My cars stripes are painted but if you do want to do vinyl I will tell you how to do it. I did however vinyl my Accrylic roof so the stripe didnt have a break in it and it does look pretty good. But you do have to keep in mind that the vinyl might not make it into the Embossed C O R V E T T E lettering on the bumpers so you might have to hand cut those out.
You want to pull your car into a dust free and wind free environment and you will need 2 people. I did my targa top by myself. The tools of the trade are • soapy water in a spray bottle • a soft felt squeegee • and a hairdryer or heat gun.
• You want to clean the area the vinyl is going on with alcohol to strip all the wax and dirt off the paint.
• Hose down the area your applying to with the soapy water mix. Keep in mind you can never use too much soapy water.
• What I like to do is have someone hold the vinyl straight up and down. You peal the backing paper while spraying soapy water on the sticky side of the vinyl (the soapy water is going to do 2 things here Its going to cut down on the static electricity so you dont get dust sucked onto the sticky part of the vinyl and it will also help you move it around when its on the car before you squeegee it down).
• Position the decal down on the area you wish to apply it to. The soapy water will allow you to move it around on the surface it will never fully adhere untill you squeegee it down.
• When its into position Squeegee down the vinyl. You want to work from the center of the decal to the edges working out all the soapy water. Have your helper heat the area with the hair dryer or heat gun to while you squeegee. This should help you get all the water out.

Now when your done you will notice some small bubbles... dont worry about it thats ok. Those bubbles will work themselves out with the sun in a couple days to a week.

 

I've had the Mid America hash marks for about 4 years on my car without any issues. took only about 10minutes to put on, came with alignment tabs, and never peeled..

I will be getting another set for my white one now..

 

Thanks! I have actually had a few people say that they thought it was "Like a special Edition or something. They look like they should have come from the factory that way."

BTW: The hood stripes have "L98 and the chevy bow-tie".

 

Midnite, I agree with LT man. You and JD both get kudos. Yup, I'm goin with the red hash's and white lightning stripes on the hood. Subtle but yet mean.

 

JD. did you get the hood stripes from the same place you got the hash stripes?

 

[IMG][/IMG] I got the stripes and hash marks form the same guy. He'll make them in almost any color and if you want hash marks for both sides make sure you tell him you want a set for each side and order two.

 

That's cool.. Does your car really have 435 hp?

 

It's probably close at the crank. The previous owner had it on a dyno and it put 377 to the wheels.

 

I don't remeber seeing details on that stripe guy. Can you post it?

 

His ebay user I.D. is 91zr1 he can make the stripes with whatever you want. LT1,L98,300 h.p. 383 C.I.D. etc. etc. Thanks for the

 

 

The 96 Grand Sports went through the paint booth twice. Artcic White the first time. They taped off a section down the middle and sent it through to paint it Admiral Blue. They then added white pin stripes on each side of the middle white stripe. I'm pretty sure the Torch Red hash marks were painted on. I'm sure someone more expert than me will be along to confirm or correct this info.
A bit of Corvette trivia: The hardtop was not offered as an option on the Grand Sport convertible (don't ask me why though). One of the members of the Grand Sport Registry has installed one on their vert and painted it correctly.

 

That makes 3 of us

 

They were all painted admiral blue and then clear coated. GS cars were taken off line for white stripe & more clearcoat except one piece of the center stripes was a decal. The stripe sides were blue/white tapes to cover edge of painted white. The red hashmarks were tape. I owned #549.

from GS Registry:

8. Q: I've heard that all Grand Sports started out as white Corvettes. Is this true?

A: No. This is another favorite old wives tale that insists that when GM was producing the Grand Sport, they started off with an Arctic White Corvette, then masked it off and painted the non-stripe areas Admiral Blue. There is an off white, primer base below the blue but its not an Arctic White finish coat. The rumor was probably started by someone who ran their fingernail over the pinstripes on a GS and noted that it caught on the blue, not the white, hence they assumed (incorrectly) that the blue paint was applied over white. The secret is that the pinstripes are not paint at all but rather tape with two parallel colors, white and blue. GM used tape for the pinstripes (and hashmarks) because they found it too difficult to paint. Understandable since the "skunk" stripe varies in width from front to back.


