Tape pulled clear coat off

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cpmx450

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Was getting ready to detail a car for a buddy and after I had it all taped off he had to go somewhere so while removing the tape a little bit of the meg. Masking tape was touching the edge of a fender that had been painted about a month ago, and some of the clear coat peeled off. Was wondering if this is something maybe the painters messed up on since the edge of the panel is very rough and doesn't look like the clear coat was applied right. Or is it my fault for the tape touching it?
 
Well, two things come to mind for me.

One, you should not just tape up a car. Take a look at what you are taping first so you know if it is safe to do so.

Second, sounds like a shoddy paint job to me, A factory fender wont do that.
 
That's rough. When I did my Optimum GPS review I had a tape line on my 1997 Saturn. That's 15 year old paint. When I removed the tape it took the clear with it in one section! I do believe it's readily visible in that review. In my case the bond between clear and color had become weak. Obviously different than your situation in the age factor but to get to your point I would think the clear should have been bonded.
 
Personally, I don't feel it's your fault. This is very common, although it shouldn't be, due to poor adhesion of the clear to the color.

30 days should be sufficient for the paint to dry so that masking tape wouldn't separate the clear from the color coat...


Possible causes:

  • Surface contamination
    • Dust
    • Fingerprints
    • Oil
  • Color coat dry
  • Color coat not sanded
  • Clear coat laid down to dry and didn't have time to adhere..(unlikely)
 
cpmx450 said:
Was getting ready to detail a car for a buddy and after I had it all taped off he had to go somewhere so while removing the tape a little bit of the meg. Masking tape was touching the edge of a fender that had been painted about a month ago, and some of the clear coat peeled off. Was wondering if this is something maybe the painters messed up on since the edge of the panel is very rough and doesn't look like the clear coat was applied right. Or is it my fault for the tape touching it?
Click to expand...



What tape did you use?
 
It is common ..I have a 09 Honda accord and I taped the front end to keep some bugs off and ripped the clearcoat off ....the only thing that I could do was respray and get it shiny glossy ...but you can still see where the paint is a different level ...it just needs to completely reshoot the whole hood to get it right
 
Meguiars masking tape was only on for about 5 min not even. Pretty sure it was due to a bad paint job since we looked at it more when he got back and saw there is spots on the bottom of the front bumper that was also painted, where the clear coat is already flaking off as well.
 
Maybe waxing a spot before taping will keep the clear on the car. Tape will pull up wax instead of paint. Also, some time ago, I read a lot of negative reviews of meguiar's car tape. Maybe just stick to 3M painter's blue, tried and true. Also, pull the tape off gently, with the loose end of the tape almost parallel to the paint, rather than perpendicular. Just throwing out ideas. I have next to no experience taping paint.
 
BobbyG said:
Personally, I don't feel it's your fault. This is very common, although it shouldn't be, due to poor adhesion of the clear to the color.

30 days should be sufficient for the paint to dry so that masking tape wouldn't separate the clear from the color coat...
Click to expand...
:iagree:
I wouldnt feel bad about that at all.

As long as your using a quality tape (Which you were) and your not just ripping tape off you shoulldnt have any issues at all! If the paint was applied correctly and low baked you dont have any problem masking off a couple of hours after it rolls out of the booth (apart from a little sweat marking that buffs out).
Sounds to be like the paint job is a slap on job if your saying the bar is peeling off also! :dblthumb2:
 
FWIW I always stick the tape to my shirt a few times to cut down the stickiness. I have seen this happen before, but only on cars with bad repaints.
 
Yes ,its due to bad prepping and not sanding close to the edge .

Ive seen this happen a lot from bad repaints .

But I say it partly your fault because you should be more precise in your taping.

This is why I cringe seeing so many do 50/50 shots with a tape line . When your dealing with a repaint you never know how it was prepped underneath .

It should not happen with factory paint but I still never take that risk just in case.
 
The Megs tape has some of the strongest adhesion I have ever used for masking tape for detailing a car. In a way its really nice cause it will stick to rubber and hard plastic trim VERY well. But on paint, its too sticky and leaves a good amount of adhesive after being pulled off (especially if left on for a 2 or 3 day weekend). So I actually really like it for using on rubber trim that has not been completely degreased.

So I can easily imagine that it pulled the clearcoat off. I guess this is why M.Phillips always stress's the fact that technique should be used when removing masking tape from painted panels.

Luckily I have a very large stock of the greenish 3M automotive masking tape. That works well and has less than (what feels like) half the adhesion of the Megs tape. The only problem is that if the paint is not degreased or stripped the tape peels off of shifts when bumped with the polisher very easily. It will also start to peel up on its own after a day or two.

I believe the blue 3m tape is also lower adhesion than the megs.

The reality is that there is a ton of options when using 3M. you may want to choose another tape in the future. And this is a very good thread showing why. Its just unfortunate that your experience had to be used as an example.
 
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