aww sorry i am from the uk

 

stipes rule ok

 

hi im pakistani

 

good idea. i thought of that also. the cheap strips scratch real easy even if you are careful

 

Eventually i'm going to do them on the back hatch and back bumper too...but I ran out of time for that with other crap going on. I have no idea how much a shop would charge to do this. Took me a half a day or so between prep, paint, and I actually didn't end up having to do any wet sanding or buffing, the clear leveled out perfectly...looks better than the factory paint lol. I took the front bumper off to do it though and the grills out of it, the headlight trim rings off, the emblem off...stripped everything off to do it right.

If you find a shop to do it make sure they clear coat the WHOLE panel again even if they just paint the stripes on top...that's the only way to do it! I opted for having the stripes "under" the green paint because for the type of paint jobs I normally do on bike tanks and stuff backmasking as it's called is a much easier process and gives a better result. I'd have to say the hardest part was making sure I had the stripes lined up just right lol. Keep in mind I have a factory Aerokit too, so i'm not sure how the stripes all the way down would look on the regular front bumper. I did this whole paint job in my garage btw, not in a fancy booth. It was about 250 dollars in supplies and I used a nothing fancy upright 40gal compressor with a few inline filters and a top of the line Iwata LPH400LVX gun, but i've done similar stuff with 100 dollar Sharpe paint guns no problem. Keep in mind for paint I get a discount through work since I mix paint for a living.

Oh and on another weird side tangent here...if ANY shop starts talking about single stage paints and your Mini, walk...no RUN away from that shop. Base coat, Clear coat is the ONLY way to go and is what your car is painted with from the factory. Oh and my color match is perfect, I did the hood, bumper and fender flares with NO blending into adjacent panels. If I can do that, then a professional shop can do that too. If they can't they need a new paint supplier. I didn't paint the hoodscoop and put the original one back in and it's a dead on match.

 

The reason I painted mine was the factory ones had to come off because i had some paint work done on the car after kissing a guard rail and I opted to not have the new ones put on to save my deductible...I hated the car with them off so I had Aesthetic Creations make me some gold and white ones and mounted the new ones on the hood, loved the look, he made me some for the bumper, rear hatch and rear bumper too...but after thinking about it I really don't like the idea of vinyl being on a car I want to keep for a long time. Painting them myself wasn't expensive and I know the job was done well, now when I wash, wax, buff my car I don't have to worry about the stripes, when I go through a touch free car wash i don't have to worry about the stripes, when a rock hits the hood I don't have to worry about the stripes, the clearcoat I used is tough as nails...that and it has a depth and shine vinyl never can have, even the best vinyl. That and I was able to custom mix a white I liked and a use the same exact gold I used on the lip of my rims that I love too.

Now if I had to pay someone else to do the same thing...I wouldn't have done it. Vinyl would be the way to go...so yeah I can understand why not everyone would do this.

 

Great writeups Colin. Well beyond my talet, Im afraid to even use a Krylon can to paint anything around the house. Ill take the info you supplied and check out some good places here on the Island and get some prices.Thanks.

 

NYMCS -

Maybe we can get a shop to do a "group buy." My friend and I are both sick of the cheap vinyl (had mine replaced 3 times by BMW already.)

With you, that makes 3....

Let's see how many LI's we can get. Then, I can talk to a shop I know.

Regards.

 

O.K. you first.

I should have the car by next week. But its certainly something Im seriously concitering. What shop? Where? How much? Quality of work?

 

Not me first.

To do a group buy. I need an idea of how many people are interested. Then, I go to the shop and say, "I have 15 cars that want this procedure. What type of discount can you give us for bringing all of our business to you."

I'll monitor the responses to this thread. If we can get more than 10 cars, I will approach the shop owner.

Regards.

 

Mine are vinyl but they're checkerboard from cooperflags. When they start to get ratty, I'll have them professionally painted. I really prefer the look of the painted stripes but I wanted the thrill of driving my car off the lot with the stripes.

 

I have the black stripes on silver & wondered if removing the stripes might damage the paint job? QUID

 

I saw something on a '70-1/2 Camaro a long time ago that would look good on a Mini. The car was hugger orange with white stripes but the stripes were masked in a checkered pattern and pearl paint applied so that the checker pattern came out when looking at the right angle. They looked white when looking straight at them.

Yeah, the vinyl is cheesy. It scratches and stains easily and you can't really do anything to buff it out or clean it up. It's a 20/20 mod....looks good at 20 feet and 20 miles an hour. At least they were free with the sport package. I went sans stripes on the Clubman that's being delivered next year though.

Take the heat gun to 'em and get some of that wash-off paint from DupliColor to toy around with.

 

I understand how a G.P. works but I don't know you or this paint shop you "know". So you can understand why Im not willing to jump onboard. Doing a G.P. on something like a custom paint job is quite different than one for 15 people buying customs wheels(as example) at a discount. So I'll take a pass and when Im ready I'll use my own shop that I know. Good luck and post some pics if you do it.

 

Im not an expert and I didnt stay at a Holiday Inn last night but I think if they're removed before to long of baking in the sun I heard there will be no damage done to paint. Speak to a professional and have them remove them.

 

Removing is fairly straight forward(If done properly have a vinyl place or body shop do it or I've done it before but it takes patience and elbow grease lol)...but if it's been long enough there IS a slight risk the paint where they were will be slightly darker (not faded) modern paints have very good UV protection but there is still a chance.

Oh and those of you trying to do a group buy...I don't foresee you getting much if any of a discount for giving them a bunch of cars to do it to. They can't fit more than one car in the booth at a time...so it's gonna take the same amount to prep and paint each one seperately. The slight discount you would get would be for sheer volume, and you'd probably all have to get the same exact stripes, same color, same setup. I'm not saying don't try, but i'm just warning you not to be surprised if they say flat out "no".

 

btw I have the regular stripes and it was applied at the dealer, not the factory.

 

I have had the same thoughts as the original poster on this thread. I never cared for the vinyl stripes, yet have contemplated having a body shop paint stripes on for me. If I do get them painted, I'd like to have a dark silver metallic (not available in vinyl) sprayed on top my dark silver car. -So that the stripes would be a darker silver than my car.