stangster06

When you have stripes painted on do they just paint them over your existing paint or do they need to prep it somehow? Do they need to repaint your entire hood for example?

Thanks

SICNESS

Pay the money to have the panels cleared, then painted, then clearcoated. The end result will be worth the extra cash and you will not be disappointed!

stangster06

Can they just paint the stripes over the existing paint? Seems extreme to have the whole panel (e.g. hood, repainted with potentially less than factory quality, for the stripes...

If so, vinyl seems a better option.

fairlane292

Think hehas a typo there. They won't clear over clear as the first step. He must have meant "cleaned" vs. "cleared". (wax remover, sanded, cleaned)

The aftermarket clear when done by a high end shop will get sanded and buffed to a no orange peel, glassy fininsh (lot better than factory). ...but that a top quality shop. Not cheap, might want to go vinyl for a while and see if you really want to put the $$ into stripes.

SICNESS

I asked our body shop about it and not having seams with the stripes and they mentioned clearing the panel as in actually clearing (sanding)the paint off in the specified areas (that's what I took it to mean) so when they actually stripe it and then clearcoat over it, it won't have any seams.

I'd rather take your word for it judging by your avatar though!

Vinyl is a lot cheaper...I've always been partial to painted stripes because they look incredible and I want to be able to wax over them. I like having my whole car shiny!

I don't havepainted stripes yetbecause they are costly!

fairlane292

Yeah, that's cool "clearing (sanding)the paint off in the specified areas", they will sand (like with 800# grit) the clearcoat but not cut into the base color underneath. The idea is not to disturb that base as one day you may wish to go back to stock and it would then not involve any repair to the base color. Only issue you might run into over time if the car is in the sun alot is a some fade difference. ...more common with darker colors.

If you're set on stripes, sure paint under clear is beautiful.

Simon1

I had my car painted by a custom shop last year and had 80% of it clear coated over the paint I had put on. The bumpers were not clear coated buy a suggestion from my painter. He related that if he cleared the bumpers it would make for a more costly repair in the future if I had a cratch/dent/blemish in the paint. He explained that he would end up, in order to make it right if someone put a dent/scratch/blemish one of my bumpers, clear coating the entire panel which would cost more. I can't tell the difference visually with the paint on the bumpers, but I can feel the line in the paint from the stripes only on the extreme ends on the bumpers. It was definetly worth the extra cost to have it cleared.

Here are a few examples.

fairlane292

Looks terrific!!! I understand and do get whatthe paint shop is saying and agree it would becheaper for a redo of the blue on the front bumper, howeverdon't youhave just as much of a chance (actually more so) of a scratch, chip, etc on the white of the front bumper (which is base/clear), as you do on the blue. ...so I'm not quite getting the logic as both areasare just as vulnerable and subject to repair one day. I'm assuming they did clear the stripes down the rear bumper since road chips don't occur there.

Not meaning to be a pain, just had not heard of this being done. ...always looking to learn though and could be somethin to this.

roush69stang

I uderstand were all always looking to save a buck, but if my boss told me i was putting stripes on w/o clearing the whole panel, I'd think he had lost his marbles. The extra clear is so nominal of a price it doesn't justify the hard edge your gonna have afterward. Heck I don't think he would really knock much off the price. It would actually be easier just to paint the entire panel.

2oo5stang

i bought the stick on stripes for my car, since the first place that i went to wanted to charge 1500-1600 bucks to paint them on, which is stupid. I had a car a few years ago that got painted on stripes for 250 bucks and it looked awesome. but i bought the stripes and now found someone that will paint them on for 400 bucks. They will mark it off, sand and clean, then paint and clear coat. He also painted my CAI and duckbill spoiler and did a very good job.

the vinyl ones are good, can last and look good for 5-7 years, depends on alot of things. but usually white, which i'm getting, turns alittle after a few years and looks dirty. also alot cheaper. but which ever way you go, it'll look awesome.