Professional Polish Question
 

I just had my 986 in the shop for some minor body work. (I'm the guy who got hit by an ATM service Tech who extended the drawer too far!) Since I had it there I had the shop polish the car to remove swirl marks and minor blemishes. $252. It looks awsome, my question is - the shop told me to not wash the car for a week, and not to Zaino the vehicle for two weeks. Why is that? I forgot to ask as I was so excited to get my car back after two whole days!

as much as i know, you want to protect the surface rightaway, after the polish.

when i detail my car i wash it with dawn to get rid of any wax, then clay, then polish, then protect with zaino (rightaway)

you dont want to expose the "fresh paint", couse the polishing takes a litttttttle bif of clearcoat off your finish.

My friend Nate Cazinsky is Polish and he's a professional. If you have questions for a professional polish guy, he's the man to ask I guess! :dance:

They don't want you to mess up the paint work they did. It probably has nothing to do with the buffing they did on the rest of the car. New paintwork is still "wet" under the surface and needs time to cure properly. A couple of weeks usually does it.

Rubbing wax into it raises the possibility of messing up the paint I guess.

My wife is Polish, I asked her, and she gave me a blank face! In reality Randall, we are a couple of '97 guys and work hard to keep them "new". The gang at "Stuttgart AUto Body" could'nt believe my car was 11 years old. They did have a couple of suggestions. 1: Polish the car at a body shop that works on paint repair for German cars twice a year, as opposed to detailers. They said they know paint. 2: Put a new generation "clear bra" on the car as it is a daily driver. They were not selling a service as they don't do it. But they did say new clear bras are thinner and more resiliant than the older versions. About $400 -$500 to accomplish. I'll think a bit on that. The polish job was amazing as all swirl marks and most of the blemishes are gone. It looks almost new. It's just I can't go two weeks without washing and shining the Box! It's my hobby!

Do as the body shop instructs. There are still solvents in the paint that are trying to escape while it's curing. If you seal it in, the topcoat may not cure to full strength/hardness. Eventhough it is catalyzed, and appears dry, paints take time (months sometimes) to gain full hardness. That is why a fresh paint job should be cut/wet sanded and polished out within the first couple days, and conversely, if left too long, it's no fun cutting/rubbing/polishing a cured polyurethane paint job. It will probably never match the luster of an uncut paintjob either.


You can play with overspray on the masking tape and bend it around all sorts of ways, and it won't crack. It took a looong time (many months?) before it eventually did crack on the masked portion of one of my projects (years?) yes long project :o .


I would go as far to say, even factory baked paints are still curing. That's why you can still smell them. I don't wax fresh paint until 1yr. But that's just me. You can buy new paint friendly polishing compound. Ask your local auto body supply store.

I'm going to go with a 3M clear bra on this car after it's been resprayed (one day) or the next Porsche I buy, which will be a lot newer and have pristine paint.

I pulled the trigger waaaay too early buying this particular boxster. Among many other things, including a trashed tranny and a bent subframe, the number of rock chips in the front bumper and hood are more numerous than the stars in the sky.

After paint work is done, you shouldn"t use any silicone based products on the car for at least 30 days. Silicone will interact with the clear coat and not let the paint harden. It could also seal the paint and cause solvent pops which are areas where evaporation of solvent gets hung up under the paint and then breaks through.

The shop has already polished you car with new paint- friendly products I am sure. As for washing, you can wash the car anytime with the proper soap... specifically car wash type soap. I wouldn"t go through an automated car wash at this point.. you will probably get all the minor surface scratches back after one visit!

Best of luck!

You might want to give Dr. Colorchip a try. I bought some last week and did a little work on the hood and front bumper and the results are fantastic! I wish I would've done a before and after picture. No, it is not picture perfect smooth; however, it looks 100% better. No more white spots from rocks! :D

I did the method where you take a small cloth and rub paint over a large area and then go back with the smoothing chemical. It's a little weird but the results are pretty darn good. Much better than any touch up paint kit I have seen.

Now I have to go back and finish off the job. I suggest you buy the large kit they sell as my mid-level kit isn't going to be enough to do the entire front bumper and hood.

My car was hit in April 2003. The front was repainted. The shop hung a Sikkens paint brochure on the mirror which said not to polish or wax for 90 days.

4 years later I have not. Still waiting for the paint to cure. :eek: