Brand new paint! Need to pamper it - here's my plan?

I

imported_Nate

New member
Ok, so I know there is a ton of information on here already, it's the blessing and the curse. I have read tons but I am confused, so here is where I am at. Any help is sooo appreciated.



I have never detailed a car or washed a car with good products. I just got my car rust-rapaired and completely repainted with basecoat / clearcoat. It's a 94 VW Corrado, and I love it, and I want to make this paint stay beautiful.



When I get it back from the shop, from what I understand I don't want to apply wax or any sealant for at least 30 days? I assume that I also shouldn't wash it right away for no reason, then? Just treat it like a normal car and drive it until it gets dirty?



Then I plan on buying some new washing products:

- Meguiar's deep pile chenille wash mit - I want to make sure I dont mess up the paint while washing

- authentic chamois - I guess I can just use my authentic chamois to dry still, even though there are things like the absorber out there, this will work and wont scratch

- some new wash soap, dont know what yet



And I will use the two-bucket method, and use some time of grill at the bottom of my clean bucket so my wash mit doesnt sit in the grit.



Hmmm, so that covers washing. Then I want to get into waxing/polishing/sealing/glazing, all that stuff I don't understand.

What appears to be appealing to me is the Klasse All-in-one, and Klasse Sealant Glaze... because from what I can tell these two products will cover all my bases?



The most important thing for me is to protect this new paint and make it last.



So that's my deal, any tips or whatever you want to throw at me is very very appreciated.



Cheers! :spot

Nate
 
A thread like this comes along about once every week or so. It's so hard to answer this in one post or even one thread. I will attempt to address some of it though.



Washing:



Buy a genuine lamb's wool mitt, not some synthetic excuse for one

Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash is a good, readily available soap

A microfiber towel would be preferable to the chamois/Absorber method (Wal-Mart sells big blue drying microfiber towels that I think work very well for the money)



Sealant:



Klasse AIO and SG are only one option in a range of literally thousands of products you could use. SG can be a pain to work with. You have to apply it in painfully thin layers to be able to remove it easily. That being said, I use both and think they are great...others prefer different products.



My tip is keep reading on here and researching. You will learn a lot, and eventually you will be able to select the products you think will give you the look you desire. There is SO much information on this site it is hard to encapsulate it in several posts.
 
Thanks... I understand that this comes up all the time and it's the same on most forums, the new people keep popping up asking the same thing. So, sorry about that.



But thanks I appreciate your reply. I think I will get that Meguiars wash soap. I have heard lots of good stuff about that synthetic wash mit though, have you had bad experience with it?



Also, I guess to ask a specific question... do the Klasse "twins" pretty much represent a combination polish / wax / sealant... or are polishing, waxing, sealing different things that I need to buy different products for?



Cheers!

Nate
 
Congrats on the repaired corrado- I love those cars and used to have a VR6 myself.



First issue of course is to talk to your body/paint person about what the manufacturer of the paint recommends as far as what you should do while the paint cures. I know FinishKare offers some products that are supposed to be new paint safe (218 POLY WIPE) but ask the painter or check the manufacturer's web site for info. I recently had a panel repainted due to being egged and I didn't touch it other than washing it for 10 weeks. Then I hit it with some polish and sealed it with some sealant.



Do you know what manufacturer the paint is?
 
Nate said:
Thanks... I understand that this comes up all the time and it's the same on most forums, the new people keep popping up asking the same thing. So, sorry about that.



But thanks I appreciate your reply. I think I will get that Meguiars wash soap. I have heard lots of good stuff about that synthetic wash mit though, have you had bad experience with it?



Also, I guess to ask a specific question... do the Klasse "twins" pretty much represent a combination polish / wax / sealant... or are polishing, waxing, sealing different things that I need to buy different products for?



Cheers!

Nate
Click to expand...



If you have Costco in your area and are a member, it carries Megs Gold Class Car Wash in a 100+ oz bottle for the same price you get a 64oz bottle elsewhere. Pretty good deal.



As for the wash mitt, you'll see many varying opinions here, so it will be up to you to decide who to believe. Some things work best for some people and other thngs work best for others. Both sides are "right." Unfortunately, it comes down to you buying it yourself and trying it out.



The Klasse AIO has polishing agents (to remove light swirls), paint cleaner, and sealant in one product...hence the name. The consensus is, you will be better off putting more protectant on top of that because AIO's sealant doesn't last very long.



I'm using the Jeffs Werkstatt Prime and Acrylic Jett Sealant combo which is similar to the Klasse twins. I haven't used Klasse, but people say that the AJ is easier to appy/remove than the KSG.



