Hot take: I think the paint booth bake cycle is way overhyped for collision work

Tbh I had this conversation with a guy named Mark at the NAPA counter last Thursday and he totally changed my thinking. He said he's been doing high-end restorations for 20 years and rarely bakes paint because it can trap solvents and cause micro-checking later. I always thought baking was the only way to get a factory hard finish, but he showed me photos of 5-year-old jobs he did with just proper flash times and hardener ratios. Now I'm questioning if I should ditch the bake cycle on my next insurance job and save the electric bill. Has anyone else cut back on baking and gotten better long-term results?

3 comments

3 Comments

alice896d ago

Must disagree a little here - that solvent trapping issue is usually from poor flash times or heavy coats, not the bake itself. A proper low-temp bake around 140 for 20 minutes actually helps drive out solvents way more consistently than waiting in a cold garage.

king.aaron4d ago

My buddy did the same on his Prelude in 2017, let base sit for six days in a cold garage between coats, and the clear orange-peeled so bad it looked like an orange. He swore by it though, said the extra time made it bulletproof even though it came out looking like a golf ball. I guess there's a dozen ways to mess up paint and everyone's got their favorite one.

the_elliot6d ago

Around 2018 I painted my buddy's Camaro with zero bake, just let it sit in a heated garage for four days between coats. The clear came out so flat and hard that the detailing guy asked what oven I used. I still use a short bake on clear sometimes but went back to flash-time only on base and never had a comeback.