Masking tape damaged my paint...

[Milan_1]

Hi guys, I am from Belgrade-Serbia,and I have one little problem!Two weeks ago I have bought new Seat Leon Cupra, and i have insisted to pick the car from the dealer with transport coating on it because I dont allow dealers to wash any of my cars, You know why... After I have removed the transport coating I have discovered that the clear coat made some kind of reaction with transport coating(some kind of thick wax), and the only way to remove that was to machine polish all horizontal panels. Because our Meguiars importer doesnt have almost anything on stock for the last 6 months, and I dont have any more 80, and 83, so I have used 3M products on my car in combination with Meguiars paint cleaner and #21, and the results were very good, but here starts the problem... I have taped all the edges and two lines on hood, and the next day when i removed the tape there was two lines, like imprints from the tape. I have tried to remove them with Scratch X by hand with no results, then with 3M Fast cut and after three passes with rotary the lines were little less noticeable and I can only see them under halogen lights in garage, but they were too deep and only sanding would remove them completely... What do You guys think, what coused the tape to leave damage in the clear coat? The tape was ordinary beige painters tape. On that panel(hood) I have also used Ultimate quick detailer for removing polishes, so the tape was dampened a little. Car paint is black, Seat call it Inferi black pearl. I am sorry for this long post and for my bad English... I wish You all the best!

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Masking tape damaged my paint...

First, since this is your first post,

Welcome to Meguiar's Online!


Does the indent follow the edges of the paint?

If so, what you've likely done is taken the paint you buffed on down to a lower level and what your seeing is the difference between buffed paint and the paint that was not buffed, which is now thicker than the areas buffed.

If everything under the tape has mottled look to it then that would be some kind of interaction with the adhesive and the paint and the only real solution will be to compound this section and try to remove enough of the mottled paint until it goes smooth and clear.

You just want to be careful that you don't remove too much clear paint and expose the color coat underneath.

[ColonelCash]

Re: Masking tape damaged my paint...

Did you use masking tape, or blue painters tape? There is a difference in the amount of stickiness between these 2 tapes. Perhaps masking tape was too harsh for the surface?

[Milan_1]

Re: Masking tape damaged my paint...

Thank You very much! I am reading this forum for long time, and it is source of very important informations for me. I have using Meguiars products for all my cars for last 5 years, I have almost everything from consumer line and few products from profesional line and I am extremly satisfied with everything.

[Milan_1]

Re: Masking tape damaged my paint...

Did you use masking tape, or blue painters tape? There is a difference in the amount of stickiness between these 2 tapes. Perhaps masking tape was too harsh for the surface?

I have used beige painters tape, thats the only one I have found here... I also think that the problem is in the tape, maybe the adhesives from the tape made some kind of reaction with 3M polish because I have left it over night... I have stoped with 3M fast cut, because it has started to "attack" the orange peel slightly, and I didnt want to remove too much clear coat from the hood!

[Milan_1]

Re: Masking tape damaged my paint...

First, since this is your first post,

Welcome to Meguiar's Online!


Does the indent follow the edges of the paint?

If so, what you've likely done is taken the paint you buffed on down to a lower level and what your seeing is the difference between buffed paint and the paint that was not buffed, which is now thicker than the areas buffed.

If everything under the tape has mottled look to it then that would be some kind of interaction with the adhesive and the paint and the only real solution will be to compound this section and try to remove enough of the mottled paint until it goes smooth and clear.

You just want to be careful that you don't remove too much clear paint and expose the color coat underneath.

Yes, it looks exactly like that! Indent is perfectly folowing the outer edge of the tape... First I have thought that this is the problem, but i have never seen that before! does that mean that I have removed too much of the clear coat?I have found some pictures here where you have taped half of the hood on the black car and you didnt have that problem...

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Masking tape damaged my paint...

does that mean that I have removed too much of the clear coat?

It's always better to have more of the original paint than less of it.

If you didn't go through the clear in the sections you worked on you shouldn't go through the ridged areas you now need to level. Just be careful.

I have found some pictures here where you have taped half of the hood on the black car and you didnt have that problem...

I've had this problem before, just didn't take pictures of it.

