I am currently using 3M light green tape to mask my car.

1. Can I use this to outline racing stripes also??

2. Should I 600 wet sand the surface first??

3. Are there any tricks to preventing bleeding or rough edges??

4. How soon can I remove the tape after painting??

thanks

Jim

 

I am currently using 3M light green tape to mask my car.
1. Can I use this to outline racing stripes also??

No youll want to use a fine line vinyl to do the outline then u can tape off with ur 3m green

2. Should I 600 wet sand the surface first??

yes

3. Are there any tricks to preventing bleeding or rough edges??

yes fine line vinyl and run ur fingers over every square inch to make sure its all properly adhered

4. How soon can I remove the tape after painting??

let the paint flash off and pratially dry if ur dealing with clear make sure the clear does not dry 100% over the tape that causes a PITA!

thanks

 

need more info... sand with 600 grit? what is one the car is it complete base clear. 600 may be a little agressive your going to have to be carefull.

wet sand the entire hood. use fineline tapes as sugested. once base is dry flashed remove tape let finish drying per tech sheets. clean surface of tape residual. then clear entire hood. this will help burry the stripes, you should so a couple - 3 coats of clear then you can wet sand again with 1200 and smooth everything before buffing.
that is how i would do it.

 

100% CORRECT!!
that's the best way to go. If limited on materials you can do less, but why?
Yes, 600 is a bit coarse for the rest of the hood, base, should cover 600 g scratches ok, may depend on the color of the stripe, ie; silver or high metallic, I'd probably go a little less coarse...
Definitely go with 1200 to do the rest of the clear.

 

I am using PPG products and one statement made by them is that after the primer or base is dry you have a 8 to 24 hour window to sand and clear coat If you don't you have to sand and reprime or base coat.

Is this true from others experience??

 

i just finished painting my car and actually used 2000 grit to wetsand the clear. took a bit longer, but a lot less buffing and the finish is like glass. everyone at my bodyshop uses 1500 to 2000 to wetsand clearcoat.

 

IF we were talking about prep for buffing... yes that would be correct, but we're not!!
The discussion is prep work for "racing stripes". You need to have some tooth to the existing paint to get the new paint to grab. We do this by physically abrading it.
We also do not know from the author of this post, and are under the assumption that he has either factory or existing paint, not new paint.

True, but it is always best, in my experience, to paint the car. Base/clear, wetsand, extra, or effects clear, AND THEN do your graphics, whatever they may be...mural, flames, stripes, etc...
THEN re-clear.

 

wow i wasnt paying attention when i read that, lol. sorry, my bad

 

gotta make sure your asking this correct. primer gets sanded, wet sanded and then coated again or base coated at that point.

base coat gets clear coated within the window 8 - 24 hours, you do not want to sand your base coat unless you messed it up, or you missed the window. in either case you will need more base coat and not clear. clear goes directly on the base with out sanding the base coat. if you did clear a sanded base coat you would see alot of scratch.

jeff

 

I am painting the car base color with white stripping down the length of the car.

- Car was taken down to metal and all removable body parts
except front windshield were removed.
- Surface was cleaned and primed with 4 coats.
- Surface was guide coat and sanded with 320 grit to remove
any imperfections, but not touched for a week
- Another coat of primer was sprayed on everything.

I am using this car as a guideline for steps on base coat, stripping and clear coat.

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/403007/11

- I have sanded the top and applied several coats of the base stripe color.

This is where I am now.

Unfortunately, I noticed some dust in the base coat and will sand that out with 500 or 600 wet/dry.

I probably will be sanding all the top coats because of this.

Hope this helps put things in perspective.

Thanks for the info so far.

Jim