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Type RA-R pinstripe grille mod from NASIOC - try on a GC?

27K views 82 replies 47 participants last post by  teeceRS 
#1 ·
Hey guys. :) So, someone on NASIOC posted a great DIY for the pinstripe that's painted inside the front grille, of the Impreza Type RA-R in Japan:

Here's the actual Type RA-R vehicle:



And here's the first DIY posted:




A few folks have gone the extra mile, and done all three portions of the front grille, on the 2006-2007 cars:





There's also a couple 2004-2005 models who've tried it:



The actual DIY steps are here:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1229738

Mechie3 said:
First of all, this wasn't my idea, I can't claim credit for that. A picture thread by scrappydo (http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show....php?t=1226747) showed that he had done it and he mentioned he used stick-on pin striping. If you ask him though, he'll say it was Subaru's idea, but I still give him credit for a way to replicate it.

My pics are a little fuzzy, but they were taken with a cell phone. I don't own a real camera.

Tools:
Water/soap/cleaner/towels
#1 Philips Screw Driver
Wide Flat Head Screw Driver
1/4" Vinyl Pin Striping

Estimated Time:
1 Hour

I bought my pinstriping from advance auto parts for ~$5. It comes with enough to do about 5 grills at least. The picture shows how much was left after I did mine.



First, remove the center portion of your front grill. To do this, pull out all of the large plastic rivets from the top of the bumper. There are 6 or so. Then, pull out the two small rivets directly on top of the center grill portion. If you need pics for this look up the "how to paint 06 headlights" thread.

Reach your hand down into the space near the hood latch and, one by one, push the tabs holding the grill on towards the center of the grill. I find it easier to start on the passenger side, top tab, then the passenger side bottom one. The first time you do it may take a while, but since I've done it for my headlights it took my maybe 5 minutes to remove the grill.

Using the phillips screwdriver, remove the 13 self threading screws that hold the two black plastic pieces to the painted trim. Once the screws are removed, the pillar piece will come off. The plastic mesh piece has a single tab that holds it to the painted trim. Pop this out and you will have three separate grill pieces.





Use water/soap/cleaner to clean off the painted trim piece. This is important to ensure that your pinstriping won't look really stupid after a few weeks when it peels.

My pinstriping didn't unroll easily at first as the glue they used to hold the coil shut was too strong. I just cut off the first piece so I had a fresh edge to start with. Peel back about an inch of the backing to begin with and apply the end to the top underside of the painted trim. When complete, this portion isn't visible unless you get low (on the ground low) and look up. It's also blocked by the subaru emblem so the seam isn't visible when done. I didn't worry about making sure the outer edge (towards the front of the car) was even. Instead, I lined up the back edge of the pinstriping with the sharp edge/mold parting line on the back of the trim. This line continues all the way around the trim so if this is lined up (and it's easy to follow this) then the front will line itself up.



After the first inch is applied, peel the backing off 3"-4" at a time. If ound it helpful to cut the backing off so it wouldn't get long and tangled. I like to hold the stripes with the backing in my right hand with my middle finger and thumb and use my index finger to apply even, light tension. My left hand is used to guide the edge of the pinstriping and smooth it as I go along. This part took me about 30 minutes to do. If you press lightly you will be able to pull it up in the event of a bubble or wrinkle. Be careful around the bottom corners. It will most likely take a few tries to get it just right, but it's worth it to be patient. When you get back to the top, cut the pinstriping to match the beginning as evenly as possible. Mine overlapped maybe .050", but since it's hidden you won't notice it.

When you are satisfied the striping is even, free of wrinkles, and has no bubbles, use a soft cloth (or paper towel) to smooth the whole thing down. My pin striping had little tiny paper perforations every few inches as the striping was obviously made in thicker strips and cut. Running my fingernail over the edge when I was done popped these off for a clean edge.