Since it was a customer's car I panicked instead.

Then after panicking I carefully massed the paint till it was flat and smooth again.

[Milan_1]

Re: Masking tape damaged my paint...

I feel little better now because i know that I am not the only one with this problem... I feel very bad because there wasnt need to paint that edges, I dont know why have I done that...I dont want to work on that areas any more because i dont want to flat the orange peel! What do you think Mike, how much clear have i removed, concerning that the orange peel is still visible,just little "shallower", but very, very little, and nobody besides me cant see the difference? I am very anal with my cars paint, especialy because this is a brand new car and I managed to damage the paint before I have properly drive the car...

[Milan_1]

Re: Masking tape damaged my paint...

I feel a little better now.... What do you think, Mike, how much of the clear coat have I removed, concerning that the orange peel is still very visible, just a little bit "shallower", but very little, and nobody beside me cant see the diference? That is really bothering me, because it is a new car, and I take very good care of my cars paint! I dont want to polish that area any more, because I dont want to flat the orange peel, I am very anal about my clear coat....

[Milan_1]

Re: Masking tape damaged my paint...

I feel little better now because i know that I am not the only one with this problem... I feel very bad because there wasnt need to paint that edges, I dont know why have I done that...I dont want to work on that areas any more because i dont want to flat the orange peel! What do you think Mike, how much clear have i removed, concerning that the orange peel is still visible,just little "shallower", but very, very little, and nobody besides me cant see the difference? I am very anal with my cars paint, especialy because this is a brand new car and I managed to damage the paint before I have properly drive the car...

I thought that I have accidentaly deleted this and didnt submit it, so I wrote another one, but shorter version, I apologize for that!

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Masking tape damaged my paint...

I dont want to work on that areas any more because i dont want to flat the orange peel! What do you think Mike, how much clear have i removed, concerning that the orange peel is still visible, just little "shallower",

Without taking measurements with a Paint Thickness Gauge before hand it's hard to tell how much you've removed. Kind of doesn't matter at this point because it's over and done with.

but very, very little, and nobody besides me cant see the difference? I am very anal with my cars paint, especialy because this is a brand new car and I managed to damage the paint before I have properly drive the car...

What you want to do now is remove the line or ridge where the tape was and the only way to do this is to remove some paint on the high side until it's level with the low side and the line disappears.

Might be able to carefully do this by hand using M105 or Ultimate Compound, whichever you can get.

It won't be fun and it won't be fast but by working by hand it will be safe.

Another complex way would be to sand the ridge flat and then use a rotary buffer with a wool pad and some M105 to remove your sanding marks but this isn't an easy thing to do or a safe thing to do for most people, thus the hand recommendation.

Just take your time and only tackle one affected area a day so you don't burn out and get less careful.

[Milan_1]

Re: Masking tape damaged my paint...

I think I will leave it, it is not visible when the car is outside, only in the garage... and if I continue to work on it the orange peel would start do disapear, and I dont want that to happen. I have a friend who is a profesional painter, and he also said that the best way would be to sand it and buff it and he could do it, but in that case a lot of clear coat would be sacrificied, and by hand I think it would be tough job, because few passes with 3M fast cut and ultrafina with rotary have made it only sligtly less visible and the orange peel starded to change its structure. I have also tried with Scratch X, with almost one whole package with minimal results, and I feel bad now because I used it for that, i would need it for scratches and blemishes, and I cant buy it here any more.... I think its better to leave it as is, in favour of paint thickness... I wish i had picked the silver one, that kind of damage would be almost imposible to see on that color...

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Masking tape damaged my paint...

I think its better to leave it as is, in favor of paint thickness...

Safe approach.

I wish i had picked the silver one, that kind of damage would be almost impossible to see on that color...

Live and learn, plus everyone that reads this thread into the future will also benefit.

[Milan_1]

Re: Masking tape damaged my paint...

I feel better now, because I know what excactly hapend and I will continue with life... Tomorrow I will put another coat of #21 and #26 and will avoid looking at the hood for few weeks... I have asked this same question on another forum, and the answers were not satisfying. Thank You very much, Mike, You are a real pro, and You have time for everyone!Best regards from Belgrade!