I want to paint the letters on the tailgate white. I bought Duplicolor Exact Match Wimbledon White.

I have the tailgate off of the truck and in the basement warming up to about 65*. Sanding the paint on the letters for rough it up, primer, then paint.

What is the best way to tape off the letters for painting?

I'm also removing the latch and painting that white as well.

 

they do sell vinyl letters, if you want them perfect, get the letters and put them on and mask around them with masking tape and paper covering the whole gate, remove the letters, THEN sand the inserts with 400 grt paper, prime and paint.

 

Who sells the vinyl letters? Thanks.

EDIT: I found them using Google. $15 and they are on the way. I'll probably just use those until (way) down the road if I do a repaint.

 

I've seen factory tailgates that appear to be rolled on. Seriously. A couple of them. It looks like they may have used a hard rubber roller. Like the ones they used to use with printing presses.

Using your tailgate for an example, I've seen people spray the wimbeldon white. Let that dry. Spray turquoise. Let that start to get tacky. Soak a rag in reducer or thinner and wring it out. Wrap the rag around a sanding block and rub off the turquoise paint, exposing the wimbeldon white.

 

the best way to paint them would be to spray the letters white first and use the vinyl letters to cover them and then paint the main color on the gate.
doing it the way you explain to Kevin, could make a mess if your not careful.

 

Let me also add that you should paint the letters first turquoise and then white. The turquoise paint helps seal the edges of the tape with the tailgate color and keeps the white from bleeding under the tape to make a cleaner job.

 

Why would you want to paint the latch white? If you feel you need to paint it, paint it turquoise so it blends in with the tail gate. It's not the most attractive thing in the world so there's no need to paint it white and make it stick out like a sore thumb. JMHO.....

 

I just so happen to find a never used tailgate in just that color combination 2 years ago. Of course my truck is holly green so I'll have to paint the whole thing. Anyway the letters are in perfect shape and the letters where applied over the main color. There is no doubt about that. The letters also cannot be considered to absolutely opaque and they seem to have been put on by a roller of some sort. The edges are not crisp as those with tape. I intend to duplicate this when I repaint the gate. Actually I should take photos of this before hand so all could see how it was done.

 

Thats 'Great advice'' Guy's! now I have to paint mine too....While i'm on here?
How do you paint the black around the headlight trim on a 65cc??

 

I'm looking for an easy fix here and not get into repainting the entire tailgate. I don't have the equipment plus there is some very bad bondo between the letters. I'm almost afraid to know what is under it. They are probably just small dings as the truck is extremely solid without rust.

For right now, I'm planning to drive the truck the way it is. It is a gorgeous 5-footer, maybe even a 2-footer. Eventually it will need to be repainted, but I don't plan to make it a museum piece. I don't want to be afraid to drive it anywhere at any time. Next winter I am removing the body and bed, cleaning up the frame and using POR 15 on it. I'll also do the underside of the body/bed using POR 15.

I just want the letters to stand out right now so I'm going with the vinyl. Good point on the latch but I'll have to buy turquoise paint which doesn't come in a spray can. I don't own a spray gun but I know how to use one. Done correctly, small parts can be rattled canned to look just as good.

 

Some auto paint stores can custom mix your paint color and put it in a spray can for around $20-25 bucks. If not, I'd go with an aluminum or stainless steel color on the latch rather than white.

 

Tape it off and use a good spray paint like SEM found at many paint supply stores. It is what I did.

 

Mike, Ya gotta do something, get them letters covered man.




John

 

Working on it. I removed the tailgate handle assembly last night and used a brass wired brush on it. Today I'll prime it and paint it with an dull aluminum color.

For the letters, I ordered a vinyl kit that will be here next week.

 

Here is the letter "R" from an original tailgate. Looking close one can see that it wasn't taped off since the edges are a little bit wavy in places. Two spots of the front leg of the "R" are uncovered by the white paint thereby showing the bottom color. Really close examination shows horizontal streaks visible of the kind you would get with a paint brush.