How Long Do I Wait To Tape Stripes?

[mrhyde]

I am looking forward to painting my car with strips and color coat, all under the clear coat. How long should I wait after painting the stripe color before I can tape them and paint the color coat?

[Dupli-Color Specialist 2]

I am looking forward to painting my car with strips and color coat, all under the clear coat. How long should I wait after painting the stripe color before I can tape them and paint the color coat?

I'm assuming that you're using our Paint Shop product for this project... A good rule of thumb is to wait at least 24 hours after painting before you put tape over it. If the car isn't seeing the light of day, then I would recommend 2-3 days just to be safe. If you can park it out in the sun to help cure the paint, then you should be ok after 24 hours. Also, make sure you are using low tack tape. 3M has a few options that cover well and come off easy. Try to stay away from the rubber-ish pin striping tape... We've learned the hard way with it on a hood we painted (it had too much tack and pulled up some of the paint).

Here's a tip we learned from some pro bodyshop guys: If you are concerned about the tack on the tape damaging a newly painted area, take each strip and run it along your pant leg left to right once and then once the opposite way before you stick it on the car. This will give you super low tack tape to prevent damaging the paint finish when you pull it off.