I'm repainting my truck, its a 78 F-150, and the color is Midnight Jade, a dark green. The "FORD" letters on the tailgate (the ones stamped out of the sheetmetal) should be white, and I planned on painting the white on. I was debating which color to paint on first and how to mask it when I got the new NPD catalog and saw they sell transfer emblems for the tailgate. Basically, I can put the FORD back on the tailgate in white as easy as putting on a transfer "stripe" or decal, however you would describe it. Is the transfer emblem the way the factory did it, or was the "FORD" tailgate letters painted?

 

Ready for this? Paint the entire tailgate the color of the truck. Then paint the entire area that is lettered white. Paint the tailgate the body color again. Now the fun starts.... Carefully sand off the last color coat (only) from the raised letters. Of course the first step was to make sure that the letters are perfectly flat!

 

Or...

You can have a sign shop fab up some nylon stickers in the same size/font as the tailgate. Who knows, you may even find some NOS ones somewhere.

 

Well, these transfer emblems are basically stickers. and for $17 for the set I don't think you can beat it.

 

USE THE DECALS UNLESS YOU ARE TRYING TO HAVE AN ORIGINAL SHOW WINNER.....KEEP IT SIMPLE

 

OK, so what's the procedure with the late 80's that have depressed lettering? I'm guessing the same, but mask the lettering before the second body color coat rather than sanding after?

Fred

 

Paint the tailgate the body color, paint the letter area the color you want the letters, then carefully sand off the excess letter color around the letters. (do not mask the individual letters, only the areas that you want to avoid having to un-necessarily sand)

 

where can I get decals for my '88 F150 tailgate? The truck was repainted by the previous owner but the lettering was not replaced with decals or painted a different color.

 

They are $17.95 a set at National Parts Depot, or NPD

 

sigtauenus...

Thanks for the suggestion to NPD...they seem to have anything & everything!

 

Yeah, I've been using them for years for Mustang parts, and finally got their new (they've been talking about it for 3 years) Truck catalog.