I ordered some stripes for my wife's cabrio from www.mightystripes.com. I got the "Americana" stripes for the bonnet, boot, and sides. Here are pictures of the stripes (I didn't get the roof stripes, obviously) - click for larger versions:





Looking at the kit when it arrived, it seems a lot less "finished" than I had expected. Basically, the main stripes are just blue background with white stars - all of the red accent stripes were provided separately, on separate pieces of backing material. This means that the alignment/spacing of the red accent stripes will have to be done by hand after the blue/white stripes are applied.

Also, the bonnet stripes are not pre-cut into the "U" shape shown on the website. They're just two rectangular stripes that will have to be laid on the bonnet and then cut out to match the contours of the bonnet scoop. Then, the red accent stripes will have to be applied by hand afterward, bending them to match the curves near the scoop.

Is this normal for vinyl kits? At the least, I was expecting the red accent stripes to be pre-applied on the same piece of backing material as the corresponding main stripe, so that they wouldn't have to be spaced/aligned manually.

As it is, the only way the kit could be more "do it yourself" would be if I had to apply the stars separately on top of the blue stripes.

I'm sure the final results will look just fine, but I think I just figured out why the MightyStripes kits are so reasonably-priced.


EDIT - it turns out, the white stars aren't even white - they're just star-shaped holes cut out of the blue vinyl. So, whatever your body colour is, that's what colour the stars will be. I guess it's a good thing my wife's car is white like the one they used on their website.

 

I've never purchased from Mighty Stripes so I can't comment on whether or not that's 'normal' for their quality, but good luck with that project

 

I guess you should be glad they didn't make you cut out the stars out of a solid white vinyl sheet

 

Well, I'm planning on applying them this weekend, so I'll post pictures/impressions when I'm done. With some patience, a ruler, heat gun, and a very sharp razor knife, I should be okay.

If worse comes to worse, my wife was talking about changing out the graphics on her car every year or so (kind of like a "new spring wardrobe" for her car), so if it comes out less-than-perfect, we won't have to live with it forever.

 

Next time buy from Aesthetic Creations or Cooper Flags. Their stuff comes totally finished & ready to apply. The only DIY part is sticking it on

 

I bought from mighty stripes, and I had to put the pin stripes on myself, but it was no big deal, just takes a keen eye... or a ruler haha, but it was pretty easy

 

I've got Mike at AC working on a custom design for my car now. It should be particularly easy to apply, since it won't involve the traditional parallel stripes or anything symmetric that's going to have to line up perfectly with anything else.

I think it comes down to "you get what you pay for". I'm not going to ding the MightyStripes kit too badly compared to Aesthetic Creation's work, considering that just the *advance* design fee for the work Mike's doing for me is more than the entire MightyStripes kit cost.

 

"Heat gun"?? Do you need heat to put them on? Most vinyl is just peel and stick. A squegee is necessary to get out air bubbles as you go, though.

For the red stripes, go to a store that has automotive paint/supplies and get a roll of 1/4" masking tape. After applying the blue/stars stripes, run the 1/4" tape along the edges, then use that as a guide for applying the red stripes. When you get 'em perfect, stick 'em down and peel off the 1/4" tape.

 

The only thing I would need the heat gun for would be if the curves around the bonnet scoop are too sharp to navigate with the accent stripe without putting wrinkles in the stripe. I shouldn't need it, but it's an option.

 

Ah, that's true. Good point.

 

I recently got bonnet and boot stripes from Mightystripes as well. Mine where all the same color so they where all on the same transfer tape. Only problem was they where not evenly spaced. I was told they have had problems putting everything on one sheet and where going to start putting every stripe on it's own sheet. I wound up cutting mine apart and applying them separately so they would be spaced correctly.
I'm not bagging on the guys at Mightystripes (who by the way are the same people that sell the stripe kits on Ebay). They where very easy to work with and answered all my questions in a timely manner. But I do agree with you on the quality. I also got some side stripes from AC and the vinyl is far superior IMO. But to Mightystripes credit they told me they could get the same vinyl but I would have to pay the up charge which would put it even with AC's price. Honestly, once on the car you can not tell a difference, but when working with the material it is apparent.
Use the "wet" technique and a ruler and you should be fine.

 

I tried contacting AC when I wanted to get my stripes but I never got a reply back, Mighty stripes answered all my questions very quickly. MS service is really awesome