DIY Pin Striping

E

Ed in Maine

Well-known member
I just finished striping a 31 Coupe for a club member. It was the second car that I have done using "Striper Paint Pinstriping Stencil Tape" by Finesse Pinstriping Inc. #F-10L, 3/32 in. If any of you have wished that your car was striped per the guidelines, do it yourself. The only downside is that the job comes out too good, it comes out perfect. A hand painted pin stripe always has some width changes, etc. that is maybe closer to Ford factory job. For me, I am too fussy and want the perfect pin stripe! Note that if you are doing the gas tank, I used 1/16 in. wide tape per the guidelines. Just a few suggestions:
1. Do the work when it is 70F - 80F in the shade, not in direct sunlight.
2. Use striping paint. This past time I didn't thin the paint and I liked the way it brushed on.
3. Put on two coats.
4. Prepare the ends of the tape by removing the two boundary strips from the main plastic covering. It is not easy to do and you don't want to be doing this after striping the car. Leave an extra 3 in. at the ends of the tape for handling.
5. Read the Paint Guide to know your pin striping layout.
6. Use a stiping brush (Mac) to fill in the stripe on the tape because it holds a lot of paint so you can take longer strokes. For very tight corners, get a pointed fine scroll brush. I think it is easier to use and do by hand. 7. Cleanup is easy with paint thinner. Using a lint free rag and your finger nail, you can easily clean a section of your stripe. Always move your finger nail to a new section on the rag to avoid smears.
7. Don't like what you have done, just wipe it off the rag and paint thinner and start again.

This is one more Model A Ford task that you can tell others "I did it myself". Have fun with it. Ed
 
We had a fella in the body shop that was a master at this. He showed me how to do it, takes a lot of practice. But once they came out with the tape it made this job much easier and took the mystic out of it.
Its been awhile since I've done this, but, I pull the tape as I go while its still wet so the edge rolls over a bit giving more of the look of hand striping. I just didn't care for a sharp edge. JMO
 
[QUOTE I pull the tape as I go while its still wet so the edge rolls over a bit giving more of the look of hand striping. I just didn't care for a sharp edge. JMO[/QUOTE]

I agree,

I also used the tape to strip my Tudor. Excellent results and actually very easy.

Chris W
 
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Now long passed away, we had an old timer who was a member of our Model A club years ago that told us that he as a younger man had worked at the Ford Dearborn plant as a pin striper.

He said that a left handed worker striped one side of the car on the assembly line and a right handed striper did the other side. He said you could always tell an original stripe job because the ends of the stripes often didn't match perfectly as they were done quickly and by the two different workers ....

While using a sword brush, they just used their little finger running along with the raised revels on the body the be their guide for making a passable looking pin stripe job. He also said in their shifts it was not unusual for only one side of the car to leave the factory pin striped only or only partially striped. The end dealer would have to catch it as well as then to correct it... Striping wasn't the highest priority in getting assembled and running Model A's out the door back then....:)
 
Again, you can purchase 1-Shot paints in many colors and mix to your liking. I just striped by Victoria in Straw with 1-Shot #116L (Ivory) and Primrose Yellow. It is very close to my wheels. Start with the Ivory and then tint with the yellow till you get to the desired color. Remember that the stripe is a long distance from the wheels and you will never notice a slight difference. As for Apple green (on my Cabriolet) I used Ivory again with a medium green but can't remember the name, sorry. But the job came out great. For me, apple green is a difficult color to like and you are better off mixing it yourself to get a color that looks correct. Otherwise, you are getting an apple green color that somebody else thinks looks good and it could be terrible!! It is your car. Ed
 
modela@aol.com said:
Now long passed away, we had an old timer who was a member of our Model A club years ago that told us that he as a younger man had worked at the Ford Dearborn plant as a pin striper.

He said that a left handed worker striped one side of the car on the assembly line and a right handed striper did the other side. He said you could always tell an original stripe job because the ends of the stripes often didn't match perfectly as they were done quickly and by the two different workers ....

