Fresh Paint + Road Trip?

[Bouchie11982]

Well by the time my car will be done, I'll be going to Albany. The only thing I am worried about is the road trip to Albany. The traveling:the bugs, dirt, what have you....
Is it possible and safe if I put some layers of suran wrap on the front of the car so the bugs/dirt won't adhere to the freshly painted bumper and hood?

[sunrunner_pei]

I won't worry about bugs & dirt as much as stone ships, and saran wrap isn't going to help that. :(

[Bouchie11982]

even if i put a few layers??

[x_sgs_x]

Ive found out that your best bet is a good couple coats of wax as for stone chips i have no idea how to prevent that, Plastic bubble maybe.

[Bouchie11982]

i've read and was told that you can't wax a freshly painted car for 3 months

[Keefer1989]

I see alot of people put painters tape on their front to protect their paint. maybe you could do that

[Bouchie11982]

that's alotta tape HAHA! but i have thought about that as well. but would like more opinions, keep 'em coming

[Meathead]

Bubble wrap held down by suran wrap.

[Bouchie11982]

LOL! wow i can just see the bubble wrap flapping in the wind and a MA/NY statie pulling meover

[Jibo]

Yeah any time I have had paint work done I have been told do not wax it for 60 days or something.

Katie your new paint will be cured enough that bug guts will not be a worry. Saran wrap and the like will just fly off as soon as you hit highway speeds. I think you are just being overcautious :) which there is nothign wrong with, but just give it a good wash once you get to Albany and you will be fine. And yeah, a few layer sof saran wrap will not stop against a rock smashing into it... ;)

[boost21]

http://www.davidpitlyuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/gts-viper-with-tape-on-bumper.jpg
lotta guys run w/painters tape to prevent stone chips in long trips and auto x style racing

[Matt95GT]

You're worried about a few small bugs, so you're going to cover new paint with something else that could potentially damage it? Leave it alone, it will be fine. First thing I did was take a 6 hour trip to VA when I got my car back after paint work in 2002. It was fine. Well, minus getting rear-ended by a semi near DC.

[bballr4567]

Painters tape is SUPER cheap and will work great!

[matts]

painters tape. remember the thread where the guys in the audi covered the entire car in painters tape and drove across country

[GregFarz78]

Its a grand am not a ferrari, paint chips are inevitable as for bugs hit up a DIY car wash and wash them away with the pressure washer...or get one of those cheap netted bra things to keep bugs off the car. The paint will be cured by the time you drive it dont worry about that.

[Bouchie11982]

the paint will be cured in a week??

[Bouchie11982]

Its a grand am not a ferrari, paint chips are inevitable as for bugs hit up a DIY car wash and wash them away with the pressure washer...or get one of those cheap netted bra things to keep bugs off the car. The paint will be cured by the time you drive it dont worry about that.
i know it's not a ferrari, but it's new paint and i want it to look good for a while

[Jibo]

it will be cured as it needs to be before the body shop even hands you back the keys Katie. It will be no different then the car was beforehand, it will not be any easier to get chips.

[Bouchie11982]

ok. but question. how can painters tape ruin it? it is tape made for paint anyways.

[Jibo]

Painters tape won't ruin it, its not tape made for paint its tape made to protect walls or whatever from excess paint. its just like masking tape but less sticky. but there is absolutely no reason to mask off your bumper like that. bug guts will not hurt the fresh paint.

[Bouchie11982]

well im just anally worried about the usual road debris. know what i mean?

[Jibo]

Oh I know what you mean, but don't think the paint is going to have any more of a chance of getting chipped because its new, itll be the same chance you always take.

[tenspeed]

I saw a couple of cars driving into a show last year that had some sort of blue clinging type plastic. It just pulled off when they were setting up. It could have been that stuff that they use to hold boxes together on a pallet.

I wouldn't want to stick tape onto fresh paint.

