Ram air hood: paint or tape

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Joined
Feb 20, 2020
Messages
1,043
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Location
North Georgia
My Car
1972 Mach 1 dark green
With the large area of the hood on our ram air hoods that has the accent colors (In my case argent on a green hood) that is paint, correct.  I have seen vendors that sell the hood stencil so I assume that is for the accent colors to be painted.  Are there tape kits for this also?

 
@jscott, there has been much posted on this very subject. In a search, you will no doubt find all you need. There has been a lot of discussion on what's right or wrong with hood stencils and placement. These hood areas were never exact from the factory. 

In general, stencils are wrong, but the one I used as a guide was from Graphics Express in Florida, but I'll admit, I screwed up when I told my painter to place it 2" from the front edge, forgetting that the trim strip was not yet on, so mine ended up 3", but really no-one outside of people like us, know.

Look at pics from David of his original 73 hood. I'm sure he'll post it up soon enough.

A wrap might also be an option IF you can get the right sheen and color.

 
The layout for the black or argent on the hood is one of those things that the suppliers do not care if it is right or wrong as long as they sell. They are currently wrong. The information that Mustang Monthly published years ago on location is also wrong. 

So if you can hold off for a while Hemikiller, Dennis and I are working on getting a correct pattern made. He sent me a mylar with a 1" grid on it. I am working on doing an overlay rub off of my factory original. He will then scan that back to CAD and we hope to get a correct pattern out there for everyone to use. 

I did a rub off for one of our members a couple years ago and he did get a wrap cut. 

Most layouts have the wrong radius on the front corners and the transition going from the front to the widest part is a straight line. As you can see on my car it is a huge radius.

I am probably also going to do the 1973 Mach 1 stripes which I am told are also incorrect and they do not want to change because people buy them. 

Here is a pic of my original. Yes there are a bunch of posts on this subject. Location of rear spoiler is also one that needs to be put out there correct. Was looking at some pic on Facebook this morning of freshly painted Mach 1 and the spoiler holes are way off will look all wrong. 

 
The Graphics stencil will work, with alteration (ie. cutting the stencil to fit the hood as was intended). Otherwise, the information they give is pretty accurate. Just wish painter’s could read the instructions...

 
I've wrapped a few vehicles, and am actually considering doing the ram air hood and hockey stick stripes with my own car when I get around to repainting it. The quality and tech around vinyl wraps has advanced a LOT over the last few years with better air release channels, adhesiveness, and durability. I've worked with 3M and Avery and as long as you learn how to use knifeless tape, you can wrap just about any pattern or curve.

Here's a really good video showing what you can do with knifeless tape and good quality vinyl.


 
The layout for the black or argent on the hood is one of those things that the suppliers do not care if it is right or wrong as long as they sell. They are currently wrong. The information that Mustang Monthly published years ago on location is also wrong. 

So if you can hold off for a while Hemikiller, Dennis and I are working on getting a correct pattern made. He sent me a mylar with a 1" grid on it. I am working on doing an overlay rub off of my factory original. He will then scan that back to CAD and we hope to get a correct pattern out there for everyone to use. 

I did a rub off for one of our members a couple years ago and he did get a wrap cut. 

Most layouts have the wrong radius on the front corners and the transition going from the front to the widest part is a straight line. As you can see on my car it is a huge radius.

I am probably also going to do the 1973 Mach 1 stripes which I am told are also incorrect and they do not want to change because people buy them. 

Here is a pic of my original. Yes there are a bunch of posts on this subject. Location of rear spoiler is also one that needs to be put out there correct. Was looking at some pic on Facebook this morning of freshly painted Mach 1 and the spoiler holes are way off will look all wrong. 
That would be awesome to have. I have access to a 60" flat bed vinyl cutting plotter, and could potentially do a few runs if there is a CAD file available.

 
The layout for the black or argent on the hood is one of those things that the suppliers do not care if it is right or wrong as long as they sell. They are currently wrong. The information that Mustang Monthly published years ago on location is also wrong. 

So if you can hold off for a while Hemikiller, Dennis and I are working on getting a correct pattern made. He sent me a mylar with a 1" grid on it. I am working on doing an overlay rub off of my factory original. He will then scan that back to CAD and we hope to get a correct pattern out there for everyone to use. 

I did a rub off for one of our members a couple years ago and he did get a wrap cut. 

Most layouts have the wrong radius on the front corners and the transition going from the front to the widest part is a straight line. As you can see on my car it is a huge radius.

I am probably also going to do the 1973 Mach 1 stripes which I am told are also incorrect and they do not want to change because people buy them. 

Here is a pic of my original. Yes there are a bunch of posts on this subject. Location of rear spoiler is also one that needs to be put out there correct. Was looking at some pic on Facebook this morning of freshly painted Mach 1 and the spoiler holes are way off will look all wrong. 
That would be awesome to have. I have access to a 60" flat bed vinyl cutting plotter, and could potentially do a few runs if there is a CAD file available.

We'll keep everyone posted. Once I get the tracings back from David, I'll start working on the CAD file.

 
The reason I asked is the shop that is working on my car has to do some paint work on the hood and he mentioned he would be working up the the "tape line". So I just wanted to make sure and advise him (not sure if it mattered) that it was indeed paint and not tape.

 
Watched the 3-m video that is some neat stuff. Gets a little complicated it seems, lol.

An update on the process of getting a template. I did get the mylar rub off of my hood done today and took caliper measurements of all the widths so when he scans can double check and make moves. 

I also did rub off of the side stripes. Wierd on the trunk the letters are different heights in Mach 1. 

So maybe we will have a better stencil soon. 

The wrap would be good way to see if you like it or not but might be a little expensive. Lost all my contacts at 3-M we used their adhesives and catalytic converter ceramic insulation. They use to send a nice Christmas gift of lots of their products.

 
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