New paint...

[Jorge18]

How`s it going guys? I was wondering how long you should wait (if any) after you paint a car, to polish, wax etc. Should you wait a couple of weeks? or can it be done right away? Thanks in advance!

[BobD]

You should wait 60-90 days. Some say 30 days but I don`t.

[sixty7mustang22]

Get some New car glaze from Megs. You can put that on your new paint and it will help protect it some, but it will also allow it to cure.



Don`t add wax for about 2 months.



Also, you can polish new paint. A lot of people sand it and buff it right after a paint job to remove imperfections or orange peal. I know I do right after I have painted. I just wait for about 2 weeks. As long as you use a polish that leaves not protection, you should be fine.



I painted my friend`s 2006 GTI hood and during the drying of the final coat of clear, a gnat flew into it.:hairpull At any rate, two weeks later, I broke out the sandpaper and water. I wetsanded where it landed and now you can`t even see it. Added some #7 on it and he was good to go. The hood looks perfect now.

[velobard]

Read this post:

http://autopia.org/forum/647893-post19.html



I`m really wishing they`d make this one a sticky, lol.

[Jorge18]

Get some New car glaze from Megs. You can put that on your new paint and it will help protect it some, but it will also allow it to cure.



Don`t add wax for about 2 months.



Also, you can polish new paint. A lot of people sand it and buff it right after a paint job to remove imperfections or orange peal. I know I do right after I have painted. I just wait for about 2 weeks. As long as you use a polish that leaves not protection, you should be fine.



I painted my friend`s 2006 GTI hood and during the drying of the final coat of clear, a gnat flew into it.:hairpull At any rate, two weeks later, I broke out the sandpaper and water. I wetsanded where it landed and now you can`t even see it. Added some #7 on it and he was good to go. The hood looks perfect now.





So sanding and buffing it right away is okay?

[the other pc]

So sanding and buffing it right away is okay?Yes.







.

[Accumulator]

So sanding and buffing it right away is okay?



Just remember that it might be softer than normal for the first six weeks or so. I`ve had fresh repaints (2-3 week old RM brand basecoat/clearcoat) that were too soft for polishing with Meguiar`s #80, which is some pretty mild stuff.



Most paint gets much harder after maybe a month or so, which can be both good and bad.

[Thomas Dekany]

One sealant that you CAN use on fresh paint (3 days old) is FK1 #2180.

[Accumulator]

So they say...I just wish they had some kind of objective evidence/studies they could refer to as I just can`t bring myself to take somebody`s word for something that hasn`t been explained to my satisfaction :grinno: I`ve learned to be a little careful about taking a manufacturer/vendor`s word for stuff.



No, no, I`m not saying you shouldn`t use it or that the folks at FK are fibbing about it, just that *I* am not sold on it being fresh-paint-friendly at this point. I`ve heard that Zaino is OK for this too, and Sal Zaino was a painter so he oughta know what he`s talking about, but again, there`s no evidence that I consider compelling so I err on the side of caution for a few months with the meg`s #5 (a product I have 3 decades worth of experience with for this application).

[velobard]

Hey Accumulator, you should pick up some 2180 sometime to see what I mentioned awhile back about how new paint soaks it up like a sponge. It`s incredible how much product it takes to do the first and even second coat. I`m not saying use it any sooner than you would feel comfortable on a repaint, but after a decent curing time consider giving it a shot sometime.

[Accumulator]

Hey Accumulator, you should pick up some 2180 sometime to see what I mentioned awhile back about how new paint soaks it up like a sponge. It`s incredible how much product it takes to do the first and even second coat. I`m not saying use it any sooner than you would feel comfortable on a repaint, but after a decent curing time consider giving it a shot sometime.



Heh heh, it was your previous posts about how the fresh paint soaked it up that pretty much killed off my curiosity about trying it ;)



We`ll see...I have enough LSPs on hand to last a few lifetimes!

[velobard]

Heh heh, it was your previous posts about how the fresh paint soaked it up that pretty much killed off my curiosity about trying it ;)

LOL, I can understand that. Well hey, Zymol is always talking about "feeding" your paint, I guess FK1 does it`s own version of that. ;)




We`ll see...I have enough LSPs on hand to last a few lifetimes!

Now why do I find that easy to believe?



While we`re on the topic of wax and new paint, if a paint job was waxed too soon do you think it would help to do a chemical decontamination? I`ve been thinking about this off and on, considering how often folks come here and ask about this. It seems to me like perhaps that would remove wax well enough to allow outgassing to resume, at least if it was done soon enough. Any thoughts?

[Accumulator]

LOL, I can understand that. Well hey, Zymol is always talking about "feeding" your paint, I guess FK1 does it`s own version of that. ;)[quote]



I sometimes feel I oughta stick up for some of that "feed the paint" nonsense...well, to the extent of pointing out that with some old-school lacquers it`s not completely nonsense after all. Heh heh, you should see neglected lacquer soak up a Meguiar`s Pure Polish and come back to life. When I`m feeling charitable I think that Zymol just needs to update the info they first came up with a zillion years ago. OK...now that I`ve defended the honor of "feeding the paint" (and hey, I`ll probably post some about it being BS myself before too long)...





[quote]While we`re on the topic of wax and new paint, if a paint job was waxed too soon do you think it would help to do a chemical decontamination? I`ve been thinking about this off and on, considering how often folks come here and ask about this. It seems to me like perhaps that would remove wax well enough to allow outgassing to resume, at least if it was done soon enough. Any thoughts?



I agree that it sounds sensible. If somebody waxed a fresh repaint of mine, I`d probably use some mild chemical cleaner to clean it off. But I don`t think I`d reach for my deconatamination system; the first step of a FK/AutoInt decontamination system isn`t something I`d like to do to a fresh repaint, not that prepsol-type stuff ever hurt it when I was DIYing this sort of thing...

[Woob]

Read this post:

http://autopia.org/forum/647893-post19.html



I`m really wishing they`d make this one a sticky, lol.



Is this post with the Curing time from those Paint companies for non OEM, or specifically OEM paint finishes. From what I`ve heard (from a source who specifically works with OEM Factories & Car Companies) that the newer modern paint finishes that come out of the factory can be waxed/sealed. This is made possible since the body is cured/painted at a substantial heat level versus lower temperatures at a bodyshop (also a huge chemical difference).

[velobard]

Is this post with the Curing time from those Paint companies for non OEM, or specifically OEM paint finishes. From what I`ve heard (from a source who specifically works with OEM Factories & Car Companies) that the newer modern paint finishes that come out of the factory can be waxed/sealed. This is made possible since the body is cured/painted at a substantial heat level versus lower temperatures at a bodyshop (also a huge chemical difference).

If you read that post closer you`ll see it specifically refers to repainting. ;) New cars can be waxed right away.