If you just mask the stripes, then shoot color, then clear, you'll wind up with a ridge in the paint at the edge of the stripe. I did mine by masking, then color, then unmasked it, then cleared the entire hood, roof and trunk area. If you shoot three good coats of clear, you can buff out the ridge. There's really no need to rush getting clear on the base, since you have 24 hrs with most paint systems. I've also learned the hard way to make very, very sure the car is clean after you unmask the stripes, before you shoot the clear. Unmasking breaks off all kinds of little bits of base and they seem to hide in the masking paper where you mask off the windows. I would re-mask the whole car before clear if I were you rather than risk blowing out debris into your fresh clear.