Would a hardtop interfere with paint curing?

[Sad little man]

I just had a side of my '96 Miata re-painted for the second time after there were some issues with the paint adhering. As much as I didn't want to have it painted this close to winter, it might not have been able to wait until spring, but hopefully I can get a coat of wax on before any drives through salt. In any case, since it is quickly getting colder, I'd like to put my hardtop on for the winter, however the rear edge of it latches down onto the rear deck of the car, which includes a panel that was re-painted. Is it realistically ok to put the rubber weather stripping onto the fresh paint?

 

[Eliot Ness]

The "safe" answer is to keep it out of the weather (as much as possible) and protected with a "new-paint-safe" glaze, like Meg's #5, until the paint is fully cured.



I'm not sure how the rubber will affect the curing, but the paint will be a little softer than normal until it is fully cured, so the possibility of marring does exist. I would wait as long as possible (and at least 30 days), and then apply a "paint safe" glaze again before putting it on.



Since you had "paint adhering" issues before, I would tend to err on the side of caution on this one.

 

[velobard]

I'd vote for waiting as many days as you can before you put the hardtop on. Definitely not in the first few days, much better if you can wait at least a few weeks.