one month old car hit now new paint

B

Bass

New member
had my car for a month and the frt quarter was hit, hit & run :( - anyway the body shop called and stated it would be finished on Monday - new quarter blended into the hood and driver's side door.



new clear bra will be installed too



The body many said no wax / sealant for 90 days - because the new paint needs to cure



is this true?? just order the klasse twins and a new PC while waiting to get my car back



funny though now that i'm thinking about it, how will the new paint cure under the clear bra??



Thanks guys

Bass
 
The generally accepted conservative estimate is 90 days for the curing process on aftermarket paint. It takes time for the solvents in the paint to evaporate.



The factory can completely cure the paint in the oven because they can bake it at temperatures around 300 degrees. When a car is painted at the factory it is just the bare body with no parts installed that would be affected by temps that high. Because of all the components in a car that don't really do well in high heat an aftermarket paint job is baked at much lower temperatures that just aren't sufficient for all the solvents to completely evaporate. So you have to wait and wait and wait.



I would be concerned about the paint under the clear bra.
 
rjstaaf said:
The factory can completely cure the paint in the oven because they can bake it at temperatures around 300 degrees. When a car is painted at the factory it is just the bare body with no parts installed that would be affected by temps that high. Because of all the components in a car that don't really do well in high heat an aftermarket paint job is baked at much lower temperatures that just aren't sufficient for all the solvents to completely evaporate. So you have to wait and wait and wait.
Click to expand...



Well, it is true that practical limitations of the non-OEM paint job would prohibit the use of bake booths to activate the paint's catalysts, but that is not WHY it isn't done. The catalysts used in OEM paints vs the paints used at aftermarket body-shops are activated differently and inherently take a different amount of time. There are little to no solvents to evaporate in OEM paint....while trying to use heat to speed the curing process in an aftermarket body shop will not only ruin the rest of the car, it'll ruin the paint job as well.



I wouldn't install the clear bra either. Just use a paintable polymer on the repaired areas for a few months and then have the bra installed.
 
I am in the same boat as Bass. New car, got hit and needs a new front bumper cover. The body shop said that the bumper cover would be baked, its a new part so it can be painted and baked off the car, and the clear bra can be applied 24 hours after the bumper is installed. I am skeptical, but if he is truly baking the newly painted bumper cover, wouldn't it be just like OEM? Can polyurethane bumper covers withstand 300 degrees? I would think not. How long would you wait before applying the clear bra???
 
Some would argue that you should *never* apply a clear bra (or other clear plastic paint protection) over a repaint.



Factory paint is almost always different from the stuff used in repaints.



In some cases, you can actually *smell* the outgassing as the paint cures. On my S8's repairs, it was noticeable for over three months.



Waxing too soon can result in the paint not curing fully, not becoming as hard as it oughta be. It generally does *not* result in catastrophic paint failure (like paint coming off or turning all cloudy or stuff like that). But *I* still wait a good long time (who wants too-soft paint). Just use something like Meg's #3/#5/#7/#81 (or #80 if you want to remove marring) or 3M's IHG until it's cured.
 
I'm trying to find a site that lists all the major auto marques and the OEM paint mfrs they use, for example, Spies-Hecker for Audi and PPG 's new Ceramiclear for Mercedes. A post listing such a site (if it exists) would be very helpful to an Autopian preoccupied with insisting on having an OEM repaint on a damaged car. If anyone knows of such a list, please post. Thanks!
 
And to take Bill D's idea a step further, it might be interesting to find out if it's the *same paint forumulation* as the OE one too.
 
Ah, and if that involves the painter's part, I hope a shop local to the Autopian in need of the service can do it.
 
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