my 2000 cavalier is going to the paint shop on tuesday. im going to have it back on friday.
heres the question section
1. i need to wait 60 days before waxing the vehicle- correct?
2. the car will not be buffed from this painter, he just paints the vehicle. how would i go about buffing this new paint, and at what point should i buff it.?
3. i have detailed new cars before, but many of them are already 60 days old, so i just wax them and they are new, so they usually dont need buffed right away. is there a difference between new cars and just new paint?
4. what can i do to protect my new paint, yet not wax it. would meguiars UQD be a product for this job?
5. what should i buff the car with for the first time when it comes time?
6. what kind of prep work do i need to do to the vehicle before taking it to the shop. im debadging it currently, and removing stickers as a courteosy to the painter.
7. any advice for the car. i love my car and i dont want this expense to end up being a problem.
oh, the painter has a 6 years warranty for the work, he is putting on a UV sunscreen, integrated clearcoat and a euro top coat of clear. he is prepping and priming the car before doing anything, but should i remove anything from the car? im trying to get a better job by helping him prep the car.
thanks ahead of time, sorry for my scatterbrain thoughts
I can answer some of these questions just not all or I can atleast point you in the right direction.
Ok so for the first one yes its true you should way atleast 60 days to wax i usually wait around 90 but that depends on the paint I use, this also goes along with washing the car at the car wash or with a heavy soap.
Second one if you never buffed a car before I would suggest taking it to some one who has, since its very easy to go right through the clear coat and into the paint if you arent careful.
Not to sure about the difference between factory new car paint and a new paint job, but I have noticed that the new car paint seems to be alot thinner then a freshly paint car that you took somewhere and had it done, a newly painted car should hold up alot longer then the factory paint from the dealership.
As far as protecting it just leave it alone you dont wanna put any kind of compound on the clear while its cureing.
Question 5 is like the 2nd one get a professional to do it but if you try I also started to buff the car with 2000 grit wet sand paper and I use the line of 3m buffing compound the kind I use has 3 stages but you can get a all in one compound, just goto you local paint shop and ask them about the 3M buffing compound. And a good air buffer usually does a better job then a electrical one.
Shouldnt have no prep work to do, if he has been painting for years he will know what to do when the car gets to him, only thing you really can do is give it a good wash so you get all the bugs and tar and whatever else there is on the car off this will speed up his prep work a little bit since he wont have to spend a ton of time washing it.
Herb Wilson wrote:
1. i need to wait 60 days before waxing the vehicle- correct?
2. the car will not be buffed from this painter, he just paints the vehicle. how would i go about buffing this new paint, and at what point should i buff it.?
3. i have detailed new cars before, but many of them are already 60 days old, so i just wax them and they are new, so they usually dont need buffed right away. is there a difference between new cars and just new paint?
4. what can i do to protect my new paint, yet not wax it. would meguiars UQD be a product for this job?
5. what should i buff the car with for the first time when it comes time?
6. what kind of prep work do i need to do to the vehicle before taking it to the shop. im debadging it currently, and removing stickers as a courteosy to the painter.
7. any advice for the car. i love my car and i dont want this expense to end up being a problem.
oh, the painter has a 6 years warranty for the work, he is putting on a UV sunscreen, integrated clearcoat and a euro top coat of clear. he is prepping and priming the car before doing anything, but should i remove anything from the car? im trying to get a better job by helping him prep the car.
1. personally... I'd wait 90 to be on the safe side
2. Typically when wetsanding/buffing a new paint job, you want to wait at least a day if not 2 before doing so... depending on the paint, how thick it is, atmospheric conditions, etc. New paint doesn't NEED to be buffed/wet sanded unless there's dry spots in the clear or runs, etc.
3. Detailing a new car can be / usually is different than a freshly painted one. Personally, I'd let a professional do it, fresh paint can be easy to "burn through" the clear if you're not really careful.
