Paint dry time?

mustang68

I got my car painted about four weeks ago and I'm still assembling it, the painter used a waterbased metallic paint and finished it off with lacquer.

The problem is that the paint still seems to not have set. If I put a cloth on the car and a (say) hammer on the cloth the impression of the weave of the fabric is left in the paint, I can also get my fingernail to make an impression without much force.

Is this normal, how long should it take to dry? the painter said it would be good to work on immediately, is there something he forgot, or will it take weeks to set?

trevorbrady

I painted a car on Sunday night with 2 pack paint and it was hard enough to touch with a fingernail and not leave an impression by Monday morning. I'm going to leave it a couple of days before reassembly though, just to give it a chance to harden further. Mind you, that was 2 pack and not waterbased...

MercMad

Mine was done with waterbased and clear laquer. It was baked, then chilled, then baked and when I saw it out of the oven the paint was completely hard.

I would get back in touch with the painter, it should be hard by now.

junkyard

Waterbased paint is a disaster in this climate, especially if you don't have a paint booth. I think your problem is with the hardener in the lacquer in this case, it's so cold here that you really need to add rocket accelerator or similar to the hardener to speed up the curing time, damn the greens and their rules and regulations, making all our lives so much harder.:rolleyes:

FiSe

There could be a lot of issues. From not properly cured basecoat/sealer through the waterbased paint, which might not be dry enough before lacquering to the final clear coat which might not work as it should.

Something is wrong there. 4 weeks its a long time and it should be hard enough.

Run_to_da_hills

Water based paint these days is pure rubbish, It would be interesting to see paint jobs on these cars in 5 or 10 years time. It is designed to keep finishing to the professionals and do away with the back street panel beater. Soon if not already you will not be able to buy two pack paint without a license. thanks to EU BS regulations.

shaywest

if the base coat wasnt cured enough there would be obvous discolouration as the true colour doesent settle until its well dried
after that its a problem with the laquer it should be well hard by now i painted a ferrari last friday (cold enough a night) without any heat used after i dried off the base ,by saturday afternoon it was hard enough to rub down with 1200 and take a hard buffering by monday you could hop of it.
i think your painter needs a serious talking to as he has either not put enough hardener in .the wrong hardener . or at worrst no hardener at all.
dont let him give you any shyte about not curing because of the weather
have you paid him the full whack?
if not dont until your happy.