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The section just above the taillights is quite simple, nothing too dramatic, just a nice flowing curve from the deck to the rear of the car. The bumper is a different story. In order to make the stripes look good without bubbles, you've got to use a squeegee and tuck the vinyl in all of the body creases. The rear bumper alone took us a couple of hours. We simply set the wing in place and put the stripes on it without too much trouble. The nose of the car has got to be the absolute hardest part to stripe with 12 3/4" stripes. It's a twofold curve that's pretty sharp. You've got the curve rolling off the hood and down to the spoiler, and you've got the left to right curve of the bumper. We used a heat gun throughout the process to make the vinyl form where we needed and to help work out some bubbles, but you will definitely need it on the front of the car. While we were applying the vinyl and realizing it wasn't wanting to lay properly, I was thinking, "Heat the short side, pull on it to stretch it and it'll work." I was wrong. Apply heat to the long side, it will draw up the vinyl and make it shrink. On the nose, you want to heat the outside half of the stripes in order to get them where you can work with them. Expect to spend a lot of time on the nose. I think Jay and I spent four or five hours on it.
[Click to enlarge]
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The Overall Effect I cannot believe how much the stripes have changed the attitude of the car. The weekend we were striping it, I had three people try and race me. I took two, a BMW 325 and a Dakota V-8...I let the crusty Celica with the Rustoleum paint job and Maxwell House muffler go because I had to turn within a hundred feet or so. Everyone that has seen it likes it with the stripes. The only person to complain was one of Jay's roommates (Steve Fooshee), because he must complain about everything - (just kiddin' Steve.) Looking Back I've asked myself a couple of times if I knew what it involved, would I do it again? On this car, yes. It needed something to at least cover up the missing clear coat. I doubt I would do another car, (Jay did all the work), mainly because of the amount of time involved and the possibility of deciding I don't like it after the vinyl is on. Now for your standard grocery list:
Total cost was about $45 for the material and some cash for Jay's time and effort.
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