decal pinstripe (good or bad)

They have a Lead Sled meet over by your way every year, think it's a KKOA meet.
They most likley will have a stripper there or can certainly point you in the right direction.

 

I am trying to visualize that 54 with a set of those buford
quarter vents hole like they sell at Wallyworld..... just do it, nothing like wasting money on cheezy stuff when your broke.

 

I've had new rigs with tape stripes.
Factory will use it on a two tone paint job on a truck to cover up the sloppy line where the colors come together.

I took the tape off right away and had them striped with paint. Looked way better.

 

Once had my wife's then new '74 Maverick (yeah, I know) in a fender bender and took it to the Lincoln Mercury bodyshop. They fixed it fine, brought it out with the replacement for the factory white pinstripe (right, like they'd EVER do that anymore) applied in tape.

I said, "Hey, this is tape!" The salty old dog bodyshop manager barks, "Hell the Lincoln's have tape stripes on them" - implying it oughta be good enough for me.

I said, "Well, I don't drive a Lincoln, I just drive a little Maverick and I want it back the way it came. Paint stripe it!" They did but that manager HATED me for questioning his Lincolns!!

 

I had cheater tape stripes on the 48 for years outlining the chrome strip on the hood, around the lips of the fenders and around the belt line of the cab. all straight line stuff with no "decals" it held up pretty good and p***ed the five foot test. I know it was lame but it cost under five bucks to do the whole truck then. I must have done it in 1983 as the 1982 photos don't show the stripes.

 

I'm sure if you told a striper that you were going to use "tape" he'd stripe your car out of sympathy for the car.

 

Contact Hot rod jen here on the hamb,she does beautiful work and she works in se pa,nj area. check her work out on the friday art show

 

I guess I'll throw my twopence into the fray.I've seen some very creative stuff done with pinstripe decals before so don't go writing them off just yet.Combining elements of the basic designs is what most stripers do with paint anyway so why not try it with the decals? A good pair of scissors;some tracing paper to try layouts and you're in business.If you don't like it;removal is much easier than paint.
Alternatively if you want to try painting them on,you can get some basic materials(a brush;a couple 1/4 pint cans of paint,and some reducer)for not a lot of money.Check out some websites(the Pinstriper's P{age on Yahoo)for some good information and practice until you feel you're ready to try it on the car.Some people pick it up right away and others struggle.
If you still are unsure save your money and have a professional do it for you.
As an aside;I've been pulling lines since I was 11 years old and did my first job on someone else's car when I was 13 and I can still learn something each time I pick up a brush.

 

Thanks for all the comments. I don't think even if I got positive answers to the decal striping that I would have put any on my 54 anyway. I've got way to much money in body and paint to cheap out at this point. I'll keep my eyes pealed at the shows this summer and hopefully hook up with a good artist. Just out of curiosity what is the average price to have stripping done? I really just want like a 6x6 two color design on the trunk and maybe a little blurb on the nose. Would it be $75 or $200, I just have know idea.

 

...

 

Stripers are like tatoo artists.

Some are good and some are cheap.

Then there are some that are good and cheap.

But beware of the ones that are just cheap!

 

I've alway had one guy stripe for me. He's done several cars, trucks and trailers through the years. Use to be about $20.
I think the last time was $100 or about that.

Depends on how much work you want though.

I would be ready for about $200.
If they're good, you will probably want to look through their book showing their work, give them an idea what you are after and leave the rest up to them.
After a couple thousand cars they have a good idea how to make it look right.

 

go to the Jalopy Showdown this weekend 5/19 and find Hotrod Jen, she is a terrific.
Denise

 

Good advice. There has to be someone close. Heck, take a road trip to get the right striper. One Arm Bandit isn't that far away from you. Definitely worth the effort.

As for the price, you get what you pay for. A few others here suggested Bandit. He's one of the best. My experience is that his prices are very fair.

 

Save your money and get someone decent to do the job. Nothing looks worse than dodgy pinstriping.
About 4-5 years ago i paid a guy to do one of my cars. A trained chimp could have done better.
So with that in mind i bought some 1 shot and a brush and never looked back since. ****** love striping, ooh was that a banana!!

Kudos to you for asking and to those that gave you a proper answer.

 

Decals only look good if you also bolt on a lighted Swan for a hood ornament.

 

Good question. Be patient, hit the pinhead lounge. Good One Shot lasts a lot longer than vinyl.
Nothing worse than the digital- age hard edge of vinyl striping on an otherwise cool old car. Especially modern fonts on race cars. Yuck.

 

look up Jen she's in PA just not sure where http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/member.php?u=1608

 

I used to do a lot of them and I'm only 15 miles away, PM me if interested.

 

I think a spiderweb sticker would be perfect.

If you want to learn to do it. Grab a piece of gl*** and practice, s****e it off and try again, repeat a few hundred times.

 

I confess. Back in the late 50's and 60's many of us wanna-be hotrodders used cheap decals and pinstripe tape. Probably didn't look half bad considering our cars were really never finished anyway. Primered where the door handles, hood and trunk emblems were removed and filled. Primered fender skirts and cheap spot lights.
But in the midwest that's what real hotrodders did. Other guys and hot young girls liked it and that's all that mattered. We weren't so picky back in the good ole days!
Then I bought my first real rod, or custom, a 1939 Ford deluxe coupe with Chevy running gear. I owned a 1975 Ford truck that was red. Loved that red so I painted the green coupe Ford truck red. I wanted it flamed and striped around the flames. So I did it. I'll admit, the flames looked like ****. They still do to this day. I pinstripped them with One-Shot and a stripping brush. Not half bad. After that I stripped several friend's cars. Thinner and a rag is a strippers friend.
Of course I did a lot of things back then I can't do today. My 55 Chevy wagon was stripped and ghost flamed by a pro. in the mid 90's. Don't show in many photos but there are a lot of stripes on it.
I'd do like others wrote, have your car done by someone you see doing work. Have it done a little at a time as you can afford it.