Published on Jun 01, 2026
Welcome to another Q&A session where I answer questions from y'all on the internet.
Today's question is:
Jake explains that the single factor determining when a customer can drive is urethane cure time. Magnatech uses Mach 30 adhesive, which has a thirty-minute dry time. Because reassembling the car, cleaning up, and finishing paperwork already takes fifteen to twenty minutes, the customer's actual wait is usually only five to ten additional minutes. He notes some jobs finish faster when the cowling and wipers are simple to reinstall, but the team always ensures a full thirty minutes pass from setting the glass to letting the customer drive. The danger of leaving too soon is serious: in a collision before the adhesive has cured, the airbags deploy and the windshield can pop out, which is why the wait matters.
The only factor in somebody needing to wait is the urethane dry time. For our company, we use Mach 30, which means it has a thirty-minute dry time. So from the moment we put the windshield to your pinch weld, we still have about fifteen to twenty minutes to put your car back together, get it washed up, and get our paperwork together before we come out and get the customer. So most of the time, when we're watching the clock, it's usually only five to ten minutes that they need to wait before they can drive. Some days we finish a lot quicker; sometimes a vehicle has a cowling and wipers that are really easy to put back on and it cleans up faster. But we always make sure it's a full thirty minutes from when we set it to the pinch weld until we let the customer drive. Now, what happens if you leave too early? A wreck would be the worst thing, because while that glue is trying to cure it won't have had enough time, and in a collision your airbags deploy and the windshield pops out.
