Paint ,Stripes,Clearcoat OR What???

FWIW, I did the stripe on my Barracuda and a Flame decal that almost covered the entire side of my wife's PT Cruiser.

The PT stripe said not to clear over it, the solvents would attack the vinyl in the decal. And they also recommended the pin prick trick mentioned above and even gave me a stick with a pin in the end.

The Barracuda stripe specifically said you could clear over it and gave instructions on how to go about doing it. It also said under no circumstances to prick the stripe to get the bubble out. The recomendation was to leave it parked in the sun for a couple of days and the bubbles would disappear on there own. I did resist and they did go away without pricking them.

Also, the PT stripe had a backing on the sticky side that looked like coated paper. If the stripe you get has this type of backing DO NOT GET IT WET. It will dissolve and fall apart making a mess of the stripe. I learned the hard way and fortunately the outfit I got it from replaced that side no charge. The Brracuda stripe had a heavy clear mylar backing.

Also, the adhesive on these stripes acted very differently. The PT stripe I was able to slide around easily after applying it and it took over an hour for it to dry enough to remove the top backing without the decal lifting. The Barracuda stripe once you squeeged the soapy water out from under the stripe it was staying where it was and you had no ability to adjust it's placement.

The PT flame decal has been on since been on the car since about a month after we purchased it in 03 and has survived New England winters just fine. The stripe on the Barracuda has been on since the summer of 06 and it too is holding up fine. The Barracuda stripe is a thicker vinyl than the PT stripe.

I got the Barracuda stripe from Performance Car graphics in FL. Great people to deal with and they even gave me a stripe with a custom engine call out for no extra charge.