East87

Your questions are not dumb. They are the same basic questions I had.

Before beginning this do understand, laying vinyl is very tedious and requires a LOT of dedication to the task. I bought my stripes and installed them myself. It took me 26 hours over 3 days, but I am extremely happy with how it came out. People who see my car expect me to tell them that I paid a shop to do the work. The swell of pride I get when I tell them I did it myself is more than enough to make it all worth it...oh yea and the car looks outstanding! I didn't do the stripes myself to save ~$300, I did it because I knew that I could. And you can do it too. Just TAKE YOUR TIME and BE PATIENT. It's a learn-as-you-go process. I started with the rear spoiler to get a feel for how the vinyl lays down and sticks once it's dried. I recommend doing something similar.

1. For the pre-install wash, I just used blue Dawn dish soap instead of normal car wash soap. Additionally, instructions called for the use of isopropyl alcohol on the exact placement areas. I found that the alcohol removed the glassy, smooth surface of the wax and allowed the stripes to adhere better...along with cleaning the car surface.

2. www.BaltimoreStreetMods.com Their kit is outstanding, perfectly pre-cut and consists of very high quality 3M vinyl. You cannot go wrong here.

3. BaltimoreStreetMods (BSM) specifies an exact solution of water, isopropyl alcohol and the same blue Dawn dish soap you should use to wash the car. The recipe is in their instructions.

4. As long as the sticky part of the stripe (the bottom that will touch the car surface) AND the car surface itself is WET, the stripes will not adhere. Once the sticky backing and/or the car surface dries, adhesion will begin almost IMMEDIATELY. When wet, you can maneuver the stripes all you want/need to without worry of them setting. Keep multiple spray bottles of solution around to keep everything wet and you will have all the time you need to line everything up.

5. The stripe kit from BSM is very complete, but I also used:
---spray bottles
---X-acto knives (mostly for gently popping small bubbles that were trapped)
---hair dryer for accelerating the drying process once I had the stripes lined up nicely.
---microfiber towels
---masking tape (1 1/2" wide) for lining up the stripes
---ENCLOSED GARAGE OR CAR PORT (dirt/dust=BAD)

6. Have plenty of music handy. Some would say that you should have company, but I'm an absolute perfectionist, and another person might have hindered my progress. Never hurts to have a second set of eyes check in on your progress occasionally.
I messed up the rear bumper because I got trapped in a tired/hypnotic state from the tedium of drying squeegee-ing for hours on end. If you feel like you're not alert and focused, walk away and take a healthy break (this is where company is handy). Have a few beers along the way, but don't lose your precise eye.
The kit comes with a plastic squeegee. Wrap it in a microfiber towel to protect the stripe and the car when you're using it.
Too much heat on one spot is CATASTROPHIC. Sudden drying is the sure way to failure.
Your install should take you an obscene amount of time as you're not a professional vinyl-layer. Don't get frustrated, find excitement in every little millimeter of progress, as it will come that slowly. Collectively, the look is TOTALLY worth it. I'm not going to sugar-coat it for you, but the job is doable if you're committed.

Check out YouTube for vinyl-laying video to get an idea of the motion and action of squeegeeing and laying the pieces themselves.

Check out this thread I made which kinda chronicled my whole striping journey. I may have listed my sources, but if not, run a forum search for "racing stripe install" or something to that effect. There's been a lot of stuff posted already.
https://mustangforums.com/forum/s197...nd-tricks.html

Feel free to PM me if you want, and I will try to remember more of my process. I have yet to re-do the rear bumper, but it isn't that noticeable, so I'm not sure when/if I'll get around to it. If you're local enough, maybe I'll come by and help. I love road trips...

I sincerely hope you still decide to go through with it yourself despite my cautions! It's incredibly rewarding. GOOD LUCK!

Buzzch46

I've got a Black 06 GT, and am thinkin' of going with some retro style stripes that replicate the 1970 Boss 302 (w/o the "Boss 302" tag). Haven't decided on color. Interior is grey leather, so silver is an option. But I love the matte black stripes on the black. I'm going with paint vice vinyl. Yeah - it's permanent, but I think paint looks better. (No offense to you vinyl installers.)

abecker

East87

Would you suggest the 10" or 12" from BaltimoreStreetMods?

Additionally, do their kits require you to remove the hood scoop? It doesn't sound like it, but I wanted to make sure because most of them do.

Also, would I need to remove things like the satellite radio receiver? (If so, how do I do it?)

rfm678

I've also installed BSM stripes. Their kit is excellent. It is a very tedious job, but one you can certainly do yourself if you have the patience. Follow East87's instructions and you shouldn't have a problem, also I second wrapping the squeegee in microfiber and use a lot of solution on top for lubrication.

I went with the 10" stripes with 1" on the sides. Here are some pictures to give you an idea.

jtstakelin

I don't like stripes of any kind. I like the clean look.

East87

1. I got the 12" stripes. I think the beefier look suits some cars better than others. It definitely works on my car. I mulled over the decision for DAYS though. The 10's were right up there, but ultimately I said that if I went 10", I'd probably want pinstripes too. Just went with 12" and made it a moot point.

2. I did NOT remove my hood scoop. I suppose you could (and it's not hard at all), but you might have rubbing either way. My stripes rubbed against the scoop in the back, so I took the scoop off months after the stripes were on and flattened them. Then, about a month ago, I took my X-acto a trimmed around the scoop just a bit to eliminate only the most offensive scrunching. Not a huge deal at all. Took me 2 minutes.

3. You definitely SHOULD remove the satellite antenna. I thought about cutting around it, but that's stupid given how easy it is to take the antenna off. I think you need a 9 or 10mm socket, and eventually, the thing just pops off of the trunk lid and hangs. You can't detach it completely (unless you like to splice wires...), so just let it sit to either side as you do the top of the trunk lid. Clean under the antenna thoroughly as it'll probably be dirty. Lay the stripe down, and just pop the antenna on top and tighten reasonably so that the antenna won't move AT ALL, but that you're not torquing a large dimple in your trunk lid.

I also removed the window washers. When doing the stripes, I recommend also removing the hood blanket for easy access to the window washer line. Just pull the washer line out of the sprayer, and the sprayer itself will pop out of the hood with a little shimmying. Lay the stripes over the window washer holes and GENTLY ***** a hole in the vinyl *after it's dried and set*. Then just push the sprayer gently back into the hood and the stripe should tear just a small bit to allow the sprayer peg to clip in again. Don't force it, give yourself enough of a hole to work with, but nothing too large that you'll tear or stretch the vinyl on top of the hood.

You're saving yourself a good deal of work by not having to stripe your glass roof!

**Take my advice and practice removing the satellite antenna and the window washers before you begin laying the vinyl...before you even order the vinyl. Also, you can definitely leave your hood blanket off.**