I have finally decided to do something about my worn out stripes on my car. I'm leaning towards getting them painted on but I am wondering what you all have to say. I would love to get some recommendations for trustworthy paint shops in the North Carolina region and if you've had this done I am curious how it worked out and how much you spent.
Painting Stripes - Need Recommendations
- Thread starter PrestonJ
- Start date
You need to talk to @COOL COBRA , he’s got some really nice painted stripes on the Shelby.
Painted stripes will ALWAYS look better. But it's pricey which is why most of us don't have them 
The "correct" way to do it (the way I had it done on my other car) is to paint the stripe and then clear the entire panel, not just the stripe.
This is akin to painting the entire car... to a degree... since you're painting full panels... so it will cost more.
You can have them painted without clearing the entire panel, and you'll have an edge that you can feel much like the vinyl you have now.
Cheaper, but I personally wouldn't have it done that way... I'd just leave the vinyl at that point.
The only way to know how much it will cost is just to ask different shops. I THINK I paid about 3k for my painted stripes but that was over ten years ago.
Good luck in your search.
The "correct" way to do it (the way I had it done on my other car) is to paint the stripe and then clear the entire panel, not just the stripe.
This is akin to painting the entire car... to a degree... since you're painting full panels... so it will cost more.
You can have them painted without clearing the entire panel, and you'll have an edge that you can feel much like the vinyl you have now.
Cheaper, but I personally wouldn't have it done that way... I'd just leave the vinyl at that point.
The only way to know how much it will cost is just to ask different shops. I THINK I paid about 3k for my painted stripes but that was over ten years ago.
Good luck in your search.
I know it seems like a daunting task, but you "can" do this yourself. Here is a video from the Power Nation guys that shows how it's done on a car that's already painted.
If you don't want to do it yourself this video will show you how its done so you can understand the process and understand why it costs so much.
If you don't want to do it yourself this video will show you how its done so you can understand the process and understand why it costs so much.
Painted stripes will ALWAYS look better. But it's pricey which is why most of us don't have them
The "correct" way to do it (the way I had it done on my other car) is to paint the stripe and then clear the entire panel, not just the stripe.
This is akin to painting the entire car... to a degree... since you're painting full panels... so it will cost more.
You can have them painted without clearing the entire panel, and you'll have an edge that you can feel much like the vinyl you have now.
Cheaper, but I personally wouldn't have it done that way... I'd just leave the vinyl at that point.
The only way to know how much it will cost is just to ask different shops. I THINK I paid about 3k for my painted stripes but that was over ten years ago.
Good luck in your search.
What he said
Yep - I am just afraid I would somehow damage the car as I have no experience whatsoever in this arena. Seems like a hot potato issue for most body shops in my area as well... pretty much no one wants to tackle removing the existing stripes. The only place I have found that agreed to do it so far wants $900 just for removal, $500 for new stripes and $700 to install the new stripes. I haven't even found a place yet that will actually paint them on.
I thought painting was the "right way" also, and I had it done to an almost new 2011 Mustang GT back in 2012. It was a nightmare.
The shop did a horrific job of insuring the stripes were straight and true, particularly as they worked across body panels. There was some bleeding underneath the paint lines. And, when they cleared over the entire roof (as recommended above), you would see where it collected at the front windshield runners. From what I understood afterwards, avoiding that is nearly impossible without removing the front windshield for paint, and that becomes costly.
Truth told, even in today's age, avoiding the above is much more art and much less science, IMO. Unless I was 100% confident in a shop, I'd never go through that torture again.
With my current Mustang, I went with the 3M stripes. Even then, the installer wasn't perfect. The difference was, I was able to make him fix it easily.
The shop did a horrific job of insuring the stripes were straight and true, particularly as they worked across body panels. There was some bleeding underneath the paint lines. And, when they cleared over the entire roof (as recommended above), you would see where it collected at the front windshield runners. From what I understood afterwards, avoiding that is nearly impossible without removing the front windshield for paint, and that becomes costly.
Truth told, even in today's age, avoiding the above is much more art and much less science, IMO. Unless I was 100% confident in a shop, I'd never go through that torture again.
With my current Mustang, I went with the 3M stripes. Even then, the installer wasn't perfect. The difference was, I was able to make him fix it easily.
