Vinal stripes on curved surfaces....

I think you should go with painted stripes. What color is your car and what color are the stripes going to be? Ive got vista and will put classic white or satin silver, what do you think I should go with? How wide are your stripes going to be?

Sure painted stripes but they are very expensive, and permanent. I spoke to a dealer about stripes who said that the stripes get bad after a while and they don't go anywhere below the hood. They don't even put them on the bumpers at all, so....
I was going to get them installed at a decal shop because I don't want to spend 1500 bucks to get stripes painted on my car, versus the 300 or so for the vinyl.
As far as voiding the warranty for the clear coat I don't see why as long as you get someone who knows what they are doing when they install them, and they don't cut into the paint when installing the stripes. Only a retard would press hard and with the blade and cut into the paint!
The guy at the dealership is going to tell you that to get you to pay for their stripes, of course they not gonna recommend aftermarket shops in the first place. IMO of course...

ticklemonster said:

He says if I take it to some other installer They will most likely use razor blades to trim around the 3rd brake light and l/p opening and that will void the warentee on the clearcoat.

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Ask him for the names of the installers that do that. My hunch is that he could not actually name even one.

I good installer would not cut down into the paint.

BTW, what is this special "clearcoat warranty"???

I put some vinyl stripes on my 99 GT a few years back. I bought a bulk roll of some generic brand vinyl and cut them out and installed them myself. Generic vinyl was a mistake. It started fading much sooner than the 8 year life it was supposed to have and a detailer finished it off by using colored wax on the car and not avoiding the stripes. The results was a black car with gold stripes turned into a black car with mottley looking stripes. If you are going to use vinyl make sure it is 3M auotmotive type. It should hold up to regular wax but never use colored wax on it. Best to tape it off with masking tape when being waxed and keep all wax off of them.

It took me about 12 hours to install them and another 8 to get them off. The glue had an effect on the clearcoat and you can still see where the stripes were after they were removed.

The compound curves some installers are afraid of can be overcome with a heat gun. I discovered you can stretch and shrink the vinyl. You can tape the edges where you want it to be and heat it. If it needs stretching just use a squeegee.

I am waiting to repaint the car then I will paint the stripes on at that time.

GT-03 said:

Ask him for the names of the installers that do that. My hunch is that he could not actually name even one.

I good installer would not cut down into the paint.

BTW, what is this special "clearcoat warranty"???

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I agree with GT-03. The salesman is exactly that, a salesman. You can get good stripes put on if you look around a little. He gonna tell you stuff to steer you away from aftermarket and buy theirs. The "rice" guys all know where good automotive graphics shops are located.
Some of those shops, like one in Austin Texas, have computer programs and can design a custom stripes for any car, have them cut with laser precision, and installed by people who know what they are doing, all the while using the best vinyl for the job. Thats what they do for a living so they are going to do the best they can to ensure more business.
(ps I am not insinuating that any stripes on Mustangs are "rice, ricey, or rice-like in any way)

ticklemonster said:

You guys make some good points. Now I'm trying to decide if I should even stripe the car. It just seems naked without them after spending so much time on the internet looking at pictures with them.....

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I know what you mean bro...when you want something and for some reason think its unacheivable. It is acheivable though man. Vinyl stripes WILL eventually go bad or fade, they do not stay perfect forever. I am going to get vinyl stripes on mine, If I were to spend the money to get them painted I would not do it at all and spend money on performance extras. So VINYL FOR ME ....someday though. Spent too much money so far...got to wait a lil bit he he he