I'm going to be painting basecoat,clearcoat on my 70 chevelle and was going to put the strips back on, and I was wandering if I should put them on before the clear coat? And will the stencil kit hurt the basecoat being still fresh? Thanks

I just did this on my 70, easy to do, but never again will i attempt with the hood on, deck lid wasn't too bad(reaching). My back hurt for a week after it. Anyhow, searching here, most seem to like spray base then a coat of clear. Re scuff after cure and tape up, spray stripes and then clear the whole car.
My paint supplier advised me not to worry about the base being pulled up. Or with water spots on fresh base. Just to let full flash off, and not to press the tape very hard. I had no problems at all, just make sure the tape edges and especially the joints are down.

I have done it both ways. it works best to shoot a coat of clear then,mask the stripe.and shoot several more coats of clear.Like jimD did.

Use fine line tape,

Wet sand the edge of the strips with 1500,before shooting the rest of the clear. HTH

Troy;

My reply wasn't very clear on what i did, which was not to spray the clear before stripes. I was real worried about pulling the base but everything turned out fine. Keep in mind i didn't mash the tape down and pulled it off immediatly after stripe color applied (still wet).

Thanks a lot guys, that helps a lot. My main concern was not to pull off the base. Sounds like I should not have any problems. Should I scuff the base before applying the clearcoat? This being my first time painting with base,clear coat, I'm just trying to get some good tips on painting. Thanks again, Jim

Some paint companies have a clear basecoat(I use standox) after spraying car color spray a coat of clear base where the stripes are gonna be.Mask and spray your stripes with as little color as possible(less of a paint edge) pull off your tape and put a couple coats of clear base back over the stripe.When you start clearing spray a light coat of clear over the stripes and let it tack up a little,then go ahead and shoot the whole car.
This helps to get nice crisp lines and keeps the clear from running on the bottom edges of your stripe!! Good luck, Mike

Would you wetsand the car with 1500 after putting on the stripes before applying the final coats of clear? Believe it or not I think I am about ready to tackle my first big experience of painting the chevelle.. Thanks for any info. JIm

Check out the tech sheet for the material your using. It will specify flash times, cure etc. Paint store should have them or on-line.
No need to sand/scuff unless that time has elapsed usually 24hrs, but thats pushing it IMO. My .02 12+ should be lightly scuffed dry for max adhesion.
Some painters like to sand the edges down (stripes)so you can't feel them. If you dust the paint down, using as little as possible helps keep the paint edge down. Also try to spray away from tape edge,helps to prevent bleeding.

If the color is solid it can be wetsanded,if either color is a metallic it cannot be without applying more color.If it is a light metallic make sure it is dry before even tack ragging or it wiil show through the clear. Mike

I didn't know not to wetsand metallic base. I appreciate all of the information there 69ssmike. I got the info that I have beed wandering about. My next big step is to get the chevelle tested so I can plate it and start driving, primer and all at least for now. It has been about 12 years or so since it has been on the road. Can't wait. Thanks again for everything everybody. jim