As always, click on images to see the full-size versions.
"Mr. Groovy"
Introducing "Mr. Groovy," the Stripe-It-All Tool that puts a stripe down in a groove!
When we first introduced the Stripe-It-All tool to the public two years ago, we thought we had thought of every placement we could - our tool adjusts to work off of any edge you can imagine, and will install on any flat surface you can imagine.
But what if your rim isn't flat? Such is the case with the new Corvette Z06 wheels - the rim itself has a machined groove in it. We had several Z06 owners contact us, wondering if the standard Stripe-It-All tool would install a stripe in that groove. We worked with one customer to modify the tool based on our modification suggestions and it failed. It just didn't work right.
We don't like to give up, and the result is we've come up with a custom variation on the Stripe-It-All tool, which we're simply calling the 'Mr. Groovy' tool. The spool guides have been reshaped and shaved down to a knife edge enough that you can fit the spool down in the trough and install your stripe in much the same way that we've been installing them this whole time.
Of course, this tool works in every way the regular-issue Stripe-It-All tool does; you use the guides the same way, but this tool will put one of our Rimstripes in a tighter space than the original tool does, and it's not limited to just Z06 wheels!
And now it's available to you!
Here's how we came up with this version:
Rob went to the local Chevy dealer and borrowed a Z06 wheel to see if the Stripe-It-All tool would install a stripe down in the groove.
Test 1 Stock Tool: No good; it wouldn't get down into the groove.
Test 2 Prototype 1: Modified the tool to expose the spool so it would extend down into the groove ... still no good ... the tape would roll off the side of the spool and install either to the inner or outer side of the groove.
Test 3 Prototype 2: Modified the tool again, filing down the side plates to retain side walls to help keep the tape centered over the spool, yet the spool still reaches down into the bottom of the groove.
6032-1/8-BIG Rim worked perfectly!
And now it's available to anyone who wants one as part of our new multipurpose 8006 "Mr. Groovy" package, which includes all the parts to make a standard Stripe-It-All Tool as well as the hand-formed specialized "Mr. Groovy" parts for $79.95, which includes the 3/16" spool, an exclusive to the "Mr. Groovy" package.
Yes, that's quite a markup compared to the standard Stripe-It-All Tool package, but you get double the Stripe-It-All parts and several specialized hand-formed pieces. We don't get these parts injection-molded in this special shape, we take regular Stripe-It-All parts and shave them down by hand, and that takes time.
Watch the video showing 'Mr. Stripe-It-All' using 'Mr. Groovy' to install a 1/8" wide Fire Red rimstripe on David Zeiler's black wheel. Rob is on the right, holding the tool and pressing it firmly into the groove to ensure good contact, and David is on the left performing wheel rotation duties.
David Zeiler's Corvette
We've got this new tool, so it's only appropriate that we share the car we first tried it on: David Zeiler's Corvette. David is a local NC guy, and he called us up and said he wanted a 6032 Fire Red Rimstripe for his Torch Red beauty. Rob went over to his house and installed it for him, and proved that 'Mr. Groovy' worked as it should!
Check out the end result:
That's it for this week!
Tapeworks Graphics/Stripe-It-All
1-800-232-8273 |
