Thread: Installing vinyl stripes.

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I posed the question a few months ago asking how to paint racing stripes, and some recommended using vinyl. The more I thought about it, the more I think vinyl would be the best decision.

That brings me to the question of how difficult is it to install them? It seems like it might be difficult around the bumpers and similar areas. Will I need a heating gun to shrink the vinyl?

If you get a good grade of vinyl, not the cheap-o stuff, it will conform to curves and bumps fairly easily. You can use heat to help make it conform to tough areas, but take care not to heat it up too much, as it will start to stretch , and then get distorted.

Are you doing large shelby-style stripes over the top of the car? If so, doing them in sections (i.e. hood, roof, trunk) is the way to go, so you're not having to fight with one long stripe.

I don't remember what kind of car you were going to do the striping on, but you should be able to do it with no problem, just take your time, and get a plan of attack before you go to stickin' it down...take into consideration spoiler, etc...some "bolt on" parts are easier if you take them off, do the main striping, and then go back and stripe the other parts seperate...

Good luck, and ProZ will probably have some other things to add that I forgot...

vinyl is fairly easy to work with, first figure out where yar gonna lay the stipe down,
coat the surface yar gonna do with soapy water (dish washing soap works well) peel the backing partially from your stripe,lay it in place and using a vinyl sign squeege work the soap & air bubbles out peeling the backing as you go. The squeege is available at any of the sign shops and they can probally make your stripe for ya too, the soapy water allows you to move the stripe around a bit and keeps it from sticking to the surface as soon as it touches, for big peices you'll need two people, dont try this on a windy day outside and do not do it on a hot vehicle. If ya gotta go over any thing such as a washer nozzle or air intake grill just work over it and then go back and trim it out with a xacto knife.....

95% of the time I put the vinyl down dry. If it's laid down on a flat surface or a simple curve it should be a purdy' easy application. If it's going on a compound curve it could get a little tricky. (Try puttin' a big vinyl circle on a football helmet. EeeeeeKKK.) Especially if you are applying a wide solid stripe. That's when I do a fluid application. They make an application fluid just for that purpose( Iv'e never used it but I've seen some really nice pictures of the stuff in catalogs) or you can use a soapy water mixture, as long as you don't over do the soap. Too much soap can cause premature pealing. That's why I like to apply vinyl dry whenever possible. + it's way faster dry. You can have the vinyl down and forgot about in the time it takes to prep the surface with a spray bottle and then work out the soapy water after it's down.


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HEY, If ya' mess it up just cut another one. Easier than when ya' mess up paint fer' sur' .

Thanks for the info.

The stripes will be going on a 2005 Mustang.

I only found out this morning that you can use a solition to apply it. I had it pictured in my mind that it was just a big sticker and you only got one shot at it. It sounds like it is more like applying window tint, and I have some experience with that.