Posts: 34
From:West Milton, OH
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 07-21-2000 06:41 PM               

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Hey, guys. I picked up a set of stripes on E-Bay the other night to use as patterns to produce a set of templates for painting the stripe on my '73 Sportsroof. I'm working with an excellent local graphics shop to produce the stencils, then as a vinyl decal in various colors and ultimately to be able to replicate the Laser itself. Now here's my quest, can anyone here tell me what the full range of colors was that these stripes were available in?
I know this whole thing may sound kind of "out there", but I got sick and tired of being blown off by the commercial shops, and sometimes if you want something done right.....

Thanks, Kevin

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'73 Gran Torino Sportsroof

IP: 199.35.239.8

Posts: 1604
From:orange county, nc , M&M92
Registered: Jun 99

posted 07-21-2000 11:49 PM               

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hi kevin!

welcome to M&M! although i cannot help you with your question, i am sure there are some folks who will be dropping in soon to respond.

browse around the different forums and introduce yourself at sams place. thats where everyone will eventually stop in!

again, welcome!

kaylin
carolina cougar club
CCOA

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ford true-blue-blood
62 fairlane 500 sports coupe (CHIKCOOP)
66 fairlane 500 4-door (waiting for a new home...maybe)
67 fairlane 500 ranchero (SPUNKY67)
67 cougar: dan gurney special (KWAZYKAT)
69 cougar standard convertible (KATSMEOW)
84 F150 (TRUKGRRL)
the only polish on my nails is "ford grease black"

IP: 165.247.161.48

Posts: 8144
From:Phoebus Virginia,USA 1968 Fastback & 1995 Vert MCA#39406 M&M #12
Registered: May 99

posted 07-22-2000 08:20 AM               

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Kevin,
Welcome to mustangsandmore.

I can remember 3 of the stripes.
Red
Blue
Yellow
but don't remember the shades of each that they used for the fades...

Tell you what when time allows I do a search on the net to see if we can find some photos...

Again Welcome to M&M stop in Sam's Place and introduce yourself to the gang...

Here's a few sites I found with Photos of 1973 GTSports with stripes..you'll need to surf thur them.

The Ford Torino Page http://home1.gte.net/76elite/index.html

www.geocities.com/MotorCity/7600/

BTW great links in each
sam
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SAM-MCA #39406
1995'Vert.
1968 Mustang Fastback
www.mustangs68.com
The 1968 Mustangs

[This message has been edited by mustangs68 (edited 07-22-2000).]

IP: 209.240.200.103

Posts: 1354
From:Biddeford,Me.USA
Registered: May 99

posted 07-23-2000 04:43 PM               

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If I remember correctly the blue faded to white,red to yellow and yellow to brown. They will be hard to replicate I think,because they were on reflective tape.

IP: 64.208.66.46

Posts: 282
From:AUburn, AL
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 07-24-2000 10:01 AM               

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My dad has a '73 Gran Torino Sport, its triple green with a laser stripe that fades from green to white (or is it white to green?). He found a NOS set for when (if ever) he'll restore it.

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-Charlie Ping
1970 Maverick Grabber
-1987 5.0L B303 roller cam/rockers
-1968 Mustang Toploader
-1977 Lincoln Versailles 9 inch w/discs
-1980 Granada Front Discs
http://www.maverickgrabber.com

IP: 131.204.124.199

Posts: 34
From:West Milton, OH
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 07-24-2000 11:02 PM               

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I'm sittin' here answering a boat load of e-mail tonight, gettin' bleary eyed and laughing to myself (need more caffeine). All I was after was to be able to make a stencil to paint a cotton pickin' stripe and this whole thing up and took on a life of its' own! Gee whiz!
OK, now to recap where we're at, I'm still in the hunt for Ford documentation and most anything else I can get a hold of to authentically reproduce the Laser stripes for '73, and now '72 also, Torinos. I'm confident I'll be able to cover the materials and process issues, just want to be sure to get the colors "dead nuts", so to speak.

Thanks guys.
Kevin

IP: 207.95.188.118

Posts: 34
From:West Milton, OH
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 09-04-2000 11:12 AM               

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Just a quick note to let you guys know that this project is still moving and picking up speed. Digital reproduction is cost prohibitive and of inferior quality and appearance (even the most sophisticated equipment can't do justice to the originals). So, for the last month I've been concentrating on lining up my resources to screen print them, just like the originals. I feel better about that, too. I've also been quite fortunate, as several individuals have volunteered to send me samples of the various color combinations for color matching. I have firm quotes for building and burning the screens and am concentrating on pre-press issues right now (the photo-positives that are used to "burn" the screens). The materials will almost certainly have to be 3M brand in order to achieve the closest matches possible.
One thing I have discovered, however, is that ALL the color combinations were done on top of a now obsolete base color material that 3M used to call "Silver". It is sort of white, with a faint greenish cast to it. So whatever colors comprise a particular stripe, they were ALL screened on over top of the base reflective material. Using existing "off-the-shelf" colored material for the base color is one option, and would save one step/procedure and money, but regardless, 3M corners the market on some of this stuff, and they know it!
So by early spring I hope to be running color and pattern tests, and sometime next summer be ready to roll them out (knock on wood), THEN get started on the '72 stripe!

Later,
Kevin

IP: 207.95.187.69

Posts: 1354
From:Biddeford,Me.USA
Registered: May 99

posted 09-04-2000 02:11 PM               

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How much do you think a set will go for when you're done?

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Y2K Explorer XLT 4X4 4.0 auto
1995 F150 XLT 4X4 302 auto
1972 Torino 2 door 351C/C4

IP: 64.208.66.19

Posts: 34
From:West Milton, OH
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 09-04-2000 03:15 PM               

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Mike,
The key to this whole thing is VOLUME. Set-up and clean-up costs are pretty much fixed, regardless of quantity produced (per color), so naturally, the more sets of a given color produced at a time, the larger the sales base to divide those costs out into. In order to generate sufficient volume, I will probably need to resort to wholesaling to retailers. I have already been contacted by one respected name (out of the blue, I might add) and have talked to a few others, who have expressed an interest. All together, even on the conservative side, the volume appears to be sufficient to fund this.
At the moment (and I stress the word MOMENT), if I were to go to the trouble to set-up and produce a SINGLE set, it would have to retail at $459.00. Now how many do you think I'm gonna move at that price? Damn few! BUT, when multiples become involved (in groups of five, of any given color) the retail drops into the neighborhood of $280.00. Still not chump change, but when you take into account the cost of quality OEM materials, an OEM type product and all of the time and effort that it represents in bringing it to market, well, you know...
The '72 stripes should be easier to get to market, because the gross development work will have already been done (as far as process work and color formulation), however, they may involve licensing from Ford...OUCH!!... because they have the words "Gran Torino Sport" on them, which are trademarked. But I'm already exploring several possibilities. More on that later.
By the way, when I get to press next spring, I'm also going to play with a couple of non-stock, custom color combinations for those of us who just can't stand to conform to the masses. Keep you posted on that, too.

Probably told you more than you wanted to know, but I hope I answered your question to your satisfaction. Please let me know if I can be of further help. Thanks for the interest.

Kevin

IP: 204.32.114.68

Posts: 1354
From:Biddeford,Me.USA
Registered: May 99

posted 09-04-2000 08:52 PM               

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Thanks, Kevin. I may be interested in a set. First i have to decide what color to paint the car!

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Y2K Explorer XLT 4X4 4.0 auto
1995 F150 XLT 4X4 302 auto
1972 Torino 2 door 351C/C4

IP: 208.51.216.167