About mid-June of 2022, I contacted Robert Gagnon, a highly recommended pin striper. I’d first heard of Robert, and met him at the Fallbrook Vintage Car Show back in 2019, before the Covid pandemic. We traded information and I sent Robert photos of Michigan cars taken in the 1910’s. Each photo (go to:https://wp.me/P45zSY-8M) shows a bit of striping on the cars. Our job was to reproduce as close to original as possible the location and color of the stripes for the 1912 Michigan Model K. This meant, the hood and body were pinstriped – but the fenders and wheels were not. The advertising literature from the Michigan Motor Car Company indicates that the color of the pin striping was WHITE for the deep olive green cars. (go to: https://wp.me/P45zSY-7A The striping would generally follow this pattern:
The yellow line shows the approximate location of pin striping for the 1912 Michigan Model K.
Robert arrived at 8:30 am on June 22, 2022, with his car full of striping materials. The first order of business was to confirm the color of the stripes. While the advertising says the stripes were WHITE. There are lots of whites and some look better than others. Our decision was to have the stripes match the light grey of the wheels. A couple of test stripes on the deep olive green car confirmed that matching the light grey wheels was the preferred color – and it still stood out as “white”. Striping took about 6 hours and Robert completed it all in one day – with tired knees and wrists. First he carefully taped the curves to help guide his steady hand, but the tape was merely a guide for the paint brush. And the result was really stunning. The curves and beads in the body panels really popped after getting the accent added by pinstriping. Thank you Robert Gagnon. It looks great!
Taping before striping.
Robert adds striping to the engine hood.
Tape was a guide – not an edge for the striping.
The finished product. A beautifully striped and shiny car. Click on photo to enlarge and appreciate how far we have come. Woo Hoo!