Which would you do first?

[stacy's stang]

I've been dying to get a styling bar for the convertible. It's summertime now and the top is always down, so I wish I had ordered it already.
But I have some areas on my front bumper where lovebugs have ruined the paint. Nothing terrible but if I were to get serious about car shows, I need to take care of it. Since I'm not sure that I really want to do anymore shows, I'm leaning towards the styling bar and procrastinating on the paint job.

Or since the stock market sucks so badly right now, I could be totally irresponsible and cash in some funds and do both! lol

[Orange97GTVert]

The styling bar really transformed my car. It gives it a look that other convertibles don't have, really makes it stand out. I would go ahead and do both, it can't cost a lot to have your front bumper repainted. Before you do, get something like Meguires Scratch off and see how much you can rub off, you may be surprised. Then follow up with some really slick wax to keep them from sticking. I recommend Zaino, there is nothing like it, and you want to win shows, you should see a black car with Zaino on it. I judged yesterday at the Bullitt/Mach 1 Shootout, I could tell you the Zaino cars from the other ones.

[stacy's stang]

We put Zaino on ours for the show yesterday. Yes, it shone quite brightly! Unfortunately the damage is already done. Like I said it's not terrible but I'm a perfectionist and honestly hadn't even noticed it until I was detailing the car this weekend. (usually my hubby does the washing) Now that I've noticed it, it jumps out at me everytime I look at it.
I'd rather have the styling bar, but have been told they are a pain to install. I'm sure I'll end up doing both but there are several shows in the next few months and I won't enter without the paint being fixed. I mean, why bother if you're not going for 1st place huh? Yeah, cashing in some stocks sounds better every minute!

[Orange97GTVert]

I bought mine at www.abcexclusive.com and my car is on their customer's photos. It is not a hard job, it is time consuming and a little scary cutting holes in your interior trim. Before you start be sure you have the torx bit for the seatbelt bolt, I had to stop and go buy one, it is a T-50. Just take your time, measure twice, cut once.

[stacy's stang]

That's exactly the one I've been looking at! Cool! My mind is made up.

Thanks for the advice. I hate to admit this, but my husband and I have done numerous home projects together and we usually measure 10X, then cut 5X. Not a good ratio huh?

[Stang_Crazy]

Have you tried a claybar on the front end? Or is the damage more serious?

[stacy's stang]

You don't have lovebugs up north? Down here they are terrible for about a month between July/Aug. Their bodies are like pure acid so if they get left on a car for more than a day or two they eat the paint right off.
The paint is gone in a dozen tiny spots around the front bumper. The spots are the size of this * asterisk. Big enough to see but not worth the $300 quote I got today to repaint it unless I plan to do another show. I may have to sweet talk my brother into doing it for me. (I just hate having to wait on him, dependability is not one of his stregnths.)
My husband called the local place we thought might install the styling bar and they said they'd only done it on Porsche's, no 'stangs, and couldn't even ball park a figure. Looks like I'll be getting out the ole' measuring tape.

[Orange97GTVert]

They call them Love Bugs because they "Fly United" Take a road trip and you have to stop every 100 miles to clean your windshield. We don't get them much in East Texas, but they get thick in Louisiana and Mississippi. Believe it or not, Coca Cola cleans them off really well.

You can do the Styling Bar, just measure carefully. BTW, is your interior the parchment color? If so, black verts are awesome with the matching parchment styling bar.

[Stang_Crazy]

No love bugs here...I guess that's a good thing

[stacy's stang]

My interior is beige. Is that parchment? I was really thinking of going with a black bar. There was a guy at the show this weekend with a bright yellow paint job and a matching bar. It looked great but the yellow bar had some black marks on it from where the top rested on it. So I figured a black bar wouldn't have that problem.
I can see where the matching beige would look really nice, but I like to emphasize the black. I wish there was a site like the one where you can put rims on your car to see it before you buy it.

[Orange97GTVert]

The biege is officially known as parchment. You can't go wrong with a black bar, though, especially on a black car. Check out the customer's photos on ABC Exclusive's webpage. Also, www.mustangworld.com has a huge Select Stangs section with submitted pictures of thousands of Mustangs, I look at those all the time, especially when trying to decide on modifications.

[magician2009]

Originally Posted by stacy's stang

I've been dying to get a styling bar for the convertible. It's summertime now and the top is always down, so I wish I had ordered it already.
But I have some areas on my front bumper where lovebugs have ruined the paint. Nothing terrible but if I were to get serious about car shows, I need to take care of it. Since I'm not sure that I really want to do anymore shows, I'm leaning towards the styling bar and procrastinating on the paint job.

Or since the stock market sucks so badly right now, I could be totally irresponsible and cash in some funds and do both! lol

Hi Stacy.

Love your Mustang girl! Great look!!!

Yeah, I know all about the bugs on the front bumper and grill. It's brutal. I think there is a special breed of bugs that only show up when I hit 90+ mph on the highway!
Anyway, most bugs just add a step to my detailing. However, occassionally one manages to make a genuine impact and actually penetrates, and it pisses me off.

The solution, really, is to replace the bumper, at least for competition. Short of that, I had the dealership make me a bottle of computer-matched touch-up paint. The trick there is to add several coats, over the course of several days. It's a short term fix, and looks real good from a few feet away, but the only real solution for competitions, and YOUR car NEEDS to be in competitions, is to replace the bumper.

As for the light bar, I'm looking to get one too. It's a great after-market add that gives you a major profile improvement....instantly!
Good luck.

Scot.

P.S. By the way, my wash/detailing proceedure is rather intense and seriously compulsive. One step is to pre-clean all the trouble spots, all the lower sections, prior to the actual wash. For some this is obvious; for me it was not, lol. But when you do the HARD cleaning up front (after the wet-down), it makes the rest of the process much easier.

Good luck. Show me some more pix of that great Stang!

[stacy's stang]

I did get the styling bar and it looks great. However, I gave the stang to my 17 year old daughter and bought myself a Dodge Charger Daytona #1199.
She has the coolest car at school now. And I sure do miss driving it. I borrowed it once last month and realized how much fun it was. I love my new charger, but it's in a whole different class and attracts a totally different demographic of people. lol
Nobody revs their engine at me at the stop lights anymore even though I now have way more horsepower than the GT.