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Racer's Tape / Painter's Tape / Blue Tape

45K views 56 replies 32 participants last post by  apexdc 
#1 ·
Do most of you guys tape specifically labeled as racer's tape? Or is the normal blue painting tape from Home Depot just fine?

Any particular brands to stay away from that might have too strong an adhesive?

Has anyone tried the following?





 
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#2 ·
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Is that YOUR car???

xtn
 
#3 ·
I stopped bothering using tape years ago. While I'm sure it helps limit chips, it's just too much bother. But I like the S4. Every once in a while, at the track, I see someone (usually it's the driver's first event) with tape all over the front half of the car. Always makes me laugh.
 
#21 ·
Not true. I got my Exige out of the body shop before the Starshield was reinstalled and I headed to the track. It's the best way to protect the front paint from rock chips (without the starshield) and protect the sides/rocker panels from that rubber goo that flies off the tire.

I won't get many points for artistic application, but it did the job....

(Got it at Home Depot - 3" wide rolls)
 

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#4 ·
cpforyou said:
Do most of you guys tape specifically labeled as racer's tape? Or is the normal blue painting tape from Home Depot just fine?
"Racer's tape" is another name for "duct tape" - way to sticky to put on your car if you plan on pealing it back off. Normal blue painting tape is what people use to protect their car for autocross/track days.
 
#6 ·
TimMullen said:
"Racer's tape" is another name for "duct tape" - way to sticky to put on your car if you plan on pealing it back off. Normal blue painting tape is what people use to protect their car for autocross/track days.
actually (from what i have heard from my friends at the track), racers tape is slightly different than duct tape. it looks the same, and has the same constitancy, with the exception that the adhesive will not break down under high heat as duct tape can do. I have been told that duct tapes' adhesive can melt and ooze under high heat conditions, and the racers tape wont.
i would NEVER put racers/duct tape on a cars exterior, unless it was going to be permanent, or the car was a POS on the exterior.
use the blue stuff for masking paint jobs. i used the purple stuff, and it just would not stay on. the blue is best. the thing I liked about it was it made cleaning the car easy after a track day if you put it in spots where you get allot of rubber from tires of other cars hitting you.
 
#23 ·
the thing I liked about it was it made cleaning the car easy after a track day if you put it in spots where you get allot of rubber from tires of other cars hitting you.
I use the Blue tape for the same reason. If I am planning on detailing the car, then I won't use it, if I recently detailed it, then I do.

Sometimes, I am putting the car in a show soon after an event and want the cleaning job to be easier.
 
#8 ·
Evil Twin said:
Every once in a while, at the track, I see someone (usually it's the driver's first event) with tape all over the front half of the car. Always makes me laugh.
Not my 1st event and laugh all you want. Below is a pic from laguna with my goofy a$$ taped car in the 1st session. Next a pic from session 2 after an elan went into the gravel pit right in front of me in turn 3. I got showered with wet BB sized sand pellets. Would have has to replace all the front star shield and probably would have had to repaint the clam. Conclusion, blue painter's tape from home depot and and hour to put in on well worth the trouble.
 

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#9 ·
fishguyAZ said:
actually (from what i have heard from my friends at the track), racers tape is slightly different than duct tape.
I figured someone would say something along these lines.

I suspect that it's more the quality of the duct/racers/gaffer/etc. that makes the difference.

You can buy cheap stuff (what most people buy and use) or you can buy the good stuff - more likely what's available at places that sell to racers and what professionals use. But it's all pretty much "duct tape".

They make high temperature duct tape, UV protected duct tape, waterproof duct tape, extra strength/re-enforced duct tape, and junk duct tape. Many different organizations/groups call it different names and many claim that their kind is better than the others. :shrug:
 
#10 ·
I've used racer's tape. As everyone else has said, it's similar to duct tape; it's very sturdy stuff with threads in it and a rough texture. I had it on for two days straight. It peeled off easily enough, but the adhesive did leave a residue in a few places. The residue wipes off once you find it, the problem is that it's basically invisible unless the light hits it just so, so weeks later you're still spotting little patches that you missed. Next time I'd probably go with the blue painter's tape instead, assuming I even bothered.