[TheTrader]

http://www.yourhotcar.com/product/list/All/Pontiac/Grand_Am/Accessories/Protective_Clear_Bra

350 bucks.... just to cover off the possibility of a rock chip or 2.... chips happen, its part of owning a car.... deal with it, that's why they invented touch up paint...

ask the body shop that did the painting what they would recommend you do to protect it before your road trip... that would be the best bet for you I think, whatever they say you could trust, since they did do the work after all....

[TA^Guy]

You're worried about a few small bugs, so you're going to cover new paint with something else that could potentially damage it? Leave it alone, it will be fine. First thing I did was take a 6 hour trip to VA when I got my car back after paint work in 2002. It was fine. Well, minus getting rear-ended by a semi near DC.
Iwas going to say the same thing. Plastic wrap on a new paint job would be worst than waxing it. YOu arent supposed to wax it so it allows all the vapor from the paint to breath out. Putting plastic wrap on it will be just as harmful. And even 10 layers of plastic wrap wont protect it from chips.

http://www.yourhotcar.com/product/list/All/Pontiac/Grand_Am/Accessories/Protective_Clear_Bra

350 bucks.... just to cover off the possibility of a rock chip or 2.... chips happen, its part of owning a car.... deal with it, that's why they invented touch up paint...

ask the body shop that did the painting what they would recommend you do to protect it before your road trip... that would be the best bet for you I think, whatever they say you could trust, since they did do the work after all....
I have the same thing on the Altima and paid only $40 shipped for it.

However I wouldnt put it on fresh paint.

[Bouchie11982]

$40 bucks huh? where did you get it if you don't mind me askin?

[TA^Guy]

Ebay.

[GregFarz78]

the paint will be cured in a week??

it takes a month or two to completely cure all the way thru but its cured enough when it leaves the body shop its not going to smear off or chip off any easier than when its completely cured...that 3M stuff is pretty nice but I'd wait 2-3 months before I put it on

cliff notes: don't worry about it just drive the damn thing

[Bouchie11982]

it takes a month or two to completely cure all the way thru but its cured enough when it leaves the body shop its not going to smear off or chip off any easier than when its completely cured...that 3M stuff is pretty nice but I'd wait 2-3 months before I put it on

cliff notes: don't worry about it just drive the damn thing

that's what i thought
:lol: greg, c'mon, i dated Jay, his OCD has rubbed off on me. but i've been considering that 3M stuff, but i don't want that line where you can see where it starts and ends. know what i mean?
John: thanks :) but did you make it show so it doesn't have that line?

[Jibo]

Yeah Katie he did make it so that line isn't there, he covered the entire hood. That's what my Tib is getting as well, hood, front clip and front fenders too I believe.

[Bouchie11982]

i only ask because ive seen some where it just stops in the middle of the hood or fender.

[Jibo]

that wasm my worry when the dealer offered me mine too but this is the full hood not just where it goes to a line. and John did the full hood on the altima too.

[Bouchie11982]

cool. i'll have to look into it when im have the money. i would probably get the hood and bumper. i already have some for the headlights and foglights

[GregFarz78]

I didnt know he did the full hood I'll have to check that out at albany...I think its supposed to be good for headlights too to prevent chips especially if your headlights are glass lens

[TA^Guy]

Yeah Katie he did make it so that line isn't there, he covered the entire hood. That's what my Tib is getting as well, hood, front clip and front fenders too I believe.
No I didnt cover the entire hood, just the edge so Yes there is a line but I'd much rather havea line and my paint protected than a buch of chips in a few years. Shoot its been 7 months and there were already about 6 or more that needed to be filled.
I didnt know he did the full hood I'll have to check that out at albany...I think its supposed to be good for headlights too to prevent chips especially if your headlights are glass lens
Nope not the whole hood, only about 24"s. And please dont look closely at it. I didnt do a good job on it. It was a hot, humid day and was kind of rushing it. You can clearly see my finger prints in it contracting against the pearl white paint. lol

I'm sucking i up for the next 6 months or so, and then we'll buy another kit and do a better job at it.

[Jibo]

My bad I thought it was the full meal deal :lol:

[OpTiMo]

i work at PPG and as long as your not tail riding trucks in a rocky construction zone while being shot at by hill billys with potato guns then you'll be ok.

