Just got my car back from the body shop!!

[imported_DetailGirl]

About two weeks ago somebody backed into my car and thus I had to have my entire front end replaced. I took it in on Monday and got it back this morning. I wish I had before and after pictures to show! My car looks beautiful! Dukes did a great job! :bow



My question though, my hood wasn`t replaced, they just repaird it (you can`t even tell there were dents at all, it`s impecable!), repainted it and put a new clearcoat on and they also did the same to the bumper and my valance on the front (repainted and clearcoat). As far as I know, they didn`t put anything on it as far as wax, etc. I want to really protect the paint/clearcoat! (I`m having a clear bra put on the hood soon) What kind of steps should I go about for when I go to detail my car this weekend? I also noticed in the sunlight, light swirl marks (barley noticable) on the hood where they repaird the dents...any suggestions on products I should use to remove these?



Thanks in advance for your help! :wavey

[2wheelsx2]

I would WAIT. The generous consensus seems to be to wait for a minimum of 30 days after a paint job. But most recommend asking the shop for the wait time. But I would not polish or seal the paint with anything right away. At best you may want to use something like #7 to clean the paint periodically, and wash carefully.

[imported_DetailGirl]

I`m having a clear bra put on on Monday....is that too soon? Would it be bad to Zaino it this weekend? I am scared to drive it right now because I don`t want any rocks or anything to hit it before I get some kind of protection on there, you know? I don`t want to ruin it, it looks so good and I`ve already gotten lots of `ooohh`s and ahhhh`s`

[imported_DetailGirl]

I just called the body shop and they said it`s fine to go ahead and detail it and that if anything should happen, just call and they`ll take care of it, it`s included in the lifetime gurantee on their work.

[Scottwax]

You should be able to polish immediately. I`ve seen a body shop work a fender on 14 hour old paint. Wetsand, buff, swirl removal and glaze. No problems, you just can seal it right away.

[Anthony O.]

Detailgirl,



I would wait a bit longer on the clear bra and do NOT apply any type of wax or sealant to the area being covered with the bra because it will not adhere properly and the guys applying it will curse you :)



Instead polish the area to be covered, remove any swirls and then go over that entire area with something like Pinnacles Cleansing Lotion or S100 to remove the polish but it keeps the shine!!



The clear bra can then be polished and waxed about 24 hours after installation.



Anthony

[imported_FUEL]

Originally posted by Anthony Orosco

Detailgirl,



I would wait a bit longer on the clear bra and do NOT apply any type of wax or sealant to the area being covered with the bra because it will not adhere properly and the guys applying it will curse you :)



Instead polish the area to be covered, remove any swirls and then go over that entire area with something like Pinnacles Cleansing Lotion or S100 to remove the polish but it keeps the shine!!



The clear bra can then be polished and waxed about 24 hours after installation.



Anthony



I had my clear bra put on over 5 coats of Zaino and nothing happened.



And when you say Pinnacles Cleansing Lotion or S100 I assume that you mean s100 secp or what ever it is called (too lazy to go outside to the garage and look at the bottle)



And when you say polish what type of polish like vanilla moose or something?

[Hawkeye_TDI]

Originally posted by FUEL

I had my clear bra put on over 5 coats of Zaino and nothing happened.









I agree. If you don`t detail the nose first the clear bra will amplify it`s imperfections. Polish and Zaino it first, make sure there are no imperfections and then put it on. I also putit on over zaino with no problems.

[TortoiseAWD]

Originally posted by Bruce Peter

I agree. If you don`t detail the nose first the clear bra will amplify it`s imperfections. Polish and Zaino it first, make sure there are no imperfections and then put it on. I also putit on over zaino with no problems. You should polish it, but IMO the Zaino will be wasted. The activator used for the adhesive on the clear bra films is an alcohol/water mixture, which will remove Zaino. I`m also pretty sure that 3M recommends that the area to be covered be de-greased/de-waxed.



IMO, the best way to give the car to the shop doing the application would be freshly polished (swirls removed, no fillers) bare paint.



Tort

[imported_DetailGirl]

I want a nice clean smooth surface for the bra to go on. I`ve been driving it on freeways a couple of times a day and already you can feel the buildup on there. I really need to clay it! When the guy gets to the house (he`s coming to me) I`ll ask him and see what he says about wax/polish being on there. I`m really confused now. :-) lol

[Anthony O.]

I worked with the Reflex folks on several cars and they always hated it when I polished and waxed the cars first because the wax made the surface very slick and made adhesion difficult.



So they asked me to remove all wax and sealants before I brought them a clients car. So what I started doing was detail those areas to be covered, cleaned and polished, and I then went over those areas again with Cleansing Lotion and the installers loved it that way because they believed the set up of the Invicishield went much smoother, less air bubbles to work out and a better adhesion.



The first car I brought to them, now almost 5 years ago, I thought since the stuff is clear and the Porsche was black that it would look great all polished and waxed but the installer told me that they wiped the area down with a wax remover so it really didn`t matter. What they were doing wrong though was not doing a thorough wipe down and some wax would be left over.



So as Tortoise noted, if the installer did it right then all of the wax and yes even Zaino, would have been removed.



Anthony