thinking of adding stripes to a GTS that will soon be mine..

[Toby]

It's a red 99 GTS and I thought of adding silver stripes. I wanted to go vinyl just in case I sell and the new buyer wants them removed.

The process will be fairly easy as I have applied some pretty crazy vinyl to race cars back in my wild pre-marriage days.

Any thoughts on why I should not do this?

If you had a red GTS would you want white or silver stripes...or nothing at all?


If I went with silver that would go well as 99's came with silver that year or should it be made to look like a 2002 with the white stripes?

Silver is my first choice.

I should be able to get high quality gloss finish vinyl for about 150.00

Avery is the brand of vinyl I would recommend and Silver Metallic seems to be a good match. I would think something around a 2-4 mil thickness would work well.

I wonder how thick the paint is on factory stripes? Aren't the stripes painted over the body paint color and you can actually feel the ridge?

please...dont just read...post your thoughts...

 

[REDSLED]

Forget what anyone thinks unless they're going to make your car payments. "DO" what "YOU" want to do. You want silver, go with the silver. The only opinion that matters is "YOURS" Congratulations on your new purchase. You will love every mile

-Jonathan

 

[prodiver]

I agree with the post above completely. It is your car so do whatever makes you happy. I don't want a toilet seat that looks like all the others either. Welcome to the Viper world. There are some very good instructions in the How To section on doing Vinyl stripes. I used them to do my car and was very happy with the way they came out. I was going to paint them on but decided to go with the Vinyl so I can change the color whenever I want to. There is a guy that sells Vinyl stripes on e-bay all the time and he is very reasonable. Each kit comes with good instructions and helpfull hints. His e-mail address is [email protected]. Take your time and follow the instructions and you will need a good hair dryer, not a heat gun unless it has a very low setting. Mine didn't and I got the Vinyl to hot but the kit does come with some extra. I did my stripes 8 months ago and have no complaints at all about them.

 

[Paul S Lacey]

Red and Silver is the way to go they are always the fastest Vipers!

My car has the Comp Coupe silver stripes, ie start at the back wide and nearly go to a point at the front.

Looks great.....and your just a flash as you cruise past the other colours on the road, the track and the strip

 

[KERS-VPR]

I just purchased white vinly for a new look in the spring. A friend has a 98'red GTS and there is another red w/silver stripes in the area, so I decided on white. I purchased 50' for $70 and I think the silver was around $80 if memory serves me right. I think I'm going to put these down wet to avoid air bubbles. Nice thing about vinly is if you don't like, swish and your back to red. The web site for the stripes is www.u-p.com.
Must have pics of before and after

 

[NJVIPER]

I was thinking about adding stripes to my all red GTS, but do not know if I can get the factory to do it versus a regular body shop. My gut feeling is NO!

As I understand it, painted stripes on a Viper, done at the factory, are a $3,000 option. Do not know what it would cost, who does excellent work and should I look at getting it clear coated afterwards.

While on the subject....Question about new cars coming from the factory:
1.) Are the stripes added after the car is painted and clear coated?
OR
2.) Is the car painted, striped and then clear coated?

Carrying it one step further, what about special cars like the 96 and 97 blue and white stripe GTS, or the GTS-R or GT-2's (that I asked so many unknowing questions about), etc.. Since theses Vipers come standard with the stripes would they follow #2 rather than say #1 as opposed to when someone orders this as an option.

Thanks!
Tim

 

[HOGDEALER]

A GUY JUST CANT BEAT RED WITH WHITE STRIPES!!!

 

[SERPENT INDIANA]

Color...your preference totally....couple of things to ponder....painted stripes....just about any good body shop SHOULD be able to handle this ....I am sure Woodhouse was striping Vipers at one point in time, check with Bill......Vinyl stripes....my son in law had a red 97 GTS that he had silver vinyl stripes put on....very good substitute for paint, but keep in mind they are VERY TRICKY to install...was unable to stripe the NACA duct on the hood, or the rear license areas....no big deal on either,....the tricky part was the stripes wanting to get a little crooked at the bottom of the nose and the rear bumper due to the curvature on the parts it was covering...again, not really noticeable unless you knew it...I would go vinyl before paint just from the standpoint it is cheaper...then if you REALLY like it, get it painted later....have seen silver striped and white striped Vipers side by side, and honestly you can barely tell the difference...the silver has a tendency to look white in certain lights....how can you go wrong either way, it's still a Viper ......

