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I am currently prepping my '84 F150 for the booth, but need a little advice. I will be using a black sealer, follwed by a SS met purple, I am then planning on taping the hood ad roof, to apply double 13" stripes using a SS 80's correct Orange. My questions are:
1) How long do I have to wait after applying the Purple before I can use a low adhesive tape and apply the Orange paint?
2) How long do I need to wait before color sanding to smooth the lines of the stripes?
I feel like painting the stripes will come out better all around than a vinyl stick-on stripe.
It depends some on what type of paint you're using. If you're using Centari acrylic enamel with activator, tape time is 4 hours. Let it dry overnight before color sanding.
With premimum activators, tape free time is usually 4 to 6 hours, and that's a bare minimum. Lower priced activators and/or cooler temps can slow that time down. Unless it's a small, quick job, (and it sounds like yours is not ) I think I'd wait untill the next day. Slide the adheasive side of the tape through your fingers once or twice before applying it to the recently painted area. It won't really affect how it sticks, and will lessen the chances of tape marking. Carefully remove it as soon a possible / 30 - 45 minutes after spraying the orange.
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Tape time for Diamont basecoat is 30 minutes @ 68F. Tape time for Centari is 6 hours (4 hours with hardener) @ 77F. Like ravedaber said, it depends on your product.
Would be so much easier and faster with basecoat clearcoat. Also you said you were going to use a metallic purple single stage. I think if you wetsand the metallic single stage to smooth out the stripes then buff, the metallic may get messed up in the process. Maybe you can do it if you are carefull and only do the edge.You may want to ask other opinions because I haven't tried it. I think you will either need to apply some clear on the hood to bridge over the edge of the stripes, or pinstripe the edge of the stripes with a striping enamel. Have to ask the old school painters who have done a bit of custom work with single stage enamel. Base/clear was pretty new when I started, but was fast taking over single stage, expecially when taping two tones or stripes.
Thanks for the info guys. I will be using Limco Supreme products, as I have used before with pretty good results. Of course it does help that I am almost ****-retentive when it comes to my prep work.