an apparatus for forming a continuous preparation ply of the type used to make vehicle tires from preparation ply sections having nonmetallic cords . an infeed conveyor successively feeds the preparation ply sections to a butt splicing machine that joins the ends of the two preparation ply sections to form a butt joint . a gum strip applier receives the continuous preparation ply from an outfeed conveyor and applies a gum strip over the butt joint . a method is provided for forming a continuous preparation ply by first automatically forming a butt joint , and thereafter automatically placing a gum strip on the butt joint .