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I purchased a GM car cover for my new C7. In the bag was a warning from GM that said, NEVER use this cover on your vehicle after your vehicle has been painted within three months. The paint must cure during this period before using it.
This lead me to think, well what about having clear bra wrap applied to the car before three months? Does the paint need to "cure" for three months before applying?
Comments, thoughts?
Now some may interpret this as; oh they are talking about if you had to repaint any area of the car. But that's not what it says.
I'm not sure as to the exact meaning of GM's disclaimer, but for what it is worth, I had a new C6 that had a fresh factory finish on it and I put a cover on the thing to protect it in the summer time. Big boo-boo, several scratches on the paint, most notably on the roof, deck lid and hood, got them out but I learned a lesson. And I am sure that any item that contacts the paint before it is fully dry will cause some type of surface contaminate, whether it be scratches or an abrasion there could be some polishing required to recover the factory finish. Hopefully without orange peel. LOL.
Everyone talks about how fast the water based paints dry, but does that mean that they are cured in hours, days or months? Anyone know?
Last edited by rcooper; 10-30-2015 at 03:32 PM.
Reason: spelling!
YES,YOU HAVE TO OR SHOULD WAIT 3 MONTHS NO MATTER WHAT YOU'RE DOING INVOLVING THE PAINT.Pretty self explanatory.Clear bra is no exception and in my opinion will probably make the paint worse over time no matter how long you wait to put it on.Paint needs to breath.CLEAR BRA doesn't seem to allow that as far as I know.
Two things you should know.
1. When a new car is painted at the factory, by the time that car hits your garage, the paint is as cured and as hard as it will ever get, and you can wax it, clear bra it the day you take delivery. However, if you have your car painted from an auto body shop, it should not be washed for a minimum of a week and not waxed or clear bra'ed for a minimum of 1 month. This comes from a buddy of mine that runs the body shop for one of the largest Chevy dealer in So Cal and owns a black C5, and also from the owner of a body shop here in So Cal that only works on Ferrari's, Lambos, etc.
2. I am sure most of you are familiar with Adam's Detailing products. Adam Pitale has been a good friend of mine for the last dozen years or more. He has spewed to me many words of wisdom when it comes to car care. He told me that if one is really nit-picky about their car, NEVER use a car cover and/or a California car duster. Both can put tiny scratches in paint. I have found that to be 100% correct.
I agree on the first point but not the second, on a car that just has dust, the calif duster is fine.
I've been using California Car Duster since 1998 on my cars and it has never introduced a swirl mark. Ever. Someone rubbing up the side of my car is what is going to get me a swirl mark much sooner than a California Duster ever will. There has been many threads on the forum regarding California Dusters and I have yet to read one thread where even one person said it introduced swirl marks.
When a new car is painted at the factory, by the time that car hits your garage, the paint is as cured and as hard as it will ever get, and you can wax it, clear bra it the day you take delivery.
Take what you want and leave the rest, but this is what the 2016 Stingray Owners Manual states about waxing...
And two paragraphs down from this , in the exact same manual it says hand waxing and polishing the surface is acceptable. The owners manual is Bi-polar on many factoids.
Originally Posted by Vetteman Jack View Post
I use a California Duster on mine to get the dust off and have not noticed any scratches from that use.
I have a claifornia duster sitting in my garage collecting dust.I won't use it on the Vette. DUST can have very fine particles that will scratch paint if rubbed so I won't take that chance. I'll use it on my old Jeep though.
Last edited by not08crmanymore; 11-01-2015 at 09:23 AM.
Two things you should know. 1. When a new car is painted at the factory, by the time that car hits your garage, the paint is as cured and as hard as it will ever get, and you can wax it, clear bra it the day you take delivery. However, if you have your car painted from an auto body shop, it should not be washed for a minimum of a week and not waxed or clear bra'ed for a minimum of 1 month. This comes from a buddy of mine that runs the body shop for one of the largest Chevy dealer in So Cal and owns a black C5, and also from the owner of a body shop here in So Cal that only works on Ferrari's, Lambos, etc. 2. I am sure most of you are familiar with Adam's Detailing products. Adam Pitale has been a good friend of mine for the last dozen years or more. He has spewed to me many words of wisdom when it comes to car care. He told me that if one is really nit-picky about their car, NEVER use a car cover and/or a California car duster. Both can put tiny scratches in paint. I have found that to be 100% correct.
Thanks. One of my first planned mods is to have the Stinger hood painted Carbon Flash using the outside paint lines. So with that, I should then wait one month before applying the Xpel?
10-30-2015, 02:14 PM
Interesting warning from GM
I've been using California Car Duster since 1998 on my cars and it has never introduced a swirl mark. Ever. Someone rubbing up the side of my car is what is going to get me a swirl mark much sooner than a California Duster ever will. There has been many threads on the forum regarding California Dusters and I have yet to read one thread where even one person said it introduced swirl marks.
