The "perfect" stripe?
Printed From: The Ford Torino Page
Category: Model Specific Forum
Forum Name: Starsky & Hutch
Forum Description: Technical discussion for original and replica S&H Torinos
URL: https://forum.grantorinosport.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=7755
Printed Date: 26-March-2026 at 3:54PM
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.06 - https://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: The "perfect" stripe?
Posted By: Kit Sullivan
Subject: The "perfect" stripe?
Date Posted: 05-August-2012 at 1:30PM
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OK, this is really just a matter of opinion and conjecture, but I would like to hear everyone's opinion on what they think is the definitive, or maybe best (even perfect?) version of the famed white stripe...
Personally, I have always thought that while the stripe looks damn good on this car (don't we all?), it really is just a little ill-fitting overall.
The fact that the bottom edge will cut straight through the top of the front fender if the bottom edge is lined up with the mid-body character line is what causes me the most consternation.
The 1st-season cars fudged this area by ever so slightly angling the lower edge-line of the stripe up and over the fender molding.
While not glaringly noticeable or obvious on TV, in person this is very obvious and looks a little goofy. The fact that the 1st-season cars did not have the thin body-side moldings helped to pull this off.
The 2nd-4th season cars were a little more problematic in this area: The body side moldings that came on those cars would have made the slight "cheat" in the bottom of the stripe on the fender far too obvious, so a different type of "cheat" was employed: Immediatly at the front tip of the body-side molding, the bottom edge of the stripe rises up and over the fender molding...very obvious, even on TV. Always looked stupid to me. I don't like this particular "cheat" at all.
Now, the cars used in the pilot movie were even more different: Apparently, whoever laid out that original-version of the stripe took the front fender lip into account and simply had the entire bottom edge of the stripe sitting up an inch or so above the mid-body charcter line. This way the entire bottom edge of the stripe could be laser-straight with no cheating needed to clear the the front fender.
The only problem was that these cars had the thin body-side moldings on them, and since the stripe's bottom edge sat a noticeable inch or so above the moldings...that looked kind of stupid too (to me anyway).
The "pilot" cars also had the front point of the stripe ending much, much farther back on the fender than all later versions of the stripe. This is no way affects what I am talking about here, so it is a non-issue.
The Ford-produced LEs simply had the stripe cut straight through the fender arc, making the stripe look very ill-fitted to me.
And again, the angled rear of the LE stripe verses the rounded "TV" version has no bearing on the fender issue.
And of course there are Mike Walsh's movie cars...totally unique stripe in many ways, but mostly used the 1st-season method to deal with the front fender arc issue.
My own "Starsky" Torino is nearing the painting stage, and I am wringing my hands over how to exactly lay out the stripe.
My intention is to have a stripe that appears to be as close to a 1st-season style as possible, while "fixing" the fender arc issue.
My thinking is that I will raise the entire bottom edge of the stripe up off the body-line just enough so that while being perfectly straight, it will just clear the fender molding. Since my car does not (and will not) have body-side moldings, I think it may not be noticeable.
If anyone knows of a car painted this way, I would sure like to see it!
Of course, the rear of the stripe will be rounded, and the black stripe will be 3/8", as on the TV show. Most cars I've seen in person have a 1/4" pinstripe...to me it looks a little too thin.
My original 76 LE car still has all it's original paint, and it is appaling how badly the stripe was liad out from the factory. Sighting down any edge of the stripe on either side of the car is liable to make you queasy and sea-sick if you look too long at it. Like many others, I used the black pinstripe tape to try and cover up the "waves", but some were too far off to make that work 100%.
Clearly, the fenders had thier sections of stripe painted while off the car, for the edges are way off of how they should line up with the door-sections of the stripe.
I guess for $164 extra...this is what you get! ------------- "I'm too old to grow up now!" |
Replies:
Posted By: 75GranMan
Date Posted: 05-August-2012 at 4:00PM
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Justin K aka starsky74torino helped me out,by sending me a template of his stripe,just the door jamb to roof line.Make the stripe the way you want it.I hired a pro pin stripe painter,to help lay out the stripe.It took 2 of us 4hrs to get it the exact way I wanted it,even with justins template.check out my project for the whole painting.I went with a 1/4 line.   ------------- John 75Gran Torino 4spd  |
Posted By: Kit Sullivan
Date Posted: 05-August-2012 at 4:24PM
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Those pics look great! That black stripe seems wider than 1/4" inch...maybe it looks different in the pics.
