cheftjpeck

well I wasted money on vinyl stripes....they look great from 1 foot plus away or further ...but I did not like the way the seams did not line up on the pieces....(we are talking a millimeter) still enough for me,....so I am going in to get them painted....should have listened to the advisors who stated paint them...I just was not sure if I would like stripes for sure...(I DO) I just want them perfect...so a little over $300 in the drain...same place will paint them ..clear coat and all for $1000.....they are a great custom shop and i trust them so I go and get the appt today...morale of the story...be careful what stripes you buy..(i dont want to state where I bought them from) but I will say others bought them from this sponsor as well. and go the extra dough to get it right....I learned the hard way

skinjob

A great custom shop .... who apparantly can't lay vinyl to save their lives. I'm not a huge fan of vinyl stripes (I have some question about how they hold up over the years) but I can't see why their position shouldn't be just as good as paint. This shop screwed up your vinyl and now you are paying them full price for paint.. sounds fishy to me.

-J

LegallyTorchRED

+1, and a thousand bux is high for painted stripes IMO

fairlane292

Graphics vinyl shops do vinyl; paint shops do paint. Unless the paint shop has a guy with minimum 2-3yrs of significant vinyl expertise their work will be metiocre. (Worked in a vinyl shop, it's not as easy as many make it out to be).

In a way you did the right thing, vinyl first and run the car for 6-12 mos. If you like stripes that much go for paint. ...course for a daily driver paint chips in your stripes on the bumper might put you in a mental institution.

Dastang01

The dealership said that it will be $2900 to paint on stripes. I gotta start looking at custom shops

fairlane292

They are probably subbing that out anyway; dealers aren't custom paint shops. Price is too hig for a dealer job. Keep shopping around, make sure you see stripes the shop has done first before deciding. If they don't have any you can see (unless they have other incredible custom work to show you) then move on.

cheftjpeck

the reason the vinyl shows IT SEAMS is because that is the way the kit comes. it is NOT the shops fault, the vinyl looks great ..no bubbles nothing..it is simply that the vinyl comes from a certain company that cuts the rear pieces around the trunk etc into 3 pieces which when placed on car and get up close and look at it. you see the seams. they did NOT screw up the vinyl...read before you react.....THE VINYL ITSELF is pre cut and flawed by design...not the companies that sold it to me fault either....it is very clearly advised that there will be seams...they just show a little more than I like

fairlane292

As I said you really didn't waste any money, it's pretty good strategy, maybe could have gone less expensive stripes and done it yourself knowing it was a test to see if you wanted to commit to painted stripes. The contours are such that they have no choice but to have pieces and thus seams. This is why I was asking in one thread about a wide stripe that would come over the contours of the front bumper. I would bet there are multiple pieces unless it's a formed vinly piece(rare). I worked applying a ton of vinyl over a year and a half and it is not a stretchy material; you can if you have the experience do some forming by applying modest heat with a hairdryer but this is tricky as it is the wet solution that is used underneath to apply w/o air bubbles, so the hair dryer applying heat affects that property. Either way if you love stripes get them painted by a top quality shop. Good luck!!!

stangster06

All of the classic mustangs have vinyl stripes. How do you protect them? Are there any with 10 year+ warranties?

If stripes are painted - do they just paint over your existing paint?

Many factors to consider.

Willis

fairlane292

I'm not into stripes and haven't looked at the vinyl ones available. I believe someone out here said 3M had 10 year warranty.

Yeah paint goes over your clearcoat (sanded); then panel recleared so no edges. Raised painted stripes I would not want.

But I wouldn't go stripes anyway; getting to be way to commonplace on the stangs now. It's pretty much "ho hum' to anyone seeing them; afterall people can't tell a $2500 painted stripe set from a $200 vinyl set anyway from 30' away.