4. In the 60/90 day curing time, nothing is going to be that incredibly detrimental to your paint it needs "protection" in that short time. Of course after washing the car you want to try to dry it as to not leave water spots or whatnot, but even then it won't kill the paint or anyhting. Keep it out from under a tree that could drip sap on the paint, stuff like that.
5. buffing compound if you insist on buffing the fresh paint yourself
6. Ask the painter if he/she wants you to do anything special
When in doubt about anything before bringing your car to a shop for anything, ask the shop if there's anything they want you to do or whatnot... each shop may have their own preferences or whatnot as to what they will allow someone else to do and what they won't.
thanks for the input. i have buffed cars before, just not freshly painted cars. mainly for detailing to get rid of spiderwebbing, and other clear coat issues.
i guess ill just be very careful about where i park my car... even more careful then i am now... maybe my car wont move for ninety days... haha
thanks again
i talked to the paint guy when i dropped it off today
he suggests no washing, for 30 days, except cool water running over the paint... no soap or mitts
no polishing for 60 days and then no wax for 80 days. its going to be a long 80 days... ive already got it marked on my calendar...!!!
I washed and waxed my car right when I got it back from the paint shop. Probably waxed it liek 10 times that week even. Ask anyone who has seen my car in person, the finish is show worthy, waxing it did nothign bad to the paint!
"Louis, you better watch who you call a child. Because if I'm a child,
that makes you a pedafile, and I'm not gonna stand here and argue
with a pervert" -- Peter Griffin
Mat Cacciatore wrote:I washed and waxed my car right when I got it back from the paint shop. Probably waxed it liek 10 times that week even. Ask anyone who has seen my car in person, the finish is show worthy, waxing it did nothign bad to the paint!
That''s good for you... I guess us professionals should stop posting advice since we''re apparently wrong...
Mat Cacciatore wrote:I washed and waxed my car right when I got it back from the paint shop. Probably waxed it liek 10 times that week even. Ask anyone who has seen my car in person, the finish is show worthy, waxing it did nothign bad to the paint!
waxing it as soon as it comes out clogs up the pores in the paint and doesnt let the paint fully cure.
sndsgood wrote:but if waxing it clogs the pores, wouldnt wetsanding it down and buffing it do the same thing?
Actually no. Buffing compounds and wax are made up of totally different things. Wax is designed to help protect your clear coat, a buffing compound in all actuality is not much more than a "liquid" abrasive. Buffing compounds are more gritty than waxes, and buffing compounds need to be slightly abrasive.. it's basically just a polish. The grittiness of a buffing compound polishes the dull clear after wet sanding to bring the shine back, whereas a wax is made to "penetrate" the clear in a sense and protect it.
I just got up so I hope that makes sense... I'm finding it hard to explain at the moment.
If you are gonna wash the car just use cold water and no soap or mitt or sponges. The chemicals in the soap will get down in the pores as well and not allow the paint to cure correctly. I just wouldnt chance it at all, why spend all that money on a paint job and be in such a hurry to wash it and take the chance the paint isnt gonna cure right.
im not washing with soap for the thirty days recommended by the company. im also not waxing for 80 days as recommended.
they said cold water, not mitt, no dry, no soap. so im sticking with that.
i just dont want it to get to the point where its snowing and i cant wax it anyway which is why i was questioning it in the first place
I'm just trying to understand the reasoning. in my head its hard to see how washing your car with a soft rag will do more harm then water and 800 grit sandpaper will. its kinda like saying youlle do more damage rubbing a sore then you will scratching it. esp with the new car wash liquids that are so gentle they wont even remove the wax on your cars surface.
