I am getting ready to repaint my Lexus, what do I need?

[ToastedSorbet]

As you can tell from the title, I am repainting my `92 Lexus SC400. It is currently Garnet Pearl and is being repainted Porsche Basalt Black Metallic. I wanted to know what products to use to get the ultimate shine and protection as soon as I get it back. I already own a Porter Cable 7424 with a Sonus 6" DAS FlexPlate and Sonus SFX Foam Pads. I am planning on having the entire front end covered with a clear bra if that inflences anything. Any feedback is highly appreciated. Thank you.

[velobard]

Well, first of all realize that you can do a better job of polishing than 99.999% of the body shops out there. When they buff out the car with the rotary, for me that`s just the starting point. It`s up to me to get rid of all the swirls and holograms they often leave behind.



Next, do not wax your car for the first few months. Glaze is fine, like Meguiar`s #5. You need to allow plenty of time for the paint to outgas and fully cure.

[CleanGSR]

I always heard about 1 month/30 days. Should it be longer than that?

[Accumulator]

When MirrorFinishMan contacted all the major paint manufacturers, they *ALL* said between 90 and 120 days. And 3M says to wait before installing a clear bra too, and they oughta know ;)

[01bluecls]

I guess it depends on the body shop and whether they use heat to sure the finish or if they simply just spray and let sit. Ask the paint shop about their process and advice. If anything, just put a simple non abrasive/cleaning wax such as P21S or souveran to ensure you are not at least damaging the paint in that regards.

[Accumulator]

I guess it depends on the body shop and whether they use heat to sure the finish or if they simply just spray and let sit. Ask the paint shop about their process and advice..



Unfortunately a lot of shops don`t seem to *know* much about the paint they use, they must not read the product info past the "how to mix/spray" section. People have been told "it`s OK to wax it right away, we baked it", but then the company that made the paint says that, baked or not, you gotta wait. On the flip-side, some shops say you can`t even *wash* their fresh paint :confused: (even though they already washed/glazed/etc. and sometimes even *wetsanded* it). I don`t understand why this whole subject isn`t perfectly simple since the paint companies publish all the info :nixweiss Seems like it oughta just be a RTFM sort of thing.



As I`ve posted a zillion times before, the baked S-H repaints on our Audis got *MUCH* harder over the course of a few months...I`m sure glad I waited.



I know...I kinda rant about this stuff :o If you`ve just *gotta* put something beyond a glaze on it, I`d at least look into the sealants that`re supposedly fresh-paint-safe.

[LastDetail]

Just think how much fun it is going to be to work on it when it is REALLY dirty. Like 90-100 days dirty. It is quite hard to let it get to such a state , but MAN is it satisfying when you finally get to work on it!

[velobard]

I guess it depends on the body shop and whether they use heat to sure the finish or if they simply just spray and let sit. Ask the paint shop about their process and advice. If anything, just put a simple non abrasive/cleaning wax such as P21S or souveran to ensure you are not at least damaging the paint in that regards.

Ditto to everything Accumulator said. Here`s two great posts Mirrorfinishman made about the info he got direct from the paint manufacturers.



http://autopia.org/forum/showpost.php?p=697648&postcount=10



http://autopia.org/forum/showpost.php?p=647893&postcount=19



His first post links to the second one, which is pretty much the definitive word on how long to wait to wax.



As has been noted here before, the baking process body shops use is very different from what is done to cars in the factory.