I just bought my own, and added them. This way, I can take them off when I want, or change them. They are vinyl, like decals, and need no special treatment.

 

My only advice; if you ever decide to remove them, you may notice that the overall paint on the car has faded and the area under the stripes has not.

 

I did mine myself with a roll of satin 3M vinyl and some knifeless tape. Took about an hour, all told:

It's a thick, breathable 3M vinyl that's good for 7-9 years. I typically leave my vinyls on no longer than 2 years as I like to change up the look. My advice is to learn how to use the knifeless tape (it's easy) and do your own. You'll end up with better results than many of the purchased options.

As for maintenance, you can wash/do whatever per normal, so long as you're careful not to wax over them. If you ceramic coat it, you can ceramic right over it. I'm an old school type that likes a hand waxed finish (and that lovely carnauba soft touch feel), so I have to be careful.

 

3M Knifeless Tape - nifty! You learn something new every day.

OP, my stripes lasted about 8 years before tiny cracks started and I replaced them. I'm sure it was from prolonged exposure to UV light, so hopefully the ceramic coating you choose has UV inhibitors in it to further protect the vinyl. They were gloss stripes so I treated it like the paint with washes and sealants; I've heard that's not the case with matte or satin vinyl so definitely read up on it.

 

Yep, on matte and satin stripes, they're not difficult to clean, but they need some special attention. If you put a wax or similar substance on them, it'll turn milky and discolor them until you strip it with something like a concentrated wash. You can use things like armor all on matte and satin, but it will make them shiny. I've been known to do this on old and/or damaged vinyls. I don't recommend it.

On matte/satin vinyls, one thing that does work well is Lemon Pledge. Apply to a rag, wipe on the stripe. It will add a subtle luster, but it won't discolor. One drawback... if it gets wet within 72 hours of application, it will spot it pretty badly. You can prevent this by buffing it off once a day for a couple of days. Once the polish sets, it's fine. It bears mentioning that you really only need to resort to using the Lemon Pledge after the stripes have gotten irregular for some reason. Scuffs, swirl marks, damage from bird droppings, etc. The Pledge will get them back to looking uniform. You don't need to do this on new or like new looking stripes.

Lemon Pledge is fantastic for classic car vinyl treatments.

 

As for the knifeless tape, the concept is that you lay the tape down to mark the borders of the vinyl design you want. Then, you lay the vinyl down over top of the tape and leave a section of tape exposed. On my car, I ran an extra short length off the tail end of the car. Cover it all in one sheet of vinyl and adhere it properly (like a big rectangle or some shape that covers the tape in a single piece). Then, you just put one hand on the vinyl and use the other to pull on the extra bit of tape. It cuts a clean line through the vinyl, all along where you have the tape laid down. Thus, it cuts out your design for you, quick and easy. On my car above, that was achieved with 4 strips of knifeless tape markign the borders of the 2 parallel stripes and one piece of vinyl.

IMO, there is no easier way to run LeMans stripes as you can measure the tape and position everything perfectly before laying the vinyl down.

I'm sure there's plenty of tutorials on YouTube, but I do recall an episode of Bitchin' Rides where they showed how Kindig lays their vinyl layers down with it.

 

Do it!

 

Bingo! I was able to get matte carbon fiber, to match the other decals, for cheap, and did it myself. I used painter's tape for the edge line, then just put it on when the line was straight.

 

My Ram has the factory hood graphic in flat black on the sport hood and my 09 Challenger Classic had satin stripes. The satin was much easier to take care of and more forgiving.

 

I'm impressed with how many of you have done this yourself. Is it really that easy or are ya'll just super hand with these things? My factory stripes could use to be replaced and I was looking at getting some carbon stripes put on. Held off due to the sticker (pun not intended) shock at my local company that does this.

Any specific vinyl you recommend?

I just want to redo this but in carbon this time (but probably without the pin stripe if I go carbon).

 

I'm impressed with how many of you have done this yourself. Is it really that easy or are ya'll just super hand with these things? My factory stripes could use to be replaced and I was looking at getting some carbon stripes put on. Held off due to the sticker (pun not intended) shock at my local company that does this.

Any specific vinyl you recommend?

I just want to redo this but in carbon this time (but probably without the pin stripe if I go carbon).
View attachment 581877

You can shop online for vinyl. I use 3M brand. There's dozens of types of 3M vinyl, so you'd have to pick the one you want. They come in rolls and can get expensive, as some of them are rated to maintain their form for sometimes over 10 years. The factory ones are good for 6-7 I'm told. They also come in myriad different finishes. The thicker, most durable vinyls are much easier to work with. So, pick the one you like. Buy up a bunch of knifeless tape.

