buffing/ polishing over pinstripes....

C

chaotik

New member
The company I work for cares alot about the looks of their semis. The owner noticed how good my personal truck looked and we started talking. I am going to be helping him detail the trucks he is selling . Now here is the question.



All of the trucks have pinstriping on them....this was done when the trucks were new (approx. 7 years old). It was done by a pro that has been doing their trucks forever. He uses ONE SHOT lettering enamel (trade standard) and other than some fading of reds (no UV protection) the striping has no chipping, flaking, etc. After years of trucks washes , the black paint on these trucks are showing their swirls!! I am not sure if the paint is single or dual stage....havent had a chance to rub on it alittle to see if I get the paint buffing off or not....pretty sure Peterbilt is using 2 stage though.



I like the Poorboys SSR polishes and was wondering if anyone had any problems with buffing off the stripes?? I think this is more of a problem when usng a rotary over a PC, but I wanted to see what everyone thinks



THANKS for the help!!!
 
Both my car and my girlfriends car have pinstripes the entire length of the car and I have never had any issues with polishing or waxing over them. I don't know if the pinstripes your referring to are the same or not, but I figured I would put my experience out there.



Sometimes wax or polish does start build up between the raised edge of the stripe and the paint. That can easily be corrected with the gentle touch of a fingernail and a MF towel :D
 
Never had any issues with pinstripes, either painted or stick-ons. I just lighten the pressure a little if they are in poor condition.
 
I would play it safe and tape over them. I polished my '96 Cutlass a few weeks ago, and took probably half the paint off of the pinstripe on the back quarter. And I wasn't spending a ton of time, just a few minutes on one pass.
 
Would be impossible to tape them all off, as they are not just straight stripes. They are also the decorative little curly Q ones in the corners, etc. It would take like an hour per truck and an entire roll of fineline tape to do it. :hm
 
I'd be careful, abrasion is abrasion and you can only get away with so much of it. I've had compromised painted striping on numerous old cars (especially Benzes for some reason) that'd been polished a lot, and just by hand/Cyclo too. Wish I had a good answer...if taping's out of the question than I'm stumped.
 
I would just do what you can without touching the pin striping with the machine, and then do te rest by hand. Either that, or maybe just go over the pinstripe areas on a lower speed with no pressure.
 
Or just get rid of the pinstriping <evil laugh> . In all seriousness it varies so much that no one can give you a real answer. I've compromised some by hand and hit others with a rotary and had no problems. Start at the end, and if a little bit ends up shorter, no one will notice. Do not try in the middle of a stripe!
 
I would love to get rid of the stripes..... Its amazing what a little laquer thinner will do to pinstriping enamel (muh huh huh huh)
 
My brother and I have done a lot of pinstriping over the years and this is what I would do. Use a PC with a polishing pad and SSR2 over the stripes with light pressure and you should be OK. If the striping is thin and you can see the base paint through it then you will rub through. Try to find an area that you can test on first. Oh yeah and if you have to remove the striping or lettering you an use Easy Off oven cleaner on a rag works great.

The trucks base paint is probably single stage Imron very tough paint. Good luck and get us some pics.
 
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