The FORD letters on my tailgate were painted sungate ivory to match the grille. The bodyman taped off the letters to paint them.They look OK from a distance, up close you can see that they were taped and the lines aren't straight. I am thinking of repainting the tailgate.

Question: if you bought the stick on letters, how do they look? Do you like them? How do the white letters look with Meadow Green tailgate?

Question: Does anyone know what color Ford painted the letters on dark trucks? Was it white? and on what lighter colored trucks did they use dark letters? and what dark color did they use to paint the letters on light colored trucks?

Question: How did they paint the letters in the factory? Could the stick on letters be used as stencils?

thanks, abe

 

My Dad's 1956 was Meadow Green and had faded white letters. I had a 54 which was Sea Haze Green and had very faded black letters. Both trucks had their original paint jobs. Hope this helps.

 

Abe,
I have seen the letters white or black, however, the white letters is what you see most often. I had a local guy here brush mine and they look excellent! They originally were either brushed or they used a roller like they did for license plates.

Any one who does lettering (custom lettering- painting) should be able to do the tail gate letters for you.

I had the same guy do the F O R D letters on my hub caps. I think I had $90.00 in the gate and 4 hub caps back in 2000

Kevin Bigwin

 

Kevin, you raise a question I've been wondering about. Were the FORD letters in the hubcaps painted originally? I bought a set of new caps and the letters don't have any paint on them. My originals were painted blue and I wasn't sure if I should paint these.

Do you know what is historically correct?

 

I picked up a set of NOS FoMoCo hub caps. The letters are painted blue.



Kevin
1953 Ford F-100
Go Illini

 

Sounds like a reliable answer. Thanks!

 

I put black decals on my Seasprite Green 55, looks nice. Original Ford hubcaps had red painted letters and were argent color, not the chrome we all use. Haven't seen any real original caps in years.

 

1)Ford 53-56 hubcaps were stainless steel with blue lettering. (My 53 F100 had this).
2)F_O_R_D Lettering on trucks with Meadow Green ,April Green or Holly Green (Flareside were painted white.
3) Hubcaps on 57-60 and 61-66 were painted argent (silver) with red lettering.
Restogreen

 

Thanks. That's great information. Not to get too picky, but any idea for a color code for the blue?

 

I asked how they painted the letters at the factory on a different board a long time ago, and the answer from a guy who worked the paint shop at the factory back then was that they used a roller. Hard to believe, but then again not. You need a roller with very low nap, or even a printer's roller (hard rubber). I've seen similar stuff silk-screened, but that's a little too much trouble.

 

I recall the blue was just a little brighter than the ford corporate blue. More like a deep blue color. Restogreen

 

The hubcaps on the 48-52 pickups were stainless (or bright as they said then) with blue FORD letters.

The hubcaps (same size and shape) on the '53-'56 F-100's were painted argent (silver) with red FORD letters. Check my gallery for a sweet '55 I saw at the Carlisle Truck Show a couple of years ago that was stock in every way to se his painted hubcaps. I have several copies of Ford Truck Clues, a Ford dealer magazine from the era, with pictures of stock Ford trucks with painted hubcaps with red letters. I just bought some used original hubcaps from a fellow FTE'er that of course was painted silver but still had some red paint on the letters.

Remember, the repro dealers are in the business to make money and sell stuff that a lot of people will buy, not neccessarily things that are correct and stock.

abe '54 F-100

 

By the way this winter I sold my stainless repro hubcaps and found the best four hubcaps I had. One of my original hubcaps made the cut. I had them banged out and putty applied where needed. I then painted them silver. I am waiting for my wife to paint the letters red. They are on my truck now and they look good. I will post pics after my wife paints the letters.

In my gallery is a pic of a '54 in a dealer showroom from the above mentioned Clues magazine where you can see the painted hubcaps with the red letters.

abe

 

Maybe the stainless were an option. I have a official photo from the Ford archives of a 1955 Custom Cab F100 with Argent hub caps and painted letters. Can't tell the color as the pic is black & white.
Don't know the answer and don't mean to start an arguement.

Fred

 

Abe is 100% correct on the caps. They were PAINTED argent silver with RED letters for the 53-56 ford trucks.

The ones you buy now the stainless, are reproductions and they are incorrect for a concorse restoration. I have a set of the repro's on my truck with the letters painted red.

Kevin Bigwin