just got car back from body shop - taking care of new paint

Kimo

New member
Hey everyone -

Yesterday I got my 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT back from the body shop. I got a new front bumper and they repainted my driver's side front fender.

How do I take care of this new paint? The body shop told me NO WAX for 60-90 days because the solvents haven't evaporated completely. Makes sense. But what can I do to protect it in the meantime?

Thanks.

Jamie
 
Wash with a lambs wool mit or natrual sponge using a good car wash soap, dry with micro fiber towels or clean terry cloth towels. I'd wait on putting anything on the new paint area for 60 days.
 
Kimo,

I have heard that some "true polishes" can be used on newly painted surfaces without disturbing the curing process. I believe that Megs web site, www.meguiars.com, even talks about using their polishes on such surfaces. I personal don't touch it for the amount of time the state. After that time I know that I can make it look just as I want.
 
Thats odd. When my car came back from the body shop, quite a bit of paint work had been done. When they got through with the paint, they did the Megs 3 step on it (without me asking for them to).

Needless to say, the car is still beautiful to this day, and not a single swirl (crosses fingers)
 
As a detailer who work in a body shop I'll tell you hands off for two weeks. It's not necissary as i have poly sealed cars one day after being out of the booth, but I'd do it just to be safe. You should treat this paint almost like you would any other paint. Conserns are:
1. Paint is SLIGHTLY softer. If you need to do buff work go slower than usual and do NOT HIT ANY EDGES hard at all.
2. Make sure no paint or harsh stains get on the newer paint as you do not want to scurb it off with laquer thinners as you would on a fully cured paint.

Over all just be EXTRA carefull around it. It will scratch easier than the rest of the paint for a couple months. Just don't worry too much about keeping it unprotected. Modern body shops bake all there cars after painting and this process evaporates 90+ percent of the solvents in the paint. Good luck with the new paint. I'm sure you'll be fine.
 
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