Needs advise on New Paint Car

[Andrich]

Guys I have a 94 Accord that will come out from the paint shop this Monday with double stage paint on it. The shop has no oven so thay are relying on the sun to dry the paint. I just took the car yesterday to the shop for the painting and they said they will start painting it tomorrow which is Saturday and Monday or Tuesday the car will be ready. I wanna ask if can use it on long trip? I have atleast 900 mile trip on Friday To Phoenix then the next day I will go to New Mexico, so less than a week after they will finish painting my car. And I do not have garage for this car so the car will be staying under the sun or dew for 3 days before my trip. What can you advise? Thanks...

[mycophiles]

Re: Needs advise on New Paint Car

I have a bit of experience with newly painted cars as I painted mine myself and did a lot of research and have read quite a bit of documentation. But please, if you have any questions find answers from a source that is more satisfactory.

Like I said I painted mine myself. 2 stage. With 2 coats of clear.

In your situation you are primarily looking at how fast the clear is hardening and if it will be a hard clear or not. In my case, I talked to the shop who sold me the clear I used and was told that If I was going to cut/polish the car it would be easiest while it's still somewhat soft. For this they gave me a 2 week window after the car was shot. You can do some research on the paint that was used and see what the manufacturer believes to be a safe amount of time for the clear to dry. Any clear is essentially 'dry' after a day, at most 2 ( this all depends on temp/humidity and what speed hardener was used when the car was shot... for example. If the wrong hardener was used or more importantly if the painter was a novice and didn't put enough hardener in the clear then you could have to wait up to 2 weeks for the clear to actually dry. The hardener is what helps the clear harden quickly. The clear will always dry completely but the amount of time for it to do so all depends on the hardener temp and humidity.)

So that being said talk to your paint guy. See what speed hardener was used and look up the manufacturer specs. It might help you to take a look at the humidity/temps on the days that the car is shot also. With my car I shot the paint then clear quickly after. 30 minutes after that I rolled the car out of the paint booth my garage into the sun and everything was touchable at that point. I sanded a week following.

As far as bugs if you are going to cut the car then any bug problems will come out after you do the cut so I wouldn't worry about it. As far as rock chips this depends on the way the car was painted ( was it sealed?) and how hard the clear has dried.

I hope this answers your question. In short maybe one of these guys can advise a hard-shell wax to help protect the paint from rocks but personally if it's close to the paint being shot I wouldn't put anything on the paint so It can breath. (if in fact the chemicals haven't finished hardening)

[stanclub]

Re: Needs advise on New Paint Car

The slow drying clear coat could take approximately 16 hours +/- to cure for delivery, but weeks to be completely cured/harden. As mentioned by mycophiles, 2 weeks sounds reasonable at summer time. Also, the amount of reducer used with clear coat can have some affect to the dry time as well. However, if your car is only repaired on 1 or 2 panels, the paint shop might be using clear coat with hardner which drys much faster. Ask the paint shop for opinion.

[TOGWT]

Re: Needs advise on New Paint Car

How soon can I wax my car? The definitive answer is to seek the advice of the company or person who painted the vehicle; as to what you can / cannot do and for what period of time. As they have access to the necessary information; such as the paint and additives (hardeners) used and it tech data sheet (P sheet) and the drying method used. Only they can correctly advise you of any requirements that will not invalidate any guarantees (if given)

Post production paint once it’s applied requires a curing / outgas process, which is temperature / humidity dependant. Usually a period of 30 - 90 days is required for the outgas process, which means that any wax / sealant applied must allow for the transpiration (evaporation) of the solvents

[Andrich]

Re: Needs advise on New Paint Car

Yup, the painter told me I should not use the car in long trips for 1 month. And I ask him if I can use any clear bra, and he said after two days. I can. But I found this Raod Warrior Paint protection. Maybe I can use this. What do you think guys?

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Needs advise on New Paint Car

I have no idea what that product is, but it appears to be a sealant which = no no. The idea is that you can't seal the paint with anything that will stop the gasses from escaping from the paint as it cures. This definitely seems like it would stop that.