Bruzilla
Well-Known Member
I got my car back home about 6:00 last night, and my son asked if I was going to do anything to it last night. I said "no, I'm going to go watch the news and get something to eat." Five minutes later, I was outside with the stripes, squeegee, and spritz bottle. 
I got the main stripes on but it took longer than it used to. I would apply a section, go inside and watch some baseball, then come back out and do the next one, so it took about two hours but that was with a lot of breaks.
Some things I forgot to mention before that I guess I blocked out was when you're removing the cover paper from the sail area of the stripe, be very, very, careful when you get to the roadrunner lettering. Those little center areas of the a and e aren't connected to anything and like to come off with the paper. Be sure to give them an extra press or two, and let the stripe set up for a good 20 minutes, before pulling the cover paper and watch for those little bits of tape as you pull the paper. If they come off, just roll the paper back down and they should go back to where they're supposed to be. Press on them some more and try pulling the paper again.
As a reminder, stripes don't stick to water with a squirt of dish soap in it! Don't feel like you have to be ultra careful when you put a section of stripe down and get it in the exact right spot the first time. Get a spray bottle and thoroughly soak the area where the stripe will go with the water/soap and when you put the stripe down you'll find it'll come right back off if you need to move it. You can take it up and move as much as you need to as long as you keep the area wet. Once you get the stripe exactly where you want it, then squeegee out all the excess water and let the decals sit for 10 minutes or so before pulling the cover paper.
Be sure to keep a metric ruler handy. Millimeters are much easier and quicker to count than fractional inches. The top of the sail stripe should be the same distance from the end of the strobe stripe as each part of the strobe is from the next. Measure the distance between two of the strobes (mine was 40MM I think) then position the sail stripe exactly that distance from the last strobe in the top strobe stripe and it'll look great.
Before applying the door stripes, get a pair of scissors and cut out the empty paper from the door handle and mirror cutouts. That way you don't have the paper in these spots while you're fitting the stripes as they'll lay flat.
Lastly, put your stripes on in an area where you can open both doors all the way! There's some overlap to the stripes that allows you to wrap the stripe around the edges of the doors, fenders, and quarters, and when you go to wrap the stripes into the gaps between the front of the doors and the fenders, the wider you can open the doors the more room you have to get your fingers in there to press the tape down.
I got the main stripes on but it took longer than it used to. I would apply a section, go inside and watch some baseball, then come back out and do the next one, so it took about two hours but that was with a lot of breaks.
Some things I forgot to mention before that I guess I blocked out was when you're removing the cover paper from the sail area of the stripe, be very, very, careful when you get to the roadrunner lettering. Those little center areas of the a and e aren't connected to anything and like to come off with the paper. Be sure to give them an extra press or two, and let the stripe set up for a good 20 minutes, before pulling the cover paper and watch for those little bits of tape as you pull the paper. If they come off, just roll the paper back down and they should go back to where they're supposed to be. Press on them some more and try pulling the paper again.
As a reminder, stripes don't stick to water with a squirt of dish soap in it! Don't feel like you have to be ultra careful when you put a section of stripe down and get it in the exact right spot the first time. Get a spray bottle and thoroughly soak the area where the stripe will go with the water/soap and when you put the stripe down you'll find it'll come right back off if you need to move it. You can take it up and move as much as you need to as long as you keep the area wet. Once you get the stripe exactly where you want it, then squeegee out all the excess water and let the decals sit for 10 minutes or so before pulling the cover paper.
Be sure to keep a metric ruler handy. Millimeters are much easier and quicker to count than fractional inches.
The top of the sail stripe should be the same distance from the end of the strobe stripe as each part of the strobe is from the next. Measure the distance between two of the strobes (mine was 40MM I think) then position the sail stripe exactly that distance from the last strobe in the top strobe stripe and it'll look great.Before applying the door stripes, get a pair of scissors and cut out the empty paper from the door handle and mirror cutouts. That way you don't have the paper in these spots while you're fitting the stripes as they'll lay flat.
Lastly, put your stripes on in an area where you can open both doors all the way! There's some overlap to the stripes that allows you to wrap the stripe around the edges of the doors, fenders, and quarters, and when you go to wrap the stripes into the gaps between the front of the doors and the fenders, the wider you can open the doors the more room you have to get your fingers in there to press the tape down.
