darrinb

When i get my car back everything is going to be repainted except the trunk and rear bumper, but if a see a differnce in the paint imma have them redo the whole car. i have heard anything from 30-90 days on how long i should wait to wax the car.
some people say since its hot in the summer you dont have to wait as long.
but what do you guys reccomend?
i guess i should stay away from the clay bar for some time too.
you think it would be alright to use zaino car wash since it has z-2 polish built in it??

thanks

db

Crazy Bimmer

most places say you can wax right away if they use a oven to cure the paint.

Either way i would wait a month to be on the safe side.

darrinb

what i dont understand is the differnce between my situation and buying a brand new car off the lot

Crazy Bimmer

most cars on the dealers lot have been out of the paint shop for more than a month.

123456SPEED

Most manufacturers use ovens and quick drying paint. Local body and paint shops may not use ovens or the same paint drying process.

EricL

I just had the back of the car and the rear driver's quarter panel painted (the shop put a ding in the quarter panel (lot damage) and ended up painting about 1/3 of the car. They sure do nice work on Silver. At least it's perfect again. But, I'm in the same boat and I have to wipe away bird shit and such until I can Zaino my car again (2-weeks away and I can’t wait for that Teflon finish).

I really love the hit-and-run asshole that gave me my first repair. Fooker must have been drunk to hit me and was in a big black pickup truck from the damage.

I asked the same question and got a bunch of really lame answers. None of them were close to right. Even the two brothers that own the shop had different answers.

I finally got the name of the paint: BASF/Glasurit and called BASF. I tried calling Sal Zaino, but he wouldn't (couldn't?) return my e-mails.

Bottom line: get the name of the paint that they used on the car, and be sure you know what you are going to put on the car. It makes a difference as the paints have different technologies and cure times. Even though the paint is NOT like the old stuff that out gassed for a very long time, there are about 20-different types of paint, and they are ALL different.

So, get the BRAND, MAKE and TYPE of paint used in the repair, and see if it was baked, or UV cured, etc. Call the maker of the paint – use google, etc -- and ask to talk to one of the OEM specialists that work with detailers or the paint shop. Depending on the type, make, and brand of paint -- and even type of wax, coating (Zaino, etc) you plan on putting on the car, you might be good to go in a day or you might have to wait for 3-months.

The type of wax will have a large impact on when you can put it on. At least it did when I called around.

In my case, I called BASF and a local detailer that did a second check. The Glasurit needs 30-days in medium temp before it wants to see any Zaino on it. There are some glazes and carnaubas that can go on right away – depending on the paint and brand of carnauba.

YMMV

darrinb

thanks for the info eric

dallison

i have heard 3 months b/c it takes a while for the paint to cure after it dries, thats usually what i follow

BBsAcuraRacing

Darrin,

When I just had my front cover replaced, they told me OK right away...

Slimey

When I had my bumper replaced & repainted (2 years ago now), I got the same recommendation from the body shop even though they did say they oven cured the paint. They said wait at least one month, and preferably two months for the paint to finish curing. They said that waxing the paint would not allow it to 'breath'.

I emailed Zaino and asked if there would be an issue with earlier Zaino-ing. They said no, and said that paint can still cure with Zaino on it, and that the body shop's recommendations were typically overkill and that the paint could be detailed sooner then they state.

But... how long exactly should I wait? What's the bottom line on waiting time? -- they didn't give me one. They just said that there shouldn't be a problem with Zaino-ing after painting. I did wait a few weeks and did not have problems.

CLpower

they say about 30 days. But todays clear coats cure pretty quick, probably in 2 weeks you should be safe.

darrinb

i just dont want to start claying and waxing then have all these swirls

ktgumbo

I would wait about a month, and leave it in the sun as much as possible to make it completly dried

mattg

your fresh paint needs to be able to breath so it can fully cure. otherwise it can get a cloudy appearance from solvents being trapped inside the clearcoat. i'd say give it 4 weeks.

if you want to shine up your car berfore then, get some 3M perfect-it glaze for dark colors. the stuff lets the paint breathe and it's the bomb for shine.

dfreder371

Number one: I am a paint evaluator and a powder coating guy but I do liquids also.

Number two: Your answer is: it depends.

My big question to you is why are you taking the foolhardy approach of making 80% of the newly painted car match two old car parts? Throw in a few extra hundred and get the whole car repainted. Trust me, it's the best way.

Automotive finishes are not understood by the general public. But the manufacturers do understand that you do not understand.

Most cars have a powder coated primer coat, and it gets baked in an oven. Then color is applied, and this is always (so far, but just wait...) a liquid finish that has to evaporate the either water (yuck), water and cosolvent (better) or pure solvent finish (best). Usually, the color coat is forced cured also with heat.

Now, a clear coat is applied (to your nicer cars), and the nicer nicer cars have a clear coat, powder coated finish.

If your top coat is clear powder coated and is cured properly, you can wax this part as soon as it is cool enough to touch.

Now here is the rub: powder coatings require no wax! It's not paint, it's plastic.

Now if your clear coat (if applied) is water or solvent borne, it's a total different story. Usually after 30 days at an ambient temperature of 70 degrees should be ok.

Check with your body shop. The last thing they want coming back at them is paint issues.

mattg

dave, no body shop is going to be using a powder coat or water based clear. it will be urethane.

stop confusing the kid.

pimpscls

I would say a month to a month and a half just to be safe, thats what they said for my moms car?

18anatak

One month. Usually 2 weeks, but one month to be on the safe side. I deal with a lot of bodyshops, they all say that, and when my car got re-painted i waited about a month before I did a wax and polish, and its fine.

Nicky Pass

You can Zaino right away because its a polymer....NO CARRANUBA wax for 60 days!

darrinb

is that a polish? wax?

dfreder371

mattg: agreed, you are correct in most cases. However, some of the most upscale just eat this as the price of doing buisness.

No matter how little the hood of you BMW 745i is dinged, they just replace it to obtain the original integrety. The slightly damaged hood is shipped back, restruck/remanufactured, and put on another car.

Powder coatings do indeed become a headache to body shops.

Sometimes the best solution is just to match the finish to the original, rather than to develop a liquid solution that can be replaced in the field that is "reasonably close".

mattg

it's a glaze/polish. trust me it's the bomb, especially on black.

mattg

EricL

NOT if the paint is BASF Glasurit... They specifically mentioned polymers as products NOT to use within 30-days.

After calling twice, I also called my detailer who works on a whole bevy of different paints, and he pretty much said the same thing. As dfreder370 mentioned, some of the new German stuff is power coat (even the clearcoat), and the rules are completely different. There are even some shops that don't know enough to put on a coating that is incompatible with some of the new coatings.

PPG, DuPont, and BASF are the main manufacturers of paint products for OEM and repair usage (there are others too).

They are even starting to offer different polishes for different types of paint coatings.

If you disagree, call BASF and talk to them about it...

Some links that cover auto paints, chems, coatings:

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/8042/8042paints.html

http://www.just-auto.com/store/sampl...ngs_sample.pdf

http://www.coatingsworld.com/March041.htm

http://www.ippmagazine.com/CDA/Artic...110405,00.html