Wait Time? Touchup paint before coating ?

[Captainobvious]

I have to do some touch up paint on my Mazda and it also needs some paint correction and a finishing coating (I'm going to use Optimum Gloss Coat).

I was planning to do all of the compounding and polishing, and then do the touchup paint carefully, then do the Gloss Coat. My question is, how long do I need to wait *after* touch up paint, before it is safe to put Gloss Coat on? Do I need to wait several weeks so there are no issues with off gassing of the touch up paint under the coating or is this not really a concern?


Thank you.

[Captainobvious]

Anybody done this that can lend some advice?

[Crispy]

I always do the the touch up first. Reason is I sand after applying paint to level. Another reason is the polish will embed itself into the paint chip and affect the bonding of the paint. The problem with paint chip repairs is that it takes patience. Typically I apply over a 3 day period to allow the paint to cure between coats (a heat gun on low setting can speed this up-make sure not too hot). After applying, I sand with 2000-3000 grit to level without pulling touch up paint out of the chip. Here is the hard part, I then leave it for a day before polishing. Hit it with compound and polish and then seal. You can do this panel by panel or polish rest of car and seal while fixing chips on other panels. Optimum Gloss Coat is fine over chip repaired area after 5 days. Small tip: If doing chips in a bunch of spots put masking tape adjacent to the spot so you remember where they are-once it is sanded you can obviously see where you need to polish.