# DIY painted car, baby how long? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-painted-car-baby-how-long/487664 "2009-02-27T15:37:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-painted-car-baby-how-long/487664/1 "2009-02-27T15:37:20Z")
Hi all. Just finished painting the last little bits of my old car. Got tons of rust and old paint off. Cleaned and cleaned and cleaned with various solvents. 2 coats of rust converter. 2 coats of rust encapsulator. 2 coats of epoxy primer. 2 coats of urethane primer/surfacer. And a final 2/3 coats of colored topcoat. And of course, tons of sanding. This project deserves a PIT rant all its own. I’ve babied it since I finishing the major painting about a month ago. Kept in the garage, avoiding extremes of temp, and particularly rain, dew, sap, bird doo doo, and any other stuff. I can tell its slowly getting glossier and harder as time goes on. I’ve finally moved the car back outside and will start putting things like doors and fenders back on. My question is this: How long till that paint has cured/hardened as much as its going too? Anything I should do or avoid in the near future? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-painted-car-baby-how-long/487664/2 "2009-02-27T15:57:42Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Anything I should do or avoid in the near future? IIRC, it typically takes about a month for all the solvent to dry, which is why you aren’t supposed to wax for 30 days. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-painted-car-baby-how-long/487664/3 "2009-02-28T00:43:20Z")
thanks, thats a start. Of course the car has only been outside 2 days and now they are predicting a chance of HAIL. Good grief! ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-painted-car-baby-how-long/487664/4 "2009-02-28T00:47:08Z")
If you wanted to pant a car with enamel today, can you do it? Where do you buy automotive enamel today? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-painted-car-baby-how-long/487664/5 "2009-02-28T00:53:49Z")
Dammit, from the title I thought someone was going to be painting a baby. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-painted-car-baby-how-long/487664/6 "2009-02-28T01:40:56Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Dammit, from the title I thought someone was going to be painting a baby. Well, Dupont does make a pretty damn nice but pricey baby epoxy primer these days. Though I cant remember if its to be used on babies or is made of babies 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-painted-car-baby-how-long/487664/7 "2009-02-28T02:08:15Z")
Congratulations on painting the car! With all of the work you have put into it, its an admirable undertaking. I have painted a car and therefore have some idea of your labor of love. Hell, get the thing out of the hail. If you can’t put it in a garage put some tarps over it. Anything. Don’t let all that work go to waste. By now it should be dry enough to cover it even if it isn’t totally cured. BTW, what color? I always wanted to do Candy Apple Red. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-painted-car-baby-how-long/487664/8 "2009-02-28T02:29:24Z")
> [@Spartydog](#): > > Congratulations on painting the car! With all of the work you have put into it, its an admirable undertaking. I have painted a car and therefore have some idea of your labor of love. > > Hell, get the thing out of the hail. If you can’t put it in a garage put some tarps over it. Anything. Don’t let all that work go to waste. By now it should be dry enough to cover it even if it isn’t totally cured. > > BTW, what color? I always wanted to do Candy Apple Red. I think its called “Mack Truck Red”. I’ll have to look and give the story later. thanks for the interest ---
**Author:** ![Westrogothia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@Westrogothia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Westrogothia)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-painted-car-baby-how-long/487664/9 "2009-02-28T08:41:55Z")
My girlfriend diescovered a much faster way to paint her ford escort. Hot pink housepaint and a large roller. And magenta metallic spray for the steel rims. with pink sidewalls. I think she said it took her about 2 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-painted-car-baby-how-long/487664/10 "2009-02-28T08:53:23Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > IIRC, it typically takes about a month for all the solvent to dry, which is why you aren’t supposed to wax for 30 days. If you recall correctly from where? If _I_ recall correctly, it takes a couple hours. I’m getting my information from talking to an auto-painting professional earlier today. I’m painting my '67 Baja Beetle Lamborghini green tomorrow 🆒. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-painted-car-baby-how-long/487664/11 "2009-02-28T09:19:46Z")
Actually, I’m pretty ignorant on this topic and I get the impression that the OP is using an entirely different type of paint than me, which would explain the wildly different waiting periods. I’m using base+clearcoat; you’re using something else, aren’t you, billfish? ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-painted-car-baby-how-long/487664/12 "2009-02-28T12:50:24Z")
Base/clear still take a while to fully cure. You wouldnt want to use any sealing wax on it for approximately a month either.