pinstripes?

Ira Davis · #1 11-28-2006, 05:12 AM

Well it's official! I just purchased a Dark Teal 92 with only 55,000 miles.

It's truly beautiful... except for one thing. Pinstripes!

I ran a Carfax on the vehicle and it appears the car originally sold at a dealership from Kansas City. My guess is that some dumb@$$ at the dealership thought that pin striping looked b*tchin'.

Anyhow I leave Thursday morning to go and pick up my new purchase (the car's in Grand Junction). I will have three quality days in my dad's heated street rod shop to address any issues (addition of a trans cooler is the first thing).

The pin stripes must leave.

My plan was to use a hairdryer to warm up the striping before removal, follow up with bug and tar remover and finish with a complete waxing.

Am I forgetting anything? Has anyone else removed this kind of crap from the side of their car?

If anyone has a better idea please let me know.

Ira

RSVX · #2 11-28-2006, 05:45 AM

Some of the SVXes came with Pinstriping...

dcarrb · #3 11-28-2006, 05:46 AM

In a previous life, my then-wife and I test-drove a new Subaru XT-6 that had painted pinstripes with little curly-cue doodads at the ends, and we both thought, why on earth would somebody do such to this otherwise sharp-looking car? But we drove it anyway... after they pulled it off the display pedestal and put a charge on the dead battery. Then my wife stalled it and the battery was still too weak to turn it over, so we had to wait on a truck from the dealership with this obnoxious, alcohol-fueled salesman. After all that we were still interested, but they wouldn't budge on the price; a very substantial for the time $18,000+, as I recall.

We bought a Legacy L from another dealership. With pinstripes.

dcb

mikecg · #4 11-28-2006, 06:01 AM

hehehe, she call the XT a shape looking. Ya sharp like a wood splitter.

JK

Hose92SVX · #5 11-28-2006, 07:54 AM

If it's a decal pinstripe, what you said should remove it. I've removed decals off of used semi trailers that I've bought in the past. It's time consuming, frustrating work if your trying to preserve the paint under and around the old decal. You'll be able to get the decal and glue off eventually but be left with darker shade of teal where the decal once was. WD-40 and a soft cloth works good at removing old decal glue and helps prevent you from scratching rub marks into the paint as your rubbing the old glue off. Try to avoid the use of a metal or plastic scraper and just as important don't use your fingernails, or you'll end up with little dents where you were working. Patience is the name of the game and let the adhesive remover or WD-40 do the work for you. If it's painted pin stripes, then I can't help you there. Good luck, hope it turns out well.

Ira Davis · #6 11-28-2006, 08:02 AM

Man I hope they're not painted on. Otherwise I'm going to walk out onto I-25 and wait for the next semi to run me over.

Actually if I had to I would just deal with it but really the car looks much better without them.

PDSides · #7 11-28-2006, 08:13 AM

Like you, I've never understood pinstripes on a car, other than a tricked out full-fledged hot-rod, with flames, etc. On the other hand, I have seen good quality pinstripping that added a classic flare to high end sedans, tastefully done in a good contrasting color. For instance, I saw a chocolate brown pin-stripe on a bronze-tan color Lexus LS430 that looked very sharp. Its just a matter of taste. My advice to you is to try living with your new SVX for a few weeks before you jump in and do something that may produce unwanted results. Wash and wax the car, detail it and do all the maintenance things it needs, then drive and enjoy it. A tasteful pinstripe only adds to the unique nature of your car. I think the odds are 50-50 that within a few weeks you will come to like (or at least tolerate) the pinstripes. Best wishes.
Preston

Hose92SVX · #8 11-28-2006, 09:06 AM

Well your in luck, I'm picking up a load today in Chattanoga, Tn headed to Littleton, Co and heading down I-25 towards Phoenix after that. Just kidding

I'd be surprised if it was painted on, but who knows.

shelfy · #9 11-28-2006, 09:33 AM

ira:

i wanted that teal in grand junction. glad to hear it's coming to the good side of the state.

ensteele · #10 11-28-2006, 10:34 AM

Congratulations on your new car. There are some that have the tape, decals, and also painted on. Hope your has the tape. Good luck with the project.

davew833 · #11 11-28-2006, 01:58 PM

My "claret" had black pinstripes when I got it. Since it was cheap AutoZone vinyl pinstripes over fairly fresh paint (also cheap!), the stripes peeled right off on a warm day.

A previous car I had (not an SVX) had cheap pinstripes on it that I attempted to peel off to find that they were covering a previous pinstripe job that had been PAINTED OVER. So I had old stripes embedded in the paint! I wanted to put new, thinner stripes on the car but the painted-over stripes were too wide, so it was really a mess.

lhopp77 · #12 11-30-2006, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hose92SVX

Well your in luck, I'm picking up a load today in Chattanoga, Tn headed to Littleton, Co and heading down I-25 towards Phoenix after that. Just kidding

I'd be surprised if it was painted on, but who knows.

You will drive by within 15 miles of me in New Mexico. I suspect if you did not make it already, you may be having some problems with the snow south out of CO and all the way to nearly Santa Fe.

Lee

rallyingrob · #13 11-30-2006, 06:13 PM

ah yes..regarding the lime green/pink.....
i was imagining them WITH the flames as accents......

yummyyyyy

Ira Davis · #14 11-30-2006, 09:44 PM

Well I picked up the car today and here are the facts.

#1 The stripe color is actually a metallic silver (much better than white).

#2 They are painted on.

#3 Until I repaint it... the stripes stay.

That's not exactly what I want but hey right now I'm just stoked I can even drive a car this cool.

A side note that Ihopp77 mentioned. The weather here on this continent sucks right now (at least for the most part). To pick up my car I had to drive my mom's 93 T-Bird west on I-70 over at least 100 miles of icy, snowpacked road (the other 135 miles were fine). Not a lot of fun in a rear wheel drive, (fairly) high horsepowered vehicle. At least the thing has great snow tires... otherwise I wouldn't have attempted it.

Ira