The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Lettering

I just got the grille on my 46 rechromed and would like to paint the lettering on it. What is the best way of doing this. I know I can buy decals for it but I have seen those things on a 41 and frankly they arn't worth the money. So paint is the answer but how to apply it.

Any Help?

Thanks
George

Since nobody else has chimed in, I guess I'll take a shot... :p

The best way I have found to get paint into recessed lettering and grooves is to paint over the whole area, let it dry, and rub the excess off the high parts with some kind of abrasive (I used fine steel wool, but that will probably scratch your chrome; try Nevr-Dull or some similar polishing product designed to remove bug/tar grime).

That's pretty much what I did when re-lettering my old '46 , I used that enamel model paint , it stayed bright and shiny for the 13 years I had it .

the tiny modeling brush makes it easy to apply too although time consuming .

That's a good idea Hedgehog. What about buffing it on a polishing wheel after painting?

Along those lines, anyone have any good ideas about the tailgate letters? I don't like the decals there, either. I thought about just getting a sign painter to do the job, but maybe someone has a trick for that.

Ofcourse the more you tape off, the less you have to buff later. I would tape it pretty close, paint it, then buff off the excess.

If your tailgate isn't dented up , you can get a hard rubber roller from silk screening supply places and use it to apply paint just like the factory did . you need to only put a thin coat of paint on the roller then slowly roll it over the letters , you'll love it , this works for license plates too .

Nate, I'd love to hear more about how you did the hard rubber roller thing. I have one that I've tried on a 1930 license plate for my dad's Fjord, but have never had any luck getting it to look right. Do you have to thin the paint?

When I sent in some chrome pieces I asked them the question of painting in the areas so not to get paint everywhere. Sometimes the simple way is the best way. I was told to use a surynge (sp?) Thin the paint slightly and fill the area needed. I got a perfect result on every piece!

On that grill, you'll want to do each letter seperately and try to level real well.

I'll be interested to see if this idea gets the big Kibosh. I seem to be wrong evrywhere else here! :p :mad:

After investing heavily in a chrome plating job, I would discourage rubbing it with steel wool or any abrasive.

A sign company that does truck lettering, or a custom painter for paint shops like the stripe man or hubcap detail man has the tools and talent to letter that recess correctly and will fix any goofs. Be a shame to invest all that money in rechroming the grille and ruin it or damage it with lettering. Hard to hold those edge lines steady and each "oops" you end going over again and just make it worse.

I used a guy from a local custom bike shop that does custom painting to letter my badges and chrome. I tried, but my hands are not steady enough and it looked like an amateur job. The lettering guy fixed me right up and looks great. Been on there 10 years.

Mind if I ask what you paid to get the grill chromed?

Thanks everyone for the responses. I decided to try to paint them my self. So far it looks pretty good. I'm having a bit of a problem with getting rid if the brush marks in the lettering but I think if I thin the paint a little it will work OK. I'm using model paint like you would get at the hobbie shop. The nice thing is you can scratch off any oopses with your finger nail after it dries, or if it really turns out bad a little lacquer thinner will take the whole mess off without harm to the chrome.

Tsheridan I had my grill, door handles, windshield crank and the dash trim rechromed all at the same time, The cost for all was $785, (triple plate) I think the grill was something like $550. They did a great job, it need some straighting and a couple of dings fixed. It came out better than new, I'm happy

You need to thin the paint a little bit to use a roller but not much - the main thing is to roll the paint onto the roller then roll it to make sure you've only got a thin layer of paint on it .