hey guys, im finally getting my car painted (in a week or two). after i get this done, im going to get even more hardcore about protecting it from scratches and nicks on the road.
what is the best way to keep crap, bugs, and rocks from damaging my new paintjob?
clear paint bra? - has to be removed?
i know that 3m tape would need to be removed very often and probably not be cost effective.
im not going the black bra route, i have seen that cause more bad than good.
any other ideas?
how soon can i use the spray on bra after the car is painted?
any other tips n tricks would be greatly appreciated
Once you get it out of the booth, I would wait a week or 2 before applying ANYTHING.
When that 2(or more if you wanna be super careful) week period is over, Wash it without pressure, just a garden hose, a TINY bit of mild soap, a soft mit, and dry it after. (water spots are just as ugly as dirt imo).
After about a month you could probably feel safe about washing it with a little more soap, using something to get bugs off, and not worrying so much about the water pressure... but still keep it to a minimum.
As far as protecting it. Wax it once every couple months with a good wax. 3M makes a clear bra that a lot of body shops apply to cars. It isn't cheap like buying a big ugly bra that damages your paint, its clear, its a film, its permanent(kinda), and it is near invisible. I say that is something worth investing in.
On the other hand....you have other fingers.
KevinP (Stabby McShankyou) wrote:not funny... i just can't find that funny... not with 2 copies of the Candyland board game on your shelf.
just remember, no waxing for 90 days to be safe!!!!
I personally would not put ANYTHING on the car (clear bra, whatever)) for the 90 day period. The 90 day period is for your paint to cure, and if you're covering the paint, it can't fully cure.
I'm hoping the shop guarantees their work, and if they do ask the shop what they would suggest so you don't void your warranty on the paint personally.
its a friend of mine doing the job. he said if i have any problems he will fix it. so i plan on getting that in writing... 90 days no wax... oh my god... i thought the original idea of 60 was bad... !!! im gonna be waxing my car in november.... and you can put some money on that one haha
Fallen Angel wrote:just remember, no waxing for 90 days to be safe!!!!
I personally would not put ANYTHING on the car (clear bra, whatever)) for the 90 day period. The 90 day period is for your paint to cure, and if you're covering the paint, it can't fully cure.
I'm hoping the shop guarantees their work, and if they do ask the shop what they would suggest so you don't void your warranty on the paint personally.
i dunno about this, i know that we sell the clear tapes for certain body panels on cars (mostly the rear quarter in front of the rear tire) its esentially the same as the 3m clear bra, and obviously every shop that gets it puts them on before they give the customer the car back, and obviously they dont wait 3 months to give the car back more like 3 days....so i dunno.....and im not talking they did this once but every shop that we deal with does it so hundreds of thousands of cars....
honestly i would take fallen angels advise now ive never painted a car or have any clue about the new paints that are out there or the new methods, i dont do body work, but in the past 3 years my hobby has been detailing (mainly my own vehicles sometimes others) but within my hobby and the internet ive learned that when it comes to fresh paint its best to leave it alone. let it cure and keep it clean,ive read alot of expensive ways(but lets face it i know your not putting a 100,000$ paint job on a jbody) so the cheapest and easiest has already been mentioned use a mild soap (not dish soap) and rinse with a garden hose(take the nozzel off and let the water sheet the soap off) as for drying it suggest buying some quality microfiber towels(since its a new paint jog i would order them from meguirers or mothers... just a suggestion) but i wouldnt wash it more than once a week. other than that its just a waiting game. my disclaimer i am in now way a professional body worker,auto painter or detailer these are just things that ive researched and found that they worked for me. post some pics of the new paint job when its done
i love detailing as well... i always keep new cars clean for my clients. thanks for the info,
any opinions on a chamois? im also looking into borrowing my friends air gun, to dry the car... just so i dont have to run anything that could possibly drag something over the paint... then again i am a bit excentric about what i do to my car.
Is anyone using a leaf blower for drying?
DrPaul84 wrote:Fallen Angel wrote:just remember, no waxing for 90 days to be safe!!!!
I personally would not put ANYTHING on the car (clear bra, whatever)) for the 90 day period. The 90 day period is for your paint to cure, and if you're covering the paint, it can't fully cure.
I'm hoping the shop guarantees their work, and if they do ask the shop what they would suggest so you don't void your warranty on the paint personally.
i dunno about this, i know that we sell the clear tapes for certain body panels on cars (mostly the rear quarter in front of the rear tire) its esentially the same as the 3m clear bra, and obviously every shop that gets it puts them on before they give the customer the car back, and obviously they dont wait 3 months to give the car back more like 3 days....so i dunno.....and im not talking they did this once but every shop that we deal with does it so hundreds of thousands of cars....
If THE shop that painted the car puts it on and will guarantee their paint work, then that's fine because it's on them. If the paint clouds or doesn't cure right, it's on the shop. If he gets a clear bra put on by someone else, and something happens with the paint, the shop will not stand behind it because SOMEONE ELSE put on a clear bra. Just because other shops do it, doesn't necessarily mean it's right or wrong... depends on the situation.
The 90 day rule has been with every shop I worked at. Some say 60, but every shop I worked at said 90. Personally, another month without wax isn't going to kill your paintjob, and it's much better to be safe than sorry.
i just wanted to know
thanks for the advice...
when i do wax it for the first time, should i just wax? or should i grab the P.C. and buff it ... im going to say wax, but wont it spiderweb by then? this car is an outsider... no garage in the fam.
