It just rained today and ruined my new wash. I haven't waxed yet. My dad shows cars, and he advised me to not wax for 4-6 months from the factory to let the paint cure. What have you guys heard? I can't wait to wax my baby so that these showers don't rain on my parade so much. I'm at two months now and Charlene looks amazing after a wash, but it rains so often here that she never looks good for long. Give me some wisdom.

 

wax that thing righ now man get that protectant on there. The factory paints with the thinnest paint available and clear but still is good and looks good. Not only that they bake the paint from the factory so the paint is cured when you get the car. So go ahead wax away you will not have any trouble.

 

I dont mean to offend you but your dad is wrong. The paint off a factory car is cured already.

 

OK thanks. Just what I needed to know. I'll get out there right now and give her a fresh clean under cover from the rain and wax her down. Damn I feel the fool. [sm=boohoo.gif]

 

When I had my GT bumper painted and installed, my bodyshop told me not to wax for 3 months to allow the paint to cure. But, as said already, the paint from the factory is already cured... you can wax the day you bring 'er home. But, for freshly painted sections, wait a few months.

 

Your dad would have been right in the 70's..... back then, no clear coat, so you were directly rubbing the paint.

 

He is old school, I'll give him that. It's been a couple of months, so I think I'll spread some wax on my girl. Thanks for the advice. Nice forums, BTW.
I've been lurking since I got my baby. You guys are great. I can't wait until I can start modding her and really get active here.

 

Use Zaino, go through the whole process, claybar, the works, you will be amazed. I used it about 2 weeks ago, and it's niiice.

Just make sure you have about 5 free hours.

 

yeah, when I waxed mine for the first time I used a clay bar and I was very impressed with the results.
On a side note, I asked one of the guys in the bodyshop at the dealership about when I could wax it for the first time and was told to give it a few months.

 

alot of people are still old school...things change and paint being cured from the factory is one of them:


A new car with a factory paint job can be waxed the moment it is rolled out of the manufacturing plant. Cars that have factory paint jobs are cured at much higher temperatures, sometimes as high as 300 degrees in special baking ovens. At a factory level, the car goes through the painting and baking process without any of the rubber, plastic, and cloth components installed. This is why they can expose the car and it's fresh paint to such high temperatures. These high temperatures and special paints used at the factory level insures the paint is fully cured by the time the car is completely assembled.

After-market paint finishes however, are cured at a much lower temperature to ensure the method of baking or heating the paint doesn't melt non-metal components such as wiring and vinyl. For this reason, it's best to follow the specific paint manufactures recommendations for care and maintenance of fresh paint. Most paint manufactures that supply paint to the refinish industry recommend that you allow anywhere from 30 to 90 days curing time after the paint is applied before you apply the first application of wax.