Hey all,

I am having a new front bumper, wing, and sideskirts put on my car in the near future. Obviously I will be having these painted and had a quick question for the gurus. The rest of my car is extremely hologrammed from the previous owner and I definitely need a good paint correction/detail. Should I get this done before the installs so the shop can match paint/blend better? After the installs? I've also heard that you shouln't wax paint for the first couple weeks after painting, is this true?

Also, I plan on getting a clear bra for the new front end, is there a certain amount of time I should wait after the paint to do this or can I do it right away?

Thanks in advance guys!

 

If the shop you're getting your paintwork done at has an oven to bake the paint, there's very little solvents left to gas out. This means you can pretty much do anything to it immediately after it's been painted. If however, the shop uses catalysts to speed up the curing process, you will need to typically wait 2-4 weeks of sun time to let the solvents gas out.

I would machine polish the whole car to get it the best you can and let the body shop do their thing. Then, come back and do a light polishing and apply your wax of choice.

As for the clear film, same advice as above. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the info!

One more question for you, is there any advantage/disadvantage to baking the paint vs. letting it sun out? Thanks!

 

I'm not sure of any advantage or disadvantage; it's the manner which the bodyshop cures its paint. Each location may vary. Here in CA, we have strict air control so shops can't emit VOCs. Therefor, the paint they use has a very low % of solvents. The body shop I use heat cures the paint and when the car is complete, there may be 2-3% solvent left in the paint. With those low numbers, you're doing anything to the paint and it's cured properly. Hope this answers your question.

 

If you plan on having the clear bra applied on top of fresh paint, make sure the body shop puts your car through the bake booth. Venture Shield does breathe, but I wouldn't put it on unbaked paint.


John

 

Thanks for the info guys!

 

The best insurance for proper curing is to park the car in direct sunlight. The solids in the clear must evaporate and will shrink and cure faster in the ultra violet light along with added heat from the sun.