 

[NJVIPER]

Thanks Guys!
Does anyone have any input to my questions about the factory applied stripes? Very interested to know!

 

[Nexus-6]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by HOGDEALER:
A GUY JUST CANT BEAT RED WITH WHITE STRIPES!!!

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah....I'm just going to have to go ahead and sort of...agree with you there...yeah....

 

[Nexus-6]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by NJVIPER:
Thanks Guys!
Does anyone have any input to my questions about the factory applied stripes? Very interested to know!

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm curious too...

BTW, on my Final Edition you can feel the ridge so for what it's worth...it's very slight but it's there and you can catch a fingernail on it..

 

[Newport Viper]

KERS-VPR How wide a stripe did you order?

 

[KERS-VPR]

I went with the 8" white. Already have the hood, roof, and tail striped, just need to do the easy part the bumpers

the stripes don't have the high gloss that clear coat would have but at 120mph who will noticed. It definitely makes it look like a completely different car. Nice thing is I can always go back for a less noticable look

 

[NJVIPER]

C'mon Viper Tech Heads!!!!
Someone give me a good answer to my paint "before" or "after" question!!!!!!
You can do ittttttttt!!!!!

 

[Anthony - 98 GTS]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by NJVIPER:
C'mon Viper Tech Heads!!!!
Someone give me a good answer to my paint "before" or "after" question!!!!!!
You can do ittttttttt!!!!!

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Tim,

My understanding is that all body panels are made and painted by ASC. The cars are then assembled, everything aligned, the stripes are marked and then painted.

My stripes were painted first, then the body color and then the entire car was cleared so you can't "feel" the stripe.

 

[Joseph Houss]

ALL Viper body panels are painted at a variety of subcontractors, and ALL stripes are painted at these vendors as well, during the process.

Pallets of hoods, doors, and other panels arrive at the factory prepainted and ready for an Team Viper assembly person to install.

Interesting story.... the '96 stripes (through the license plate) actually created lots of tough issues since the panels were prepainted and the bumper to rear panel installation had to be perfect, so to align the stripes up exact. Hence the switch to non-striped license area.

 

[Nexus-6]

So with the Final Edition cars for example are they painted or are they taped?

Mine are most certainly taped on my Final Edition so I'm assuming that this is the way they all come now...(unless they use some reall thick @ss paint on those stripes!)

 

[NJVIPER]

Thanks Gang!!!!

 

[Anthony - 98 GTS]

Thanks for the info. Joseph!!

 

[onerareviper]

All OEM Viper stripes are painted. That is NOT tape, as it shouldn't be for an extra $3,000.

Later

 

[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

NJ Viper...you are very close to one of the best Viper painters around, I'm surprised someone did not mention this..do a search for Chris Barone (not under user name though) in rt10/gts section, you will find lot's of testimonials to his skill.
Chris'Collision 973.736.0465 South Orange NJ. He painted all of snake pit racings cars and his personal race car is the one with the shark teeth you may have seen. He has been regarded, along with Woodhaouse as one of the two best places in the country to have this done.
Another point about factory VS aftermarket paint stripes, when the factory does them you WILL feel a significant edge to the stripe, Woodhouse and I have heard Chris, make the edge disappear with careful clear paint work. As a woodhouse buyer I kinda wish I had had them do the stripes, but settled for "factory originality." Probably good choice as my combo (Black with silver) turned out relatively rare with slightly over 100 built in 99-00.

 

[onerareviper]

oops..


<FONT COLOR="#ff0000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by onerareviper on 12-18-2002 at 03:15 PM</font>