I have a 51 F1 with the single hood spears. I just got them back from Showtime Restorations, who did a fantastic job straightening and polishing the stainless steel. Before I sent them to him, I had attempted to straighten and polish them myself. I got them to a point where they were fair, so I painted the "FORD" and the "F-1" with black automotive paint. Of course, it didn't stick, so I stripped it off, spent hours masking, then sandblasted and repainted. That worked well, until I decided that the spears looked like crap and sent them to Showtime to polish. I stripped the paint before I sent them. Of course, the polishing process also polished up the painted sections, so I now have to mask, sandblast, and paint.

I have seen some custom decal work, most notably the work of Firstrider for hubcaps and the Magic Air Heaters. (Got my Magic Air Heater from Denny and it is a work of art!!)

So, is there anyone that has had this done and is willing to share. I did ask Denny on his Magic Air post thread, but thought it would be better as a separate general question.

Any thoughts?

John

 

I used POR engine paint, (mainly because it was the only Ford blue I had in stock) and it is bulletproof.
A tiny brush, some POR thinner for better flow, and a giant magnifying glass.

 

You might try taking your hubcaps and hood trim to a local sign shop. They have the equipment and resources to make most anything from scratch like that. There is a pretty high set up cost for this kind of thing., so you'll have to determine if it's cost effective for you to do a one-off. Get several quotes, because the costs can vary greatly depending on how willing a shop is to do it.

 

If there's a local guy that does pinstriping you might check with them. Most of them use One Shot sign painter's paint, and it will hold up for years...

 

One method I’ve used for many years dating back to 74 when I painted between the ribs of the valve covers on my 64 Corvette is to use vasoline on areas you don’t want paint to stick, then paint the area in question,. After the paints dry wipe off the vasoline. I use an old t shirt wrapped around my finger to wipe it off. Look at my Suzuki’s wheels that I just painted the cast parts gold. No masking at all. Works very well.

 

Most vinyl sign shops need a flat image to work from . That is why stencils were made to present to them to scan for the decals . They can not scan a concave or convex image . Tried that & the decal did not fit properly .It gained or shrunk .

 

Any suggestions as to how to make the stencil?

 

Had trim and hub caps caps painted-by sign shop pinstriper. Used One Shot sign painters paint.,$80.00 complete.

Tom

 

Jersey Devil - Where'd you get your trim rings? Looks sharp!


As far as getting a pattern, any decent shop should be able to do a 'rubbing' of the part and then scan in to use with their software. If they don't, you could try rubbing the impression out on some paper with some charcoal strips or pencil. Then they could scan in and produce die-cut vinyl decals.


Just a thought.

 

I had good luck with careful taping and rubbing with a small rag wet with lacquer thinner and a small putty knife. I used acid etch primer and farmall tractor enamel. Looks better than most I have seen at shows so I called it done LOL.

 

Kent

Purchased 16” ribbed trim rings from MAC’s.

Painted trim as original will weather better, decals will tend to fade faster than paint.

Thanks for the comments on my truck

tom

 

Then there's this for the less enterprising amount us:



Not a speck of original paint to be found.

Jim

 

Thanks, Tom. I'll check them out.

 

On my gosh. I posted something here that was meant for another thread. I had to delete it, and we all know what could happen.

Jim