boss 244

I used to work in a sign shop and all we used was a little bit of dish soap and water in a spray bottle, if you use too much soap (which makes it easy to slide the vinyl around) it takes a long time for whe water to evaporate under the vinyl. Using this mix also makes it easier to get the air bubbles out. I did my stripes my self after having them cut to my measurements. It was a pain in the *** getting them to lay right on the bunper, fascia and leading edge of the hood because of the crown and curve of the hood. Get you hood marked with a grease pencil where you want the stripes, spray with the soap and water lay the stripe down. slide it into position and start squeege in the middle working left to right, carfully so you don't scratch the vinyl or your car. Make sure whomever sells you the vinyl gives you a sgueege.

dmhines

I purchased the Splash Concentrate from here ... makes one gallon of spray which is good if you are doing an entire car ...

http://www.graphic-express.com/x-ins...tion_fluid.asp

Worked great on my install and smells kinda like peppermint ....

huffhuff

i just used some of the 3M clear bra material on my Harley. they advised using baby shampoo in the water based application solution. the shampoo doesn't make suds so there is no residue under the material when you squeege it. this 3M clear bar is the same material we use to protect the leading edge of helicopter blades in the desert. it replaces the tacky vinyl bras people use to protect their hoods and is virtually invisible. http://www.stickercity.com has it available.

jericho73

Use soap and water mixed in a spray bottle. Makes it much easier. I striped my car myself and it's a huge P.I.T.A., now that i took those off if i do it again no way will i do it myself again, GL with yours.

MikeHawke

that's sorta what I was going to say

I put a few drops of dishsoap in some clean water and put it in a spray bottle. Spray liberally on the area where you want the decal and squegee it out with a soft flat plastic tool like a credit card.

randy78045

but wont sand scratch the paint? [:-]

Action_Jackson

I'm working on fixing my stripes today, and it is a pain in the $$$!!! I have a few little bubbles, will these come out when the sun hits it for a while? when I try to squeegee them out sometimes it wrinkles the material before I get it out!

SwtPnyChick

Good luck on the job girlfriend...your braver than I am.[8D]

Are you gong bumper to bumper?

dmhines

I did my hood stripes myself ... you really need two people to do a good job. One person holds the stripe slightly above the surface and you use the scraper to push the vinyl onto the car ... the holder should lightly give as you apply the decal but the scraper should be laying the vinyl onto the car ... not the holder. Always go from center of stripe out to each side. This method will ensure very few if any bubbles. Very small bubbles will eventually dissappear. Large bubbles must be popped with a pin and the water very carefully squeezed out .. squeeze slowly or the vinyl will stretch.

Do not try to get bubbles out using the scraper if the vinyl around it is already solidly attached to the car. The vinyl stretches very easily and if you try to force a bubble over to an edge it will stretch the vinyl and will be wrinkled forever .. and the bubble will still be there. If there are lots of small bubbles in an area try to slide them all into one larger bubble so you can put a pin in it and remove the water. Bubbles smaller than 1/8 inch should go away within a week or two in the hot sun.

If you have more than a dozen or so bubbles in your stripe when you are done ... you didn't apply properly or take your time ... I have striped several of my classic Fords but this was my first large scale hood stripe ...

Good luck ...

Here are my Mavericks that I did the vinyl on as well ... Side stripes on the Red Grabber and Hood Stripe on the Yellow ...