Freshly painted Door Questions

[sneakypete]

I just finished repairing and painting a new drivers side door, mirror, and handle for my car. I did all the prep in appropriate steps: sanding, 2 coats of primer, sanding, 2 coats of color, sand, 2 coats of clearcoat, etc.
Everything is done and looks great to me, especially compared to before.
What i want to know is what else should i do to improve the finish, and keep it looking good.
I've been reading about using a claybar (which i have), polishing and waxing. I just dont know what order to use them in on a fresh coat of paint.
Ive also heard that its not a good idea to polish newly painted parts. Is that so? If so, how long should i wait?
I havent mounted anything yet so it would be easier for me to do any additional steps put everything together.
Thanks for any input of advice
-pete

 

[morroneplay]

Have you wet sanded everything once you were all done?
This will also finish the paint and make it very smooth getting rid of all the fine partials, with out scratching the surface.

And i believe you can not polish fresh paint for awhile but i mite be wrong.

 

[ms07s]

Most paints have a cure time necessary before they can be buffed and polished. Check with your paint provider.

 

[sneakypete]

I sanded the color coat with 2000grit paper to remove any imperfections before i applied the clearcoat. I havent done anything since i applied the clearcoat because i noticed that when i sanded the color coat it kind of dulled the color.
trying to figure out whats the next step to take

 

[sneakypete]

Most paints have a cure time necessary before they can be buffed and polished. Check with your paint provider.

The paint i used was duplicolor. I followed the directions which i believe state that the primer and paint will dry within 1 hour, cure in 3 hours. the clearcoat should be applied within an hour of the last application of color coat. it also mentioned that an additional coat of clearcoat can be applied after 5 days of the original coat.

 

[ms07s]

Thats cure time for stages and coating of base color clear. Curing for waxing usualy takes much longer. To be safe and not ruin your paint assume 4-6 weeks before any buffing waxing or chemical treatments, and thats assuming its in a warm dry enviroment. You can wetsand, and it should get glossy with the clear not dull...pics?

 

[sneakypete]

i havent tried sanding the clearcoat yet. how about clay bar? is that a good idea at this point, instead of sanding?
-pete

 

[super.secret.supra.club]

sanding the clear coat is your better option at this point. claybar would help but, is not as effective as sanding.

 

[sneakypete]

ok thanks

 

[ms07s]

That and most claybars leave an oily residue, its mostly used to remove overspray, tree sap, road paint, ect.

 

[Clip]

+1 for wetsanding, and definitely take your time to let the paint cure before you wash/wax it.

 

[Muzy]

How about a high res. pic?
If you have an orange peel prob. in you clear than you will sand 1500 or 2000
and yes that will make your clear hazy. You will need to buff (polish) this
out.
But since I can not see what your concerns are, it is pretty hard to advise
what you should do. :icon_bigg muzy

 

[sneakypete]

How about a high res. pic?
If you have an orange peel prob. in you clear than you will sand 1500 or 2000
and yes that will make your clear hazy. You will need to buff (polish) this
out.
But since I can not see what your concerns are, it is pretty hard to advise
what you should do. :icon_bigg muzy

there is a slight orange peel problem... i assume u mean those little bumps. its not too bad that im gonna complain about. but it def isnt the same as the rest of the car. the door itself is fine, just the mirror and door handle has the problem. so i should wet sand it and then buff and polish after the paint cures (5 days or so)?
-pete

 

[sneakypete]

and ill take some digital pics tomorrow sometime

 

[toy fanatic78]

Claybars are for stuff on top of the clear(sap,overspray,grime.)this will not remove imperfections IN the clearcoat.Buffing /polishing can be done the next day,it's the actual wax that can't be applied for some time(~6-8 weeks)
The reason you shouldn't wax yet is because the solvents are still evaporating from the paint/clear for quite some time after it is sprayed,and actual wax traps these solvents potentially causing blisters/bubbles.
I would suggest sanding with 1500,followed by 2000,then buff with some buffing compound along the lines of 3M perfect it II,with a foam "waffle pad"(the foam is less aggressive than a wool pad)follow up with a black foam pad and some "glaze"(can also do this by hand)to remove swirl marks.
This can be done the day after clear with no problems,suggest within a couple days of clearing or the clear gets "hard" and makes it tough to get your sanding scratches out.

 

[Muzy]

Will do. Toy is pretty much spot on with what he is recommending. I prefer the Norton
system thou, but both are equally effective.
Am a little concerned that both areas you are addressing are plastic. See tomorrow.muzy

 

[Poodles]

As already mentioned, claybar removes stuff stuck to the paint, nothing more..

 

[Slow66]

Claybars are for stuff on top of the clear(sap,overspray,grime.)this will not remove imperfections IN the clearcoat.Buffing /polishing can be done the next day,it's the actual wax that can't be applied for some time(~6-8 weeks)
The reason you shouldn't wax yet is because the solvents are still evaporating from the paint/clear for quite some time after it is sprayed,and actual wax traps these solvents potentially causing blisters/bubbles.
I would suggest sanding with 1500,followed by 2000,then buff with some buffing compound along the lines of 3M perfect it II,with a foam "waffle pad"(the foam is less aggressive than a wool pad)follow up with a black foam pad and some "glaze"(can also do this by hand)to remove swirl marks.
This can be done the day after clear with no problems,suggest within a couple days of clearing or the clear gets "hard" and makes it tough to get your sanding scratches out.

What he said, and make sure you dont wet sand thru the clear!

 

[toy fanatic78]

I prefer the Norton
system thou, but both are equally effective.

Norton works well too,as do MANY other brands.Just threw that out there as an example of the "grade" of compound to use.

 

[Scot]

This is what the body shop recommended after my wife's car had some repairs done. Actually it all that she uses to put shine on the black 91. Any paint pros on here can comment one way or another.... Per 3M this contains no waxes or silicones and can be painted over. So this might "something" you can use while waiting for the cure... Again, I'll leave that open for the pros to comment on... A high speed buffer is not required either... which is a good thing...

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/...S4K7_nid=T9KWJ03R3Pgs9NQK7NZ8TZglXQWM5FPVC6bl