3rd times the charm! Hood Decal write up

[ASH302]

i love getting write ups with pictures, great job and also it looked really good too. now you know how to do it next time or for a friend that needs his replaced

ASh

[Kamaaina]

Thanks "texmach302" for the comment. Yeah, it did surprisingly come out pretty good for a rookie installer (me). Picture is kind of dark.....moved Mach into the garage after I took the picture and had a horrendous downpour of rain.

[ASH302]

Originally Posted by Kamaaina

Thanks "texmach302" for the comment. Yeah, it did surprisingly come out pretty good for a rookie installer (me). Picture is kind of dark.....moved Mach into the garage after I took the picture and had a horrendous downpour of rain.

a long time ago i did full racing strips decal on a mustang i had, really my first time doing decals and that was hard, so i can understand how tough it can be

ASh

[XSELLR8]

Originally Posted by Kamaaina

"larrendeuce" - I just measured my OEM stripe and it's about 14" across to the outside of the pinstripe at the rear and about 11" across at the front (just before the radius). What does your decal measure at? Is it from American Muscle?

OUTSIDE OF THE PIN STRIPE:
14" side to side under the shaker
22" top to bottom (under the shaker to the bottom)
11 1/2" side to side as it makes the final turns at the bottom of the stripe. (that can depend, I guess).

INSIDE THE PIN STRIPE:
13" side to side right under the shaker
21" top to bottom (under the shaker to the bottom)
10 1/2" tapering down to 10" side to side at the bottom.

On the product description on American Muscle, it claims to be "cut to the exact detentions of the original.."

I would imagine Ford has some kind of copyright for the original. I noticed the below promotion picture features a very rectangular stripe.
It could just look like it's different due to the angle of the sloping hood.
I wonder if there was a variance throughout production.. I noticed on my Oasis report that my Mach 1 got a new stripe on it outsourced to a custom shop when it was brand new! Doesn't matter now since I re-did mine.

[ASH302]

OP looks good, i need to check again, but where did you buy the hood stripe from? i'll look again at the first of this thread to see if i can see,

ASh

[XSELLR8]

Originally Posted by txmach302

OP looks good, i need to check again, but where did you buy the hood stripe from? i'll look again at the first of this thread to see if i can see,

ASh

Americanmuscle. Remember this decal is shiny, so the chin spoiler won't match unless you buy a new one from americanmuscle as well.

[bryan5437]

Many years later this post helped me out and I was able to get an application good enough on my second try. I used the Anchroom version of the mach 1 sticker. The first sticker I received had a large fold in the middle of the large sticker. I thought I would be able to address this by using heat to smooth our the vinyl and I was wrong. I strongly recommend only attempting to apply the sticker if it is completely smooth.

My successful application also took me about three hours to apply the sticker and I generally followed the wisdom in this thread. I thought my application was perfect and let it dry overnight. In the morning, I was not happy to find I had quite a few bubbles when I removed the applicator sheet. To remove the bubbles I used a hair drier to heat up the area briefly and then a pin to poke a small hole in the bottom of the bubble. Then I used my finger to remove the air/water which was caught under the sticker. The tiny holes that you make are barely noticeable and its definitely worth it to get a smooth sticker. I had two small folds in the pin stripe which I was able to address once again by applying heat and using my finger to remove the air below. For the sticker reworks I do not recommend you use any card because it is very easy to make a mark in the sticker. I also suggest you cut your nail short for the same reason.

The sticker isn't perfect because of the rework, but honestly you're going to be the only person who knows about it. Even from a few feet away you can barely see the imperfections.

[BONESTOCK]

I bought my sticker from LMR and that one is pretty perfectly sized to factory. The American Muscle one is all wrong.

[311-420]

Originally Posted by BONESTOCK

I bought my sticker from LMR and that one is pretty perfectly sized to factory. The American Muscle one is all wrong.

How does the color of the lmr match up to the oem, and where did you see a size difference? I've got a new one here, but haven't put it on yet and have been wondering about it. I'm still undecided about removing the original one. Thanks for any insight.

[311-420]

Originally Posted by bryan5437

Many years later this post helped me out and I was able to get an application good enough on my second try. I used the Anchroom version of the mach 1 sticker. The first sticker I received had a large fold in the middle of the large sticker. I thought I would be able to address this by using heat to smooth our the vinyl and I was wrong. I strongly recommend only attempting to apply the sticker if it is completely smooth.

My successful application also took me about three hours to apply the sticker and I generally followed the wisdom in this thread. I thought my application was perfect and let it dry overnight. In the morning, I was not happy to find I had quite a few bubbles when I removed the applicator sheet. To remove the bubbles I used a hair drier to heat up the area briefly and then a pin to poke a small hole in the bottom of the bubble. Then I used my finger to remove the air/water which was caught under the sticker. The tiny holes that you make are barely noticeable and its definitely worth it to get a smooth sticker. I had two small folds in the pin stripe which I was able to address once again by applying heat and using my finger to remove the air below. For the sticker reworks I do not recommend you use any card because it is very easy to make a mark in the sticker. I also suggest you cut your nail short for the same reason.

The sticker isn't perfect because of the rework, but honestly you're going to be the only person who knows about it. Even from a few feet away you can barely see the imperfections.

The anchor room one is lmr right? What's your opinion of the color and fitment compared to the original? Thanks for your help!

[hotford]

Just wondering why members aren't buying OEM ones...have they been discontinued??

Heck I just got a new set of lower rocker ones from ford for my mach.

[311-420]

Originally Posted by hotford

Just wondering why members aren't buying OEM ones...have they been discontinued??

Heck I just got a new set of lower rocker ones from ford for my mach.

That's what I thought

Surprised to hear you can order new stripes from ford still..

Was the vinyl still nice on the rocker set? Thought I remembered someone a few years back got an oem set off ebay or something and they were brittle. Maybe they were stored incorrectly? Dunno.

[hotford]

Originally Posted by 311-420

That's what I thought

Surprised to hear you can order new stripes from ford still..

Was the vinyl still nice on the rocker set? Thought I remembered someone a few years back got an oem set off ebay or something and they were brittle. Maybe they were stored incorrectly? Dunno.

I haven't used them yet, just got them because they were still available, I had a buddy copy the pass front fender portion as I needed it as the fender was painted, but my sticker guy copied the complete set even with the fade as it runs to the rear of the car.

I couldn't tell the difference......

[67bigblock]

Back when I had my black 04 I ordered one from Graphics Express.
Good piece.

BTW,...some of the ones Ford applied on the assembly line were applied like sh!t. So if you see a hoidcstripe with a bubble or piece of grit in there don’t assume it’s been replaced if ur looking at a low mileage car.

[BONESTOCK]

Originally Posted by 311-420

How does the color of the lmr match up to the oem, and where did you see a size difference? I've got a new one here, but haven't put it on yet and have been wondering about it. I'm still undecided about removing the original one. Thanks for any insight.

It's about as perfect as can be! My brother bought the American Muscle one and it was thinner and gloss black. That's when I was like WTF?! So I started looking into it and found that LMR is the best match I could find. I bought it and installed it. Worked out perfectly!

[BONESTOCK]

Here it is removed.



LMR one on. Perfect match in size and color.

[311-420]

Looks good.

Appreciate it!

[BONESTOCK]

Originally Posted by 311-420

Looks good.

Appreciate it!

No probs.