Fresh paint, how long before polishing?

[BigMike]

I have a dark green Chev pick-up. Looks great until the sun comes out. Then there they are,the dreaded swirl marks are everywhere. Have most recently used Meguiars swirl remover #9 by hand, but it`s not working. What should I try next?

[SuperBee364]

3M swirl mark remover or 3M finesse it work good IMO.

[BigMike]

Thanks CHEVYZ71! I`ll give it a try.

[SuperBee364]

No problem. Just don`t expect miracles the first time you use it. It takes a few coats to work it`s magic. Pretend it`s like that energizer bunny and keep going and going and going until they disappear. The 3m swirl mark remover isn`t as course as the finesse it so it would theoretically take more applications to remove swirls as opposed to the finesse it which would probably do the job in half the coats. But the motto here is go with less aggressive first and move up to the more aggressive. Your choice.

Happy buffing!

[BradE]

Use the products in a back and fourth motion. (Bumper to Bumper) If you have hazing with the FI2, switch to SMR. The finer abrasive in the SMR will help to remove the micro marring of the FI2.



If you are using these by hand, it will probably take several passes with them to remove the swirls. It may seem time consuming, but the results will be worth it.



Good Luck!!

[ALM]

If all else fails, try 3M fine-cut rubbing compound, i`ve had good results with this on my brother`s badly swilred car. As Showroom stated, start least agressive first, then work your way up.

[BillNorth]

I just detailed my Mom`s dark green car this weekend. I`m in the same predicament as you. You can see some swirls under intense sunlight. I tried 3M SMR, and let me tell you, it is a POS. For some reason, it worked well on my Dad`s 14 year old car, but on the new car, it did nothing. I tried about three apps on the trunk lid, and was very disappointed. Don`t waste your money on SMR. Most people on this board have not achieved their desired results using it. I would start with 3M finesse it(many people like this product) and work up from there. Search the archives for FI, you should find a post where Jason C listed about 4 or 5 of 3M`s best polishes from least to most abrasive. I don`t remember all of them off hand, sorry.



As for my swirls, I found AIO to be much better at removing them. I used 8 apps of AIO on the hood, 10 on the trunk, and 1 everywhere else. The swirls are reduced some what, but not enough for me to be satisfied. Now, I`m just going for protection as winter is approaching here in TO. Next summer I`m buying a PC and a bottle of FI. That should remove my swirls(hopefully).



Good luck, I hope I could help.

[YoSteve]

After using some of the more abrasive ones, sometimes a haze can develope. This haze is best buffed off by SMR, which is why it`s not that bad to default on getting both products. I agree, AIO will help with this haze too. Hopefully you`ll find the combo that works best for your clear.

[imported_ReverseTime]

Dropped my car off at a local bodyshop for a couple things earlier in the week. After making it crystal clear that I did not want the resident "detailer" coming within 10 feet of my car, they decided to give it a courtesy wash/polish anyway. I`ll post up some pics after my battery gets done charging up, but needless to say my beautiful black paint now looks like crap. Swirls, holograms, waterspots, dust, compound/polish/whatever dried on plastics, some horrifically greasy/sticky mess all over the interior plastic, you name it they screwed it up.

Seeing as I picked it up Thursday, would I be ok to give it the treatment next weekend? Weather here is pretty cold, highs just below freezing lows down around 15 or so all week if that has any bearing.

[imported_Flash Gordon]

I`ve never paid attention to what the Commercial Body Shops have to say. Afterall, there the ones who have an $8 an hour hack drag his dirty wool pad over your finish @ 3k :out:

I say go for it. You could also beat Luster`s record of a 17 degree wash if the temps don`t change from there current status :Frosty:

[imported_Stokdgs]

I dont know what happened to the Industry, but I guess it has to do with selfish, greedy, ignorant, people who are dishonest to boot.

When I worked as an apprentice and a Painter, we NEVER did anything like was described above. In fact, we did things like polish out crystal clear, no swirls, an entire side of a car if necessary to show how the repair all blended in perfectly with the rest of the vehicle. And then we blew compressed air into the interior, to remove any and all dust, etc., that might have collected in there, and wiped down the entire interior. No dirty red rags, just clean white towels. Last, we washed the car and put on the coat of Megs No. 7.


Now, to your question, sounds like you had repairs done? Do you smell paint fumes coming from the actual repair location? Did you ask the people if they put heat lamps on the paintwork to help it dry? How long did they tell you to wait before you could wash/polish/wax the repaired area?

At the shops I worked at, for example, we only put on Meguiars No. 7 Glaze after buffing out the painted area, because it was safe, only lasted a few days, and allowed the paint to continue to dry from the bottom out. (the paint fumes you smell)

If it were me, and I smelled paint fumes still coming out of the area/s, I would wait until I dont smell them anymore before I did any hard buffing/waxing/sealing of those areas.

I am sure you can wash it carefully, but if its still not all the way dry, then dont risk the drying process completing, so all the coats are hardened up.

Sorry this had to happen to you..
Dan F

[Harleyguy]

If the car had any paint work done no matter who did it you should wait 30 days before doing any waxing or paint correction.

[TOGWT]

Newly applied paint is soft, much softer than OEM paint, while newly refinished paint is about 90% cured within 24 hours, although it does take up to 30 days for it to become fully cross-linked (even with the help of a drying oven and various additives).

New paint needs to outgas for approximately 90 days (i.e. the solvents need to evaporate) if this is hindered by an inappropriate product application the clear coat may form a `hard film` on top and the clear coat matrix may remain `soft`.

Fresh paint can be polished with an abrasive product at any time, just use common sense as to how abrasive a product and how much pressure is applied

[imported_Termigator]

My mother`s car had some work done on the left passenger door at the beginning of this month, but I was unhappy with the finer details of the work. I wound up wetsanding the door and polishing it afterwards with M105 followed by SwirlX. I came out much nicer than before, but I just left it at that. No wax or sealant, since it`s only been a little over two weeks since they painted it. They did say no waxing or polishing for 30 days, but I figured M105 was paint shop safe. Forgot whether SwirlX is or not though, but that`s o.k. It`s been a good while since I smelled any fresh paint.

[imported_Stokdgs]

Termingator -

When the product says "Paintshop Safe" that means it doesnt leave stuff on the paint that will cause problems when the car is painted, or put another way, M105 can easily be removed with PrepSol (which is now Dupont 3900S, First Klean), in preparation to paint, and will not cause fisheyes, etc., in the subsequent layers of paint, etc..

You are extremely fortunate to have not gotten sideways with the paintjob that was fairly new if only 2 weeks old when you sanded on it. Perhaps they dried it well with heatlamps, etc., so that sped up the process, before you picked it up.

It makes me sad to hear that bodyshops are doing less than perfect work nowadays.. I would never pay for the work unless it met my expectations, and would explain in detail what was wrong, and what they needed to fix before I paid for it.

As long as you dont smell paint fumes anymore, you are probably good to go.
Just be very sure, you dont smell anything coming out of that paintwork..

Good luck !
Dan F