Taping off sections to be polished

[Richs66]

Ok, seems ive been doing this wrong also........did a search and got some answers, just not too sure on this one, I get the taping of trim, emblems, glass.........but are you guys leaving the tape on while doing a 2X2 section, just not hitting the tape with the buffer..............now say you have swirls your trying to get rid of and you get them all.......don"t you still have swirls under the tape, and if you do then say whats next.

Ive been just using very small pcs of tape outside my 2X2 area, then I move the small pcs just inside the area I did and proceed.............this just doesn't work all that well. LOL

Other than that the car is looking great, just gotta do the sides.

Rich

[Rsurfer]

Ok, seems ive been doing this wrong also........did a search and got some answers, just not too sure on this one, I get the taping of trim, emblems, glass.........but are you guys leaving the tape on while doing a 2X2 section, just not hitting the tape with the buffer..............now say you have swirls your trying to get rid of and you get them all.......don"t you still have swirls under the tape, and if you do then say whats next.

Ive been just using very small pcs of tape outside my 2X2 area, then I move the small pcs just inside the area I did and proceed.............this just doesn't work all that well. LOL

Other than that the car is looking great, just gotta do the sides.

Rich

When doing large panels, marking the way your doing it is fine.

[Richs66]

How to tape-off a car before machine polishing


Inspect the paint first
Before buffing out a car first inspect the paint for issues that are already present. Things like burn-through on edges and corners. This is especially important on muscle cars, streetrods and classics and basically anything built before the mid-1970's. The reason why is because cars built back then don't have the luxury of being designed and assembled like modern cars and where body panels come together they won't be perfectly aligned. This means the edge of the hood may sit higher than the edge of the fender and it's this high side you want to inspect to see if anyone that has buffed the car out BEFORE you wasn't careful and burned through the paint on the sharp edges.


Take note of pre-existing damage
If you find any places where the paint has pre-existing damage, be sure to point it out to the owner of the car and if you're using an inspection form like my VIF then mark it down on the form.

Maybe I should have searched a little harder, caught this one from Mike..........think I got it down now.

Rich

[Rsurfer]

How to tape-off a car before machine polishing


Inspect the paint first
Before buffing out a car first inspect the paint for issues that are already present. Things like burn-through on edges and corners. This is especially important on muscle cars, streetrods and classics and basically anything built before the mid-1970's. The reason why is because cars built back then don't have the luxury of being designed and assembled like modern cars and where body panels come together they won't be perfectly aligned. This means the edge of the hood may sit higher than the edge of the fender and it's this high side you want to inspect to see if anyone that has buffed the car out BEFORE you wasn't careful and burned through the paint on the sharp edges.


Take note of pre-existing damage
If you find any places where the paint has pre-existing damage, be sure to point it out to the owner of the car and if you're using an inspection form like my VIF then mark it down on the form.

Maybe I should have searched a little harder, caught this one from Mike..........think I got it down now.

Rich

What does this have to do with taping before polishing?

A new thread should read, "Inspection before polishing".

[Richs66]

Sorry about that, just a small part of an article that Mike P had, a lot of the article applied to what I was thinking , didn"t want to start a new thread and get people even more confused than I normally do.

I'm gonna do some taping now like from the article, and the way I have been doing it with the small pcs of tape.

Rich

[Kinalyx]

Wait, so you are taping off a 2'x2' square and using that as the area you polish and move it over and over?

The square being taped off on a panel is for a test spot to show the difference between what is and isnt corrected. You dont need to tape off squares for polishing, the 2'x2' area is just a guideline of the size of an area you should be working with. Taping off is only for high points, plastics, and emblems.

Shawn

[Calendyr]

In a perfect world, you should tape off everything you don't want to pad to touch.

In the real world, that is a lot of work and it takes a lot of time to do. So you have to decide if you prefer to tape off or try to be really careful as you polish and correct mistakes you might make.

In my experience, a DA pad won't damage anything when it touches glass or molding. You will have to clean them afterwards, but I have never damaged a molding by having a pad rub on it for a second or two.

As for spaces between pannels, if you want to avoid having polish in them, and have to spend time cleaning them, the trick is to spread the polish all over your work area before going near the edges. Once the product is well distributed on the pannel, you should not have excess product that will fill gaps between pannels.

[Rsurfer]

Wait, so you are taping off a 2'x2' square and using that as the area you polish and move it over and over?

The square being taped off on a panel is for a test spot to show the difference between what is and isnt corrected. You dont need to tape off squares for polishing, the 2'x2' area is just a guideline of the size of an area you should be working with. Taping off is only for high points, plastics, and emblems.

Shawn

He's using this as a guide, so he knows where he started and where he ended. He would then move the small piece of tape 1/4" or less, on the polished area and start a new 2'X2' section.

I use no more than 2 pieces of tape as I can use a door handle or a change in angle on the body as a guide.

[hoyt66]

I always wipe each section after polishing it. I will leave about an inch of the polish on the section to mark where I left off.

[TTQ B4U]

Call me the odd-man out as I have stopped taping much of anything. Unless it's crazy complicated small areas or difficult trim areas I find it's not necessary. McKee's wax remover works awesome and easily cleans up any areas I may slip or hit by mistake. I find it's actually really good for helping clean up window trim prior to coating or sealing them regardless too.

[Paul A.]

I tape badges, plastics (trim) and black trim. I also tape any seams I can't get to easily for after work clean up.

Badges are sometimes too vulnerable for my forced rotation machines, rotary and Flex 3401. I don't want them to tear a foam pad or, worse yet, get ripped off or broken with a foamed wool pad.

I don't want to run the risk of burning or "waving off" paint on a plastic trim piece.

I also don't like transferring black onto my polishing pad from exposed black painted trim pieces.

If a panel seam can be exposed and wiped down after cutting or polishing e.g. opening the door/trunk lid/hood/gas cap etc. I usually don't tape it off. If it can't be exposed and wiped clean I tape it.

As far as taping off your 2X2 sections all around the car and you do that to help guide you for either progress or making sure you are working small sections here's a tip...Use 1 line of tape and visualize the other unmarked boundary. then simply move that 1 line to the next section and polish what it was covering, overlapping slightly to the just polished previous section and getting what was under the tape. After a while you will probably get used to the size of each area you like to work and can work without the tape on the open panels. Just be careful of what Mike P talks about when he describes buffer creep i.e. going outside of your intended section.

I use Hoyt66's idea most of the time too.

[Richs66]

He's using this as a guide, so he knows where he started and where he ended. He would then move the small piece of tape 1/4" or less, on the polished area and start a new 2'X2' section.

I use no more than 2 pieces of tape as I can use a door handle or a change in angle on the body as a guide.

Yeah, what he said. LOL.......all great tips guys, the car is a little big, so I'm usually going say 6 sections per hood, top, and trunk...........I like to use some kind of little visual aid, otherwise I end up going bigger than what I want. Been doing like Rsurfer has stated.

Thanks again guys

Rich

[BudgetPlan1]

.......I like to use some kind of little visual aid, otherwise I end up going bigger than what I want.

Glad to know its not just me. Drives me mad...start section small, 6 passes later and its noticeably larger. I'm conscious of it yet still do it; baffling.

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