As someone who, long story short, literally had my 06 GT SET ON FIRE by Precision Auto Tune during a muffler install I am highly skeptical of anyone working on my car. I can totally understand this and I am very paranoid about something like this happening. Might be best to just go vinyl after all.
I have SOME experience painting. I've painted panels and small things before... I wouldn't even attempt to try and stripe an entire car for two reasons.
1. I don't have enough experience and I would likely screw the pooch which would cost me MORE to have it done by someone who knows what they're doing.
2. I don't have the equipment necessary to stripe an entire car. I have a compressor, LVLP gun, dryer, coalescing filter and a pipe cooling system... but I don't have enough CFM coming from my compressor (8.39 @ 40 PSI) to have enough air that wouldn't get hot to paint or clear an entire car.
There's a definite reason you will pay a GOOD shop to do paint. You'll understand this if you ever even attempt to do something like this.
From what you wrote it sounds like I have a lot more experience than you when it comes to paint and body and I wouldn't even attempt it if I DID have the right equipment unless I had someone there that could walk me through the process.
Watching a video... no... there's absolutely not even CLOSE to enough information on there to know how to do what you're talking about.
And God help you if your stripes are metallic... that's a WHOLE different story with continuity and making sure your air isn't too high or too low, making sure you're not "tiger striping" it.
No... do NOT attempt to do this yourself unless you want to screw up your car and pay MORE to have it fixed.
And yes I can attest... you definitely want to get a GOOD shop to do it.
I had my car painted by a good shop... then some little bastards egged it on the roof and I had to get that repaired... I took it to a "cheap" shop because it was just the one panel.
Wound up having to do it AGAIN and they had to pull the rear glass and it cost me WAY more to fix the "cheap" job than it would have to just pay to have it done correctly because the clear had pooled on the back glass valley and started to flake up.
To remove your stripes isn't terribly hard, just aggravating.
The only issue with removing them yourself is your installer won't have a template to go off of... but if you have the dimensions it shouldn't be a problem.. just measure the width on both sides of each panel and the gap and give them to the installer... hell your paint might be different enough that you can tell without it... but I'd measure it first.
Get a heat gun and something called an "eraser wheel"
That will help tremendously... take your time and save yourself 900 bucks.
Or find a competent vinyl installer to do it.
And either way next time... wax those stripes
Again good luck
1. I don't have enough experience and I would likely screw the pooch which would cost me MORE to have it done by someone who knows what they're doing.
2. I don't have the equipment necessary to stripe an entire car. I have a compressor, LVLP gun, dryer, coalescing filter and a pipe cooling system... but I don't have enough CFM coming from my compressor (8.39 @ 40 PSI) to have enough air that wouldn't get hot to paint or clear an entire car.
There's a definite reason you will pay a GOOD shop to do paint. You'll understand this if you ever even attempt to do something like this.
From what you wrote it sounds like I have a lot more experience than you when it comes to paint and body and I wouldn't even attempt it if I DID have the right equipment unless I had someone there that could walk me through the process.
Watching a video... no... there's absolutely not even CLOSE to enough information on there to know how to do what you're talking about.
And God help you if your stripes are metallic... that's a WHOLE different story with continuity and making sure your air isn't too high or too low, making sure you're not "tiger striping" it.
No... do NOT attempt to do this yourself unless you want to screw up your car and pay MORE to have it fixed.
And yes I can attest... you definitely want to get a GOOD shop to do it.
I had my car painted by a good shop... then some little bastards egged it on the roof and I had to get that repaired... I took it to a "cheap" shop because it was just the one panel.
Wound up having to do it AGAIN and they had to pull the rear glass and it cost me WAY more to fix the "cheap" job than it would have to just pay to have it done correctly because the clear had pooled on the back glass valley and started to flake up.
To remove your stripes isn't terribly hard, just aggravating.
The only issue with removing them yourself is your installer won't have a template to go off of... but if you have the dimensions it shouldn't be a problem.. just measure the width on both sides of each panel and the gap and give them to the installer... hell your paint might be different enough that you can tell without it... but I'd measure it first.
Get a heat gun and something called an "eraser wheel"
That will help tremendously... take your time and save yourself 900 bucks.
Or find a competent vinyl installer to do it.
