Question about "burying" stripes in clear

[440A-body]

This probably a very basic question , and there is probably a very simple answer to it, but I just can't wrap my brain around what the process is.
A little back ground here on th eproject: 54 Chevy pickup, shaved door handles, filled and smoothed everything. This truck belongs to a friend of mine, and I felt honored he asked me to do the body work. I have been doing this as a hobby for about 25 years and I feel there a lot that I have accomplished...mostly restorations, not alot of custom painting.
Now my question is that he wants a two tone stripe over a two tone paint scheme. Now after I lay down the two primary colors and shoot a coat of clear to lock it down, I can then lay out the first of the two colors he wants for the stripe. AfterI remove the tape how do I get rid of the tape ridge left behind, and do I have to lock down that color with clear and press on to the other color, or just tape it off and spray? And how do you knock down the ridge left by tape and not leave sand scratches on the base coat, and not show through the clear?

[lidpainter]

I don't know how others do it but I tape directly over paint and shoot the next color. Sometimes I may shoot an intercoat clear ( HoK) which is basically just a pigment less paint between coats to protect from scarring but not always. As far the tape edge goes, I clear, wet sand to knock it down and then reclear.

[Len]

I usually apply my car color and clear then prep the surface, mask off and paint the stripes then pull off the mask and apply clear over everything. When I'm shooting the final coats of clear I usually put a little more over the paint ridges so that I have a little extra material to help level the stripe's edges.

Tip: when you mask the stripe apply the edge tape last so that you can remove it as soon as you're done spraying without having to remove the masking paper. This will allow you to pull off the edge tape while the paint is still wet without as much risk of damaging the stripe. By doing this you won't get as much of a ridge at the edge of your stripe and it will be easier to bury the edge in clear.

[Scars&Cars]

well depending on how much build you have if you want to knock down the stripe without having to re-clear...(which in my opinion is the best way) you can put a coat or two over just the two tone line and let it flash between each coat obviously...and then just put two more regular coats over the entire panel. usually then you have enough clear to sand flat and buff. be careful though because the clear will take a bit to flash over those areas and you will be more prone to runs. also i wouldnt use a heat lamp if your going to do that because with that much clear you are opening up a bigger probability of solvent pop.

[snake o8]

okay first thing you want to do is paint all colors before clear that way u minimize paint build up witch will cause rock chips down the road. second a base coat tape edge is minimal compared to a clear edge.

and here is the TRICK to almost eliminating a tape edge on your base colors.... take a safety razor-blade and dull one side with some 600 sandpaper put dull side on paint surface at a 45degree angle and run razor along the the surface the dulled side will prevent scratches on the bare basecoat while the edge cuts off the excess paint left from the tape.

after you "blade" proceed to clear put on 2 good coats of clear. after it sets usually over night sand with 500-800 sandpaper depending on preference. sand until orange peal is gone be careful not to burn edges and tips of stripes.

then reclear with 2 more coats of clear. the above process of sanding the first 2 coats makes flat surface for the "double" clear to flow naturally you will have no lines in your clear coat. there is no need to wet sand and buff unless you have dirt of course.
the double clear process actually makes your clear job look better because your applying clear to a much smoother surface causing much much less orange peel.