<VV> Well, so.../paint

[Alan and Clare Wesson]

> Don't mask until just before paint.  Masking tape gets sunbaked and very
> difficult to remove.

Trouble with masking a car yourself and then taking it to a paintshop for 
them to do is that for the best possible job you should re-mask for each 
coat - this avoids water getting under the edge of the tape when you sand 
it, cuts out the multicoloured step you get at the edge of the paint when 
the tape is peeled off, and allows you to continue the colour coat a tiny 
bit further than the primer, thus again concealing the primer edge.

I wouldn't even think of painting a decent car without re-masking for each 
coat. And I try never to leave the tape on for more than a few days, or when 
strong sun has been on it (not too much of a problem in England, that!), or 
(especially) when it has been wet (now *that* is a problem here!). And I 
always use 3M tape because it resists these defects better than most.

Cheers

Alan