13. Q: What are the GM part numbers for the Grand Sport pinstripes?

GS pinstripes are actually 2 colors, Arctic White and Admiral Blue, on a single decal. These vinyl stripes made it a lot easier at the Assembly Plant to lay down perfectly parallel stripes. Note that some decals are specific to either coupe or convertible. Also be advised that these decals are NO LONGER AVAILABLE FROM GM as they have been discontinued. You may occasionally find a dealer with one or two components in stock, but when those are gone, that's it!

Fortunately for us, Phoenix Graphics has recently released their reproduction stripe kits for the GS coupe and convertible. These are high quality vinyl decals and use the same template designs as used on the original OEM parts. They are only available as a complete kit and include all pinstripes and hashmarks required for one car (including exports). Even better, we've arranged special pricing for GSR Members through the GSR Store. The GM part numbers of the original discontinued components are as follows:



stripe hood center pos #1 rh side 10280900 coupe & convert
stripe hood center pos #2 lh side 10280901 coupe & convert
stripe front bumper fascia upper 10279777 coupe & convert
stripe fr/fender wheel opening (hashmarks) 10279781 coupe & convert
stripe roof panel (between hatch & roof panel) 10285096 coupe only
stripe roof panel center (removable top) 10279782 coupe only
stripe roof panel rear (rear hatch) 10280903 coupe only
stripe rear end fin panel 10279784 coupe only
stripe rear bumper fascia lower 10279786 coupe & convert
stripe rear bumper fascia lower 10279788 MAE export convert
stripe folding top stow compartment lid 10280189 convert only
stripe body upper rear panel 10280190 convert only

 

I'd definately get 2 people to install large vinyl graphics... I used to help a buddy do vinyl graphics on cars... just use lots of soapy water and keep a spray bottle handy with soapy water..as long as it's wet (do it in the garage if you can, stay out of the sun!) then it will move around... once the sun hits it, it will dry the soapy water out quickly making it very hard to put on...

My advise for something like that is to:
peel back just a foot of the wax paper and fold it back (making sure its really soapy on the hood) then center it perfectly, letting the waxed paper part drape down like it would be when its done...once its perfectly centered, then use a squeegie and get all the bubbles and water out of the part you already stuck down to it... now..make sure you keep the entire area nice and soapy wet and slowly pull the wax off the rest of the vinyl and work it in with the squeegie all the way down the hood...stop now and then before you get it stuck really good and make sure its still centered all th way down. Long graphics have a dendency to "walk" sometimes on you....

once all the bubbles are out, just let it sit in the sun a bit to dry...

if you get any bubbles you can't get out... and before it dries... use a VERY TINY NEEDLE/PIN and ***** a microscopic hole in the bubble, then squeegie the bubble out. You will not see the hole when you are done if you did it correctly.

Just note this though.. if you have it on for a couple years, the paint will fade around it... but at that point you are due for a repaint or new graphics anyway...

Good luck. I am going to be adding a stripe soon to mine as well and will most likely just use vinyl to cut costs.

 

This is the method I used to put my stripes on. Take your time, keep it wet, and move slowly and it will look good. I did mine solo and it wasn't that hard.

Car pics: http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeqspkg/

 

CrvtBB ---- What stripe set did you use? It looks good and a little easier to apply then a full GS set.

 

I agree, I like the idea that it bypasses cutting out the Corvette letters and looks great. Mine would be just the opposite though, black with silver stripes.

Also the rest of your car is very well done, it's the little things and attention to detail that really make the difference.

 

FYI the Skunk Strip on the Grand Sport is not a vinyl application---it is painted on. The only vinyl are the accent strips along the outer edges and a small piece on the roof.