Can someone please clarify how the original Grabber hood and side stripes are done? From what I am seeing, the hood was painted. Was it done in a gloss black or was it flat black? If flat black, how are you achieving this with a two stage paint without doing a pinstripe on the edge? The side stripes, flat or glossy? I see two suppliers: http://www.graphic-express.com/ford_maverick_grabber.asp http://www.phoenixgraphix.com/ford/1971mgbr.php Any opinions on their products? Any other suppliers? Thanks, Micah
I bought my stripes from Graphic express and were not cut the same around the fender wells as the Original stripes. I had a side comparison with my Survivor Car. Also the 1/4" outlining stripe was wider....I tried 2 sets from them and both sets wernt as the originals.
Micah: The hood is not a gloss, nor is it a straight 'flat' black. I can see around a few edges of my black that there are two layers. The first being a black primer, if you will. The top is more like a crinkle finish in a satin or semi-gloss. 71's were painted, 72's were a vinyl decal, and had the body colour running up the center of the blacked-out part (or coloured, depending on stripes). The black area around my tailights is done in a similar fashion. I would use a semi-gloss or satin to get the right effect. Mine is original.
Paul, Thanks. I did the tail in the same flat black that the Mustangs of the era used on their hoods. It looks good. Here I had some areas where the paint lines could be hidden. So painting was not a problem. The hood has been the issue for me. With a two stage paint, I cant seal the flat under clear and have it remain flat. I really dont want it glossy. So, it sounds like the decal is the only way to go here. That is what I thought, but wanted to confirm. Now, the side stripes, would they have been flat or gloss black? I want to carry the same theme as the tail and the hood but it appears as though the sellers are listing them as a gloss stripe. Might have to have custom ones made. Micah I just called Graphic Express. They will not make a sticker instead of a stencil for a '71 but I can have a '72 sticker. Lady I spoke with was not very accommodating. Because they are licensed by Ford, they can't do anything custom. I dont see how a sticker verses a stencil is custom.
My side stripes are reflective, with the exception of the right rear quarter, which is a glossy vinyl that was used when that panel was painted. ALL of the side stripes were vinyl. In regards to the stencil, couldn't someone scan a copy of it and then dump it into a vector drawing software so that you could get it cut as a decal at a local sign place. Then you could just re-sell the stencil? Roger (Moneymaker_1) may know, he's into the vinyl stuff. Here is a shot of mine:
Paul, Nice car!. I think my rear panel is in line with what yours is. That is a good idea on scanning the stencil in. The only issue I can see is, if I could not get the same material that is used on the side stripes, there would be an issue with it not matching. I actually have a neighbor that does this for a living, I completely forgot about that. As far as the side stripes, I don't want to go with the two color stripe. I'm doing a blacked out look to all of the trim and would want a flat side stripe. My painter had a new Maverick in ’71 and about had a stroke when I told him I powder coated the door handles flat black. I think I will email Graphic Express and see if they will rethink their position. Maybe I can find out what film they use. If my neighbor can get it, I might do the stencil to sticker conversion that you suggested. If not, I might end up doing the '72 hood sticker. I like the '71 better, but this is not a concours restoration. If I had to, I could live with the '72.
I think they are limited by the license from Ford, they can't make something that Ford didn't or they could lose their license, they are really sticky with these contracts, since there are other people just dying to get the OK from Ford, where it's a protected market. All my stuff from the was 3M.
Yeah, that seemed to be the same message that I got from them. I just would think that a decal over a stencil should not be a major divergence, but who knows when you get lawyers worried about little things. Micah
I have a set of 71 stripes on the back of my garage door, they are gloss, if that helps. They came out of a customers basement, he worked at Ford and brought them home when they were new for some reason.
If the guy was going to steal something, he should have taken something good like a hood tac or a consolette. Why swipe a set of stripes? Micah
