Apply PPF after painting front of car

[exeterjeep]

Chaps, have read that should wait some time after car touched up with a partial re-spray, before applying PPF,

what is the experience on here?

The paint work is being done by a reputable body shop. I will ask them as well. 

[KennyN]

I've seen the result of wrap being removed from a car that had been partially wrapped within a week of being painted, it wasn't pretty.  On the unwrapped panels the paint held up fine over the 2+ years, so the quality of the paint job seemed okay, but it may have been inconsistent, it's difficult to say.

[C8RKH]

So how long do people think manufacturers, including Lotus, leave their cars before they apply their protective film on new cars. I'll give you a clue, it's not long!

If it where me, I'd be talking to someone who really knows what they are doing and about this stuff, a paintshop for instance, rather than relying on internet experts who are like Jon Snow - and that includes me. 🤣

[electro_boy]

My understanding was that the paint needed to be fully cured before applying the PPF.  Time taken to fully cure depends on the type of paint and the environmental conditions.

I think the "wait 1 week before apply PPF" is for when the paint system takes a while to fully cure and the car has been stored somewhere cold.

On the flip side, if the paint curing has been accelerated by apply drying lamps and kept in dry warm storage etc ... I think you can apply it the next day.

The bodyshop will be able to advice you better, they should know the paint products they are using and how they react etc... 

 

[Colin P]

The people that did the PPF on the Alfa say 10 days to allow the paint to cure.

Something I have noticed is that new cars tend to pick up stone chips far more easily for anything up to a year so I really do think that the longer you can leave it the better. Finding a balance between letting the paint cure and not collecting stone chips in the meantime. 

On 12/05/2022 at 10:44, C8RKH said:

So how long do people think manufacturers, including Lotus, leave their cars before they apply their protective film on new cars. I'll give you a clue, it's not long!

But that would involve the use of specialist curing facilities, whereas I think with the OP this would be a local bodyshop which would be unlikely to use the same, if any, curing technology. 

[Bibs]

@lotuseaters or @Painterdave could perhaps offer some thoughts?

[lotuseaters]

Yes happy to put my input in when I ran the body shop we used this firm to do our paint protection https://www.mintcondition-uk.com/

And for what I remember after painting the car and then putting it through the baking process he used to say leave it for around 7-10 days before fitting the ppf personally as long as the work was oven baked I would leave it for a couple of weeks then do it .