I found a chart in the assembly manual (or the poor photocopy thereof) and wondered if the chart is correct, or has anyone seen, better yet documented, a ‘68 with W8 stripes in different combinations? (Red stripe on black? Black stripe on white? Black stripe on light blue?) Here’s the chart: Patrick
It would be very rare to find original stripes on any 68. I have an original paint Fender with a factory stripe and a single nos original stripe. Most of the reproductions do not have the correct stripe width and many times they are applied incorrectly. I don't really care for the red on green combo pictured. I often toyed with adding a set to my 68 which would require a black set even though I think white would be less bold looking.
I have code F and black stripe. The first owners daughter recalled that the car had white stripes when the car was new. Could the customer special order let say black instead of white? Chatarina 1968 GS400 Convertible w/ black top(F2).
Mike, Is that factory paint/stripe on the Red GS? It looks good on that car. I really miss my Scarlet Red 68 GS400 coupe that I had.
No, the car had been repainted in the original color when I bought it. The stripe was put back on it. The stripe was on the window sticker with a cost of “No Charge”.
Interesting! Red stripe only with white on chart. I was looking at the '68 Full Line Brochure and "in my brain" this one had a black stripe. Obviously not but the next page in the Brochure has a GS400 Convertible that looks like a light green color with white interior - I cannot tell what color it is looking at the chart- but black stripe. I ordered a Black stripe for the K Turquoise car YESTERDAY without the benefit of the chart! Not correct, but I am thinking it will look great with the K. What I was really looking for was a picture of a 68 with steel wheels and poverty caps. If the car is white = black wheels? Better start a new thread
Here is a photo of an original paint / stripe fender I have. The other photo is the NOS stripe aligned with the factory applied stripe. Notice how the stripe lines up with the bottom of the chrome "gill" trim. This is a detail that is missed when adding stripes. I believe many of the reproduction stirpes being sold are the wrong stripe dimensions. ***edit*** I am starting to think the red fender with the stripe I posted is not original since the top stripe should not extend between the fender trim and wheel opening. Like shown on the white GS above. The stripe is the correct size though.
The rims on that white 68 pictured look like the factory style that were on my 79 Buick Regal. The stripe also looks correct on that car.
According to the assembly manual, if a ‘68 had poverty caps, the steel wheels were body color on all except White and Desert Beige (which the assembly manual called Ivory). Those two (and Black) got black wheels. It’s really hard to read, but the only colors where the ‘blob’ of paint code doesn’t match in both columns are those two. Patrick
I found the 78/79 wheels on marketplace locally. Just liked them and testing on the 68. 10 yrs late! I ordered the stripes from Phoenix Graphix. Hopefully they will look right on the Turquoise.
Here are some images from my original paint/stripe A-2 GS400. Stripe is why I bought the car - from Chris M.
W8 stripe was a unique factory big image performance stripe for 1968, too bad Buick did not offer it in 1969.
Ted that is very cool and looks very familiar to me (especially the rust). I think it would be good to take a square on photo of the stripe with a ruler in it, so the purists in the crowd could reproduce it correctly...
I have an NOS stripe if anyone wants the correct dimensions. Positioning it correctly needs to be documented also.
