Question on 6th gen pin stripes

[texdave]

I recently bought a 1983 Riviera coupe in a two tone (light brown over brown) paint configuration. It has less than 10k miles that I'm pretty sure are original.

 

My question is around the brown pin stripes it currently sports, namely that they seem to be on as a decal.  They are 3 stripes that run all the way front to back from chrome bumper to chrome bumper, similar to this car on BAT: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1984-buick-riviera-10/. From those photos, they also seem to be on as part of a decal.  This eBay listing, for example, states that they are NOS GM.

 

Other 6th gen Rivieras have different types of pin stripes of different designs and lengths -- some run only on the side fenders while others extend to the panel just before the bumper fillers. Most seem to be painted on but can't really tell sometimes.

 

Did 6th gen Rivieras only come with paint pin stripes or did they also come as decals?

 

[RivNut]

Almost sounds like the 1983 Twentieth Anniversary model 

[texdave]

Indeed, the tan over brown paint scheme is the same but the car doesn't have the other XX details like the anniversary badges or gold touches. However, this anniversary photo that's in the Riviera wikipedia page has the same type of pin stripes as my car that go all the way to the bumper and they also look like decals. Maybe they did come standard as decals when new?

 ) 

[texdave]

@RivNut, apparently my account is too new so I can't send a PM but saw in a 3yr old thread that you mentioned you had a few 83-85 Riv/GM car stereos. Is that still true? The AC Delco AM/FM/Cassette stereo in my 83 produces static/noise from the right speakers and wondering if it'll be cheaper to replace it than fix it.

[RivNut]

I cannot remember for sure. I had a garage sale a couple of months ago and put the radios out.  I'm getting readybto board a ferry from New Haven, UK to Dieppe, FR (10:15 AM here) and wont be home until August 22nd.  Hit me up again after that and ill look. 

Ed

[1965rivgs]

4 hours ago, texdave said:

@RivNut, apparently my account is too new so I can't send a PM but saw in a 3yr old thread that you mentioned you had a few 83-85 Riv/GM car stereos. Is that still true? The AC Delco AM/FM/Cassette stereo in my 83 produces static/noise from the right speakers and wondering if it'll be cheaper to replace it than fix it.

Check the speakers themselves, if they are originals they are likely bad.

Tom Mooney

[NTX5467]

IF the paint on your car is OEM and is a two-tone (as pictured), the color-divider stripes are multi-color TAPE stripes, cut and contoured to fit specific locations on the vehicle.  That's how GM did things back then, in the post-paint stripe era.  Additionally, some of the stripes with "gold" in them would tarnish "green" with time, if not cleaned.  The green could be easily removed with a careful fingernail use, from my experiences.

 

NTX5467

[texdave]

5 hours ago, 1965rivgs said:

Check the speakers themselves, if they are originals they are likely bad.

Tom Mooney

Hey Tom. I did replace the speakers, which were indeed pretty shot, but the static noise is still there which leads to either the wiring or the head unit being the source of that. The car has 4 speakers (2 in the front and 2 in the rear). Is it safe to assume that any non-Bose AC Delco stereo head unit for this generation will work as a replacement?

[texdave]

3 hours ago, NTX5467 said:

IF the paint on your car is OEM and is a two-tone (as pictured), the color-divider stripes are multi-color TAPE stripes, cut and contoured to fit specific locations on the vehicle.  That's how GM did things back then, in the post-paint stripe era.  Additionally, some of the stripes with "gold" in them would tarnish "green" with time, if not cleaned.  The green could be easily removed with a careful fingernail use, from my experiences.

 

NTX5467

Thanks for this info. Glad to hear that there's a good chance that the two-tone paint and stripes are as they came from the factory. I'll be taking the care to a good paint shop to validate it and to look over some minor paint/rock chips to see what my options are for restoring it as best as possible.

[texdave]

7 hours ago, RivNut said:

I cannot remember for sure. I had a garage sale a couple of months ago and put the radios out.  I'm getting readybto board a ferry from New Haven, UK to Dieppe, FR (10:15 AM here) and wont be home until August 22nd.  Hit me up again after that and ill look. 

Ed

Have fun across the pond! 

[NTX5467]

The tape stripes have been long-discontinued from GM.  I somewhat doubt anything similar to them is in the aftermarket.

 

I suspect the paint information is on the SPID label in the luggage compartment.  All factory two-tone paint got the related tape stripes.

 

NTX5467

[Rivguy]

My '89 Jaguar XJS and my '97 XJ6  both had tape pinstripes. When I worked at GM Assembly in Fremont in '76-'77 there were two choices for pin stripes on Mote Carlos and Regals. One was a tape stripe, the other was a hand painted stripe using a little hand held roller type machine. There were specific templates that were attached to the car sides to correctly position the stripe. This was not done on the assembly line. After the finish line, the cars were taken to a separate building in the back lot. The pinstripes were applied by an experienced trimmer, believe it or not, they actually existed at GM.  

I recently had tape pinstripes applied by the shop that repainted the bumper of my Navigator. They did a fine job with the paint, but the tape stripes, just didn't stay stuck on properly. They were two very thin individual stripes, as opposed to the wider striping tape I used to buy and apply from my local auto parts store. After a couple of repairs I had to put a dab of clear paint on each tape end to anchor them.

You can have hand applied pin stripes applied by a local striper, just ask at a local custom paint shop.

[NTX5467]

For the 1977 model year and the new generation of downsized B, C, and E (Riv) cars, for which new two-tone orientations were for "panels" on the cars' sides to be where the two-tones were, the normal pin stripes would not work.  In prior times, the "color divider" would have been chrome trim, but it became a piece of tape with BOTH colors on it.  It went over the paint edge as the "color divider".  I know they were available from GM Parts in the particular segments on the side of the car, but I never saw any in the aftermarket on small rolls as other pinstriping tape was sold back then.

 

Two-tones for the roof area of the vehicle were done with vinyl roofs of different colors.  NO two-tone paint for the roofs, by observation.  Such would have compromised the great, taut lines of the styling.

 

• Yes, GM (and others) usually did "pin stripes" after final assy of the vehicle.  This way, the stripes would be on doors which were aligned with the body panels rather than otherwise.  Most were painted.  With brushes in the earlier times and then with the "Buegler"-style paint striping machine later on.  As the stripes age and slightly deteriorate, the method of application usually becomes evident.  For the brush-applied stripes, the variations of force of the brush bristles (side to side and front to back) can be observed.  On the striping tool-applied stripes, the little vertical indententations of the striping wheel can be seen.  Must have been a template which covered the panel gaps as all of the stripes never extent to the full edge of the panel, always being "gapped" in those areas.

IF a dealer ordered "Stripe Delete" on a solid color vehicle, then they could add TAPE stripes at their discretion for a suitable upcharge on the additional window sticker.  Those stripes were applied in one long roll of tape.  The panel gap areas were sliced with a sharp item, with the stripes being wrapped around the panel gap edges.

 

Back then, at many indoor car shows, pinstriping artists were in attendance to work on show vehicles or otherwise.  THOSE people used long and thin artists brushes to apply the stripes manually.  Watching them work, you begin to understand the difference between a brush-applied pinstripe and a stripe done by a wheeled tool ("Beugler-style" tool).

 

By observation, in some higher-end carline dealers, there were stripers which could do paint stripes . . . for a price, if desired by the customer.

 

Just some observations,

NTX5467