OK... well, this is the first of my weekend of disasters...
I was very picky on the rally stripes I wanted- I do NOT like the curved outer edge near the mail slot that GM designed, so I was looking for a quality kit that ran with a straight (but still tapered) edge. I found exactly what I was looking for from a vendor on Ebay. After a few messages back and forth, confirming quality; he even agreed to extend the read deck lid stripes to give me some room to play with the convertible trunk. Furthermore; theres a few reviews on this site from this particular seller which were pretty good- so I ordered, at an unbelieveable price, too!
Anyway; on to installation.
This wasn't my first time doing stripes, so I was pretty comfortable (despite the kit NOT coming with instructions...) I also noted immediately the rear deck stripes did not appear any longer than stock coupe striping, so despite our conversations, and my multiple "notes to seller" on the auction/pay-pal, I didn;t get the extra. Which turned out to be OK, as the vert deck lid is shorter than the coupe anyway.
If anyones else has done or seen the stripe kits- the hood edge near the windshield is cut at angles to fit the raised cowl. I lined the first stipe up according to the edges (which, 3 of the 4 angles lined up perfectly, while one was waaaay off...) After about an hour of work, I had it on, bubble free, and looking good (including the trimming I had to do at the windshield.)
On to the second stripe- Lined it up again according to the (similarily, however not as bad) angled windshield piece and noticed- SHIT: the center line isn't straight! I had about a 1.5" gap in the top between the stripes, opening up to about a 2.5" gap at the nose! I tried "gently" removing the first stripe to reapply, but it had dried pretty well and stretched as I peeled it, rendering it unusable.
I'm gonna put this at 50%-50% blame. Clearly I shoulda lined them up better before applying, or at least before the final heat dry... definitely my bad. But the angles cut in the stripes were way off at the windshield...I was so concerned about minimizing that exposed paint line at the windshield, and lining that up, that I negated to ensure the center lined up all the way down.
LESSON LEARNED- you get what you pay for. I went "inexpensive" just to try it before getting them painted and I wasted time and money. Getting a quote now from the shop that painted/installed my GFX... give it about 6 months and I'll have them painted on...
