The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Painted Doors, a lost Art?

Since I have been absent from the garage scene for many decades there’s a lot that is new to me. A whole new generation of hot rodder/car builders/restorers are running the show now and I find some of the directions that they are taking quite interesting.

One of the things is new to me is a group that call themselves the Goodguys. I attended a car show a couple of weeks ago in Joliet, IL and was absolutely amazed at how much the interest has grown in car craft since I quit getting my hands dirty thirty some years ago. I guess it shouldn’t have come as such a surprise, since all the clues have been in front of me for the last year. In that time I’ve accumulated a stack of venders catalogs about as tall as ten year old and I’m finding new ones almost every day. And they wouldn’t be in business if the market wasn’t there.
So after the meet a friend gave me the August issue of a magazine that I had never seen before entitled “Classic Trucks.” It was the Advance Design Special edition which featured the segment of our Stovebolt that interests me the most.

There is a movement out there that, when I first heard the term mentioned really didn’t interest me, that being Rat Rod. Of course in this AD special issue there is a good example of the craft. Pictured on page 54 is a ’48, 3104 5-window all decked out in faded paint and rust, bodywork and paint buy none other than Mother Nature.
On the door is the weathered lettering of the “TOMBSTONE MORTUARY” Tombstone, Ariz. Hidden under the hood is a big 572ci GMPP driving a Ford 9” posi through a GM 4L65.
The door art on this truck is the feature that grabbed me the most. When I was much younger than I am now all of the trucks had to have a name and weight painted on the door here in Illinois, which yielded some interesting artwork. That practice has faded into the past now that almost everyone drives a truck now days and the only place that you see lettering is on the big rigs. I kind of like the idea of lettering the door, I mean real lettering with real “One Shot” not the vinyl stuff. Most of the artists to day that make signs are computer geeks and probably wouldn’t know which end of a brush to hold.
So have any of you seen any interesting door art or taken pictures?
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

theres alot of that around here.goin to a show tomorrow thats partially sponsered by shaw signs in batavia ohio,called the pumpkin run.show is awesome probly around 3000 cars and trucks.shaw does alot of of this type painting. and did an article in rod and custom or street rodder magazine on how to do the patina'd paint jobs.he and his son have a group they run with that have some unbeliveable cars.all traditional,rat rods and the like.wish i had the know how to post pictures they have some cool stuff.on a slightly different note theres a guy around town whos whole family has been in sign painting business.he paints quite a few business's windows with seasonal artwork.hes quite good.he also made us a sign carved out of foam painted weathered"big pointing finger" when we opened our coffee shop addition to our bakery.only charged us $30 i was definatley impressed.....dave

Man I'd sure like to make it to one of those shows Dave. My uncle on the other side of the family, his father and all his brothers were sign painters. They are all long gone now but I used to love it when my parents went over there to visit. I'd go out to the barn and watch Granpa Wylie paint, it always fasinated me and it was one of those things that I always wanted to learn.
If ya ever figure out how to post the pics I'd loke to see them.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Man, the timing on this subject could not be any better! I just retired after 30 years in Graphic Design and specialized in retro graphics back in the early 80 when I was doing all of my work in what is known as the Art Deco style. SAMPLE Today I have a small home based business that pays for my toys and I want to have my company name painted (NOT VINYLED) on my doors.

I've just within the last couple days begun to search for someone in my area that not only can do it but can make it LOOK OLD... as in authentic period lettering with drop shadow... the way it used to be done. I want that simple beauty that characterized that era, not some contemporary computer graphics retro-trash... I love the smell of One Shot sign paint in the morning.

So... ANY old photos of lettering on doors would be greatly appreciated by this bolter.

I'm planning on putting some lettering on the doors of my old truck. Right now I'm in the very early stages of planning though.

Both my parents grew up on dairies in Arkansas. The one my mom grew up on is owned and operated by her brothers. However, my grandfather's, on my dad's side, is no longer in operation. I have an old milk bottle from the '60s that has their logo on it. I thought it would be cool to put the top part of the logo that says Fendley's Dairy on both doors. Maybe go with a black truck with red lettering. Here is a picture of the logo
What do you think?

