinions from dozens of painters. Out of the 1000's of vehicles I've seen, I've never seen a single one that had paint failure from trapped solvents from being sealed. Someone should call Mythbusters.

I without knowing waxed a day old bumper on a 750 BMW. This happend over a year ago.
We wash and wax it monthly and it looks CHERRY!

[Toyman]

Why would you need to polish after a new paint/clear coat job?

[Accumulator]

David Fermani got some interesting feedback when he asked about this stuff on a body/paint-centric forum.

Originally Posted by Toyman

Why would you need to polish after a new paint/clear coat job?

Same ol' same ol'....marring. Seems like fresh paint always gets compounded/washed/something before you pick the vehicle up and/or marred by washing, which is especially likely while the new paint is still soft.

[rydawg]

I have worked with a ton of new paints and some harden within hours and some take days depending on what paint is being used and who mixed it. Rick and I have been doing a few for a custom bodyshop lately and the paint they use and mix harders harder than anything we have ever worked on in 18 years. If you do not compound it within a couple of days you are screwed. Then I have also worked on paint 2 weeks after it was painted and it was still soft and you could still see it outgasing while polishing.

The biggest concern with paint manufactures and paint shops is mostly all waxes contain silicones and some contain dangerous solvents. Silicones and solvents will eat through some paints while making them dull and chaulky. It really depends on what wax/sealant you are using and what paint you are applying it to.

Paint companies have no clue on what waxes some people have in their basement and how old it is. Whether it is high in solvents and/or silicones. So the easy way for them to cover there butt is to say do not use anything.

[bufferbarry]

i use to work for a lot of auction prep detail shops! we would get a car about an hour of the cure lights and start sanding right away! buff polish wax the whole nine. never had an issue but then again at that point we really hacked these cars. now adays i work full time for a body shop and i do all the wetsanding and buffing. ill wet sand a car now about 20 minutes after it has been painted. now we never use anything in the shop that has glazes or fillers. reason being is because of the silicone here are some pics this paint when i started sanding was only about 25 minutes old!

here is the paint it dosent get any fresher then this you can see the hardness in it see its dull look



here it is wetsanded flat!



here it is finished




This work was done back in the middle of summer, since the customer has returned to have a cap he had bought for the back of the truck painted and there was no problems with the paint. i waxed this panel with colinites. in case anyone is wondering why i sanded it flat is beacuse the painter used to much reducer and we had some fisheye that need attended to.

but truthfully from my exsperiance as long as the paint is cured properly you should have no problems polishing and waxing right away

[LangMan37]

Can't see the pics. And I really do wanna see the pics.

[DisasterXJ]

Before I started detailing, I learned how to spray and do body work, based off my experiences, it depends on a few factors; what paint systems, hardner, baked or not. IE: tractor trailer/aircraft paint (imron) is some serious stuff, the clear after air drying (72 hours) is harder then a rock, and on the other end of the spectrum, "southern urethane" a very soft clear used for alot of hotrod restorations i've done, is a very soft clear (easier wetsanding for mutilple coats of clear) and we've waited a couple months for that stuff to cure. I'd suggest a small test area if you don't know where the car got done, if you do, talk to the guys at the shop. that's my two cents, hope it helps

[weekendwarrior]

I am doing a lot of work for a local restoration shop. These guys primarily restore old VWs, but occasionally restore other cars, as well as do an occasional paint job for friends on their daily drivers.

The last car I wetsanded and polished was Glasurit single stage on a 1955 Beetle. This paint was very easy to correct. I wetsanded with 2000 to lessen the orange peel (wanted to leave a little there, since they had some orange peel back in 1955), then used 3M ECC with wool on the rotary, then followed with Meguiar's 86 (Solo Polish) using the KBM method on the PC with foam. This worked very well, and I did all of this about a week after the car was painted.

I have also wetsanded and painted base coat / clear coat jobs where the owner selected Omni paint/clears (Omni is a budget brand). I was actually impressed with how the Omni looked on the cars I have seen it used on, and the Omni clear, in my experience, is a little on the harder side. I have worked on these days after being painted. Of course, the shop I polish for preps the car properly prior to painting, so that helps a ton in the final result...even with a cheaper paint.

On one of my personal cars, I had the hood, and front fenders resprayed a while back at a body shop as part of an insurance claim. They used PPG paint, and baked it afterwards. I polished the car about 2 weeks after getting it back, and then applied Zaino for protection. I have had no problems.

[David Fermani]

Originally Posted by weekendwarrior

IThe last car I wetsanded and polished was Glasurit single stage on a 1955 Beetle. This paint was very easy to correct.

Sounds awsome....

Dave - do you prefer the look of a single stage finish over a bc/cc (solid color)?