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from my understanding you should be able to wash it when it comes out but there really should be no need to wash it. its like buying cooked food and cooking it again. the car is already clean, no need to clean it when it comes out.
another valid point from strippedcav.... im gonna just try and keep it clean without water... maybe windex on bird droppings asap, and stuff like that... but i just like having a super clean car... last year the car had a wash every week(ish) and wax every month, just so it could be protected from my daily commute.... a little overboard, but the meguiars stuff i use does not build up... worked out well for me... trying to get my car back into that kind of routine sooner rather than later, while still allowing proper curing time
Herb Wilson wrote:another valid point from strippedcav.... im gonna just try and keep it clean without water... maybe windex on bird droppings asap, and stuff like that... but i just like having a super clean car... last year the car had a wash every week(ish) and wax every month, just so it could be protected from my daily commute.... a little overboard, but the meguiars stuff i use does not build up... worked out well for me... trying to get my car back into that kind of routine sooner rather than later, while still allowing proper curing time
You'd be better off with water to wash off the bird droppings... windex is way more harsh than water
D'oh! water bottle it is then...
sndsgood wrote:I'm just trying to understand the reasoning. in my head its hard to see how washing your car with a soft rag will do more harm then water and 800 grit sandpaper will. its kinda like saying youlle do more damage rubbing a sore then you will scratching it. esp with the new car wash liquids that are so gentle they wont even remove the wax on your cars surface.
No idea why but when we painted my rear bumper we wetsanded it that night after and it was all dandy. I went to the car wash the next day to get ready to go to college, and with the pressure washer I washed the paint off the part of the rear bumper that goes in the rear wheel well.
Soft rag prolly won't do anything but a harsh rag/pressure washer definately could.
-Seth
StrippedCav98 (Now Quotable) wrote:from my understanding you should be able to wash it when it comes out but there really should be no need to wash it. its like buying cooked food and cooking it again. the car is already clean, no need to clean it when it comes out.
even having the car in the garage, in a weeks time there is dust covering it. not to mention if your driving it on the road.
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I used to paint luxury cars under insurance claims and the paint jobs had to be perfect. I wet sanded every paint job I did, not because there was debris in it but because it takes away the LITTLE bit of orange peel from fresh clear. I always wet sanded after the clear sat over-night and never had a problem.
The reason you don't want to wash it just yet is because the clear is still soft. Wet sanding and buffing can be done within 24 hours because it is not cleaning the surface, it is taking away the top layer in such a manor that the layer under is left perfect. Washing it will leave small scratches, that is why you shouldn't use any brushes or mitts.
As clear coat cures, it releases chemicals into the air, it is a biproduct of the process. As previously stated, polishing compounds and waxes fill in the small scratches in your paint to make it appear like perfect clear coat. Buffing removes the bad layer with surfaces scratches and actually makes for perfect clear coat. I'm sure you can see the difference and why buffing can be done (once mind you) and waxing/polishing cannot. Waxes and polishes coat the clear coat and don't let it breath, therefore it can't release the cheamicals and cure.
Another missunderstanding is the sandpaper. You don't use 800 grit paper to wet sand, you use 2000 grit and 2500 grit, sandpaper smoother than regular printer paper. Sometimes I used as low as 1500 but it was on a rubber sanding block, only on cars with more than 3 layers of clear coat and only to remove a particle of dust that may have gotten past the filter in the spray booth. Wet sanding is done because the grit is soo rediculously fine that it clogs litterally in a single pass. I used warm water (I get joint pains in my hand with cold) and a non-polymer based soap, extremely gentle. Do remember though that the soap was applied before buffing. buffing totally removes the soap and removes every single little pore it could get into.
If you get dust on top of your car sitting in the garage, blow it off with compressed air. If you get dirt that is attached to your car and not just sitting on it, spray it off with water. The water cannot be HARD, but some pressure is allowed. Other than that, just be careful because only light dirt and dust can be removed before curing, otherwise you are SOL. If you end up washing it, it needs to be buffed again and MAYBE lightly wet sanded. Avoid waxing/washing at all times for at least a month, two if possible.
Please PM me if anything else needs clearing up as I wont be checking this thread.
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