And either way next time... wax those stripes
Again good luck
Just make sure you have them done by a reputable place. Taking off the old vinyl ones can be a daunting task. They never just peel off. Having to use a razor blade to peel small parts of vinyl off is scary to say the least, unless they have been doing it forever ! But when they are done right, cant beat a painted stripe !!
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I have SOME experience painting. I've painted panels and small things before... I wouldn't even attempt to try and stripe an entire car for two reasons.
1. I don't have enough experience and I would likely screw the pooch which would cost me MORE to have it done by someone who knows what they're doing.
2. I don't have the equipment necessary to stripe an entire car. I have a compressor, LVLP gun, dryer, coalescing filter and a pipe cooling system... but I don't have enough CFM coming from my compressor (8.39 @ 40 PSI) to have enough air that wouldn't get hot to paint or clear an entire car.
There's a definite reason you will pay a GOOD shop to do paint. You'll understand this if you ever even attempt to do something like this.
From what you wrote it sounds like I have a lot more experience than you when it comes to paint and body and I wouldn't even attempt it if I DID have the right equipment unless I had someone there that could walk me through the process.
Watching a video... no... there's absolutely not even CLOSE to enough information on there to know how to do what you're talking about.
And God help you if your stripes are metallic... that's a WHOLE different story with continuity and making sure your air isn't too high or too low, making sure you're not "tiger striping" it.
No... do NOT attempt to do this yourself unless you want to screw up your car and pay MORE to have it fixed.
And yes I can attest... you definitely want to get a GOOD shop to do it.
I had my car painted by a good shop... then some little bastards egged it on the roof and I had to get that repaired... I took it to a "cheap" shop because it was just the one panel.
Wound up having to do it AGAIN and they had to pull the rear glass and it cost me WAY more to fix the "cheap" job than it would have to just pay to have it done correctly because the clear had pooled on the back glass valley and started to flake up.
To remove your stripes isn't terribly hard, just aggravating.
The only issue with removing them yourself is your installer won't have a template to go off of... but if you have the dimensions it shouldn't be a problem.. just measure the width on both sides of each panel and the gap and give them to the installer... hell your paint might be different enough that you can tell without it... but I'd measure it first.
Get a heat gun and something called an "eraser wheel"
That will help tremendously... take your time and save yourself 900 bucks.
Or find a competent vinyl installer to do it.
And either way next time... wax those stripes
Again good luck
Trust me I never suggested I would try to stripe the car myself haha - the only thing I was considering attempting myself was removing the current stripes. Also I bought the car in 2013 and most of the damage was already done by then. I do take a lot better care of it than the previous owner did. Thanks for the info.
Lot's of very good information provided Imatk. I agree with you in general.
I've been painting for years myself. Guess I got a little zealous due to my experience. However, I do believe with some research and knowledge people can do this if they really want to. And no, I'm not saying it is easy or you just go buy an air compressor and a paint gun and you're ready. It's like anything else, you don't tear down an engine, transmission or rear end and say I'm going to rebuild this today with no experience. However, if people do research, gain some knowledge and have the proper tools it can be accomplished.
Also, I did say the video could provide some insight as to why it costs so much to have this done as you have mentioned as well. So, my post had two purposes.
Great post by the way...…..
Yeah for sure I'm all about doing stuff myself if I can. One of the reasons I've done the painting I've done.
I just understand very intimately now how incredibly hard it is to accomplish.
When I read posts or hear someone complain about a paint job costing "too much" I generally shake my head because if someone knew the expertise it takes to get a good finish they'd probably happily pay the "too much" price and then some.
But if it's a project car and you want to learn on it (which is how I've done it) by all means go for it!
Nothing like accomplishing something yourself and gaining new skill along the way.
I just understand very intimately now how incredibly hard it is to accomplish.
When I read posts or hear someone complain about a paint job costing "too much" I generally shake my head because if someone knew the expertise it takes to get a good finish they'd probably happily pay the "too much" price and then some.
But if it's a project car and you want to learn on it (which is how I've done it) by all means go for it!
Nothing like accomplishing something yourself and gaining new skill along the way.
Yep, I have to agree with that 110%. I have a paint and body guy that I use for major repairs. Every time he gives me a quote I just say ok. He said he loves that I don't complain or haggle like most people do. I tell him I paint myself. So, I know how much labor is involved, not to mention the cost of paint, chemicals and materials. He said he wished more people understood what is involved.
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