The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Painting tailgate letters

I’ve been chewing on how to do this. Paint experts, please advise.

Would it be better to paint the letters first, then the gate…

Or

Paint gate first, then the letters?

I have one of those aftermarket Chevrolet stickers that you can apply, but was thinking of using it as the masking tape for the paint process. The letters will be semi gloss black like my one ton.

I'm no paint expert, but I think what I'd do is use the stickers to mask it, painting the letter color first, then put the stickers on and painting the tailgate color. Then carefully peel the sticker off and then shoot some clear on to reduce the edge where the stickers were. That assumes the stickers can peel off without issue.

Following.

I'd be afraid the stickers would pull off the paint.

What about leaving the stickers in place and clear coating over them?

I applied the stickers 6 years ago. My truck sits outside year round and they are holding up great. No clear coat on them. I just applied them to the newly painted tailgate.

I meant that Fox is considering using the stickers as masking tape. I would be afraid that when he peels them off, they would pull the paint off with them because, as you say, they adhere very well.

I agree about how well they adhere. I considered using the decal as a template for paint but they stick tight. I would not be easy removing them cleanly after painting.

I attempted to use the letters as a template and failed miserably. The letter part of the sticker is one thing but the residue it left behind made a mess. Ended up ditching the tailgate letters for now.

If I decide to revisit the idea, I’m going to put the sticker on and clear coat it or get a pinstriper to hand paint the logo.

To prevent bleeding under the tape, brush over the tape edge with Clearcoat. The paint won’t be able to bleed under the tape. Pull the tape up and you should have a clean edge….. then clearcoat over the entire job. If using single stage, just use the base color instead of the clearcoat to seal the tape.

Mike