Video on a full paint correction, not out there

[bradycat]

Hello,

I am new to paint correction, and all the videos that I have seen, as great many are, they are lacking 1 thing for my interest.

It's great they show you how to correct and polish and wax on a hood, BUT you don't see it from start to finish. How parts are taped off so you don't damage any of the plastic trim or lights. I have watched so many, that no one talks about it or actually shows it, what you need to do.

At first, I never knew you had to tape things off, again, as I am new to this. I love all the tips and tricks, but where can I see an actual full job on a car, or at least a section of a car, where they tape things off and start from scratch.

Is there such an animal???

Let me know, thank you
Joanne

[PaulMys]

I never tape anything.

It already takes me 6-7 hours to polish/correct my full sized truck. I'm not trying to add 3 more hours taping.

Just be careful when machining around trim, etc.

Just my two cents.

[bradycat]

Thanks PaulMys.............but when you have that ugly chrome around your windows edge and back trunk.........how do you not touch it when using a DA polisher, at what ever stage.

[PaulMys]

Thanks PaulMys.............but when you have that ugly chrome around your windows edge and back trunk.........how do you not touch it when using a DA polisher, at what ever stage.

Polish up to it staying about a 1/4" away. Hit the rest by hand.

Also helps to have a smaller backing plate/pad set up. Like a 3 inch set up. Some companies have 2", or even 1" dedicated machines.

[Farmallluvr]

I mask to a minimum,I usually lay towels on running boards tires and over the cowl area (wipers).
I only mask textured plastic I may come in contact with and only textured plastic because it can a pain to get the splatter etc out.
I also mask line x on the top edge of the bed because that too can be hard to remove.
Chrome moulding,black moulding (smooth/hard) all get gently rubbed with the pad because it makes them shine too as long as you don't run a ton of product into the edge. if you do load it up in the cracks soft detail brushes take it out best

if you look at my "what did you detail today post" you'll see I did a Denali,,the emblems and surrouding area were covered with tar,rust spots and other road gunk,,I used a semi agressive product that remains nameless with a cutting pad and my orbital.
I totally loaded it up on prupose and then used my detail brush,a MF towel and compressed air (gently) to clean it out.

I forgot mention soft rubber,,Alex reminded me,,,mask it

[AlexB01]

Tape off all plastic trim/rubber, and areas that you don't want to get any polish. Be careful around badges and emblems. Mike Phillips has a whole video on taping a car before machine polishing. It's a good idea to get 3M Auto Masking Tape- it's very easy to remove compared to blue painters tape.

[PaulMys]

Tape off all plastic trim/rubber, and areas that you don't want to get any polish. Be careful around badges and emblems. Mike Phillips has a whole video on taping a car before machine polishing. It's a good idea to get 3M Auto Masking Tape- it's very easy to remove compared to blue painters tape.

Everyone has their own way, but I completely disagree.

[LSNAutoDetailing]

Hello,

I am new to paint correction, and all the videos that I have seen, as great many are, they are lacking 1 thing for my interest.

It's great they show you how to correct and polish and wax on a hood, BUT you don't see it from start to finish. How parts are taped off so you don't damage any of the plastic trim or lights. I have watched so many, that no one talks about it or actually shows it, what you need to do.

At first, I never knew you had to tape things off, again, as I am new to this. I love all the tips and tricks, but where can I see an actual full job on a car, or at least a section of a car, where they tape things off and start from scratch.

Is there such an animal???

Let me know, thank you
Joanne

Welcome to AGO! Taping off is an important process as part of paint correction. If you're just starting off, you should get The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine by Mike Phillips:
Mike Phillips? The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine Paperback Book

Page 111 -> How To Tape Off A Car before Machine Buffing covers in depth steps on how to tape off a car, why and what tape to use. There is a link leading to this video which Mike demonstrates the process: YouTube

While a lot of modern polishes and waxes may be rubber, pebble textured black plastic safe, there are many in my arsenal that are not. Or like in my case, I will be correcting a vehicle where the trim already looks GREAT and is coated in a ceramic coating. I want to preserve that as best as possible and not make any more work for myself.

[LSNAutoDetailing]

As you can see on this 911 GTS, we taped off all the trim, last thing we want to do is stain the customer trim:



Since we correcting, we needed to dial in what product and pads would work best. For test spots, we always tape off our sections. Also you can see the beach towels up on the engine cowl.



And of course, for those hard to reach areas, such as inlets, we always tape those off to prevent all the dust from going in:



Older S197 Mustangs are notorious for having hard black pebble plastic and my suggestion is to always tape that off!



And here are the wheel covers Mike refers to in his video. Last thing we want is dust, debris, or sling (drops of polish) to get on the wheels we just finished cleaning.




There is nothing worse than getting a customers car where someone went to town and didn't cover the plastic/rubber/etc... It makes for more work. Here you can see where someone left wax or polish residue all over the bumper guard of this 911 Turbo:



After we taped off, and polished the car out, we removed the tape and had to spend time to clean up the bumper guards. We were able to restore them back to like new.



And here is a link to Mike Phillips demonstrating how to polish out complex body panels. Nothing more complex than an older 911!!!
YouTube

Hope all this helps!!!!

[PaulMys]

I will certainly admit that guys like Paul (LSN) have the need to tape.

He is working on very high-end cars for customers.

I do not tape because if I ever hit trim (I don't, but it is always possible), it's on me, and it's my car/truck.

BTW, Paul......... What's interior gal doing on the exterior??