The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop paint the recessed letters

Hi, on the 1946

What is a good way to paint the recessed letters on the grille of a 1946 chevy, what is the trick ?

All the best,


Jan

Take it to a pinstriper guy.

I thought some vendors carried a decal for that??? of maybe it was just the hood emblem?
Marty is right. Don't get frustrated over it. Take it someone and let them work with it.

You will need:
A good brush or two, good paint, a good work table, good light, a steady hand, a good eye, time and patience.

If you're missing any of the above, I agree with the other guys to take it to a pin-striper. Probably wouldn't cost much.

One-shot Enamel, Mack Brush. Good to go. Stuff like that is fun. But if you're going crazy, try and find a sign painter. Your local paint store, well the one that sells One-shot will know who to contact. But if you can buy the decal, that will really speed things up.

Many of the companies sell the decal you need, or take it to the pinstripper as suggested. Cecil..........

Use lacquer. spray so the letters are painted, let it dry completely and then take a cotton rag, wet it with lacquer thinner and carefully wash off the overspray. That's how I did THIS. Ignore the gasket, this is not final assembly.

You can also use enamel but you have to wash off the overspray before the paint sits too long.

I've used both lacquer and enamel, by brush and spray can, with and without extensive masking. However, I usually don't wait until the paint is completely dry, even with lacquer. Also, when cleaning off excess paint at the edges, I always use a paper towel that has been folded numerous times and dipped in a small amount of thinner so it gives a stiff surface with less chance of coming in contact with the recessed area. When you get old, your hands tend to shake a little.

With a little patience, you'll have a perfect job.

As others have said, see if the vendors have a vinyl decal kit. Then, use the cut-out or background part of the decal as the pattern, mask around the areas and then spray paint. I did this with old hub caps for my '51, and after getting the hang of it (don't pull the masking and pattern before the paint is thoroughly dry) it looked great. Not much skill required.

That's actually a very good idea. Those vinyl things have a way of unsticking themselves.

The company called "Chevys of the 40's Store sell decals for this. I'm trying to decide which way is the best for my own 46.Paint will be more costly but it may last longer. The decals are inexpensive.

I painted the raised GMC lettering on my axle housing. It took a lot of time to get the desired result, but I used the super small rolls of detail tape at about 1/16" - 1/8" thickness to bend around all the tough spots. Then hit those areas with some newspaper and masking tape and give a good quick spray.

Heres the pic of it.

The photo doesnt do it justice (bad clarity and glare) and this pic was before I touched up the rest of the housing. It definately takes time and patience.

Jeff