Question about touch up paint

[Countersteer46]

So I have to use some touch up base and clear on a few chips on my hood. I was wondering if you needed to let touch up paint cure for a month before using a wax, sealant or coating, as you would for a regular paint job? What is the actual reason for needing to wait so long to apply a wax, coating or sealant anyway? Thanks!

[rmagnus]

So I have to use some touch up base and clear on a few chips on my hood. I was wondering if you needed to let touch up paint cure for a month before using a wax, sealant or coating, as you would for a regular paint job? What is the actual reason for needing to wait so long to apply a wax, coating or sealant anyway? Thanks!

Well it depends on the type of touch up paint applied. Solvent based paint needs to let the gasses escape the paint. Paint is porous and will let the gases escape but if you wax it then they get trapped.

Usually for touch up paint like for rock chips i let it cure for a week in the sun then blens in some clear on top of it. Let that cure for another week if hot weather then clean, polish and wax as usual.

Remember to fill the chips in layers leaving some drying time inbetween and to build it slightly higher than the finish so you can damp sand it level then clear it. Many don't even clear the chips because usually they are very small. Wax or sealant is enough.

[Mike Phillips]

Besides the above, you want the paint to harden before you start rubbing on it.


For you or anyone reading this into the future that might be contemplating sanding the touch-up paint flat and then buffing out your sanding marks, here's a few tips...


1. When possible, let the paint dry longer. You want the touch up paint as dry and hard as possible before you start sanding and buffing on it.

The problem you can run into when you start buffing on touch-up paint is when you warm it up, especially when using a rotary buffer, you can actually pull the touch-up paint right out of the scratch or rock chip if you're attempting to do this to a rock chip. Then you're back to where you started only now you've got sanding marks in the surrounding paint.



2. Touch-up paint will always be softer than the factory paint surrounding the repair, here's how this affects the buffing process. When you go to buff out your sanding marks, they will buff out quickly and easily out of the touch-up paint because this paint is softer, especially if it's only dried a short time. The surrounding paint will be harder and thus it will be harder or more difficult to remove your sanding marks out 100%

It's easy to sand paint as at it's core that's putting scratches into the paint... the tricky part is getting the ALL out...

When doing touch-up repair work on clear coat paints, what I've seen and experienced is the sanding marks come out of the touch-up paint quickly and easily but not so with the factory clear.

So what a person does is continue buffing the sanding marks in the surrounding clear paint and what happens is you heat the panel up and your buffing pad will literally pull the touch-up paint out of the scratch or chip.



3. You really need a rotary buffer to remove sanding marks 100%

Can you do it with a DA or Flex or even Cyclo? Sure but it will take longer. Again the sanding marks will come out of the touch-up paint quickly and easily, it's the surrounding factory baked-on clear coat that you'll need to be concerned with.

Try to finish sand with #3000 or higher before buffing.



:)