I see there are some companies selling stencil kits for the stripe.
Is it worth it? Seems like just taping it off can work well.
Anyone have experience using the stencils versus just tape?

Tape should work fine. Do you have a copy of the engineering dwg for dimensions?

I do have that, as well.

Spray stripe color first, then mask & shoot the body color.

That's how the factory did it

stencil would be a waste of money. All you need is 1/4" fine line. As Barry said, paint stripe color first. Then, tape off stripe area using the 1/4" fineline to make the pin-stripe gap and mask the rest.

This car went from red to orange. You can see the progression on the stripe.

Thanks for the pictures and the suggestions, the car looks great.

Is the dimension that is on the factory drawing taken along the surface of the car, or is it a horizontal dimension?
I believe, off the top of my head, it is something like 5.15 inches.

Also, while most people seem to follow closely the engineering drawing where the stripe ends at the bumper cutout, on original cars I have seen that area is a bit 'less crisp and defined'.
My guess is the factory taped it off and the tape we not tight to the car at the bottom so there is a bit of a foggy area on most cars.

Thanks for the pictures and the suggestions, the car looks great.

Is the dimension that is on the factory drawing taken along the surface of the car, or is it a horizontal dimension?
I believe, off the top of my head, it is something like 5.15 inches.

Also, while most people seem to follow closely the engineering drawing where the stripe ends at the bumper cutout, on original cars I have seen that area is a bit 'less crisp and defined'.
My guess is the factory taped it off and the tape we not tight to the car at the bottom so there is a bit of a foggy area on most cars.

For the dimensions across the top, the '0' lines are the forward edge of the cowl.

As far as the masking goes, every car was masked by hand & by different people, at different times on different shifts throughout the model year.

So no two cars will be exactly the same.