I'd like to see how you did it over the front fender area... ------------- "I'm too old to grow up now!" |
Posted By: 75GranMan
Date Posted: 06-August-2012 at 4:10PM
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I'll have to check my album to see if I have some close-ups of the front fender area,I used 1/4 fineline tape to lay out the stripe.shot the black for the stripe first,then installed the front wheel lip mouldings and laid out the stripe with the fineline tape the black follows the arch of the wheel well.If I don't have pix,I'll try to take some.my car is 2M dark red,maybe that may make the 1/4 seem wider? ------------- John 75Gran Torino 4spd |
Posted By: TV 2M8O
Date Posted: 06-August-2012 at 9:45PM
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According to Doug Stevenson when he owned the season 2-4 Hero #1 & 2 cars, the black pinstripe was 1/4" wide. -------------  TV 2M8O OUT JOE 1976 Gran Torino S&H season 2-4 Clone Project Blog: http://tv2m8o.blogspot.com/ |
Posted By: Kit Sullivan
Date Posted: 06-August-2012 at 11:45PM
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Yeah, looking at a bunch of screen caps, it does look like the later cars used 1/4" pinstripes. A couple close shots of the early cars ( especially the pilot cars) looks like 5/8" to me, but who really knows... They obviously didn't put a big effort into details, figuring no one would notice. And I'm sure they never suspected nuts line us ( or like me, anyway...) would be scrutinizing this stuff 35+ years later. Some episodes you can see the pinstripe tape is broken/cut in a couple places, and even stretched thin whre eit was pulled into a curve along the stripe. Maybe I'll go with 1/4"... ------------- "I'm too old to grow up now!" |
Posted By: Dan the ranchero man
Date Posted: 07-August-2012 at 12:34PM
I am post a photo of an actual "untouched original" S&H car. This is how the stripe will look.
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Posted By: Kit Sullivan
Date Posted: 07-August-2012 at 3:58PM
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Wow, only 2500 miles...that's fantastic! Makes me wonder how the owner resited racking up the miles during the 80's when no one cared about these cars. That's the 'Ford' version of the stripe...definitely not for me. But, damn...sure would be great to have a low mileage beauty like that! ------------- "I'm too old to grow up now!" |
Posted By: Kit Sullivan
Date Posted: 08-August-2012 at 5:22AM
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How accurately do the printed dimensions on the Ford-supplied "Starsky & Hutch Torino" paint-scheme document follow what they did when Ford painted the stripe on the "LE"s at the factory?
I like the dimensions of the "LE" stripe, except for the pointed shape at the rear...I'll change that to the TV-rounded version. ------------- "I'm too old to grow up now!" |
Posted By: 75GranMan
Date Posted: 12-August-2012 at 12:50PM
Heres some close-up pix of my stripe.on my front fender,you can see just a hint of red
  This is the the rear curve section.IMO this is the most noticeable part of the stripe,so it up to you as how you best like it.I studied many cars before I decided on what i liked the best
  As you can see in the last pic,the arch almost seems rounded from a rear view.When in fact it it is not.Take the time and lay it out the way you prefer your own perfect stripe. ------------- John 75Gran Torino 4spd |
Posted By: Kit Sullivan
Date Posted: 07-December-2012 at 9:54AM
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I am wondering if there are any fanatical OCD types out there that want to or have restored an original LE to EXACTING standards, just as the car came delivered from the factory. Considering how poorly, crooked and misaligned the stripe is from the factory, I'm thinking someone would have to be a real fanatic to purposely repaint a crooked stripe back onto the car. We know what Ford's intentions were, but we also know how poorly most of them ended up. ------------- "I'm too old to grow up now!" |
Posted By: Dan the ranchero man
Date Posted: 07-December-2012 at 10:57AM
So what you are saying is you want the "perfect" stripe done "Not so perfectly" as per the factory. 
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Posted By: Regul8r
Date Posted: 07-December-2012 at 1:34PM
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From what I read Kit knows the factory stripe is not so perfect. He is looking to redo it? Asking the opinion of what we think was the perfect stripe from ALL the different options that appeared on the show. I am NOT an S&H expert in any way shop or form, but here is what I LIKE... First off if I am putting a stripe like this on the car... NO MOLDINGS (centerline or beltline), the wheel well moldings do not bother me either way. 1. I like the Black Pinstripe outline version 2. I like it with the Black outline layed on the top edge of the center body line 3. I like it where the line goes straight across wheel well opening, raise the outline and strip up OVER the fender lip. That is where the wheel well molding is ok to use IMO. THIS huge white slash lightning pointed graphic follows the body line and it should not let the wheel well lip cause it to change direction and bow down to it! Make sense? I would even work the rear turn area on the front edge to follow the body line around the rear window, not neccessarily ON the line but keep the space down the rear pillar and swing it towards the front with the same distance until it NEEDS to change and head to the point. As you can see where I put the oval, you can see the Stripe does not follow the body line. It is further off the line on the back and closer to the front and when you step back and look at the whole thing that little detail irks me. It also makes it look like an after thought that was just thrown on in a hurry. I like to use the car's lines when designing paint schemes.
