My car went to the painter today for the stripes. He wants to know if I want the whole car striped of clear coat or just the area where the stripes will go? He said if I don't strip the whole car, the stripes may appear raised just slightly, no more than if they were vinyl. He thought it would be fine that way. He is going to remove the bumpers.

How did you do yours and what is the best way to go?

I did read as many posts as I could find on the subject. Getting down to the nitty gritty here and want to make sure its done right.

Thanks, I appreciate the help!

 

I have vinyl myself, but I have seen a car painted and just clear on the stripes. They where actually higher than my vinyl on the car, I'm sure a better painter could do a better job than what I saw though.
I would recommend going with the re-clear on the entire surface

 

Thanks Dan, I'm thinking I want to strip the whole car. I just want to be sure its done right the first time.

 

If I was to have them painted I would have the entire hood sanded, stripes painted and then the entire area clearcoated so you would not feel the stripes. That is the point of having them painted and not using vinyl. If you end up with an edge you may as well have just stuck with vinyl.

 

Exactly, I looked up 38Specials post on his stripes and printed it out to show the painter. I have to stop by and look at one more color sample he's doing for me.

 

I love my stripes too!!

 

You want to have the entire hood/trunk/lid sanded first and then apply the stripes. Once completed, they should clear at least 3 times with wet sanding between. Paint is worth it in the long run & you plan on keeping it.

 

Personal preference I guess. If you are that picky about your car you will be painting it again 10 years from now. No different than replacing vinyl 10 years from now. Paint does have an advantage when it comes to some areas of the car. I will be getting different bumpers which vinyl will not apply to very well so I will need to paint the stripes on. Already talked to my buddy who owns a body shop. 3 coats of colour and 4 coats of clear is what I will end up getting.

Also, make sure you have the bumpers removed when your car is painted. Nothing worse than being stuck with a crack in the clear where body parts meet because they were not removed from the car when it was painted.

 

First of all I would clear the whole panel, that is what I did on mine. There will be an edge that needs to be sanded and buffed. Correct me if I am wrong but stripes painted from factory back before my time were a single stage, and you could feel the edge of the stripe. So if you want the look of an old classic, the edge is alright.

 

By single stage, you mean just sprayed once and not cleared? I know that you could feel the edge on the old Shelby's so I also think the dge might be ok since I am trying to get my car to look just like a '65 Shelby. I have been going back and forth with this for a while now. I have had the shop that I work with (best work for the money) price it out with just painting and clearing the stripes vs. painting the stripes and clearing the whole panel and it is going to be just about a grand more to clear everything. I like the idea of not feeling the edge, but the guy at the shop guaranteed me that the edge will be equal to or less than the thickness of my vinyl if they just clear the stripes. I can live with that. I have my Roush hood scoop in the shop now and they are painting it MG and thenthey are going to tape it and spray/clear just the black on it. Depending on the thickness of the edge, I'll save the grand and have them do the entire car like that. That can go towards my supercharger.

 

Single stage paint the clear is integrated in the paint, two stage is your basecoat then clear. Single stage paint was used on I believe almost all cars until about 20 years ago or so. Single stage paint is still used, but I would say most new school painters prefer two stage.
If just the stripes are just cleared, they would proably still sand and buff the edges, just so its not that rough. He is right you would still feel a little edge. If the whole panel is cleared, they can sand it so you wont feel a thing.
No matter what Im sure it will look good.

 

I think the guy at the paint shop had mentioned using a single stage to reduce the thickness of the edge. The edge won't bother me, especially if I know I saved a grand. I guess I'll know tomorrow when I get my hood scoop back.

 

Okay, I stopped at the paint shop last night. This is interesting for anyone with a Performance White car. He took the bottom of my spoiler and showed me a small patch where he clearcoated. If you look close, the white changes color to a hint of yellow. If I were to strip and clear coat the entire hood roof and trunk, the sides would be a different color. He called PPG and checked to see if there was another clear coat he could use but he had the clearest and this is just the way it is with white. I would have to strip the entire car and clear coat. Then I wouldn't have the nice bright Performance White.

So, he said he can sand where the stripes will go, do a two stage and wet sand in between, clearcoat and he thinks he can get a very minimal edge on the stripe. I said go for it, I think he will do a very nice job. I would rather have a slight edge on the stripe than change the color of my car! He said White and Silver are the only colors that will do this. Any other color would have been fine.

 

Thats good information to have Rene'. I'll be having my stripes painted down the road so I am looking for as much information as I can get to have when I go for estimates.

 

Sounds right. Also you have to clean white alllllllll the time.

You will probably have about 1/8th of an inch discoloration along the edges of the stripes so you may want to pinstripe the edges to clean it up a bit.

 

I got my Roush hood scoop back from the shop today and they painted/cleared only the black stripes after painting/clearing the whole thing MG. The edge is very slight. I think it's even less than my vinyl. Now, keep in mind I bought cheap vinyl that may be a tiny bit thicker than nicer stuff. But the edge is very minimal. I can live with that. I'll be bringing the car in to have the rest striped in about 2 months.

 

Yes, he mentioned pin striping the edge, I'm just not sure about that. Have to see what it looks like first. He is an awesome pinstriper. Can do it by hand, does alot of bikes and detail work. Pretty well known around here.

 

So you know I have to ask. After everything you are hearing about the clearcoat changing the colour of the car, possibly pinstripping the edge, etc etc... why not just use vinyl?

 

It will look better than vinyl when its done. I hope

I guess its just a personal thing, I prefer paint.

I plan to keep the car for 2 years and buy the Shelby when it comes out anyway.

 

Depending on who did it you would not know it was vinyl.

Have you ever had vinyl stripes, and I mean good ones, on a car? I know you may prefer paint but going through the hassle just seems to make sense to use vinyl instead. After all you only plan to keep the car for 2 years so why go through all the extra expense.

I assume you are talking about the cobra.