OK, don't laugh - Pinstriping protection?

[katuah]

But that blue painter's tape won't come off if you leave it on for very long. At least not in your house (voice of experience speaks).

Maybe you should just mix up some mud paste and apply it liberally.

 

[RangeBrover]

Don't write off the car wrap immediately. You could buy it yourself and apply it with a heat gun which is pretty affordable. If you're not worried how it looks you can buy it on ebay and just put it on yourself before you go. I purchased the 3m stuff to wrap my race car in matte black, and paid about 400 for it. There is some Chinese knock off stuff also that applies the same and is half the cost, the only difference is that the color fades. It's substantially cheaper and if all you care about is protecting the paint then it wouldn't be a bad idea.

I've given up on protection though, I thought my first scratches would be on the trail, but living in the ******* hole that is Chicago, I've gotten more damage here so far. Some a** hat the other day decided to put something on my hood to load into his car, left a bunch of nice marks. Sorry for the rant.

 

[AA1PR]

Yep, newbie here (at least on the forum). Been around the block many times and have not been known for worrying too much for keeping things pristine. Most of my vehicles end up looking "well-used" and I typically prefer a coat of dust to a coat of wax. I don't however like thrashing things and if there's a way to protect them, I'd prefer it.

I'm the proud owner of a new F350 (going for the subtle eco-look)

IMG_7491 by JR Bad Habit, on Flickr

I'd like to protect the sides and paint as long as possible. I know my driving style and tendencies, so I do have limited expectations.

Has anybody ever come across a way to protect the sides of a vehicle from pinstriping. Not necessarily a permanent solution, but something that could be applied or ? for the weekend or so. I had started thinking of Invisble Bra material, then looked at the price and that ended that. But, then I thought about the temporary floor protection film they use on construction sites (http://www.homedepot.com/Flooring-C...Id=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051#.UEqCdFFc08k). Does any know how the adhesive releases from auto paint? At $12 for a 50' roll, that possible could save a lot of paint jobs. It's not like you would have to worry about how it looks, as long as it sticks (and comes off with out a mess) and can stand up to the typical trail overgrowth. A couple of quick runs down each side, slice some openings for the doors and you're good to go.

As you can see by the truck, it's not meant for anything extreme, but here in the PNW, roads get overgrown real quick and the pinstriping is hard to prevent. Good idea?, crazy idea?, who cares?

There is a material out there I think its called black diamond its a vinyl wrap in a matte black finish

the problem is that it is easily teared & not cheap to have done

 

[Hopeless Diamond]

I'm going to pick up a roll of the floor protector, it's cheap and if it works, great. If not I have something to protect a floor somewhere. I checked it at the local home depot and it does say it can be used for vehicles and boats so maybe it will come off cleanly. I guess it will come down to how well it stands up to brush and bushes scraping down the sides.

That Dupli-Color spray looks interesting too, I could see that working well for bugs and road grime, not so much for scraping bushes though. I don't see it on their web-site though.

 

[doug720]

The floor protection plastic can only be applied for short duration on carpet, usually around 3-7 days. After that time. It is hard to remove and leaves a sticky residue. I'm sure the amount of time you could leave the plastic on a car would be even shorter due to UV exposure and much higher temps of a vehicle left in the sun.

I would try a small piece on an old car first.



DOug

 

[FellowTraveler]

My woods appeal paint w/pinstripes

IMHO, The effort to preserve the good shine and paint will become futile as you wander into the woods. I'll include some pictures later today of pin stripping that nothing would protect from.

 

[pacopico]

Griot's Garage in Tacoma has a "temporary" clear bra that they sell...look into that. It appears to be a bit heavier than the carpet covering that you are looking at.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Buy a cheap Jeep to scratch up on the trails and keep the new truck for longer trips and wider trails.

 

[TheAlmightySam]

3M makes a clear protective film you can apply, not sure on cost but it's cheaper than a wrap, I also have heard of someo one planning on using plasti-dip as it will just peel off if it gets ugly. Not sure on how well the plasti-dip would protect. Invisiblemask.com sells the 3M stuff cut to fit your truck.

Call around to auto body shops/detail shops and ask about getting your truck wrapped in 3M clear coating. Basically, it is a clear shield over your paint to protect the entire car from issues.

Its commonly used on sportscars on the nose to protect against stone chips.

It'll cost you a couple hundred to wrap something that big, and only last 2 years, but in 2 years the paint will still look brand new.

