Stripe replacement or paint 'em?

[stpracer43]

Managed to develop some hard water spots that have damaged my stripes on the truck lid/spoiler...

 

Thinking about having them just painted on.

 

Thoughts?

 

Keith

[Don Johnston]

I vote for painting them as they last longer, easier to polish with rest of car and no need future replacement due to discoloration, bubbles, tears, etc.

[clark17357]

This topic has been addressed by a large number of owners and I am in that boat now. My car is 10 years old last month. I live in San Diego and checked what it would cost to replace the stripes and it is about $1,000 to get it done right. It will cost much more than that to get them painted on but, as 66GT350PS says, painting them on effectively addresses a lot of issues. I suppose it depends on how long you are going to keep your car and you appear to be one who will keep yours forever (good on you for that). I am investigating what it will cost to have them painted on. Have you looked into what it will cost to paint them on?

 

Jim

[TheKurgan]

It should not cost much to paint them on. The only ones that need painting are the over the top stripes. I had mine painted when I replaced my hood. The main thing that sucks is getting the old stripes off after they have been on that long. If you do it and mark the edges, you'll save yourself probably half the cost. If they have to get them off, the labor will be expensive to do that.

[ViperNC]

There's two ways of looking at this. If you plan to keep the car for many years, painting them on is the way to go. And subsequently, there is the cheap way to get that done and then the proper way. The proper way would be to remove the old stripes (stickers), sand down the clear on all body panels that you want to add stripes, paint the stripes, come back and paint the base color, and then clear/wet sand and polish for a smooth finish. The end result would look amazing, however that process won't be cheap.

[clark17357]

I am with ViperNC on this one in terms of how to do it "right" and I know his way is not cheap.

 

Jim

[ITHERTZ66]

There's two ways of looking at this. If you plan to keep the car for many years, painting them on is the way to go. And subsequently, there is the cheap way to get that done and then the proper way. The proper way would be to remove the old stripes (stickers), sand down the clear on all body panels that you want to add stripes, paint the stripes, come back and paint the base color, and then clear/wet sand and polish for a smooth finish. The end result would look amazing, however that process won't be cheap.

 

Yep, this is the proper way. Taking it a step further, expect to take the windshield and rear glass out during this procedure to truly do it right. In my case, I didn't stop there - I went ahead and redid the entire car including painting the lower rocker stripes and lettering. This also allowed me to get rid of all the factory orange peel and what I have now is truly amazing. Not everybody's cup of tea as some fear damaging the "originality" of the car. If you replace even a single vinyl stripe, that argument is already out the window and values have not held up to justify living with a car that isn't the way you ultimately want it. Make these cars fit your desires, and that includes DRIVING them. (:

[Don Johnston]

You mean a little wet sanding and using a paint roller and quart of color is not the way to do it?

[kstrong]

Had over the top stripes painted on less than a month after buying the car in 2007.

We decided to leave the side vinyl on.

[stngfever]

Painting is the way to go. I would also vote to have the side ones painted at same time as it shouldn't be much more.

 

I always knew that when it came time to address stripe issues painting would be the way to go.

 

I used an unfortunate incident of having a gravel truck with an unsecured load pepper my car with small to medium rocks as this opportunity. At this time I also had the factory orange peel addressed! As Troy says, not cheap, however, the finished product is a work of art!

[stpracer43]

Thanks for the input... Yes, I will keep the car and pass it on to son/grandson. I had originally planned to go with the "originality" theme when my '07 was new and never, ever change it, but couldn't resist the 40th upgrade.

 

So, time to make it my own! Paint it is!

[Doug_GT350]

Something else to consider if you want it to "look" somewhat original is to paint the stripes on and leave the hard edge, don't clearcoat it. It will be less cost wise and it still looks and feels like the vinyl. Just giving you something else to consider.

[andrewnagle1964]

Something else to consider if you want it to "look" somewhat original is to paint the stripes on and leave the hard edge, don't clearcoat it. It will be less cost wise and it still looks and feels like the vinyl. Just giving you something else to consider.

 

 

I went this route and am very happy

[TheKurgan]

 

 

I went this route and am very happy

 

Same here. No one is going to put their fingers on your car and see if they can feel the edge anyway. If they do, there might be a problem

[clark17357]

 

Same here. No one is going to put their fingers on your car and see if they can feel the edge anyway. If they do, there might be a problem

 

I had not thought about doing it the way you two did. I supposed one could do it that way and if it ended up bothering them they could always clear coat it. It would be more expensive to do it in two steps if one went that way.

 

I wonder if anyone on here knows if the 1965 and 1966 GT 350s were made all pretty or if they just painted the stripes on and called it a day? My guess is that they just painted them on.

 

Jim

[SoCalSGT]

When I still had the SGT I was going to paint the stripes on. I talked to West Coast Customs when they had an exhibit at the Good Guys Car Show at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. They quoted me $2500 to remove and paint the new stripes. That was a while ago though, obviously, so no idea what it would be now. But I vote for paint; just solves so many problems.

[TheKurgan]

 

I had not thought about doing it the way you two did. I supposed one could do it that way and if it ended up bothering them they could always clear coat it. It would be more expensive to do it in two steps if one went that way.

 

I wonder if anyone on here knows if the 1965 and 1966 GT 350s were made all pretty or if they just painted the stripes on and called it a day? My guess is that they just painted them on.

 

Jim

 

Mine were clear coated too. There is still a bit of an edge you can feel but the only person that will notice it is me. I had mine painted as part of a hood replacement that insurance paid for due to a piece of flying sheet metal coming out of the back of a dump truck. I don't recall how much the estimate was but to have the top stripes painted was no more than $1000. Marking and painting straight -line Lemans stripes is not rocket science.

[EL SHELBY]

Mine were clear coated too. There is still a bit of an edge you can feel but the only person that will notice it is me. I had mine painted as part of a hood replacement that insurance paid for due to a piece of flying sheet metal coming out of the back of a dump truck. I don't recall how much the estimate was but to have the top stripes painted was no more than $1000. Marking and painting straight -line Lemans stripes is not rocket science.

Wow man, I don’t think I had seen your SGT with the good and stripes until this evening. Looks terrific!

 

My stripes have had it and I’ve been to a few shops attempting get estimates and noone will give a number to remove the old stripes. I’ve considered replacing the hood and rear deck lid with a Tiger Racing hood such as yours and CF deck that way I’m only worried about the stripes on the roof. I cannot seem to find the time to attempt striping the the stripes myself.

[ITHERTZ66]

The cars in '65 and '66 had painted stripes from Shelby if ordered with them. It was a crude process and they simply laid the painted stripes on top of the factory paint and masked off what they could. They didn't even remove the bumpers. Most of those cars now are restored with modern BC/CC and the stripes are buried in clear with no raised edge against the body work. This is done as owner preference because it looks very nice and is easiest to also maintain and in the case of repair will also be easier in the future.

 

Those of you with failing graphics - the longer you wait the remove them, the more difficult (expensive) they will be to remove.

Edited November 15, 2017 by ITHERTZ66

[Don Johnston]

The 65-66 stripes were and are a pain to do as they were tapered widths for each body section. It caused production time delays. That is why SA pushed them as an option to have the dealers put them on. The current Shelby Mustangs are a bit easier with equal width stripes, but still require some extra work. It may be why after the 2011 GT350 offered the stripes painted, they dropped the option and had only vinyl stripes for the later editions.

 

But painted stripes are a worthwhile replacement during a repaint.

[stpracer43]

Follow-up...  is there a specific paint color code to match the stripe color with.  Gonna pull trigger on this before attending the '55th show in NC next April.