renewing MB pin stripes - '87 560SL

[karburn]

Over the years it looks like my 560SL has been repainted in places. The two remaining areas that appear original are the rear fenders – the pin striping is faded. Actually, the blue pin striping is faded – it appears to be paint. I also polished some of it clean off the fender with a careless application of Meguiar’s 105. The red pin striping appears to be vinyl – it’s peeling at the ends. The attached photo is a close up of the right rear – I included some of the door so you can see what it should look like.

I would like to renew the pin striping on the two rear fenders to match the rest of the car. The MB dealer says they don’t have anything to do this. I had thought the striping was original on the car, since it had been maintained this way for so long. I was thinking about an aftermarket kit, but I don’t know where to look and I’m also concerned about color matching.

I had some rust work done in 2007, so I plan to contact the body shop that did it to see what they think. I would prefer a DIY solution, though. At a recent car show for our MB club, several people thought that I should remove ALL the pin striping. I still think it was original and I'd like to keep it that way.

Any feedback is appreciated!!!

[Danase]

The painted pins tripe is most likely not under a clear. It should come off really easy with some polishing. If this is the case I'd remove it all and start over. The vinyl striping will peel right off using some heat.

Vinyl striping can be found in all shapes, sizes, and colors. It's not that hard to do. I used to do a lot of striping when I worked for a custom boat trailer manufacturer. We'd stripe the rails and fenders and anything else the customer wanted.

As for painted striping, there are tons of professional strippers out there. I'm actually in the middle of teaching myself how to stripe. I've found "1 Shot" brand paint to be the best so far and easiest to work with. But that might not be something you're willing to do yourself so you'll have to find a professional to come do it.

Do you have a better pic of the striping?

[yakky]

Dealers used to have that stuff painted on cars, on the lot. It seems kinda corny now but it was cool way back when. The vinyl stripes are a bit tacky IMO.