If I ever buy a new car, I will do a partial wrap on the high wear areas (nose, door handles, sills, etc). I've been very impressed with the stuff.

The 3M stuff is nice material for sure, and it certainly would protect the paint underneath from at least light rubbing of branches. The problem is, the film itself has a layer of clearcoat on it, so it's going to get just as pinstriped, so you might have to replace it whenever it gets obnoxiously scratched.

There's three other downsides of the 3M film for this use case:

1. It's pretty darn hard to install on large surfaces. A Ford door is pretty flat, so that mitigates this somewhat, but you're still talking about a large piece of film that will have to be cut to shape on the car. That, or you'd have to butt a bunch of 12" wide pieces or something, which might not look awesome.

2. It's tough material, but it will tear if abraded. Big branches and such may tear the material and still manage to damage the paint underneath. Plus, the film is REALLY ugly when it has picked up a tear.

3. It ain't cheap. It's about $8 a square foot, not including installation. I'd guess an ECSB truck like Mr. Diamond's would be about $700 worth of material, with installation extra.

I really like the stuff for protecting against rock chips and minor scratches, but I'm not convinced this is a good application for it.

For me, I keep a heavy coat of wax on my truck. It's surprising what kind of scratches it'll shrug off.

 

[jim65wagon]

IMHO, The effort to preserve the good shine and paint will become futile as you wander into the woods.

Beg to differ there, but the majority of your paint will still need good protection. A high quality wax and some work with a good buffer go a long way on your nice shiny paint. My example, here's my truck at 186,000 miles with door dings and quite a few good pinstripes (you won't see them in the pic, but if you look in person you will). It's seen lots of forest and we've gotten used to that "SCREEEEEE!" sound as branches and brush try to take the paint. Most of the stripes buff out to a minor "up close" visual. I just spent about half a day washing, buffing, waxing the old ride.



and this is the reflection of our cat walking across the driveway.



The OPs truck is shiny and new and can look mostly that way for a long time with some effort and quality products.....

 

[Dave Bennett]

Rhino or Linex and forget about it. They do color matching, well worth the $ IMO, especially on a new rig.

.02

 

[Hopeless Diamond]

I fully expect to have a few stripes down the sides over time, and as Jim65 has shown with his, if you put some effort into to it, you can keep it looking nice (brave man with a shiny black truck, I couldn't keep a street machine looking that good.) I'm just looking for some quick and simple protection that's temporary. Something to mitigate that "SCREEEEEE", even if just a little. I don't have any expectations of full on protection, just something for overgrown forest service roads, etc. Branches and rocks, well, those a badges of honor.

 

[JIMBO]

:sombrero: The wax is the best/quickest/overall method/w one little change-

I fully expect to have a few stripes down the sides over time, and as Jim65 has shown with his, if you put some effort into to it, you can keep it looking nice (brave man with a shiny black truck, I couldn't keep a street machine looking that good.) I'm just looking for some quick and simple protection that's temporary. Something to mitigate that "SCREEEEEE", even if just a little. I don't have any expectations of full on protection, just something for overgrown forest service roads, etc. Branches and rocks, well, those a badges of honor.

I have been using "Mothers California Gold" Carnuba wax, for a lotta years and if you know you're going thru a "Pinstripe" area, apply a coat of the wax to the sides--AND DON'T BUFFITOUT-wait till you're done with the "Hazardous" area then polish it off-

It lets 99% of the brush "SLIDE" over the paint--works !

:costumed-smiley-007:wings: JIMBO

 

[FellowTraveler]

Beg to differ there, but the majority of your paint will still need good protection. A high quality wax and some work with a good buffer go a long way on your nice shiny paint. My example, here's my truck at 186,000 miles with door dings and quite a few good pinstripes (you won't see them in the pic, but if you look in person you will). It's seen lots of forest and we've gotten used to that "SCREEEEEE!" sound as branches and brush try to take the paint. Most of the stripes buff out to a minor "up close" visual. I just spent about half a day washing, buffing, waxing the old ride.

The OPs truck is shiny and new and can look mostly that way for a long time with some effort and quality products.....

Looks good, however I would not ever again spend more time than it takes to neutralize salts and hose down my adventure vehicles bodywork the engine bay/drive train is another story I keep it clean so I can see any fluid leaks, or other problems.

 

[codename607]

Hopeless Diamond,

Did you ever use that floor protection on your truck? I'm kinda in the same boat. Just purchased a brand new FJ and want to keep it looking good. Besides waxing this floor protection stuff seems like a good temporary fix.