Need advice on show quality paint.

[roadman5312]

I just had a conversation with a friend that has been painting cars for 30 years, he painted my buddys 57 Bel Aire (stunning car ) and he's building a 67 Cuda Vert for himself. Anyway he told me that after a car is painted and cleared that you should wait 90 days before cut and buff. Unless you have a heated booth it can be less. Has to do with the curing of the paint / clear. Thoughts ?  Thanks in advance.

[RzeroB]

Paints used to cure by the evaporation of the solvents. A heated booth would accelerate the evaporation process. Most modern paints are catalyzed and cure as a chemical bonding process in lieu of a result of evaporation of the solvents. With 30 years of painting experience your friend started painting before the catalyzed era. He obviously has a ton of experience and can produce excellent results. If he's a creature of habit like me, when you find something that works well, and believe in it, you stick with it. Waiting that long may no longer be necessary with modern catalyzed paints, but you may not be able to really argue that point when your friend is producing excellent results with his tried and proven methods.

[Cuda Cody]

Yes, best to wait.  I pour a little left over clear in to a small cup and when it's hard I know the car is ready to cut.  You would be surprised how long it takes to dry even with a heated booth.  A few weeks is fine, but a few months is great.  The only downside is once it's rock hard dry it's harder to cut. 

I put 3 coats of clear, cut with 600 and then 800 and put 4 more coats of clear over that.  Then cut with 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000, 2500 and then 3 stages of buffing.

[jimynick]

Don't kid yourself, even though paints (some) are catalyzed, many are not. The new water borne bases are an example. It's a bit of an inside joke, the waterborne, because EVERYONE uses a solvent clear. My wife just had some paintwork on her 12 Passat; and my friends shop- that does all the warranty work for the local VW dealer, told her to not to wax if for 6 weeks as it seals the paint and doesn't allow it to breath out as required. Go figure. The clear will sand easier when it's still not fully cured, but if you DO cut it, I wouldn't re-coat it until the time had passed; as you stand the chance of trapping any residual solvent, and that then continues to melt in, and unless your prep work is perfect- you won't like the result. Just my 

[dpcd67]

My paint guy says that if you can smell it, it ain't ready.