The Dark Knight

iTrader: (1)

my car does not have clear bra (and i dont plan to)

goin this friday... returning sunday... will prob drive another 50-100 around town

im washing/polishing/waxing the car tomorrow...

any tips to deter rock chips / bugs / etc?

v6cord2k5

iTrader: (1)

do the front at least... if you have time

Rich S. Fla

definitely use the blue painter's tape. i used it on my old accord when i went out west to car shows. saved my paint (what was left of it lol)

fsttyms1

I would never be that anal no matter what car i owned to do that. If you feel the need to i would use the Blue tape.

CLpower

I had JUST repainted this bumper before going on an 1100 mile trip

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phee

iTrader: (5)

DO NOT USE PAINTERS TAPE! use the detailers tape foudn at autozone or what not. the painters tape leave glue residue if it gets wet. thats a BITCh to get off.

CLpower

you will be fine w/ painters tape (use to be a detailer)

The Dark Knight

iTrader: (1)

is there a guide that shows me how/where to place the tape or should I just tape it w/ some common sense?

and i guess i should tape the fenders (since they flare out a lil) and the side mirrors?

should i tape anywhere else?

can the tape stay on the car for ~72h or should i take it off once i get there, and reapply once i head back down?

do they sell white painters/detailing tape? i dont want to be an accident risk for other drivers while they peek at my car and go 'wtf is that shit'

S14 n Tsx

I did method when I was coming up from Cali to Washington.

Just tape half of your hood, front bumper, side mirrors, and half of your fenders. Make sure to tape well so that they don't come off.

No one is really going to make a huge deal about your half covered tape car. I would just leave it on because it's not going to damage your paint or anything like that.

asianspec

iTrader: (1)

hmmm im going to have to tape my car when i drive an 2800 mile drive.

The Dark Knight

iTrader: (1)

thanks s14

im gonna head on over to autozone tomorrow

lets hope they have white painters tape

charliemike

I'm doing DC to Ohio and back this weekend and I'm not taping my car.

I'm anal but it's not like I have a concours '72 Ferrari Daytona or something.

Chips can be filled by amazing detailers and bugs come off.

subinf

I don't have the patience to do that. CL Power posted pics when he taped his car after it was painted. Just make it look like that.

v6cord2k5

iTrader: (1)

On the hood start from the top down so that when it overlaps and the wind will not catch the tape and peel it off. If you're gonna be using your trunk you might want to get the bumper also so no one scrapes that while loading/unloading (happened to me).

CCColtsicehockey

Mokos23

you also taped the headlights? what happens if you had to drive at night??

RaviNJCLs

iTrader: (4)

Painters tape is great stuff, but that seems like a lot of work to me.

v6cord2k5

iTrader: (1)

If you detail your car every once in a while its not that bad. 20 maybe 30 minutes tops.

fsttyms1

But why?? like stated before its not like the cars are ultra rare one of a kind originals? some of the people i see spend more a year in tape than it would cost to repaint (if it was even needed)

v6cord2k5

iTrader: (1)

Because the hassle it takes to get a filler pen, prep, sand and all that stuff... its a precaution, some rocks dont leave chips but they start to make the front dull with multiple impacts. Its just a precaution that the OCD (obsessive compulsive detailer) will take to avoid worse scenarios... tape is cheap and its not hard to apply and remove. Some people take pride in having a perfect paint job, others could care less, and some are satisfied with the routine carwash every two weeks.

CLpower

you'd be amazed at how bad a long interstate drive can fuck up your bumper

this was a 400 mile trip, what you don't see is all the rock chips..bumper was complete fu**ed




A front bumper will cost $300-400 to get properly repainted...not counting the time inconvenienced. I don't know how anyone would spend that much in tape.

charliemike

I went up to NYC and back (400 miles R/T) and my front end looked nothing like that. I think you must have been driving through swamps or something

subinf

TS_eXpeed

When I drove from Kansas City back to Houston (a little over 700 miles if I remember correctly), sure, it definitely got some bugs and whatnot on the front end, but other than that it was ok. It was nothing like the GTO.

I'm guessing that where you are driving has a big role into how bad the rock is as far as rocks and contaminates and also how many bugs you encounter.

subinf

^ - Same here, drove 1300 miles last Thursday on I5 from SF to San Diego and back. Not very much of anything on the front of my car. Wish I had a clear bra from the start, but I've seen worse with cars that have 85k on them