I've had Many friends install Vinyl racing stripes over the years, but they all seem to get damaged easily by rocks, or become dull and lose their gloss over time (3-5 years). I'm thinking of getting the bonnet stripes painted on, but I have no idea what the pricing is like.

Has anyone had any custom paint jobs done on their coopers? And if so, what are the ball-park estimates on cost and price?

These are the Stripes i'm considering:


>>>>>MARIO!!!

 

Mine ran me about $250. Make sure you talk to someone that has done striping on a really curvy cars before. Laying them out straight on a MINI is a real pain in the butt!!

_________________
03 B/W S model; Madness intake; Cibie 45 lamps; Magnaflow exhaust; H&R springs; Helix swaybar

 

I was quoted $275 at a local body shop that has done paint work on some "exotics" so... $250-$300 sounds like a good range for custom-painted bonnet stripes on a MINI.


Rock On,

-Joe

 

Thanks Guys! $250-300 seems reasonable. (for some reason I was expecting prices in the 500-800 range) I'll start looking for a reliable body shop guy right away!

>>>>>MARIO!!!

 

If you're willing to get the entire bonnet repainted, you can have them do some masking and paint the stripes flush with the main color (ie, adjacent to it instead of on top of it). Then you can have the entire bonnet clear coated as one smooth surface -- stripes and all.

Not sure how much more this would cost but I think it would be a nice touch...

 

I love the search function! This is the answer I was looking for. Now I have to figgure out how to foot the stripes and the clear bra at the same time. I suppose if I go for the stripes and JUST the bonnet section for the time being... Yeah. I'm thinking white stripes with a slight pearlescent flair. just enough that you can tell its there. Oh yeah.

>>If you're willing to get the entire bonnet repainted, you can have them do some masking and paint the stripes flush with the main color (ie, adjacent to it instead of on top of it). Then you can have the entire bonnet clear coated as one smooth surface -- stripes and all.

Is there some reason that you couldn't have the stripes clear coated without repainting the whole bonnet? Assuming the slightly raised stripe didn't bother you?

 

>>>Now I have to figgure out how to foot the stripes and the clear bra at the same time.<<<

You can't do both at the same time. According to the paint shop, the paint in the stripes really needs to cure for about 2 weeks before you add the clear bra.

 

"Is there some reason that you couldn't have the stripes clear coated without repainting the whole bonnet? Assuming the slightly raised stripe didn't bother you?"

You need to check with a paint shop but they can probably clear coat just the stripes and feather it into the original clear on the base color. That should help protect the edges of the painted stripes too.

It probably wouldn't cost much more to just clear coat the entire bonnet but then you'd want to touch up all those paint chips first. It's the dreaded slippery slope!

 

I think the vinyl stripes will cost you about 50 dollars or so in the USA

So for the paint job that costs you 250 dollars you can replace the vinyl 5 times so you can drive for 25 years with
vinyl for the same ammount

 

I have decided that I am going to take the plunge and get all the paint chips taken care of (the nose looks sandblasted), paint on the bonnet stripes, and then put the clear bra on to protect the whole thing. 476 in Pa is notorious for what it does to the noses of cars.


>>You need to check with a paint shop but they can probably clear coat just the stripes and feather it into the original clear on the base color. That should help protect the edges of the painted stripes too.
>>
>>It probably wouldn't cost much more to just clear coat the entire bonnet but then you'd want to touch up all those paint chips first. It's the dreaded slippery slope!

 

"I have decided that I am going to take the plunge and get all the paint chips taken care of (the nose looks sandblasted), paint on the bonnet stripes, and then put the clear bra on to protect the whole thing."

What, no clear coat?

 

>>"I have decided that I am going to take the plunge and get all the paint chips taken care of (the nose looks sandblasted), paint on the bonnet stripes, and then put the clear bra on to protect the whole thing."
>>
>>What, no clear coat?
>>

Oh yeah, that's a given.