------------- Carl Corey (Moderator/Event Coordinator) Contact ANYTIME! 1976 Ford Elite "Lola Mae" 97 Suzuki Intruder 1400 US Army Retired |
Posted By: Regul8r
Date Posted: 07-December-2012 at 2:56PM
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RRRRRR, why is the damn RED X there!? I see the pic when I upload it, it is there in the reply window and then when I post it is gone! Having an issue with the pics right now. Anyway, I also thought the REAR of the stripe should have followed the rear of the upper quarter along the window line too. But, like I said, I like using the beautiful body lines to accentuate the color schemes, pinstripes and other accents. ------------- Carl Corey (Moderator/Event Coordinator) Contact ANYTIME! 1976 Ford Elite "Lola Mae" 97 Suzuki Intruder 1400 US Army Retired |
Posted By: Mark S.
Date Posted: 07-December-2012 at 3:37PM
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If somebody could post pics of cars with the different style stripes all in one post that would be cool for comparison sake. Or has that already been done? ------------- Mark 1977 Ltd II "Eltee" 1984 Mustang ragtop 2004 Grand Marquis Ultimate Edition 71 Torino GT 429CJ (sold too many years ago to count...) |
Posted By: Kit Sullivan
Date Posted: 07-December-2012 at 6:25PM
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Sorry if I confused anyone: the "perfect" stripe to me is the first-season style, and that is what I am going to replicate as closely as I can when I paint mine. This is of course only a matter of opinion and no one can really state with authority which version is the singular " correct" style, considering there have been 5 basically similar but different styles on "official" cars. Overall, I think season-one style is the right-est, with only a minor mod to make it "perfect" to me. Second-season cars have a couple of features I really don't like: the across-the-roof section is wider than the first season, and the back of the stripe extends too far rearward, both of which make the back-half of the car look fatter and more bulky to me. Also, the section above the front wheel-opening is completely incongruous and contradicts the lines of the car, and looks ridiculous to me. Add to that the sloppy paint repairs to that section when the car had obviously been repaired and repainted on the quick and it looks even worse. The front section of the stripe ended up about 3 or 4" above where it should have been...terrible. The Mike Walsh movie-cars have the best overall stripe as far as complimenting the lines of the car, but since they were really "clones" of the "real thing", to me they aren't canon. I really like the way he shaped the rounded rear section...makes the car look lower and sleeker to me, but like season-2 cars, its too fat over the roof. The factory LEs are obviously totally different, and stand alone. The pilot cars could be considered the most " official" of the bunch, I suppose...but I just don't like it for too many reasons. I think I'll try for a season one with a Walsh-style shape to the rear section. Ultimately, who cares? Its just a matter of personal opinion, and everyone should really paint tbier cars however they see fit, right? My other post was just a casual musing...wondering if there is anyone fanatical enough to restore a factory LE to the same flawed condition they came in as new. I can't really imagine there would be anyone to taske the time and effort to replicate a wavy, crooked stripe. I know I would'nt! ------------- "I'm too old to grow up now!" |
Posted By: Scott
Date Posted: 04-January-2013 at 1:45AM
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Me and my brother have redone quite a few orig.cars over the years and we repaint them to factory specs.everytime.My opinion is that the stripe looks better than any of the others out there,matter of personal opinion of course and I believe they are of more value put back like Ford intended.The 1 on the show was just a quick slap on of a stripe most likely if it was anything like other star cars especially the General Lee.I have owned 5 orig. cars and 1 before i got it was repainted CandyApple Red and stripe was painted different.My opinion it looked out of place on there.I did add the black pinstripe on the cars though because I believe it looks better.Ford at least had to take some thought and consideration on there design unlike Hollywood. |
Posted By: Kit Sullivan
Date Posted: 04-January-2013 at 2:34AM
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I'm not so sure Ford made a unique stripe for reasons of making it look better. I think they cam up with a design that could easily be measured and replicated. ------------- "I'm too old to grow up now!" |
Posted By: Scott
Date Posted: 04-January-2013 at 9:59AM
| Who knows, but we all know how Hollywood does it don't we? |