The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop pinstripe

Just wondering if anyone knows of a good source for pinstripe tape (in the correct width) for an A.D. truck. I've looked all over town but, everybody has either multiple stripes or pencil thin stuff.

The real pinstriping comes in a bottle! I am actually looking forward to pinstriping my burb by hand. I have watched a couple of old timers stripe cars with camel hair brushes and you can't beat the look. I remember one guy whos hand shook so bad he could barely get the brush dipped in the little jar of paint, but when he used a steady (stick with a cork ball on the end) and laid a line down on the side of a car . . . you would swear it was put on with a laser beam guide! I may end up doing mine over a couple of times, but I like working with my hands and think this is one of those things that can make you swell with pride when you nail it yourself.

Check out Jim Carter. Think he has pinstripes as well as an item on his forum which details exactly where it is suppose to go around the cab. Years ago, I pinstriped my '66 Mustang with a tape kit that was 1" wide. You put it on and then pulled out the precut middle strip. Painted between the lines, let it dry and presto! Instant pinstripe.

Painted stripes on Shelley's wheels myself. Used one of those little paint jars with an adjustable arm to guide it, and with brass wheels of various widths that applies the paint stripe. Set the rims on a lazy-suzy so they'd spin while I held the jar still. Was able to put the three correct stripes on all four wheels in about five hours. Not perfect, but look ALOT better than any tape job.

By the way, I took the easy way out on Shelley's cab and used the tape :rolleyes:

Stingray;
I looked again at Jim Carter's site and couldn't find what I had suggested. Did find 3M tape kits at Chevy Duty's site. Abour $10. Probably can find the same at Pep Boys or AutoZone for the same.

Jim Carter has pin striping tape in various colors, plus the kind that you remove the center and then paint your own stripe. Page 118 in his catalog, he needs to work on his website, it is very difficult to find a certain item on it. I also have his little pin striping leaflet, and I think some of his directions are wrong. I have measured a number of original cab sripes, and have found them to be 1/4 inch wide, while Carter says 3/16s. So I wonder what width his tapes come in, the catalog does not say. While on this subject, has anybody found cream medium striping paint? Eastwood sells little cans of lettering paint, but not cream medium. I understand this type of paint is a lot easier to lay stripes with, cream medium is sold by the quart by a lot of vendors, will I be forced to buy that much and just deal with it?

As Ken says, there is nothing like hand painted pinstriping. It is pretty durable and looks great. I have been striping for a while now, mainly on my own stuff. Everything I own has been graced with pinstripes. I like doing freehand striping the best to give it more of a "Von Dutch" look. There are stencil tapes available like someone mentioned. I haven't used them myself, but I have heard they work pretty good. Just about anyone can pinstripe if they have the desire to learn and want to practice it. Otherwise, stencil tapes might be the way to go if you want painted stripes. Just be sure to wipe the area down with wax and grease remover first. Be careful with that though, sometimes that stuff can soften your paint.

About finding the paint, try asking a sign painter in your area where he gets his paint. Whatever he is using should work fine for this. I stick to 1-shot brand paint. I think 1-shot has a website, maybe you can order it on there. I don't remember right now if they have the color your looking for however. Since I live in a pretty isolated area, I have to mail order most of my stuff. I have always had good luck ordering my brushes and paint from Eastwood. I hope this helps out.

Aaron

Thanks for all of the imput guys. I'll check out Chevy Duty. I can do quite a few things (rebuild engines, headliners) I did the whole interior in my 'Vette but, when it comes to paint it just ain't my bag! Besides, if I was to do a nice handpainted pinstripe on the truck in question first I'd have to have a better paint job under it! know what I mean.

Scott, Just curious about the stripes on the wheels. I've seen people do this but, it has always been my understanding that the factory finish was basic black with a hubcap until the Task Force era trucks. Am I wrong in thinking that? (Jim Carter told me that about 10 or 12 years ago).

Sting: I think it's correct that most trucks had the basic black wheels, but I've heard there were deluxe wheels available, or as part of a deluxe package.

I just posted some pics of the truck from the book "How to Restore your Chevrolet Pickup." Click here to see the wheels on that truck. The dude claims it's the most perfect restoration of an AD truck in the world. I don't know about that, but it looks awfully nice. (Pics are from a show about 10 yrs ago)