What happens once the tape is off?

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fins&chrome

New member
Hi there, I’ve read that raised panel details or edges should be taped off before machine polishing. But my question is this: what do you do once the tape is off? How do you get the areas that were under the tape to have the same lustre and shine? Do you polish them by hand or verrrryyyyyy carefully polish them with the polisher?

If by hand is the way to go, can you get the same level of shine and will it match the rest of the car?:confused:
 
fins&chrome said:
Hi there, I’ve read that raised panel details or edges should be taped off before machine polishing. But my question is this: what do you do once the tape is off? How do you get the areas that were under the tape to have the same lustre and shine? Do you polish them by hand or verrrryyyyyy carefully polish them with the polisher?

If by hand is the way to go, can you get the same level of shine and will it match the rest of the car?:confused:
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Depending on the condition of the paint, I will either leave it or get out a small applicator and polish by hand.



Usually darker color require this. Also depends on amount of oxidation, swirling, etc.



I wouldn't use the polisher, unless you have a REALLY steady hand.
 
it all depends on what the paint was like under the tape. Wax isn't going to "blend" much at all. If your using any sort of D/A I wouldn't bother taping anything off at all. More of a waste of time than a precaution that way. If your not that experineced with a rotary then I would probably recommend the tape. and then either hand rub or use a D/A to blend in things under the tape after that.
 
fins&chrome- Since this is a repaint on an older car, I think there might be some uneven panels and the *possibility* of thin paint on certain edges and corners. Plus, while I'm always saying so straightforward this stuff is, there *is* a learning curve with the Flex.



So even with just #80 (and I suspect you are overestimating its aggressiveness by a wide margin), I'd probably tape places where an "oops!" is possible, but only while working on adjacent areas; the tape would keep things off potential trouble spots only until/after they're being worked on but they *would* still be machine polished.



Thin spots excepted, every place the polisher's pad will reach would end up getting machine polished, so there wouldn't be any areas for this particular concern. Tight spots that the polisher won't reach, yeah, do by hand. Ditto for any edges/corners where you suspect the paint might be thin. I'd rather you leave some marring on those spots than precipitate paintwork.



If the body is in such great shape that the panels and their edges are perfectly aligned, and the paintjob is so good that the paint on the edges is nice and thick, and if it were my car, then *I* wouldn't bother taping with the Flex/white/#80 combo. But those are some mighty big "if"s for a car of this vintage and if it were somebody else's car I'd probably tape (as described above) just to be on the safe side.



Don't use excessive amounts of product (gee, how many times have I said this ;) ).



Also, I'm fairly experienced with this stuff, at least to the point where I usually know what's likely to happen before it actually does. When just getting started with machine polishing, it pays to err on the side of caution.
 
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