85/86 GT Hood Decal Pic Request

[TopGear85]

Can someone with a stock 85 or 86 GT please take a couple pics and measurements of their hood decal for me? I got a replacement decal from graphics express and I want to install it, but I'm having trouble lining it up. I need to know how far down it comes on the hood, and if there should be a growing gap on either side as it goes closer to the cowl.

If you are still rocking your stock, factory installed, hood decal on your 85/86 Mustang GT and you can take a couple pics and measurements...I would really appreciate it.

I have to call Graphics Express because it looks like I might have to trim this decal in order for it to fit, but I want to be sure before I do anything. Having some good pics and measurements will be key for me to put this in the right spot.

Thanks everyone!

[TopGear85]

I know I've been asking for a lot of pics lately, but I promise these are the last pics of graphics that I need. Basically I just need to see where the graphic starts on the nose of the hood and how much of a gap there is on each side as it rises up towards the cowl.

Can one of my fellow 85/86 owners please help me out with this...just a couple pics and a couple measurements. I need some good reference points for this big ol' graphic.

Thanks

[tbirdman]

Mike,
I don't have the original decal on my hood, but I do have a NOS Ford decal on my hood which I installed. When I installed it I set it even with the back edge of the hood. On the sides there is just about a hair under 1/8" gap between the edge of the decal and where the center raised section starts down. This gap is even from the top of the decal down to the bottom. There is about the same size gap between the bottom stripe and the front break of the hood.

[86GT2r]

These are from my original 86GT.

[86GT2r]

Here are pics of my original 86 GT

[TopGear85]

Guys, those are perfect! Thank you very, very much!

[86GT2r]

Glad I could help. Please post up some pics when you get the decal on!

[TopGear85]

Well the brand new in package decal I got wasn't cut right (of coarse...every decal I have is wrong is one way or another...seriously, every single one), so I have to figure out what I'm gonna do. Unfortunately I bought it from someone as opposed to buying straight from a company, so I'm not sure what options I have? Even though it was sealed in the package I doubt they will exchange it for me (considering I'm a secondary buyer).

I might pop over to Phoenix graphix and see if I can compare mine to one of theirs (if they have any on hand) and then make the necessary marks to I can cut the one I have properly. It's wrong in two places (like its oblong) so it's not like I can install it properly at the base of the hood and just trim the excess from the top...the sides are messed up as well.

I can't believe this...the curse of 85 Saleen number 73 continues.

[TopGear85]

Well my wife helped me get it as close as possible and I'm working on getting over the fact that it won't be 100% perfect. There really wasn't anything I could do about it anyway, and it's so close that (hopefully) nobody will notice.

Were beyond the point of no return anyway:

[TopGear85]

Well here she is...in all her glory:



Overall it came out really well, and only a trained eye will see any issues. The "slide on" application gel from Phoenix Graphix really helped out a lot (I won't do a graphic without it now that I've given it a real test).

I do have a few small air bubbles, but the directions say those will work themselves out in the sun/heat. If they don't I suppose I could pop them...we'll see.

[escogt]

Looks terrific, Mike!! Well done!!

[86GT2r]

Looks great Mike. Was it difficult to apply?

[JTurbo]

Looks good. I've done 2 of those decals now. It was intimidating at first, but no big deal now. Don't pop the bubbles. Just let the car sit in the sun and they will go down.

[TopGear85]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it...and thanks for the advice on the bubbles. I will just leave them as is and let the az sun take care of them. As far as difficulty, I would say it's more stressful than hard to do. I used application gel instead of soapy water and I'm glad I did. I think that gave me time to reposition the decal inside the tape marks I made. If you aren't a decal pro I would recommend spending the $20 for the gel, it was a life saver for me. My decal wasn't shaped perfectly so I really had to mess with it in order to get it straight. The actual application really wasn't bad, it was the measuring and self doubt that was hard to get over.

Honestly if I can do it anyone can because I'm not very handy or experienced so if you're thinking about it then I say go for it. Just remember...if TooGear can do it anyone can!

[84StangSVT]

Looks good Mike!

[TopGear85]

Thanks Brock! Small update btw...the bubbles have already started to disappear.

[javdog]

that looks really good

[86gtstang]

Looks good,I didn't think Saleen's had the GT hood decal

[TopGear85]

Looks good,I didn't think Saleen's had the GT hood decal

Most didn't, and to be honest I don't know if mine left Saleen with it on or not. Most Saleens were based off the LX chassis, so when they arrived to Saleen for conversion their hoods were body color with no decal (because they weren't GT's). Saleen received a lot of cars straight from Ford, and those are the ones you see with special order numbers in the DSO box of the door tag. My Saleen wasn't a special order. It started life as a tutone Jalapena Red GT that was sitting on the Walker Buerge Ford new car lot in California. The original owner of my car went to WB Ford and bought the car and then had them send it off to Saleen for the conversion. So when Saleen got the car it had the GT hood decal, GT spoiler, lower charcoal tutone paint, and cruise control. I mention those things specifically because they were all problems for Saleen when it came to doing their conversions. Actually Saleen specifically asked dealerships and customers to order cars without cruise and the tutone (because Saleen added a Wolf steering wheel that didn't have cruise and all their cars were a sold color with graphics...not half red and half tutone charcoal grey).

Anyway, because I didn't buy the car from the original owner I'm speculating as to how it looked when it left Saleen. My guess is they painted over the lower tutone (because I've never seen a tutone Saleen), they either swapped out the hatch for an LX hatch or they filled in all 10 holes that the original GT wing left, they included the Wolf steering wheel with the car but didn't install it, and that they left the hood decal on the car because removing it would have forced them to paint the hood...and my guess is that was something they wouldn't have wanted to do. Converting a GT was an extra $100 and according to my LOA, seven GT cars left Saleen in 1985. My car was probably one of the more expensive because of all the extra work involved in converting it.

I have seen 1 other GT based 85/86 Saleen that had the hood decal... Car # 86-0001. I have also seen a couple GT cars with the decal removed or missing. I just had to guess what they would have done with my car and considering all the other "issues" my guess is they left the hood decal on. I think it makes my car stand out from the other 85/86's and I think it makes for a cool conversation piece. I'm hoping that I'll find out at some point exactly how my car looked when it left Saleen, but for now I'm just going based on speculation.

[86gtstang]

It's true you learn something new every day,great looking Saleen,I hope to own one someday

[TopGear85]

Thank you. It's coming along slowly but surely. I hope to have the rocker graphics on and the wheels done soon, so I can drive the darn thing. Anyway, here is a pic of 86-0001...the other Saleen with a hood decal:

[najay]

sorry to necro thread this - but how is the phoenix graphics decal holding up? We just repainted our 86 GT and the wife really wants the hood decal re-installed. I have looked at phoenix graphix and graphics express and read good and bad about both of them.