I just got my truck out of the body shop last week. They replaced the front fender and valance among other things. Do I need to let the paint cure for a while b4 I wax it or not...Kevin

 

Was the paint catalyzed (baked) prior to releasing it to you?

RP

 

I just replaced my front bumper and the plastic valance on top of the bumper two weeks ago. I had the valance painted black to match the truck. The paint guy told me not to wax the paint for a month or two to allow the paint to “cure”. Maybe this is because the part is plastic. I’d like to see what you guys here think of that. Is two months too long to wait? The next time the weather is nice I’d like to wash the truck and apply some wax to the part.

 

Rock,
I'll call the body shop tomorrow and get an answer to that question. I'm assuming it's OK to wax if they did the oven thing. Well, maybe just a hot paint booth...Kevin

 

Catylized paint means that they baked the paint and thus, effectively removed most all of the solvents that must come out of the paint prior to sealing it with a wax or sealant.

With that in mind, I know of only a very small handful of body shops that have on-site ovens to do such a task and thus, I'm betting that you're going to need to wait.

Let us know though...

If it isn't baked, a month to 6 months is the general norm.

RP

 

I would wait at least 30 days and maybe a little more before putting a wax on it. It's okay to use a polish, but a wax will seal the paint and trap the solvents that need to evaporate out. Meguiars hand polish would be a good polish to use until it's ready to be waxed.

 

MT brings up a very good point. Polishing your new paint would be acceptable but, the polish that you can use MUST be body shop safe. Of course, this is regardless of the catalyzed or non-catalyzed finish...

Meguiar's makes oodles of products that are 'body shop safe'. By this they mean that a body shop could utilize them side by side with the painting process as they are silicone-free (silicones prevent paint from sticking to metal).

RP

 

In answer to RPs question,the body shop did catalyze the paint. The manager said that it was safe to wax any time. Now for a day warm enough to do such a thing...Kevin

 

There ya go...

Enjoy!

 

I still agree with MaxTorque02 and RockPick. I would wait at least 30 days before waxing. Just my opinion! Better to be safe than sorry....