I'll explain briefly the steps to get it on the car:

1. Prep the surface. Remove all wax with the stripping method of your choice. For me, it's CG's concentrated citrus wash. Once done, dry and go over the car with iso-alcohol to ensure all the wax is gone.
2. Lay down your knifeless tape in the design you want. You can reposition the tape as needed. If doing stripes, you can measure and correct the tape placement. To do yours in the photo, remember that the knifeless tape is your outside border markers. So, you'd run 4 strips for the fat stripes, then 4 more thin strips for the border stripes. For the finer lines, they do make thin width knifeless tape. That's what I'd use for those. It can get tedious Leave at least 1-2" of extra length dangling past the hood, bumper, etc. You'll need these later to remove the tape.
3. On the main part of the car, you then cut a length of vinyl that will cover the hood, another length for the roof, and another for the trunk top. Ensure it is wide enough to cover the entire width and length of your intended graphic.
4. ***Use a spray bottle and wet the contact side of the vinyl, and generously wet the surface of the car. Lay the vinyl with a squeegee or credit card and do so uniformly from one side to the other. Try to minimize bubbles. It may take some practice to get this just right, but you have a whole roll of the 3M stuff, so go nuts. You don't have to be bubble free at this point.
5. Once the vinyl is in place, use a squeegee to push the water our from underneath the vinyl, thus adhering it to the surface. It's important to use a soft silicon squeegee or wrap it in a microfiber cloth so you don't scratch the vinyl. Continue until the bubbles are all gone. Let sit for 10-15 minutes.
6. Once the vinyl is set, go to where you have your extra tape tabs sticking out. Firmly hold down the vinyl and pull up firmly on the exposed tab. This will cleanly cut the vinyl. Once you get it started, it should cut very easily (hot knife through butter). Repeat for all tabs.
7. Remove the excess vinyl, thus exposing your custom design.
8. Repeat the above process for each section.
9. ***If all looks well, you may need to go back and squeegee a few more times across the next day or so as moisture wicks out and bubbles up in the vinyl.
10. If the vinyl doesn't look good, it is super easy to remove, especially in the first month or so. If you make mistakes, it doesn't hurt to pull it up, prep again and re-do the job.
    
    *** - Alternatively, you can perform a "dry" installation. I recommend this only for folks who know how and are experienced on how to lay vinyl dry. If you don't uniformly lay it out, you'll get an insane amount of air bubbles, which you have to use a syringe to extract. The wet method is a bit more tedious, but you can get a near perfect, bubble-free application this way with no experience required. Before the vinyl sets, with the wet method, you can replace the vinyl around on the car if needed. You can't do this with a dry installation. A dry installation is nothing more than laying the vinyl over the tape with extreme care given to rolling it out evenly with steady pressure. On Le Mans stripes, you'd likely need 2-3 people working together to make this happen. The wet method can be done by 1 person, however, 2 people is best as one can hold the vinyl up while the other squeegees it down.

 

I dunno about that. Satin finishes are a nightmare. They look great when they look nice. But it's nigh impossible to repair a satin finish unless the vinyl can be gently heat treated and is self-healing. My T/A's front fender graphic looked terrible. Someone brushed up against it with a belt buckle or something and it marred the finish. I tried every trick I know to get it to even out, but I was left with a shiny spot the size of a credit card right about the passenger tire.

The only thing I could do to sort of fix it was spray paint it with a satin clear coat. I then lightly wet sanded it to blend. I'd say it helped it along 75%, but it was still easily noticeable.

Flat black vinyls can be touched up with flat black modeling paint.

 

Thinking of having a shop add stripes but not sure. Trying to make this decision before having the car Ceramic coating since the stripes have to be put on before Ceramic coating.

Did you have any issues with aftermarket dual racing stripes on your car over time?

Is maintenance a pain with them? What is there to do or to use to maintain them?

Can you wash the car as regular or do you need some special product for the stripes?

The stripes IMO complement the car very well but are they worth it? Let me know if you've ever had any troubles with them or if everything was all good. Thanks

I’ve had/currently have both. No there are no issues if you use a good 3M or equivalent product. I’ll include pics. To maintain use chemical guys V07 or another quality detail product but it’s basically the same material as factory. Here’s an example of aftermarket with ceramic over the top, 10 yr system x. If ceramic over top just maintain like you do the ceramic coating. For more pics of all angles etc go to wife’s IG page at “murica_n_mopar.” Hope this helps!

 

Yes definitely worth it!

 

Nice looks good. What color stripes are those?

 

Matte is a synonym for flat black, so yes, same thing.

 

do it

 

I went and got a couple quotes, on sat, to redo my stripes in carbon. $1750 and $2K! Gotta assume that's the "I don't want to do this but will if you pay me stupid money" type of quote as I guess these places only want to do full wraps now and not just stripes. Guess I'm going to learn to do it myself or live with what I have...

 

Eh, stripes are a PITA to install correctly. At the factory, they put them on with robots or something and they are put on in a negative pressure, dust free environment. No bubbles, no specks of dust under the vinyl. Perfect install.

People who pay for stripe installs want bubble-free, speck-free, perfectly aligned vinyls as well. This takes a professional paint booth environment and a lot of time. The material cost for a high quality sheet of vinyl to do the job is likely around $200-$300. Every full set of stripes I've done (I use the knifeless tape method), they don't come out perfect. It takes a day or two to get all the dust particles and micro bubbles out. But, I work for free, don't have a paint booth, and do my own cars. These shops that specialize in this sort of work will likely use multiple people, for multiple hours in an expensive facility to do the job. 2 grand seems a bit much, but if they can guarantee a perfect install on a 7+ year vinyl, then that's not bad. If it comes back with some bubbles and imperfections... not so good.

Just don't take the car to a vinyl shop that does installs in open bays or, dear God, outside. At any cost. FWIW, it's more difficult to do full length parallel stripes than it is to do a full wrap. You have to do the stripes perfectly or they look terrible. You can hide a lot of mistakes with full panel vinyls