Recently acquired a '64 and am wanting to spruce it up a bit. The red paint on the emblems has flaked off in places and the chrome looks ok from a distance. They were re-chromed about 7 years ago, but the truck has been sitting outside since. I thought I'd touch-up the painted areas and buy new plastic inserts for now and maybe buy the repro's later. This may be a stupid question but is there a "correct" paint color for the red around the thunderbolt and gear? Also, the FORD letters in the side emblem were painted at one time. Were the letters originally red or should they be left chrome? Tips and tricks are always appreciated! Thanks in advance! Scott

 

CSM
1st of all. I'd like to Welcome you to FTE, and the 61 thru 66 Forum.
The exact color of the paint is not going to be an issue to anyone but you. . . . IOW I doubt you will find a finish that is expressly emblem paint & the exact or the OEM color used back in the day.

I also doubt you will find anyone who really knows the difference enough to say your color is 1 or 2 degrees of a shade off stock OEM. Your greater problem is going to be getting any paint to stick & stay on chrome medallions for any length of time. I'd suggest some type of epoxy based finish applied over a correct clean & prep' effort.

As for plastic emblem inserts, use a Quality "rattle can finish" in color that's close to OEM for stock appearance, if you want stock appearance. But on my 66 I used corporate blue, which is totally wrong since OEM emblems are red.

The key here is to get all of your like kind colors the same. By that I mean use same paint in/ on medallions, and use another "same paint" on all of your emblem inserts, and so on.

As for letters you mention I'd use same paint as I was using on medallions if the letter were red in OEM condition, or a quality gloss black again epoxy based enamel if they were black.

If all your individual ornamentations match,or coordinate nobody but you will ever know if any color is not exactly correct.

Obviously my theory & method does not hold true for engine colors or other outside finish paint schemes, but for hens' teeth details I'm tellin' ya, nobody will ever call ya on it!

Again Welcome to FTE glad to have you on board here.

I am curious what word was deleted between "the" and "looks" in your 2nd sentence where it says . . . . . "and thelooks ok from a distance. "

FBp

 

Thanks for the welcome to the forum and the information, FordBoyPete. I guess it would be kind of silly to get hung up on using the "proper" red on the emblems when my truck has already gone through a color change! I just had to ask though before proceeding. I'll look for an epoxy-based red and have a go at it.

By the way, the word you are referring to as missing is "chrome". It seems to be showing up in my browser (Mozilla Firefox) as a blue hyperlink which leads to a company selling performance exhaust systems...must be how the forum supports itself through advertising. I'm not sure why the word is missing in your browser - must be the settings you have specified.

Thanks again!

 

For what it's worth ... I just repainted my truck and bought a pint of red to paint the letters on the tailgate. I used Rangoon Red, simply because it was a color used that year and it looked close to the original color.

I also used it to paint the hood ornament ... then I bought some plastic F250 pieces from LMC for the sides. They matched the red pretty well.

Pictures in my gallery ... LOL.

gehrig

 

Actually I believe it's my security programs I have running on board.
I won't go into it here & now but I've an issue with malware & BOTs with DSL. When I'm off line we "freeze frame" the internet with radical firewall programs. Otherwise my modem looks like 4th of july from trackers, spys trojans & messingers out & about.
Like something's wrong if I go to 3 or 4 sites & gather up a dozen cookies doing it.

Oh Well. . . . What else is new?

FBp