So some d*ickwad decided to add a custom pinstripe to my truck - took it right down to the metal. As a result of this I need to get the whole bedside / rear quarter panel of my truck repainted. Finally getting it done next week after grinding through the painful claims process with my insurance company.

The truck now has several coats of Z5 on it and a few coats of Z6. So my question is ...... how long do I have to wait to zaino the newly painted panel? I want the new panel to have the deep shine the balance of the truck has and I really don't want to wait to hit the new paint with some Z6. Anyone have any insight / experience on this? Thanks in advance

 

90 days from the time of the respray.

 

60-90 days gives the paint time to flash off and cure to full hardness, unless the painter has an oven to bake it.

 

Some Zaino diehards will tell you that you do not have to wait even one day because "Zaino isn't wax." That being said, everyone else in the world suggests between 30-90 days to let the paint completely flash and cure.

 

I was still told to wait 90 days and the shop I use exlcusively has a heated booth.

 

Not to nit-pick, but having run a painting department for a major corporation for a few years, I think we have a terminology issue here. “Flash off” refers to the initial evaporation of solvents prior to baking in an oven. If you don‘t allow a paint to flash off properly before heating it up in an oven to cure it, you’ll cause all sorts of problems with the solvent basically boiling up through the paint. So “flash off” and “bake” are two separate, but related terms. When your vehicle comes back from the body shop after painting, the solvents have flashed off, but the paint may not yet be fully cured. As the theory goes, if you seal (wax) the painted surface to early, you’ll prevent final curing.

 

Probably not a bad idea to make sure the paint is fully cured.

 

X2 thats what ive always been told