I have a friend who recently purchased an 08 CS/coupe and wants to have the shelby stripes painted on rather than using stickers. Does anyone out there have experiences with this? I'd be grateful for your feedback. Mambo
Just curious if anyone knows how the car would need to be prepped before painting? I don't know anything about paint. Randall
First you need to know how he wants them painted on........... I would do it this way: <01> Remove the Front Spoiler, the Vents on the Hood and the two Black Trim Pieces on the Roof and set them aside. The remove the Rear Spoiler. <02> Wet Sand the Front Bumper Cover, Hood, Center Roof Section, deck Lid, Rear Spoiler and Rear Bumper Cover with 1000 Grit Wet/Dry Sand Paper. <03> Tape off your Stripe Patern, I do my Stripes 9 inches wide with a 2" Gap between them. I know the new cars have a 1" gap between them so you decide which Gap Size you perfer. <04> Choose the Color you want the Stripes then, Using Base Coat spray your Stripes with about 4 coats of paint letting it flash between coats. After the forth coat, let it dry real good. <05> after the Stripes have had time to dry, untape the Stripes and Wet Sand the Stripes using 1000 Grit Wet/Dry Sand Paper to knock the edge off. Wash the car real good (no WAX) and blow dry with a high pressure air hose to remove any water that may pop up later. <06> Tape up the whole Car eccept the Parts that have been sanded (Besure to Tape Up your Engine Compartment). Then Spray about 3 or 4 Coats of Clear on. When finished, you should not be able to feel the Stripes. Hope this helps. David.
The area where the stripes go and the surrounding area needs to be wet sanded with a fine grit (something like 600 or finer) to give the new paint "bite". After the new stripes are painted, they would get cleared, with the new clear extending out over the old paint a little (say 6"-12") where the paint has been roughened by the fine grit. Finally, the old and new paint would get fogged with slow dry thinner to blend the new and old. There are probably other ways, such as not blending new and old by fogging with thinner, but by wetsanding and polishing, but I think the above method or something very similar would be what most paint shops would do. Josh
Wow: Thanks Guys-we'll defenitely have a "paint guy" (or girl) do it! Any idea how much this would run?? Mambo
Doing it my way so you wont have "Future Fade" it may cost about $1,200.00. Doing it where you just cover the Stripes and 6 inches wider with clear should cost about $800.00. At leats these prices are from around here (Tallahassee). David.
David's recommendation is definitely the preferred method, and it would be worth the extra cash if you can get the shop to agree to having you tell them how you want it done. Some shops may see that as "means and methods" and they will do it the way that is the most efficient for them (i.e. makes them the most profit). The only real difference is that David's suggesting you spray entire panels to the point of a seam with new clear. I don't know about fogging causing a future fade, but if you catch it in the right light and you know what you're looking for, you can usually see a slight difference in the amount of orange peel. It takes a trained eye, but it does give away the method. Josh