Would a hardtop interfere with paint curing?

[Sad, little man]

I just had a side of my `96 Miata re-painted for the second time after there were some issues with the paint adhering. As much as I didn`t want to have it painted this close to winter, it might not have been able to wait until spring, but hopefully I can get a coat of wax on before any drives through salt. In any case, since it is quickly getting colder, I`d like to put my hardtop on for the winter, however the rear edge of it latches down onto the rear deck of the car, which includes a panel that was re-painted. Is it realistically ok to put the rubber weather stripping onto the fresh paint?

[Eliot Ness]

The "safe" answer is to keep it out of the weather (as much as possible) and protected with a "new-paint-safe" glaze, like Meg`s #5, until the paint is fully cured.



I`m not sure how the rubber will affect the curing, but the paint will be a little softer than normal until it is fully cured, so the possibility of marring does exist. I would wait as long as possible (and at least 30 days), and then apply a "paint safe" glaze again before putting it on.



Since you had "paint adhering" issues before, I would tend to err on the side of caution on this one.

[velobard]

I`d vote for waiting as many days as you can before you put the hardtop on. Definitely not in the first few days, much better if you can wait at least a few weeks.