Carefully place the mesh plastic and pillar plastic back on. Make sure the back edge of the striping isn't sticking out as the mesh plastic has a lip that goes over the painted trim. If the edge sticks up the plastic lip will catch it and wrinkle it/fold it over. Screw everything back together and admire your work. My pin stripes recommended a 24 hour period @ 60-80F for complete curing.


ray101381 has added info, regarding a possible better tape to use:

ray101381 said:
To those that have black cars beware that the "Prostripe" pin stripe stuff in Red isn't really a true red. It has an orange tint to it and is really far off from matching the Red on the 06+ WRX calipers. I had originally done it with the Prostripe brand red and then really disliked the color. I went out and bought 3M Brand scotchlite reflective red tape, problem was i could only find it in 1" width so i had to trim it. It came out very nice and matches MUCH better with the red on the calipers. It really is not very reflective. Good luck picture were with flash.

His car is the black one above, which I labeled "first DIY posted."

I'm wondering how this would look on a GC/GM/GF Impreza, or a Legacy (of any year) for that matter. :)

=S2=
 
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#3 ·
^^ Agreed. I think it looks good with the three sections done, especially with a black car.

I also just noticed that the black STi with the three sections painted blacked out his headlights with flat black. Pretty cool. That's a lot of black in one sentence. haha
 
#6 ·
Hmmm... Hard to tell with a 'Chop, but.... it could have potential. :)

I've got my stock grille in the garage. If I have the chance, I can try to pick up some of the 3M tape. But it's not guaranteed, so if someone else wants to do so (too), have at it!
 
#18 ·
duncanwright said:
I agree.....but dude, you did a sick job and it matches great with your red badge

I'd love to see this done on a black or white.....

tough DIY??
If you take the grille off the car, it will make it 10 times easier. I had to put a piece of cardboard in front of the car and roll around to get the top side lol.

Regardless though, if you can tie your shoelaces, you should be able to do this too.

One tip though: don't peel the backing off the pinstriping too far ahead. I did and got almost half way around the grille and the it folded on top of itself and I had to start over.
 
#21 ·
Torque said:
Well I did it as promised. Personally, I think it looks good (and matches my red stars badge too), so I'm gonna leave it. Tell me what you think.













btw, I did this with the grille on the car.

yo i think you got a nice style cept it'd actually be cooler if the red could stand out more.comes off a tad bit of an understatement. this is what makes me like green cars with red pinstripes.... ==>http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a148/hogborg/GTI von Jared/jared_11.jpg
not my car but i like it and had one that was very similar. keep up the good work
 
#22 ·
I understand where you're coming from, and yes, it doesn't really stand out much being so far in the grille. I wanted to make it stand out more, but short of doing it with much much wider striping (which would look tacky upclose), I didn't really see a way to do it.

I guess it could be done to the outside painted trim of the grille, but then there is no way to do the top side (I will try it in a day or 2 though since I probably have enough pinstriping left over to do 5 more cars)
 
#23 ·
Torque said:
I understand where you're coming from, and yes, it doesn't really stand out much being so far in the grille. I wanted to make it stand out more, but short of doing it with much much wider striping (which would look tacky upclose), I didn't really see a way to do it.

I guess it could be done to the outside painted trim of the grille, but then there is no way to do the top side (I will try it in a day or 2 though since I probably have enough pinstriping left over to do 5 more cars)

I like subaru's because of the subtle things that they do that separate the uber-fast from the regular putz-arounds. Little paint things and ground effects here and there, so that the untrained eye always asks me, "You drive a WRX?!?!111!?!!"

Yup.

Keep it subtle, IMO.
 
#26 ·
MyBluFlameRS said:
This looks fairly easy, and pretty cool. Just wondering what the pink I-badge will look like with the pink 25RS and a red pinstripe...:confused: Guess I'll try it and find out for myself.
Try it. It's just pinstriping ... if you don't like it, just grab an end and tear it off. Plus it only costs 4 dollars and you'll have plenty leftover in case you ever want to pinstripe ... your house or something.
 
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