While using a sword brush, they just used their little finger running along with the raised revels on the body the be their guide for making a passable looking pin stripe job. He also said in their shifts it was not unusual for only one side of the car to leave the factory pin striped only or only partially striped. The end dealer would have to catch it as well as then to correct it... Striping wasn't the highest priority in getting assembled and running Model A's out the door back then....:)
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing, Dave. That makes me feel better about the not so great pin stripping jobs I do on my cars. LOL!!!
 
I did my car this way and it worked well. If you want some variation in the width you can just vary the wdith within the guide tape. You can also make the ends tapered a little to make it look more natural.

If you want to try to do it free hand or practice, put some masking tape on the car where you want the stripe and practice on that. You can pull the masking tape off when done so no permanent paint on the car that way. I practiced but never got the hang of it so went to the tape.
 
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Ed I bought this tape last year and had one hell of a time trying to get the ends peeled off.

I watched their video and just gave up.

Were you able to get this tape to bend properly for the gas tank curves?
 
With regard to sharp curves, you have to do these by hand. On the gas tank I used the tape (1/16 in) on the gentle curves. I let the paint dry so that I would not mess up this part of the job. The next day I went back and did the sharp curves with a fine pointed scroll brush. I never could handle the striping brush on sharp curves. I think I finally got each sharp curve acceptable on the third try! The mistakes are easy to remove with rag and paint thinner. Try not to hit what you did the day before. I admit it is not easy getting around the steering wheel but it can be done. Every time you get into your car you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you made that stripe on the gas tank.
Yes it is difficult to prepare the end of the tape for use. You need good finger nails to peal off about an inch of the brown out side strips. Be tough with it to remove the brown strips. Let them just dangle at the end of the tape. Do this before you put the tape down on the car. Leave about three inches of the tape loose when you lay the tape on the car. After the tape is on the car and well pressed on, pull the clear covering tape holding your hand close to the car so you do not lift the side tapes from the metal. Try not to touch the cleaned paint where the stripe will be placed. After two coats, carefully pull each side tape separately with you hand close to the car letting the paint fall back at the edges on to itself. It will look terrific. Good luck with it, Ed
 
Ed in Maine said:
I just finished striping a 31 Coupe for a club member. It was the second car that I have done using "Striper Paint Pinstriping Stencil Tape" by Finesse Pinstriping Inc. #F-10L, 3/32 in. If any of you have wished that your car was striped per the guidelines, do it yourself. The only downside is that the job comes out too good, it comes out perfect. A hand painted pin stripe always has some width changes, etc. that is maybe closer to Ford factory job. For me, I am too fussy and want the perfect pin stripe! Note that if you are doing the gas tank, I used 1/16 in. wide tape per the guidelines. Just a few suggestions:
1. Do the work when it is 70F - 80F in the shade, not in direct sunlight.
2. Use striping paint. This past time I didn't thin the paint and I liked the way it brushed on.
3. Put on two coats.
4. Prepare the ends of the tape by removing the two boundary strips from the main plastic covering. It is not easy to do and you don't want to be doing this after striping the car. Leave an extra 3 in. at the ends of the tape for handling.
5. Read the Paint Guide to know your pin striping layout.
6. Use a stiping brush (Mac) to fill in the stripe on the tape because it holds a lot of paint so you can take longer strokes. For very tight corners, get a pointed fine scroll brush. I think it is easier to use and do by hand. 7. Cleanup is easy with paint thinner. Using a lint free rag and your finger nail, you can easily clean a section of your stripe. Always move your finger nail to a new section on the rag to avoid smears.
7. Don't like what you have done, just wipe it off the rag and paint thinner and start again.

This is one more Model A Ford task that you can tell others "I did it myself". Have fun with it. Ed
Click to expand...

Thanks Ed in Maine for the advise on diy pinstriping.I couldnt find a local striper and my car has been done for 4+years .I did eveything on the car except the engine so why not the pinstripe too?Its not a factory correct restoration ,just done to please me.I used finnesse products and am very happy with the results.Now it looks finished. Dennis
 

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This won’t sit well with the judging perfectionists, so don’t complain, but if you are doing your own, for your own pleasure, try a paint pen.
The good oil based ones are available in various thicknesses and about any color you want.
Haven’t done any vehicles with them, but depending on your steady hand, you can lay down a a pretty good, repeatable pin stripe - that isn’t tape.
 
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