First Polish After Re-Spray
 

Hi Guys

Had my car painted at the weekend, 3 Coats of Base 3 Coasts of Clear

Colour is DBM

My mate sprayed it and is very very very good, I need to polish it but dont want to make any mistakes.

I have a Makita with buffing head and G3 Regular Compound..........been told lots and lots of water is the key.

Advice Please guys:thumb:

No polishing, especially by machine for at least a week or two. Most paints/lacquers take at least that to cure and harden. I had one of my front wings done by a bodyshop and I didnt go near it for over 3 weeks.

You can hand polish it using a lesser abrasive polish.

I am sure one of the experts will be along shortly to guide you :thumb:

OK Cheers

Hope so


Steve

Just been speaking to a chap from the bodyshop near where i work and he has said he usually leaves the laquer for 24hrs and then machine buffs with Regular Grade G3 Cutting Compound.

Does this sound OK?

I want it super looking for this the NBO on sunday

Steve

personnaly mate id take it into the paint shop that done it the day before an get them to do it an get a decent coat of wax on it before it leaves had my car sprayed about a year ago now an apart from the bodyshop mopping it before it left ive only done it once since an all i do is give it a good clean an a wax every other time i wash it an i use my car every day an its still gleaming apart from the stone chips:cry:

Didnt have a bodyshop spray it my mate is a Painter in the RAF and he has done a top job for me but he is now back at camp.

was probably polished by your mate after the paintjob anyway?

Was the paint baked or just left to cure normally?

STOP!!! Sod G3, it's utter crap compared to some of the newer polishes on the market, and very, very messy to use; I can almost guarantee you will make an arse of it if you proceed with G3. Best bet is to firstly check the cure status of the paint; did your buddy use IR lamps to cure it, or has it been left to cure naturally? This is crucial to safe polish choice. Let us know and we'll come back with some further advice asap. Given the short time frame until the show, you may have to source some 3M products from your local motor factors, so best look them up in the yellow pages now prior to getting the advice. Also, did you buddy machine polish it at all?

Paint dried naturally guys was painted on Saturday, He didnt buff at all just told us to leave if for as long as possible before buffing.

Cheers
Steve

Righty, in that case the full cure is going to take up to 90 days and you need to be very careful in terms of polish choice until then. My advice would be to consider sticking with 3M Ultrafina SE applied using a 3M Ultrafina SE pad, as this will bring out the shine but without cutting back to much. You also need to be very careful with what wax or sealant is put on it; if you use anything with silicones in it, you will clog the pores and prevent the paint from curing properly, meaning it will always be softer than it should be. In an ideal world I would advise you to leave the car for 4-6 weeks before doing anything, but if you insist on going ahead then the mild recommendation above is as far as we would go on such paint at this stage. :)

When i say polish i mean to remove the few bits of dust / debris (Cut the Laquer back) that has landing on the car whilst the paint was drying......not to polish is for protection or show finnishes if you know what i mean, just for the paint to be as perfect as can be before i start applying protective polishes etc.

If that is what you mean and it is best to leave for 90 Days i will do so then remove the dust etc, using your above recomendations.

Should i put a small amount of protection on until the 90 Days is up...if so what?.

Sorry for the long winded explination but im new to this, this is the first time i have had a car painted or a car with paint worth really looking after.

Regards
Steve

Don't confuse polishes with protection; polishes are only for cutting back (to greater or lesser extents), while protective products seal in the finish created by polishing. At this stage, it will be fine to cut back the paint (the extent to which this will need doing will depend on the quality of the respray and how many little defects need tidying up). Because you are new to this, taking the gentle approach discussed above is sensible, otherwise you may be biting off more than you can chew. In terms of protection, leaving the paint bare isn't ideal as it makes it leaves it open to damage from birds crap, etc, but as I said above, if you protect it too soon with anything that will clog the pores then the curing process will be affected (it's pretty rare these days for cars to be left to cure on their own). If you do choose to protect it sooner, then I know for sure that Werkstat products don't contain any silicones, but they aren't ideally suited to very soft paints - damned if you do, damned if don't springs to mind! If you don't drive the car much and can keep it stored inside then leaving it bare for at least another month or so is probably wise. :)