What happens if you don't let new paint cure?

[wong600]

Hey all,

I've been reading all over this forum that you must not wax new paint for 90 days!

My 08 Dodge Charger passenger side was keyed middle of last november (11/14/09) .. I got it re-painted right away but.. I also used next Tech wax 2.0 on it within a week! (Nobody ever told me! including the body shop -- thay said it was ready to go!) I "logically" thought, new paint.. I better protect right away! bummer.

What's gonna happen to the paint? What might I notice in the paint? Is it too late to do anything?

[TOGWT]

Re: What happens if you don't let new paint cure?

New paint needs to outgas (i.e. the solvents need to evapourate) if this is hindered by product application the clear coat may form a 'hard film' on top and the cc matrix may remain 'soft'

[wong600]

Re: What happens if you don't let new paint cure?

New paint needs to outgas (i.e. the solvents need to evapourate) if this is hindered by product application the clear coat may form a 'hard film' on top and the cc matrix may remain 'soft'

Hey Thanks.. what do you mean by the cc matrix may remain soft? what is cc matrix?

I looked very closely at my paint with a swirl light and notice that the surface of it seems to have texture (like "fingerprints") but my original paint on the driver's side does not.. but I don't know if that difference was always there

[Michael Stoops]

Re: What happens if you don't let new paint cure?

With a potential hard film on top and the remained of the clear being "soft" you could have bonding issues or early clear coat failure. This is actually quite rare, however.

You say the car was resprayed just two or three months ago - how often have you waxed it? If just the one time then it shouldn't be a big deal. Still, you can remove the wax with a body shop safe paint cleaner like M80 Speed Glaze, even working by hand.

As for any visual differences in texture, that's probably down to how the resprayed paint was laid down compared to the factory paint job - you've probably got some slightly different orange peel texture present on the resprayed panels.

[wong600]

Re: What happens if you don't let new paint cure?

Thanks Michael! I only sealed it that one time.. and have taken off the wax recently by cleaning with a DA; then I applied showglaze.. which probably doesn't matter anymore anyway.. should I just re-wax with carnauba to save the showglaze?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: What happens if you don't let new paint cure?

It sounds like you're the end of that 60-90 day curing period, so you should be fine to start waxing at this point.