Questions on new paint, need answers ASAP

[sftempest66]

Hey everyone, well I`ve got one or two questions that I`m not sure about, and need to know the answer to ASAP...



First off, my brother wrecked his 2003 True Blue Mustang GT about 4 weeks ago, and it has since been fully repainted. The repaint was completed about 10 days ago (give or take a few days) and he is going to be picking the car up on Friday of this week...



So first off, I wanted to know when I help him clean up the car, if its ok (aka will not harm the clear coat) to wash and wax the car this weekend...



I`d assume that you wouldn`t use anything with any cleaners or even a light abrasive such as Prime Strong or something of that matter, because the clear might not be totally cured yet??? But what about just throwing on a coat of Opti Seal, or 476s?? Would that hurt it?



Any help would be greatly appreciated, I`ve been busy with school lately and thats mainly why I didnt find the time to do a search...

[Old Pirate]

What did the body/paint shop has to say about this. If it was me i would wait 30-60 days (cured time) to put anything on it, but i think after 30 days it would be fine. Ask them when you guys pick it up.........

[Accumulator]

The powers that be here *REALLY, REALLY* need to make a sticky on this, it gets asked all the time.



sftempest66-There`s a thread where MirrorFinishMan queried all the major paint manufacturers and got their official answer: they *all* said to wait at least 90 days before waxing and that longer is better. That`s assuming the paint was baked too. I wait at least four months and usually longer.



Washing is fine, polishing is too but the paint will still be sorta soft.



FWIW, I hear that Ford recently approved Optimum Car Wax (despite the word "wax" in its name) for use on fresh repaints that`re done as part of their post-production repair process. If you can`t bring yourself to apply a glaze after every wash for the next three-six months, you might try that.



But *I* am gonna stick with the Meguiar`s #5 glaze (or their #3/#7/#81/Deep Crystal Step #2 Polish or 3M Imperial Hand Glaze), which has worked great for the 30-odd years I`ve been using it for this application ;)



If you use something that interferes with the outgassing process, the paint will never achieve its maximum potential hardness, and IMO most repaints are plenty soft as it is.

[David Fermani]

What body shop repaired it?

[sftempest66]

What body shop repaired it?

Thanks Accumulator, do you think Clearkote`s Vanilla Moose Glaze would be ok? And as for the shop that repaired it, I have a good friend that is the head mechanic at our local Ford dealership, and he pretty much does any work on both of our vehicles.



I had my rear bumper painted at the shop there and he made sure it was done right, and he had been looking after my Brother`s car also, and made sure they blocked out the car more to get rid of Ford`s reputation for horrible orange peel. I called him and he said the paint looks great, and I trust his word because he knows about my details and my "anal" paint care :p



In fact, his car is pretty flawless as well :woot:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h244/ds03cobra/IMG_4023.jpg

[David Fermani]

What`s the name of the body shop?

[sftempest66]

What`s the name of the body shop?

Maroone Lincoln Ford...off of Northlake BLVD

[Accumulator]

.., do you think Clearkote`s Vanilla Moose Glaze would be ok?



No, I consider it a wax. I do like the stuff OK (though I seldom reach for it) but I wouldn`t use it on fresh paint. Either get the OCW or use a glaze.



FK sells a LSP that`s *supposed* to be fresh-paint safe, but after hearing about how it behaved from people here (nothing awful, but still vaguely worrisome IMO) I wouldn`t go that route myself. But then I`ll readily admit that I`m pretty cautious about messing up new paint and I actually *like* using Meg`s #5 (about the easiest product ever) so I don`t mind applying it after every wash, only takes a moment.