Awaiting New Paint: What to do?

[nyakerz]

Greetings Autopians,



I am a total noob in detailing. I recently got a 14 year old Rav4.It's appearance is an insult to the detailing world. Obviously, it was not properly taken care of by the previous owner.



I searched the net for the past couple of weeks for answers and tips on how to make the car look better, and if possible, good. After thorough reading of threads from different detailing sites and forums, I learned that I could no longer salvage my ride and it needs a new paint. I am sure that restoring this ride is a walk in the park for some of you. But to a noobie like me, new paint was the only answer. Yesterday, I decided to have the car repainted. Here are some of the (poorly taken) photos that justify new paint:



No clear coat

Deep Scratches on the Hood

Paint Cracks

I also asked the painter to paint the plastic trims with base coat and clear coats. Here are the shots of the pitiful plastic trims:

Here's my next decision: Whether or not to wetsand the new paint. I planned to polish the ride with Meguiar's Dual Action Cleaner Polish using a Makita Rotary Polisher, 15 days after the painting job. Is it safe to do so? If I decided to have it wetsanded, I need to compound it first right?



I learned that I will have to wait for at least 45(?) days before I can put some sealant and/or wax on the new paint. While waiting for the paint to cure, I will wash it the right way and put some pure polish/glaze on it on a weekly basis.



When the paint is cured, this will be my planned detailing routine (by hand):



1.) Wash the car. (two-bucket; microfiber mitt; wheel first then top to button; right drying)

2.) Clay the paint with Mother's

3.) Clean it with Meguiars DACP or Megs Clear Coat Safe Polishing Compound (which of the two?)

4.) Apply Megs Deep Crystal System Polish

5.) Seal it with Megs Nxt Gen Tech Wax 2.0 and a second coat after 12 hours of curing

6.) Top it with Deep Crystal System Carnauba Wax



I plan to do the above steps every three months and I will adjust the cleaning product, depending on the defects. In between, I plan to put Carnauba Wax once or twice a month.



I just want to be sure with the steps that I plan to take. I want this ride to look good and stay good after the paint job. Thus, I am seeking the your help.



Thanks in Advance. More Power!

 

[Street5927]

Just some random thoughts....if the vehicle was painted in a heated paint booth and cured in a booth, there should be no further need to allow it to "cure". Next, unless there is an extensive amount of orange peel that you cant stand to look at, I dont feel it would be in your best interest to wetsand, thus removing any of your clear. As far as keeping it protected, if you are going to wait that month to month and a half, I would clay the surface first, which may leave some micro marring, and would need to be polished out. I would then seal with BFWD, which looks awesome on black and top with a good wax. If you, for some reason, are not going to clay, or you are going to polish immediately before the vehicle hits the road, then I would just use BFWD and a good wax. Also, the frequency of your want to polish on a weekly basis is also not necessary unless you like to waste money on product. A good sealant and wax should give you around 6 months of protection, and regular proper washing should keep it looking good. I suppose, in between, you could use a "good" (using that term loosely) spray wax to spruce it up a bit in between or just do an intermediary waxing in between to spruce it up. Personally, I dont have the time or money to polish every week.



On a side note, the before pics of cracked paint, etc. are good indications that a repaint is in order, and nothing short of that would have helped it look really good.

 

[Accumulator]

nyakeerz- Welcome to Autopia!



Some random thoughts follow, you might compare them with those of Street5927:



- I've never had repaints that didn't continue to cure/outgas for several months after spraying, including those that were baked at pretty high temps. During this time the paint gets harder, sometimes surprisingly so.



- During the curing/outgassing period, I'd use the Deep Crystal Step #2 polish to provide a tiny bit of fresh-paint-safe protection (it's OK for that).



- I would *NOT* wetsand the repaint under any circumstances, I'd want the clear as thick as possible. IMO protection is what counts here, not having a perfect texture. I also think that unless you have a decent amount of experience at it, you're unlikely to like how it turns out especially considering the contours on the panels involved (and yeah, you do have to compound and then finish polish after wetsanding).



- I wouldn't plan on using M83 until you see what the paint needs. Trying to predict which polish/compound to use seems pointless at this time, merely crystal-ball guessing. You shouldn't really need anything aggressive, just don't mar it when washing (I know, easier said than done).



- I wouldn't use DC polish or wax after the paint is cured. If you like NXT just stick with that.



- I hope you don't have to correct the paint once a year, let alone every few months.

 

[nyakerz]

Thanks to the quick response guys.



@Street5927, I hope there will be no orange peel. And if there will be, I hope it's tolerable. I don't plan to polish every month. I only plan to apply pure carnauba wax every month. I park the (daily driver) car outside. Manila is smoggy, dusty and humid place, and rain will probably be back in May. The clay, cleaner wax and sealant would be every three months. I would like to try the BFWD and other higher end products but most of them are not available in the Philippines. Heck, Megs costs twice as much here ($22 for the UC). =( Hopefully, I can purchase online or abroad. I will use all of my products first. A wanna be low level hobbyist like can't afford to waste detailing products. Thanks mate/



@accumulator, thanks. You are accommodating as always. I needed someone you to stop from the madness of trying too much detailing. No Do-It-Myself wetsanding for me. I will also fully evaluate the paint before polishing it. Maybe a mild/light cleaner wax before NXT is better if no polishing is needed?

Why should I refrain from using glaze before NXT? I thought it will give more gloss and beauty than a sealant alone. Is it because of NXT's cleaning properties? Thanks in advance.

 

[Accumulator]

... I needed someone you to stop from the madness of trying too much detailing. No Do-It-Myself wetsanding for me. I will also fully evaluate the paint before polishing it. Maybe a mild/light cleaner wax before NXT is better if no polishing is needed?

Yeah, if you can avoid marring it while the paint cures you may very well get by with just mild cleaner. See how it goes while concentrating on good wash technique.

Why should I refrain from using glaze before NXT? I thought it will give more gloss and beauty than a sealant alone. Is it because of NXT's cleaning properties?

NXT *can* work fine over a glaze (no, it doesn't clean the glaze off IME). BUT most of the time I consider the "pure polish" step to be pretty much a waste of time, and I'd *definitely* expect that to be the case with fresh paint; it just doesn't add enough to be worth doing. It might be interesting to try it and see if you can discern any worthwhile benefit, but as I think you can tell I kinda prefer to recommend the minimum.

 

[nyakerz]

Minimal benefit of pure polish or glaze over fresh paint makes a lot of sense. It's new paint and it should look fine.

I already learned a lot about good washing techniques. I just have to find a way to buy a grit guard. I have to buy additional MF cloths too and let go of the 3M synthetic chamois. =) Thanks again for the help.



EDIT: Is it safe to clay a newly painted car immediately after it is painted? I am worried about overspray. I am sure that other car(s) will be painted before the car is taken out of the shop.

 

[Accumulator]

EDIT: Is it safe to clay a newly painted car immediately after it is painted? I am worried about overspray. I am sure that other car(s) will be painted before the car is taken out of the shop.

If the shop was on the ball you shouldn't have any overspray, and if you *do* I'd sure let 'em know about it!



You could try the baggie test- put your hand in a plastic sandwich bag and gently run it over the paint. See if you feel/hear any contamination. If you do, inspect it to see if it's "normal" contamination or overspray.



I don't like claying fresh paint if I can avoid it because it might be sooo soft that the clay will cause marring (that's just me and my better-safe-than-sorry).