 
#11 ·
2ndCS said:
Not my 1st event and laugh all you want. Below is a pic from laguna with my goofy a$$ taped car in the 1st session.
rotfl rotfl rotfl -poke- rotfl rotfl -poke- rotfl rotfl rotfl

But, hey, it seemed to have worked for you.

I stopped using tape after smacking a deer coming out of T9 at Summit Point years ago. Tape didn't help a bit.

Twin
 
#13 ·
Have tried out a roll of- 3M #471 Vinyl Tape it's around $25 for a 2" x 36 yard roll. It's pretty tough stuff, uses a rubber adhesive and comes off without any residue. Used it on a back to back track dates and comes in black, blue, green, orange, red, white, or yellow. For the most part use painter tape for autox. And usual go bare for track dates. You can see a bit of it in my avatar.
 
#14 ·
I've used the racer tape from OG racing without any problem.:shrug: Comes right off without leaving goo. (5 track days in the Elise plus many more in my Subarus, although they come with pre-chipped paint from the factory so they don't need much tape).

The need for the tape is easy to determine. At Summit Point Main, aka "Scummit Point", after a two day run I returned with holes in my rocker panel tape.:eek: That tape prevented starshield damage. On the Shenandoah track, no holes, so it probably wasn't needed. Might as well put it on anyway.
 
#20 ·
wowwwwwww



I should have done that when my elise got crashed, hah...
 
#17 ·
Taxcheat said:
I've used the racer tape from OG racing without any problem.:shrug: Comes right off without leaving goo.
The tape in my pictures is "ISC Neon Standard Duty" tape from findtape. The residue was very subtle and seemed to only be in spots where I think there would have been high wind pressure. It wasn't tacky to the touch. The grid-like pattern of the tape's texture was faintly visible on the StarShield near the Lotus badge in the right lighting, and I assumed at first it was actually an impression the tape had left in the film. But it wiped off with a bit of elbow grease and I spotted the same patterning in a few other locations that didn't have StarShield. The last spot I found was the front of the rollbar cover, which I only happened to notice weeks later when I was prepping the car for a show and sunlight hit it at a certain angle.
 
#22 ·
The best stuff I've used is red vinyl stucco tape available at Home Depot or White Cap. It's designed to protect painted and glass surfaces from the ravages of a stucco spray gun. Even sandblasters use it. It peels much more easily than blue tape cuz it comes off in one large area if you layer the tape on correctly and peel it from back to front.

Blue tape sucks - sharp stuff just goes right thru it. It's just thin paper. Just my experience especially at Willow Springs where the rocks are very sharp.
 
#26 ·
I was too lazy to read all of the posts, but sometimes I'll use painter's tape and then regular duct tape on top of it. Better protection than just blue painter's tape, stays on better, and I can color coordinate and buy black duct tape or something. :p
 
#27 ·
The blue tape isn't very thick, but i used it at the last autocross I did. ... too bad I took a cone down the side of the door! I'd feel confident using it for bugs, etc but i'd be shocked if it stopped a ding from occurring. Dunno if i'd bother using it again.

As an aside, that Audi will never die! I used to work with one of the guys who did that cross country drive. Seems like such a fun way to do it because you get to graffiti the car.

Went to the S2000 Homecoming last year, strangely NONE of us who travelled inter-state to get there taped our cars, but so many of the california people did it was crazy. At least they had fun with the tape though! (Note where it did them 0 good though.) :(



I love the killsheet.

 
#28 ·
I don't think I'd use blue painter's tape for cross-country. I'd be afraid once it got wet, assuming you'd hit rain, it would be a real pain to remove...kind of like masking tape.
 
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