Pinstripes Etched and buff-able

[wifpd4]

Been waiting 60 days to detail a freshly painted car. The painter told the owner it would be ready in 30 days, I asked to wait 60. The plan was to start work on this severely swirled car next week, however the owner just had pinstripes painted. The painter indicated my work can proceed as the pinstripes etch into the clear coat and will be buff-able. I haven't done a test spot yet, but anticipate starting with M205 and working towards M105 if the swirls are hesitant to disappear from the clear.

I'm unfamiliar with pinstripes etching into clear, is this typical? Less than two weeks old seems pretty young to be buffing/cleaning pinstripes, what do you think? I'm going to tape them as a precaution.

Thanks,

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Pinstripes Etched and buff-able

We've seen way too many painted pin stripes that have been buffed into oblivion to just go at 'em with a buffer. In fact, if they're pretty fresh, we'd even be hesitant to tape them off for fear of lifting the fresh paint when pulling off the tape. That may be a bit overly cautious, but we'd at least check with the pinstripe guy on that first.

[wifpd4]

Re: Pinstripes Etched and buff-able

...and pinstripes etching into clear...? Common occurance? Or salesmanship? If the pinstripe would etch into the clear, would it be blurry rather than clearly defined as the solvent(?) bleeds into the clear?

Good advice Mike, thanks.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Pinstripes Etched and buff-able

I suppose if the solvent in the pin stripe paint was basically the same as the solvent used in the sprayed on paint and the pin stripes were applied immediately after the car was sprayed, there could be some small level of etch occurring. But unless those stripes end up being perfectly flat to the rest of the paint and you can not feel them at all, I'd be leary of this. Very leary. If you can feel them at all, then they are raised above the surface of the primary paint job and therefore vulnerable. I can't tell you how many cars I've seen with pin stripes that had clearly been buffed through, and not always on older paint jobs. The only time I don't worry about pin stripes in the least is when they've been clear coated over - and that's pretty rare.