[WilliamAshley]

This had me think - why is it that you couldn't appoxy or bolt some other surface to a vehcile? One that is weather and stone resistant/proof, and the metal/amalgam is the colour so as to not need paint.. repainting or deal with rust issues - do cars like those exist.. those carboats must be waterproof/resistant one would think.

[GregFarz78]

This had me think - why is it that you couldn't appoxy or bolt some other surface to a vehcile? One that is weather and stone resistant/proof, and the metal/amalgam is the colour so as to not need paint.. repainting or deal with rust issues - do cars like those exist.. those carboats must be waterproof/resistant one would think.

:uhh:

[Bouchie11982]

uhh what?

[HornetGT141]

i work at PPG and as long as your not tail riding trucks in a rocky construction zone while being shot at by hill billys with potato guns then you'll be ok.

:lol: :lol: That made me laugh.

[whitenoise]

ive never heard anything about not waxing a fresh painted car. they probably only say that because people are retarded and use the scratch out stuff and a gritty type on the car and that could ruin a fresh painted car and they will blame it on the body shop

otherwise a REAL body shop will wet sand, butff and wax any part of the car they paint so why wouldnt you be able to

[OpTiMo]

a body shop will not wax a car after it is painted. The reason is because the paint is still fasting for 30 days while all the solvents are realesed. if you wax it the wax will seal the paint and cause a possible several things to happen( popping, delamanating, dieback, loss of DOI, or even cause pouching) wet sanding and polishing is completely different the waxing. polishing does not seal and leave anything behind like wax does. this is why you dont wax fresh paint. You can polish but not wax

[whitenoise]

a body shop will not wax a car after it is painted. The reason is because the paint is still fasting for 30 days while all the solvents are realesed. if you wax it the wax will seal the paint and cause a possible several things to happen( popping, delamanating, dieback, loss of DOI, or even cause pouching) wet sanding and polishing is completely different the waxing. polishing does not seal and leave anything behind like wax does. this is why you dont wax fresh paint. You can polish but not wax



if rubbing compound and polish removes swirls and scratches along with other blemishes, how doesnt it seal? 3M rubbing compund has a filler in it and most body shops use 3m products.

[OpTiMo]

3M has a cutting agent in which leaves fine swirl marks in the clear. swirl remover on a black pad will actually heat and flow the clear and polish it to what the clear is supposed to look like. Wax is a protectent and has nothing to do with gloss levels. Even thourh its shines better after a wax it is because the clear was cleaned and somewhat polished by the hand pad. Nothing looks better then a polished car as long as the clear is a good clear and not a cheap one.

[TA^Guy]

3M has a cutting agent in which leaves fine swirl marks in the clear. swirl remover on a black pad will actually heat and flow the clear and polish it to what the clear is supposed to look like. Wax is a protectent and has nothing to do with gloss levels. Even thourh its shines better after a wax it is because the clear was cleaned and somewhat polished by the hand pad. Nothing looks better then a polished car as long as the clear is a good clear and not a cheap one.
:agree:

Rubbing compound and polish are fine abrasives.

When a painter wet sands a new paint job they are leveling off high spots in the paint using a very fine paper and water as a lubricant. It's followed up with a polishing compound which basically trades off larger scratches for finer ones that are practically invisible to the naked eye. What you are left with is a ultra smooth surface that reflects light much better.

Wax is a protectant designed to shield paint from fading and things like acid rain, UV rays. Vehicles look better after being waxed because most waxes have a extremely fine polish to them, plus it deep cleans the paint and puts a layer of protectant on top which makes it appear to remove imperfections in the paint when really all it is doing is hiding them.

Think of wax like putting hand lotion on your hands, it prevents the moisture in your skin from drying up and protects it from outside elements.

[OpTiMo]

Well put Ta^Guy

[Bouchie11982]

well update....the car came out OK during the trip. but it almost had a near collision with a golf ball size rock. good thing the windshield took the brunt of it

[OpTiMo]

Nice glad to hear it went well!!