By the way, it's not easy scanning the logo from the side of a glass gallon milk jug full of flour.

The dairy logo on the doors in red would look great but what about white or ivory for the truck. It would be a more appropiate color for a dairy truck.

Yeah, now you’re getting the idea. Although I don’t own a farm or a business, when I’m finished with the cosmetics I would like to add some fictitious name on the side. Along with a nice set of side boards or stake sides all purely for aesthetic reasons.

I think the Fendley's Dairy would look great especially since it is tied in to your family history.
I thought I saw something about how they do the distressed painting applied to the rat rods but I can’t find it now, anyone recall this?
I hope we can get some more input on this subject.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

You're right, white would make more sense for a dairy truck. I'm typically not a fan of white trucks, but I might have to change my mind.

I'm thinking of adding side rails, because I've always thought the beds on the AD trucks look a little low without them.

Would you distress the sign paint by partially sanding through it with some fine grit paper?

I'd be willing to host photos of authentic vintage "door art" on my pBase account if you want. Maybe we could even make it a part of stovebolt.com like the gallery we now have for our trucks.

I'm interested in this if any moderators or admin types think it's worth while just e-mail me and we can talk about it. This forum is such a great resource I'd like to do a little more.

Woody

Check out issue 25, Jan 2008 of ol' Skool RODZ.

There is an article called: Makin' the new look old. It is all about putting a design and door lettering on and then using some buffing and sanding to make it look old.

The person that wrote the article looks like a very professional sign painter. He makes it look easy. I doubt it is without some serious practice.

Hey there. Grant here. There's a place in Waunakee WI that has it down pat. A buddy of mine re-did a 29 roadster pickup, and he had his family farm name painted on it, you would never know that it wasn't on there for 50 years. Jim's Sign & Art Shop, 206 E. main St. Waunakee, WI. 608-849-5720. Refer to Dalton Farms, on a 29 Model A Roadster Pickup.

Denny
very good topic IMO
my uncle is an old school sign painter and I had never seen a silhouette rubbed onto a truck to use as a template till i spent a day at the shop with him. it was something to watch him lay that ol one shot on a panel. I never will forget the look and words he gave me one day when i sprayed windex on a truck,rubbed down a vinyl decal and gleamed with pride at what i had done. he said that crap will flake off in no time but the paint would last for years.
anyway ,I was in a junk yard near here a month back where the truck i had done 20 yrs.ago with the vinyl decal now sits next to one he painted. all you can see of the vinyl is the glue lines and his with the patina people try to replicate WRIGHT BROTHERS it would be neat if the rest of the truck looked that good.
when the day my panel comes out from the garage he is going to letter it with my business name. I just hope i can get it finished while he is still on this world
tom

TPYLE,
Why don't you have him letter the doors now? Or get the doors in good shape for him to letter?
Samantha

Boy Tom, knowing what I know now after being around for 65 years, if it were me, I'd pick his brain for any hints or tips he could offer on sign painting. Pay him to teach you some of the tricks. Sign Panting is truly one of the disappearing arts. I've looked for years for any printed information on the trade and I don't think anything exists any more.
We are loosing so many of the real old timers and along with them goes the skills that took years to learn, I just wish we could video document some of it.
I ran into the same thing when I was collecting antique radios, so many of the manufacturing methods and processes are lost forever. No one knows how the decorative paints were applied, believe me, I tried for 15 years to find out how the very heavy wrinkle finishes were done but no on knows.
I was hoping to see some pictures of some good examples but looks like everyone is in the same boat I'm in, that is, empty handed.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Since I'm taking advantage of claiming truck off as a business advertising expense I have to put my company name on it so I fully intend to track down some old timer and have him paint my doors. Where I live, things don't change quite so fast and I'm confident that somewhere within a reasonable driving distance I can find a real sign painter to do the job.

HERE\'S a mock-up of what I eventually hope to have done.

When it happens I'll definitely document the process the best I can, but having dealt with sign painters during my 30 years in commercial art I can tell you that it's not something you can learn from a book. It's a skill, an art that's gradually mastered with years of experience, experience that will never offered today because it's been replaced with yet more plastic.

