Painter's Tape....

I

imported_Luster

New member
For anyone who uses a rotary or a powerful DA, such as the Flex, taping the areas where the vehicle has a "sharp" edge is essential.

The paint is much thinner in those areas, and it's easy to make a mistake that you cant fix.

Depending on the vehicle, I also like to tape the plastic headlight lenses, taillights, black trim, chrome, emblems/badges, etc.

Another good practice is to tape the "seams" between the hood and the fender (trunk and fender, door and fender) to prevent polish from splashing into those cracks.

Once the major paint correction work is complete, you can remove the tape and finish up with a PC in the areas that were taped off.

Time consuming, but worthwhile, IMO.

(Being honest, I dont always tape... depends on the vehicle.)

What's your method?
 
You got it all there Bill, tape is the your freind in saving money from painting those areas.:thumbup:
 
That's a lesson that I had to learn the hard way. While using the Flex on the hood of my wife's car I got to close to the spay nozzles and burned them a little. Needless to say that the car now looks like a mummy.
 
I tape the edges when I'm doing aggresive work (M105/PG). If it's just a mild polish (M205/Nano) I'm usually not to concerned unless one of the edges is raised or there are signs of burn through on other edges. ;)

When in doubt, whip it out! (tape that is) :D
 
Actually the next time I polish my car...I am not going to tape

it off...I will just stay a few inches clear from those edges, etc..
seems like too much time is invested in masking off those areas.
 
mrtonyn said:
Actually the next time I polish my car...I am not going to tape it off...I will just stay a few inches clear from those edges, etc..
seems like too much time is invested in masking off those areas.
Click to expand...

I'll bet there are a lot of guys who thought it took too long until they made a very costly mistake. To each his own.:)
 
I never really tape edges unless I am using a rotary and the edge is very sharp. I never buff "on" smoother edges, just "up" to them.

I always tape trim, door handles, etc., even when I'm using a PC. Don't want to pull a Tyler Noorwood and burn any trim! ;)
 
FWIW, I have polished numerous (I think 9?) Ferrari Boxer BB(i)s with original paint, and the paint is VERY thin on those edges. The body panels also don't line up so I will run about a 1/16" of tape over the edges of the doors, hood, trunk, or anywhere else the panels are not even.

I remember reading like .9 mils on some of the areas, and when we could pull the measurement on an edge it was in .4 mil range!!!!
 
When you dont go all the way to the edge with the polishing, can you tell where you have stopped?? I have never machine polished (yet) so I dont know...
 
I don't know if you can read the gauge on this pic, but it reads .6 mil's on this fender of a Ferrari.

a037.jpg
 
Luster said:
For anyone who uses a rotary or a powerful DA, such as the Flex, taping the areas where the vehicle has a "sharp" edge is essential.

The paint is much thinner in those areas, and it's easy to make a mistake that you cant fix.

Depending on the vehicle, I also like to tape the plastic headlight lenses, taillights, black trim, chrome, emblems/badges, etc.

Another good practice is to tape the "seams" between the hood and the fender (trunk and fender, door and fender) to prevent polish from splashing into those cracks.

Once the major paint correction work is complete, you can remove the tape and finish up with a PC in the areas that were taped off.

Time consuming, but worthwhile, IMO.

(Being honest, I dont always tape... depends on the vehicle.)

What's your method?
Click to expand...

Mine is similar to yours, but any body seam that I can easily get to by opening something (door, hood, trunk) I don't tape since if I get polish in there, it's relatively easy to get out.

I am also a little different in that I leave the tape on until the LSP has been applied since some of the LSP's can stain rubber trim pieces.

I didn't used to use this, but not only is it safer, but it saves a TON of time on cleanup!

D!
 
D!Tailed said:
.....I leave the tape on until the LSP has been applied since some of the LSP's can stain rubber trim pieces.

I didn't used to use this, but not only is it safer, but it saves a TON of time on cleanup!

D!
Click to expand...

That is an EXCELLENT point! If any of the black trim gets stained, the clean-up can be very time consuming.:D
 
I've never taped off a car, in all the years I've been going. However, I use a PC, so I don't really risk burning anything up.
 
KatyM45S said:
I've never taped off a car, in all the years I've been going. However, I use a PC, so I don't really risk burning anything up.
Click to expand...

I use a PC also. As I stated in another thread, I mask black trim (for staining), and the edges of chrome or metal trim to keep from tearing up my pads... The first time I used a PC on an old muscle car, I went through 3 pads in 10 minutes because I tore them on the emblems!!! (Lesson Learned!)

I always try to avoid sharp fender creases, etc.
 
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