Herb Wilson wrote:i just wanted to know
thanks for the advice...
when i do wax it for the first time, should i just wax? or should i grab the P.C. and buff it ... im going to say wax, but wont it spiderweb by then? this car is an outsider... no garage in the fam.
Unless the shop/person painting your car has no freaking clue what they're doing at all... the paint won't spider in 3 months. Spidering is usually caused by having too thick of paint on your car, poor prep work, excessive abuse on the body of the car.
And I'd say just wax
alright. i just brought that up because my moms car (2006 hyundai sonata v6) spiderwebbed almost immediately after we got it, and the wait period for that was terrible for me. it has since been corrected.
fallen: you know justin bachman right? i work with him, just thought i would throw that out there. haha
if you really wanna protect your paint i would suggest extra layers of clear coat. not only is it a good layer of protection but it also if its buffed it makes your car look really good and gives your paint a deep look.
he doesnt mean spider web as in when u flex a panel to much an it cracks, he means spider web swirl marks....when u look in certain angles an see swider web shaped swirl marks....yea those are a pain in the ass, just gotta be really easy with the paint while its young....
if it were me and on a freshly painted car(which ive never been lucky enough to have) first i would ask the guy who painted it for his or her sugestions. but after the paint has cured(prob about the 90 days) id start out by claying the whole thing just to get out any of the dirt and light over spray that might have been on there,and oh yeah when you wash it dont forget the 2 bucket method(u know 1 for soap and the other to rinse the spong before putting it back in the soapy water) and yes ive heard of and have used the leaf blower method, but any more i dont even dry any vehicle i just let the air dry(well thats not entirely true i use my air compressor to blow out the mirrors and any other place that likes to hold water) then i go over the vehicle with some detailing spray to get rid of the water spots.then i hit the vehicle with a good polish,wait about an hour or so then hit it with 2 coats of a synthetic wax, then i go for a carrnuba wax .but honestly lately ive read about and tried this other wax that really seems to last its called collinite 845 its an insulator wax thats made for boats.i know sounds weired but man it goes on easy comes off easy leaves a damn good shine and really lasts probably cause its made to deal with constant water abuse. as for a chamois i dont use them so i cant say but i do suggest microfiber everything except wax applicator bonnets(they just seem to gum up with wax). but when you do detail your car even if its lowered never forget to clean and dress the wheel wells wheel wells in my opinion is what tells people your car is clean.
Herb Wilson wrote:alright. i just brought that up because my moms car (2006 hyundai sonata v6) spiderwebbed almost immediately after we got it, and the wait period for that was terrible for me. it has since been corrected.
fallen: you know justin bachman right? i work with him, just thought i would throw that out there. haha
Yeah I know Justin, tell the old man I said hi LOL. if you have any other questions, feel free to shoot me an IM or something, or just ask Justin for my number. 90 days does seem long, but I say "better to be safe than sorry".
Luis Marroquin wrote:if you really wanna protect your paint i would suggest extra layers of clear coat. not only is it a good layer of protection but it also if its buffed it makes your car look really good and gives your paint a deep look.
You don't want to much paint on your car. Your clear coat helps protect the BASE paint, throwing extra clear on there isn't going to solve the problem. The ONLY circumstance you would want to put on extra clear (the standard is 2-3 coats) is if you're going for show quality, and do not want any orange peel, and then you wet sand the orange peel out so it's like glass. Again, ORANGE PEEL IS NOMRAL. There's nothing wrong with a small amount of orange peel... it is unavoidable.
But when you start throwing a bunch of extra layers on your car, you're thickening the paint, and your paint will be more prone to crack, spider, etc. Paint thickness is measured in microns, typically, you want NO MORE than 7 microns (at least that's what I've been told) total on your car.
Think about it this way (and if this doesn't help refer to my sticky at the top of the forum)
Take a piece of transparency film. It's plastic, but very flexible. (the transparency represents your paint). If you have a thicker piece of plastic, like say the kind of plastic you'd find on cheap picture frames... it won't flex much until it cracks. That's kinda like your paint. The thicker your paint, the higher general probability it will crack.
^^^ i guess i should of cleared it up a bit, but what i was referring to was maybe just one extra coat of clear like you said. On his registry is shows that he has a modded car and had future plans for the exterior of the body, i can relate to the theory you used because one of my professors told me the exact same thing, so im guessing he has the exterior of the car done and hes gonna get the whole thing repainted. well my reasoning for added clear coat would be to have a show quality finish, even though it might be a dd one more layer would definately protect from the elements while making the car look good.
Luis Marroquin wrote:^^^ i guess i should of cleared it up a bit, but what i was referring to was maybe just one extra coat of clear like you said. On his registry is shows that he has a modded car and had future plans for the exterior of the body, i can relate to the theory you used because one of my professors told me the exact same thing, so im guessing he has the exterior of the car done and hes gonna get the whole thing repainted. well my reasoning for added clear coat would be to have a show quality finish, even though it might be a dd one more layer would definately protect from the elements while making the car look good.
ahhh ok lol. *whew* now that THAT is cleared up LOL. For a second I was like "nooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I was going to say something else... but I've had way too much caffiene and I forgot
