Will be changing stripes, need advice.

Depending on the price that the shops are giving you..you might want to check local Craigslist and find a take off Hood might be cheaper to have it repainted or you might find the same color already and just get the stripes afterwards.

Elvis66 said:

Depending on the price that the shops are giving you..you might want to check local Craigslist and find a take off Hood might be cheaper to have it repainted or you might find the same color already and just get the stripes afterwards.

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Finding a GT350 take off hood the right color is like winning the lottery.
Body shop is asking $550 .

Gray Area GT350 said:

How difficult is it to remove the factory stripes? Did the adhesive stay on the stripe or did it stick to the paint?

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Supposedly with a heat gun they come off pretty easy w/o any mess. I ordered my car without the stripe b/c I was planning on the big worm kit all along. So glad I did b/c it looks amazing.

I have a chip on my hood and when I had it in the shop for something else, they said they would need to do the entire hood to blend it - which seems like a lot, but they had nothing but trouble trying to get the AG on my door even the right shade, so not sure if it's due to the color or just the shop (I was told the same thing by 2 shops).

I think it's strange that they won't pull the stripes off. But Matte Black looks good!

If you are going the route of repaint of hood, maybe consider painting the
stripes on the car. I know it will cost more, but the difference may be worth it.

I say this owning a 97 GTS that Dodge sent out to Prefix to have the
stripes painted on, no comparison to tape.

If and when I get my LB car, I may peel off those sticker stripes and have
it shot with paint.

montreal ponies said:

So i got a roch chip on the hood the other day and will have the hood repainted and stripes replaced.
Went to visit 2 specialized body shops and both asked that i removed the hood stripes prior to them doing any work on the hood.

So that being said, i don't want to get into a debate as to why they cannot fix it with stripes still on the hood.
I will say that they didn't feel confortable just taping the stripe and re-clearing the hood and then risking fuc&ing up the stripe while buffing it .

Inquired about getting OE hood stripes, but Ford wants an arm and a leg for them.

So i figured since i wasn't to crazy about the one's that are on the car right now, might as well have them replaced with something different.

Checked out @Big worm graphics and really like the matte black with gloss red pin stripe dual narrow stripes. Ala GT350R. ;)

1) has anyone with a GT350 had those installed ? Any color is fine .
2) how is the quality, does it compare to OE ones ?
3) are these the same size as OE ones ?

Thanks for any help and pics

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Dan, Did you have paint protection on where the damages on your car? Dan I have used Big worm graphics on my 2014 GT and I was very happy with them. Hope everything go's well on what you have done on your 350. Take care my friend, :cheers: John

Old Car Guy said:

Dan, Did you have paint protection on where the damages on your car? Dan I have used Big worm graphics on my 2014 GT and I was very happy with them. Hope everything go's well on what you have done on your 350. Take care my friend, :cheers: John

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Hey John, i thought i was safe from rock chips by only protecting the lower portion of the hood ( 18in ), well guess i was wrong. :headbonk:

The rock hit about 3 inches higher than the PPF.......i know, lesson learned the hard way. It seems the only way i learn things in life in general. :doh:

I'm not a fan of the "stock" stripes, so I had the dealer remove mine before delivery (easily done with a heat Gun). I'm getting Xpel on the whole front (A-pillar fwd) and ceramic coat on the whole car. The same shop is putting new stripes on for me. Stock stripes are 7" and the custom stripes will be 8". Also no white line on the outside edge. Matt Gun metal Grey for the stripe color. Should be done and have pics to post by the end of the week.

STOCK STRIPES (too narrow and not a fan of the white line on the outside edge):



MOCK UP FOR NEW STRIPES:

Ok - in the question of "originality" & "collectability" - stripes on the order form or not? I think they are mentioned on the Marti reports for '67 and on Shelbys?

Or screw it because it wont matter in 20 years, and order without, get the full hood PPF'd and go with the better quality Bigworm stripes over that?

EDIT: Though I would have to change my order and that might change the timing again - if even possible - since im in Ordertracking with VIN now and a builddate 10/31.

IF you already have a VIN and build date it will be extremely hard to change your order

[MENTION=16067]krt22[/MENTION] - thanks, but I already knew that. :cheers:

Just speculating at this point.. not that $430 vs. $220 gross cost of the stripes (not including price to have them put on the car...) would really hurt me considering the price of the car.. but still....

Just out of curiosity, how much would OE hood stripes sell for ? Would anyone have the 2 Ford part numbers by any chance !

I also removed the factory OTT stripes and installed (DIY) the Big Worm kit. The Big Worm kit does have a bit of a taper - I trimmed to parallel width - 6-13/16" if I recall correctly (trimmed off the taper for even width). The red pinstripe is laid down next to the wide stripe as noted above.

Easy to peel off with heat - I used a heat gun, others have used hairdryers. You have to use heat to lay down the new stripes to form around the edges and get a good seal. Can also use 3M edge sealer to help.

I used 3M 03618 adhesive remover (Amazon) to clean up the tack residue left on the paint, also used Rapid-Tac Prep for a "pre-install" clean, and Rapid-Tac Application Fluid when laying down the stripes (http://www.rapidtac.com/rapidtac.html).

When I was looking in the Spring this year, Factory replacement stripes were something like 18 part numbers and around $4,000 (again memory may be off - it was WAY more than Big Worm kit). I think the Big Worm stripes are a bit thicker than factory so hopefully more durable. Both use 3M film I believe.

Good luck with your fix, I wouldn't hesitate to go with Big Worm.

Update

EF300 said:

Have those exact stripes installed from Big worm. The quality is 10/10. I have seen many stock GT 350 stripes from ford and they look like complete garbage compared to my stripe. As far as the size they are the same except there is a slight taper over the front fender down towards the front splitter to allow easier fitment. I would not hesitate to get these stripes, you will love them.

If you want specific pics PM me your email address and I can get them to you.

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Wanted to see how the Stripes are holding up. Are you having nay issues with the pin stripe lifting on the ends? I am wanted to stripe mine but not sure about the whole separate pin stripe deal.

bwilliams said:

Wanted to see how the Stripes are holding up. Are you having nay issues with the pin stripe lifting on the ends? I am wanted to stripe mine but not sure about the whole separate pin stripe deal.

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Hey I have had no issues at all with the primary stripe or the pin stripe. No episodes of lifting or migration at all. (The stripe of the front of my car is overtop of Suntek PPF).

I am very careful with the stripes and I wash them regularly. I only hand wash and I only use clean high count MF towels and either car soap for the primary wash or detail spray for touch up. I do not allow debris to sit on the stripes for more than about 3 days. Bird crap comes off as soon as possible.

My main stripe is Matte black and initially did not put and protectant on it for fear of messing up the finish. After a few washes, I noticed that it was having to spend a lot of time carefully cleaning the stripe.

I ended up treating the stripe with Gtechnique C2V3 which fortunately did not alter the matte finish as far as I can tell. The stripe is much easier to clean and I spend a lot less time wiping it down which means less chances for scratches.

I say go for it, it looks 10000% better than and ford factory stripes I have seen with are almost universally scratched up swirled messes.