GlennS

I went by this morning to find out what time I should pick-up the car. Guess what not ready. They wet sanded the hood but the bumpers are not done and the roof and trunk need to be wet sanded as well. On the upside it looks great. The dimensions of the strips getting wide over the hood almost match the hood lines exactly.

Anyhow, I the painter has alot of insurance work. At this point he has about 60 hrs. on the car. He is a nice guy and seems to be very into perfection which is what you want in a painter.

Here is the process so far.
1. He removed the bumbers and spoiler.
2. Sanded down the clear to paint on the hood, roof, trunk, and bumpers
3. Masked off the stripes on hood, roof and trunk.
-He told me he had about six tries before he got the right dimesions on the stripes and everything lined-up and was centered.

The bumpers and spoiler process is
1. Mask off the stripes
2. Reinstall the bumpers
3. If the alignment is not right take off the bumpers remask
4. Do this as many times as necessary
5. Paint, clear
6. wet sand and buff

On the upside he completly sanded down the bumpers and is shooting new sonic blue down with the strips. He is also adding a flex agent to the paint and clear so if someone or something taps the bumpers the paint or clear won't crack.

The guy apologized for the time it was taking. I told him no worries, keep the car and take as much time as he needs. I would rather have a perfect job rather than finding little flaws everytime I washed the car.

Anyhow, just so you guys know the strip specs from Shelby American for the 66-67 GT350 are fitting this car perfectly so far. We will see how they workout on the bumpers. I will post some pics as soon as I get the car back.

MikeHawke

nice.

painting the stripes on is ALOT of work but it will look great.

BTW - they always have to put a flex agent in the bumper for primer, paint and clear.

xRockThePonyx

Damn, that's too much time and money! Why not vinyl them on yourself? Took me a day and cost me $40... and people think I painted them on all the time.

Tehrab

GlennS, my car went through the exact same process as yours and I wouldn't change a thing, turned out awesome.

Those people are idiots, if you want to impress idiots then vinyl is the way to go.

GlennS

T - those stripes look awesome:

I had vinyl on the car to test the color for the past 8 mos. I figure if I did not want to change the color by now I can safely paint them on.

Here are the top 10 reasons to paint rather than vinyl:

1. Exact distances between the stripes over the length of the can cannot be achieved with vinyl due to body curvature.
2. I like the narrow/wide/narrow design as per Shelby American for the GT350 and that can only be done with paint.
3. Painted stripes are smooth to the touch - no ridges.
4. I don't have to wax around them.
5. Painted stripes win over vinyl at any car show.
6. I wanted the stripes to matched the color of the stock wheels.
8. Its old school and old school serves more than most are willing to admit - our stangs are old school.
9. Chicks dig painted stripes
10. Their sisters also dig painted stripes