I'm new to the forum, and car stuff in general. I just bought a windveil blue 2006 GT and want to get some white racing stripes put on. The dealership talked about having the stripes be decals or actual paint. I live in phoenix, with a lot of sun, and the dealership recommeded paint. But a friend told me that the decals these days won't be affected by the sun. Any advice?
And, should I go through the dealership, or try to find an independent respectable paint/detailing place and have them do it? I care about the money, but am more interested in the quality and not having hassles and problems. And advice there?
i would go with vinyl if it were me. there is always a chance that you wont like them and when its paint then you cant get rid of them, with vinyl you can. paint is obviously going to be more expensive as well. i have always heard that when they are painted on, the edge of the stripe isnt as smooth as it would be with vinly. and also, IMO with your color, i would look into silver stripes.
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1994 Mustang GT, just a few minor appearance mods, engine mostly stock (for now)
If you're dead set, paint them, I had vinyl stipes on my tbird, and all this crap got embedded in them, and they were made from the highest quality stuff too.
I saw the white in a picture, and it looked good. Do you think I should try to see it in person somewhere first? Silver sounds good too. But I think I would like the greater contrast with white.
I see that some of the stripes come with a pin stripe on the outsides, and I really want that. Would a pin strip be painted on, or would that always be a decal.
I've never heard of vinyl. Are they a different material than standard decals? What's the difference?
And again, should this be something I try to go to a dealership for or to a shop somewhere? Or does that just depend upon the individual dealership and shop.
Like I said, I don't really care about the money so much, as long as it doesn't go over $2000 or so. The dealership quoted me $2100 for the painted ones, and that seemed pricey.
the vinyl is going to be your standard decal that you are hearing about. you can buy vinyl kits for about $150 for the whole thing. i have been told that they arent hard to put on either. im sure you could go to a sign/graphics shop and they could do them and install them as well. the price difference is what sells me on the vinyl. if they start to get crap imbedded in them then you can always pull them off and buy new ones. you can have this done about 10 times for what it costs to paint them on. here is a link to some good vinyl ones, and they also offer the add-on pinstriping that you were talking about. http://www.baltimorestreetmods.com/05stanggraph.htm#precut05
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1994 Mustang GT, just a few minor appearance mods, engine mostly stock (for now)
Denny .. I just bought an 07 GT and had the California Special style stripes painted on by my dealer. The cost was only $1167 and that included painting and installing the lower quarter scoops. My painter told me that the vinyl decals are good but if i lived in a hot climate they would start to fade and crack in about five or six years. My stripes stop at the front edge of the hood and at the third brake light and they have a pinstripe. Go to www.ssinserts.com and the have a picture of what they call a fade stripe kit and you can get an idea of what mine is. Either way you go they will look great. Also I think your dealer is very high on the price so once you decide I would shop around. Find a club near you and ask the guys who they recommend. If they had their cars painted there then yours should be in good hands. Good Luck.
One thing to remember is that most dealships dont have a paintbooth. They farm it out to a guy who charges them less than what they are charging you because they want to make as much profit as they can off of any work they do! Id say screw the dealership and go find a quality guy out in town (he's prolly the same guy they send your stuff to anyway). It'll prolly be cheaper that way!
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Racing stripes: paint vs decals - 