A pity indeed.

Where I live, San Francisco Bay, there are guys who specialize in boat lettering, they will do trucks too.
Chris

It didn't take me long to find several places in my area who still do hand lettering. If you are in the North Raleigh, NC area:

Bobbitt Signs
Kittrell
252-492-7326
The owner has 35 years experience and still does it the old-school way but his business is mainly the vinyl stuff

Reid Signs and Professional Lettering
Henderson
252-438-4376
A one-man shop that ONLY does hand lettering. I spoke to Mr. Earl Reid and he seems like about as old-school as you'll get. I asked him why he didn't advertise and he said he stays busy without it.

I left a call in to a couple more places and will let you guys know what I find, but it looks like Earl is going to get a visit from me.

Look in the yellow pages for places that advertise many years experience and/or that they do hand lettering. There's probably a lot more of them out there than you think.

denny/samatha
if he were not a 1000 miles away now i would still be over his shoulder. he retired and moved to montana a few years back. my cousin, who lives in tennessee, still does hand painted signs. he and i have already got the artwork laid out. just waiting on me now

tom

TPYLE,
I hope you show us pics when they're done!
Samantha

Denny
I know what you mean about the wrinkle paint . I have a 72 blazer with the removable fiberglass hard top that has a wrinkle texture to it. it needs repainted in a bad way but nobody I have asked or talked to even knows what i am talking about. all the totally restored blazers i have seen have been sanded smooth , repainted and are not correct. I have asked in the paint fourm here,at the vcca and various other sites with no good replies. I even tried the Leer truck toppers people and it seems to be a forgotten process. the closest suggustion i have ever recieved was to Rhino Line it, but that was more for durability than correctness.


Samantha
you know I will post pics when it is done. to do anything else is, well, WRONG!!!

tom

I've started a gallery of Door Art HERE if anyone is interested. If you have anything you'd like to include, please e-mail me.

In my case, the only couple guy's local I could find to do it were pinstripers and they wanted BIG money to do the lettering on my truck. This was right after I spent right at $100 to lay some quick preservation paint on the old girl. I might consider going that route in a few years when I actually do a proper restore on it but for now she's a workin' truck so that's not going to happen.
A buddie that had worked for sign shops and did some striping for fun recommended I go ahead and lay out the lettering on the computer and have a vinal mask cut to use as a stencil, then he came over and laid the shadow on it with one-shot by hand. It turned out pretty good and I'm happy with it for now.
One thing I would do different if I were to do it again. I laid the white on the stencil pretty thick so I wish I had lightly sanded the edges before he did shadows, it's thick enough and has enough edge that several people have though that it was vinal lettering outlined with one shot.
Here\'s what I did..

I've got a good collection of pictures of door lettering I've taken as well as several doors up at my farm I've bought because of the lettering. Some day when I build a big barn I want to hang them high up on the walls. Some are almost just door skins left. I'll try to throw a gallery of them out on my site in the next few days when I get a chance.

Also when we were prepping the truck for the preservation paint we found this lettering about 2 layers down. Wakenda, MO

MONGO

That looks GREAT Mongo! I thought about going the stencil route too but brushing the paint on to get the brush strokes.

That's funny, people who come into the sign shop says it smells in here. I must give them a funny look, what are you talking about,funny look. Then they ask if I can smell the paint fumes?

Denny there are a few sign magazines...SignCraft....Signs of the Times....Sign Business and alot of Books on the subject. I do believe the hand lettering is going strong today, thanks to the letterhead movement, several sign related websites like letterville which is alot like this site,preserving and teaching the craft.

A couple of things to consider for an authentic lettering job. Script lettering is done by hand, a computer script is too tight, its not bouncy. When you look at a natural aged lettering job you can see the brush strokes. Instead of sanding, take some turps on a rag and wipe. The more you wipe, the more paint you take off. Also you could thin your paint down. Best idea is too study truck lettering from the old days, the layouts are simplar.

Any body needs more info let me know.

Rob