One of the many things that Mopar vehicles are known for is the use of accents. Be it hoodpins or emblems, to the sometimes over-the-top use of decals and even stripes, accents were, and still are, a big part of Mopar's eye-catching appeal.
Quite some time ago, when we finished our Dart Sport project, we told you we would show you how easy it was to install the stripes. Well, this led to that, and we regrettably forgot to print the tech article about it. Luckily, we're hands-on when it comes to working on our cars, so even though it's been a while since we did the install, we actually remember how easy it was, so we can write the article.
Without the factory stripe installed, the side of our Dart Sport looks like a big empty canvas. Lucky for us, Mopar thought the same thing in 1975 and covered the "canvas" with a stripe.
Installing this or any stripe is only as easy as you make it. If you take your time, think the process through before you begin, and use the right tools, you should have no problem. When we ordered our stripe kit from Phoenix Graphix, we were informed about a new application lubricant that would help our install. Their Slide-On application gel can't guarantee the perfect application of a stripe, but it will provide you with enough time to help you get it as correct as possible. The contents of the gel resists drying until you are ready to squeegee it out from underneath the vinyl surface, allowing you to position and reposition the stripe for the proper fit. Only after squeegee'd out from under the stripe does the graphic "set up."
The stripe on our Dart Sport can possibly be considered one of the harder "one piece" (actually, it comes in several sections, but when installed on the car it is one continuous stripe) stripes to install, but we were confident we could handle it. Our stripe runs the length of the car, up over the roof, and then back to the front of the car. Avoiding any wrinkles or fold-ups is not that hard to do if you take your time.
The install took a good half day to complete, but the results were exactly what we wanted-the stripe fit the body lines of the car, and the application gel really came in handy. Now our Sport has the look that Mopar designed, and it's a fresh new stripe which looks great.
