Saving the Fender Stripe

[rustover]

So I have the fender on my daughters Mustang repaired and I'm almost ready to final prep for paint, but I have a delima with the black stripe at the bottom. My first thought was to replace it, but they are expensive and it may not match, my next thought was to clear over it, but it's more of a flat finish so that won't work. Now I'm thinking about taping it and blending the clear just below the body line. This is all a first to me, so I wanted to reach out and ask you guys what would be the best and what is typically done on a collision job like this. Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks, Russ

 

[dhutton01]

Interested to see what the pros say. I have a couple of ideas.

Don

 

[OJ86]

I am far from a pro, lol. But obviously first option would be replace. Second option and what I would do if cost was a concern would be to mask it off, repaint the fender, but when clearing only put maybe one coat of clear at the bottom to avoid any excessive film build up on the edges..

I am also very interested in how others would handle this.

 

[OJ86]

Honestly, looking at the photo again, that lower body line would seem to be a prime candidate for a backtape deal and just untape after your last coat of clear and dust on some blender. Just when you clear it dont hammer it on on the edge, sort of feather it out and unmask it right after.

 

[OJ86]

I would grey scotch bright up to this bodyline mask off just below it and then soft edge tape right up to it.. Clear the panel, immediate remove the soft edge tape which will expose maybe an inch or so below the line, dust on some blender or reducer(some guys use reducer) then when its all dry, buff that edge out keeping the moving away from the line and it will disappear.

 

[OJ86]

Adding to this. to be extra safe, hit the body line and just below it with with some 2500. that will buff right out. That will insure that your entire blend line has something for the clear to bite into. 2500 doesn't seem like much, but you arent hammering a full coat down there anyways.

 

[rustover]

Awesome info. I really appreciate it. I'm going to give it a shot.

 

[RenewAP]

So I have the fender on my daughters Mustang repaired and I'm almost ready to final prep for paint, but I have a delima with the black stripe at the bottom. My first thought was to replace it, but they are expensive and it may not match, my next thought was to clear over it, but it's more of a flat finish so that won't work. Now I'm thinking about taping it and blending the clear just below the body line. This is all a first to me, so I wanted to reach out and ask you guys what would be the best and what is typically done on a collision job like this. Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks, Russ

If you haven't done this already, it might be worth checking the price of buying the stripe kit, using the section you need, and then list the left over pieces on eBay either as a partial kit, or individual panel sections. I had to do that on a 71 Cutlass, and I sold the pieces that I didn't need for more then I bought the kit. Otherwise I agree with all the comments about painting to the body line. If it works, your done, if it doesn't work, you can try taping off the stripe, if that doesn't work, buy the stripe kit.