Ray
I've finished painting the nightmare bumper skirt and have flatted about half of it with 1200 grit. It looks nice, finally, but I suspect the paint is still a little soft. The colour coat is Halfods mixed to colour aerosol which actually went on very nicely, and is an excelent colour match. How long should I leave it to harden before putting the polishing mop and Farecla G3 on it?
as long as you can, especialy if its in a cold garage, 24 hours would be ok.
I would leave it a good couple of weeks if its out in the cold.
after that you will be fine to polish it up but you need to leave it a lot longer for all the solvents to work their way out before you put any wax
on it.
24 hours?? Dont be silly mate, if its just painted and its sitting cold leave it at least 2 weeks I'd say
It's in my basement which is heated but not very exactly hot, maybe 15° or so. Its warmer than the garage by a long way.
The longer the better... A couple of weeks sounds about right to me.
Ed.
As above, just give it the thumb nail test...
(in a discreet place obviously!!!)
Would of thought that a week is a minimum IMO, but you will feel it straight away if you start polishing too early...
worth waiting till it hardens off properly or youll burn through and have to start again leave at least a week before compounding paint work and
patience go hand in hand
Ray
2 weeks is good....
would be better if you where to wet flat with 2000....1200 is too course imho....
In response to the above post.
1200 is great for what it's for, 1600 and 2000 is better for obvious reasons...
You can get 3000 in discs (for attachments to polishers) which means they feel v good when folded in half and used by hand, and spread the loads of
your hand/fingers very well. I know a lot of people suggest only using blocks, but I'd rather do it by hand...
thinking about it, I have some 1500 grit tucked away so I might as well use it. I've never seen finer than this in a shop.
We leave panels a good 30 mins to an hour before polishing, without an oven I would leave six hours to be on the safe side. If left too long you cannot get the surface to burnish as it is too hard
couple of weeks. with the car left in daylight as much as possible
quote:
Originally posted by Mark Allanson
We leave panels a good 30 mins to an hour before polishing, without an oven I would leave six hours to be on the safe side. If left too long you cannot get the surface to burnish as it is too hard
quote:
Originally posted by smart51
quote:
Originally posted by Mark Allanson
We leave panels a good 30 mins to an hour before polishing, without an oven I would leave six hours to be on the safe side. If left too long you cannot get the surface to burnish as it is too hard
Isn't it strange that your advice is the opposite of everyone elses (and my gut reaction) and yet you're the professional painter. I'll start to polish as soon as its flatted then. Cheers.
quote:
Originally posted by Bluemoon
quote:
Originally posted by smart51
quote:
Originally posted by Mark Allanson
We leave panels a good 30 mins to an hour before polishing, without an oven I would leave six hours to be on the safe side. If left too long you cannot get the surface to burnish as it is too hard
Isn't it strange that your advice is the opposite of everyone elses (and my gut reaction) and yet you're the professional painter. I'll start to polish as soon as its flatted then. Cheers.
It may depend on the exact type of paint used. The professional shops use consumables that are quick drying/hardening for obvious reasons (customer want's that car back, and there is little room to store lots of cars!)..
All the painting in my car is done by a relative, and he suggests to wait three to four weeks.
After that, the car gets a good wash and he polishes to perfection....
Not the one in the Finising Forum Though!!!
I think a lot of the confusion is historical.
Synthetic could not be nibbed at all as it is too rubbery for months
Cellulose. Can be nibbed as soon as it is dry, but must not be wax polished for 4 weeks as this would seal the surface and stop the full drying
process
2K. Can be nibbed as soon as it is col from the oven, and polished immediately.
I could go on for ages, about acrylic, TPA, TSA, etc but you would never use them
quote:
Originally posted by Mark Allanson
We leave panels a good 30 mins to an hour before polishing, without an oven I would leave six hours to be on the safe side. If left too long you cannot get the surface to burnish as it is too hard
Well I've polished an area and let it dry. It is lovely and shiny, except for those tiny sand paper marks in a couple of places. I need to go over it with the 1500 again I think.
just be careful you dont polish through. there is nothing more anoying.