Vinyl Or Painted Stripe?

[Flashollie]

I am after a blue stripe low down above the sill and the lower slat on the grill in same colour something like these. It will be a bright blue and my LWB T6 is black. I want it to be bespoke so not an off the shelf decal. I want to add my own words in to the stripe OllyVan or Ollyvan.






Before I started looking in to this I'd only considered paint but I'm wondering should think more seriously about a vinyl option.

Do I get it done in vinyl benefits being?

1. it's can be remoeved easily if I don't like it.
2. I assume it's cheaper?
3. If damaged a new stripe can be fitted rather than respary which might be hard to match and and might be £££

Downsides
1. I wonder if it might look cheap and a dull finish next to a hopefully beautifully maintained polished black body work. Not!
2. The slat on the grill can't be wrapped in vinyl to match the main stripe.

Anyone any experience of having your own bespoke stripes supplied and fitted?

 

[Pauly]

Not sure about your downsides
1 Don’t think it would look cheap and you can get any colour/finish you like
2 Why can’t you wrap the strip ? It’s removable

 

[Tourershine]

I've got the Edition stripe on the side of mine and it's fine. There's no way i'd have a stripe painted on my van for the obvious reasons, and vinyl is much better quality these days if you don't abuse it with chemicals, cheap car wash gangs and huge pressure washers.
Me, it would be vinyl all day long.



First picture is the stripe when fitted new in October.
Second picture is the stripe now 12000 miles and rather a lot of washes later, still perfect.

My sign writing company did the full van, including the matching Edition stripe on the rear door, supplied and fitted for less than £200

 

[Flashollie]

I know nothing of this modern new fangled wrapping stuff. So I didn't know smaller things can be wrapped rather than large flat ish areas.
So thanks for posting all sounds like it's vinyl all the way.

@Tourershine

What front end is that. I've got LWB highline in black and want to fit a splitter and I'm liking that.

 

[Tourershine]

I know nothing of this modern new fangled wrapping stuff. So I didn't know smaller things can be wrapped rather than large flat ish areas.
So thanks for posting all sounds like it's vinyl all the way.

@Tourershine

What front end is that. I've got LWB highline in black and want to fit a splitter and I'm liking that.

It's the genuine Sportline splitter available from VW.
A little marmite on here, but I think it suits a select few colours, including Black.

Here's a slightly better pic of the splitter. Ignore the hole where the towing eye cover vanished, not something i'd recommend loosing because they are not actually available to replace that cap on the Sportline Splitter, and thankfully I know a nice young lady at my dealership that popped it off their demo van for me, without actually realising they couldn't get another one.

 

[Tourershine]

Oh and bare in mind i've had all my plastics on the van Gloss Blacked, which adds to the overall look of the van. Another mod i'd recommend if you like the small details, plus a lot easier to maintain than bare plastics.

 

[Flashollie]

That's very glossy!!!
From the pic it looks like you've not done the two chrome effect strips by the VW badge? I'm going for a blue stripe lower on the splitter but I'm unsure what to do about the chrome ones

 

[Tourershine]

The reason I didn't Black the Chrome strips either side of the badge is because Blacking the full front doesn't work in my opinion, and makes the front look really strange, like it's way too tall. The best way to test this is to use Black tape over the Chrome, and Badge, and stand back, you will soon see what I mean by this. Plus the chrome strip runs through the headlight, and would look like somethings missing if you removed or colour coded.
The same goes for the Splitter lip that's in Silver. If you colour code this, it looses it's aggressive look, and makes the splitter blend into the bumper.

It all sounds a bit odd when you read this, but makes total sense when you see it done.
I'm a little odd when it comes to my vehicles. I spend hours looking, and changing things, and it takes months to get the look I want, which I still haven't got with my T6 yet, and don't know if it's the wheels I need to change, or it needs to be lower, or what's actually wrong, but it keeps me awake at night trying to figure it out.

 

[Flashollie]

Thanks for you advice. It's really helpful to talk to someone with the same colour and wheel base van.
I'll get the splitter put on and live with it for a while and decide about if to gloss any more plastics
How much have you lowered the van?
What wheels and size are the gloss black ones? I do prefer those to your alloy spoked ones. I'm unsure on wheels and how much to lower. Mine will be going on campsites and wild camping so I don't want to go silly low. But I do want to come down a bit.

 

[Tourershine]

Ha, so many questions... you should of just bought my van.

Deep intake of breath.......

The van is 30mm lower, and very comfortable. We work with Caravans and Motorhomes every day for a business, and therefor often have to go onto sites and storage yards, and not once has it bottomed out or even touched the lowest point of the van (the splitter)

The wheels are Savini BM13 in 19" by 8.5 ET45 running 255/45/19 103 tyres, (all important information when choosing wheels and tyres for a T32, as you will soon find out) and it's the same set in both pictures, just I changed them to all Black because as I mentioned above, i'm not satisfied with the look, and thought all going Black would help.

The splitter is a DIY fit if you know what you are doing, and if ordered from VW, they come painted Black, but are not cheap in comparison with some aftermarket splitters, but that just depends on your budget for modifications, because it can get out of hand as i've proved. The gloss Blacking is a personal thing, and as you can see from my front end, it just makes things look much more shiny. Also Blacked the full mirrors, side repeaters and anything else on the van that was bare plastic. I'm fortunate to have access to a very good bodyshop that knows me well, lets me prep the work, and they just paint it, making things a lot cheaper, plus they do all my business paintwork, so always look after me.
One last thing, if you do go down the gloss Blacking in the future, take my advice and paint the front radiators in Black also. They are currently Silver, and ruin the front when you go to the extent I have.

Be nice to see some pics of yours.

Oh and nice to know you prefer the all Black as apposed to the polished Black look, because I still cannot make up my mind, which is daft because so many people comment on the van when i'm out in it. For me, somethings still missing or not right, but I will get there.

 

[Flashollie]

I'll get mine back in 6 weeks it's with Ecowagon having full camper conversion done plus the bits I'm chating about on here. They are being really good and really helpful to hear your experiences. I'll get some pics up once in have it back.

 

[Tourershine]

I'll get mine back in 6 weeks it's with Ecowagon having full camper conversion done plus the bits I'm chating about on here. They are being really good and really helpful to hear your experiences. I'll get some pics up once in have it back.

Best and cheapest advice I can give is do your research on here first before spending money. There's loads of us that have wasted money making mistakes, me included, and I don't mind if you want to PM me for any confirmation on parts you might order.
My knowledge of most things vehicle related is pretty good, but it's a whole new world with commercials and the laws when modding. Some people follow this to the letter, some don't, that's everyones choice, but there's nothing worse than spending a small fortune on something that's not right and having to correct that at your cost. The search box above is my go to encyclopaedia, but also have some pretty knowledgable people on here that will answer even the daftest of questions if you are not sure.

Good luck

 

[Flashollie]

So one question I have is fog lights and splitters. I have a highline with front fogs. Does the sportline you have or most other aftermarket splitters accept the standard VW fogs. I don't want to fit a splitter only to find out I need to buy new fog lights

 

[Tourershine]

The Splitter goes over and around the original fogs, so don't worry, no need to change anything there.

 

[Flashollie]

Excellent news. Do you know if this the case for most aftermarket ones too. Obviously it's vital to check before ordering but I'd like to have an idea before I start looking at all splitters