Well, I got my truck back today from the dealership. Complete repaint for spider webbing. It looks awesome! I'm very impressed. The guy at the dealership said that I can go ahead and wash and wax whenever I feel like it. I know most of you think wait 60 days after a repaint. Could they have accelerated the drying process enough to make it safe for washing and waxing already?

Thanks.

 

Usually you can wait 30 days, but you can never be too safe. Meguiars Professional makes a good line of polishes and waxes, so does 3M and Zaino, all top notch stuff.

I have never heard of a paint acclerator additive that would make the drying process faster??????? Some ppl wait 30 days, 60 days and sometimes 90 before they go getting it all snazed up. Anymore questions just drop a line,,,,,,,91

 

If the paint job was "oven cured", it's probably pretty safe to wax. If not, I'd wait a couple of months. In the mean time, you can always use a light polish or a glaze to keep it looking good, as they won't "seal" the paint.

 

I am not positive about the paint they use on vehicles so take what I have to say with that in mind. We manufacture electric motors where I work. Some motors have paint that needs to be backed in the oven in order to cure correctly, they need a particular temperature (usually somewhere around 200 degrees F.) to “flash over” the paint in order for it to bond correctly. Other paints are “air dry” no oven and many of those have an additive added to them that assist in the curing process so they properly bond. That could be looked at like “an additive to speed up the drying time”. Drying time is nothing more then cure time of the paint (until it is no longer tacky to the touch) but doesn’t specifically mean it is properly bonded to its surface.

For instance there are many different types of “Loc-tite” some have a cure time of 15 minutes but are not considered properly bonded (at their optimum bond strength) for many hours and sometimes days.

In your case they most likely painted your truck with “air dry” paint with an additive that accelerated the cure time so it was not tacky to the touch, would not run in high wind (65mph down the road) etc. However it could take, like the others stated, 30 – 60 days to completely bond to the surface and until it is completely bonded (some call it cured) it is much easer to cause damage to the paint, such as with using a buffer (smearing effect), causing minor surface scratching, like swirl marks, and that is why they will usually state to you not to wax/polish the vehicle until a given amount of time.

Your best bet is if they did not give you any specifics about how long to wait is give them a call and ask, or wait 60 days. I had work done on my truck about a year ago and they gave me a card that stated to wait at least 30 days prior to any waxing and/or using any type of sealants on the paint.

If it was backed in the oven, like they come from the factory you can wax or apply sealants as soon as it has cooled down from being backed, in other words if you went to a dealer and bought a truck that was just built 2 days ago you could do what ever you wanted with no ill effects to the paint because after it has been in the over it is completely cured and bonded.

Just so you know there is no difference in the quality of paint (like Dupont) if it is a backed on paint or air dry paint, the only difference is the length of time it takes to completely bond. Most body shops do not have the room or money to have ovens for backing paint (not to mention the cost to operate the oven), and they can’t afford to use paint that they would have to keep the truck in a dust free environment for a few days or so to get out of using the additive to accelerate the cure time where the customer can safely drive off and not have the paint run of get particles stuck to it, like bugs from it being tacky.

 

Perhaps I was not clear. My apologies. I did ask him how long I should wait before waxing, and he said I could wax it today if I liked, that there was no reason to wait. Also, by "accelerating the drying process," I meant with heat, not an additive that acts like ZFX. Sorry for the confusion, and thanks so much for the help.

01, I'm almost positive they just painted the truck Thursday b/c I called and asked how it was going. Also, they mentioned they were going to do some final buffing yesterday before I picked it up. Does that make it more likely that they baked it? I would just call them back, but they're closed until Mon.

Thanks again.

 

I wish I could answer your question Flytrap, but I am not really sure. I know in body shops that use air dry paint they can do some buffing but “from what I understand” they may use specific pads, and buffer speeds etc so as to not do any damage to the fresh paint. I mean they know what they are doing.

It would be nice if someone that paints automobiles would come by and give us the straight facts…

 

Word, yo.
That would be great.

 

I did own an auto detailing business,a few years ago before getting into the extermination business and highly reccomend you wait at (least)30 days.2 stage paint is very complex(base coat-clearcoat)especially if it is metallic.good luck and enjoy your new paint job!

 

SBM, thanks for the info.
Too bad I have to take my truck back on Monday to the dealership, or I'd be 3 days into my 30. I was looking over the new paint in detail yesterday, and noticed that, on the hood, in each front corner, there is no clearcoat for about an inch in a triangle extending from the corners inward. I was nonplussed at this discovery to say the least. They will be repainting the hood. How could something like that happen? The rest of the paint is very good. Oh, well. It's their dime.