Tape stripe

Hey!
This week I will have my XJ painted in it's original colors, but I have found out that there's a stripe of wide tape on the lower part of the body. The car has the Laredo package, and there's rubber protection on top of the tape strip. The strip is a gray color, and looks like some kind of protection from loose gravel along the roads. I would like to know if there is a place where I could buy this kind of tape for my car, if there's not I would have to paint that too.
Tkanks in advance!
Arnt H. Andresen
Trondheim, Norway

Those tape stripes were sold only by dealers, but I don't think they are available now. However, here in the northeast USA where we use salt on the roads in winter, there is a tendency for the edges of the tape to lift and trap salt against the paint. The result is rust in a short time.

I don't know if you use salt on your roads in Norway, but I think you will have a better job if the shop paints the entire vehicle with the body color, then paints on the stripe to duplicate the tape configuration.

I understand what you are trying to do -- in my younger days I restored cars for a hobby, and I still modify my XJ only in ways that will allow it to be restored to original later. But in this situation I think paint is better than the tape.

I agree with Eagle, I work in a Body/Paint shop. A stripe like that from the stealership could run $300+, and could help trap moisture (and other stuff) against the body. If you really need it stripe go to a Sign shop that works with vinyl they should beable to help you.

So in short IMO get it painted on it will outlast a stripe

Might even want to do that stripe in one of the truck bed finishes. We just did the inside of our YJ with a two part rustoleum kit, stuff is real resistant and seems to be holding up to sneakers and work boots really well.

Thanks guys!
I have talked to the paint shop today, and they agree on the tape vs. paint problem, and I'm going to paint the stripe in matching colors. And yes, we do use salt, LOTS of it!. My car is actually pretty rust free if you consider it's 15 years old, the only rust I have is surface rust, and that's good, it saves me a lot of work. It seems like I'm having a problem with the paint codes on my car tough, I have found the id plate in the engine compartment, but there is not 7 lines of codes there, just 3, and I can't figure out whitch is the paint code. I have found a matching maroon color for the body and a match for the color on the tape stripe, but they are Renault colors, and I don't like it! I think they will do though, so I think I hve decided on that just as I'm writing this. I don't want to waste more time on this unless someone can help me solve this problem fast...
Thanks for all your help, more questions is under way!
Arnt H. Andresen
Trondheim, Norway

Check Chrysler's colors. By 1988 the Jeep colors were Chrysler codes. Did Chyslers get imported to Norway in the late 1980s?

When painting my XJ a few years ago I ran into the "tape" your talking about. It was a real pita to get off. I have to use my thumb to roll it off slowly. Each side took about 7hrs to do for just that part of the prep work. I went without it. Put in the painting process I used a flex agent to the paint that 3M sells. When combined with my 5 coats of Dupont paint, 9 coats of clear that lower area is very strong and hasn't formed any rust. I also used this paint with the flex agent to paint the fender flares the stock color. Mine was a larado package with Navy/Gray fender flares and lower molding. Now it's all navy blue. This paint job cost me just material's because my father in-law and I painted it in his paint booth. The cost back in Dec of 2000 was 1250.00. So I couldn't guess what the cost would be using 3M,Dupont products today with the high cost of paint as it is but if you would have thrown in labor with that the bill would run in the 4500-5000 range for the job that was done to mine. But with a muscle car guy as a father in-law the job was done right with the products that he uses to restore cars with. So good luck. I would skip the lower tape for the cost of it and that fact that rust was behind mine, only surface but it was rust. Juice