Have FUN!!! :spot
 
OK, here's the definitive post on what the paint companies themselves say about waxing new paint, http://autopia.org/forum/showpost.p...93&postcount=19 with kudos to MirrorFinishMan's wisdom in putting this together.



I had a partial repaint in March so I was just getting to where I felt I could wax again, then last week I got minor damage from a tree limb in the storm that hit St Louis last week and now it has to go back to the body shop. *sigh* Now hopefully I'll be able to wax it about Thanksgiving weekend. I'm toying with the idea of experimenting on a section, perhaps the bottom of a door panel, with Finish Kare's 2180 and seeing if their claim about it allowing paint to cure through their product have any validity.



As an aside, I was a little surprised when my first estimate came in at $1300 for such minor dings, albeit in an inconvenient location (mainly top of door and edge of roof). That estimate was just from the local Dodge dealer. Since I'm an Autopian, yesterday I had an estimate at the shop for a local Mercedes/Lexus/Infiniti/Porsche/BMW/Audi/Land Rover/Cadillac dealer (yes, all at one location!) and another at a shop recommended by a classic car dealer. They both came in at $2800. Thankfully I have decent insurance and only a $100 deductible, plus since it's a comprehensive claim it shouldn't hurt my rates.



It's just been amazing that in a little over 6 months (most of the time I've been on Autopia) I've had such bum luck. First I had a rock fly up and come through the glass in my sunroof, also causing broken glass to fly back and cause paint chips. Then the rear end damage to the bumper and trunk lid in March. And now this. Plus my wife had her driver's side mirror snapped off in a hwy construction zone when a truck in front of her flipped a pylon into her car, then she totaled it later in the winter when she hydroplaned on a curve. We're hoping this ends our current streak.
 
meguiars soap is fine. get some #7 polish. use it till your paint cures. its a pure polish and contains no cleaners or chemicals that would smother the paint. its sold at autozone, pepboys.. that is what i used when i had my car repainted.
 
velobard said:
OK, here's the definitive post on what the paint companies themselves say about waxing new paint, http://autopia.org/forum/showpost.p...93&postcount=19 with kudos to MirrorFinishMan's wisdom in putting this together. ... I'm toying with the idea of experimenting on a section, perhaps the bottom of a door panel, with Finish Kare's 2180 and seeing if their claim about it allowing paint to cure through their product have any validity..
Click to expand...



And kudos to *you* for linking to that thread!



Heh heh, on the FK 2180 test, better *you* than me ;) I dunno what it'll take for me to buy the "fresh-paint-safe-sealant" sales pitch but I'd like for somebody to try it. Of course there are a zillion variables...have to use a paint that cures to *very hard* for one thing since the only problem with premature waxing/sealing is the hardening issue.



Nate- Noting that you have to reglaze after every wash, I'd get something that looks good and is easy to use. Meg's #5 is my hands-down choice (others to consider include #3/#7/#81, Deep Crystal #2, 3M IHG, Mother's glaze).
 
So Sal says, but it's another case where I don't understand how it can be :confused: I know Sal used to be a painter and I'm not saying that he (or the guys at FK or anywhere else) are wrong, simply that I won't risk the hardness of my paint on something that hasn't been explained to my satisfaction. I've *never* seen any controlled-test results related to this topic and I can't help but wonder why the paint manufacturers wouldn't suggest sealants/etc. that are safe to use just like they suggest glazes that they deem OK.



I suppose somebody oughta get a panel painted with something like Spies-Hecker b/c (a paint that gets much harder as it outgasses). Let it sit for a few days and then do sections of it with nothing (or a glaze), wax, Z, the FK stuff, and the similar product from AutoInt. Wait four months and see if there's any discernable difference between the five sections.
 
Hmmm, I'd forgotten about Zaino's claim. If I do this, maybe I could talk someone into sending me a sample of Zaino to try on at least a small area to test as well.



I haven't even scheduled a time for my car to go in yet, but I'm thinking in about a week and a half. They'll need it for probably a whole week. They're planning to paint basically the whole right side and the roof, plus perhaps the trunk lid (yet again, to deal with problems from my March repair) and I'm asking for the front fascia as well because of the bug etchings that have been there since I bought the car. Sheesh, wonder how much more for the whole dang car. Money's tight enough that I don't know I can swing that, but it's worth asking. I've pretty well settled on having the work done at the shop that was recommended by the classic car dealer, Old Style in St Louis.
 
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