Question painting letters on dash strips

[Deleted User]
[Deleted User]
edited November -1 in HUDSON
I had to have the chrome strips on my 54 dash rechromed. NOw I want to repaint the lettering. I was thinking of masking off the area around the letters, not each letter, just the entire word, then spraying with some black paint, then wiping of the raised areas with lacquer thinner or some such thing. Any ideas on this little project?



Thanks,

Doug

Comments

  • Hudson Grandpa
    Hudson Grandpa Expert Adviser
    I presume you are talking about the "Hudson Hornet" on the glove compartment. Correct? On the Hornet Rocket on the trunk, I masked each letter off, and then spray painted. But I doubt you can here, cause these letters are too small.



    This is going to be time consuming, (but what else do we have to do)!!.

    Take a wide peice of masking tape. Cover the whole wording with one long strip of tape. Make sure the tape sticks good. Rub over the letters with a pencil making sure that every letter is concise, and that you can see all the letters on the masking tape. Go to the hobby shop and get a very sharp and fine XACTO Knife. Now that you don't have anything else to do, carefully and slowly cut out each letter out of the masking tape, so that only the black letters will show.

    If you screw up start over again. When you are satisfied about 2-3 days later, mask off anything around the dash that might get black paint on it.

    Get black paint of your choosing, and go for it.....
  • MikeWA
    MikeWA Senior Contributor
    BTDT on the idea of masking the area, painting and rubbing off the excess with lacquer thinner. Problem is, the letters are the lowest part, and no matter how careful you are, you'll get thinner down into the letters themselves, screwing up the paint. Using less thinner isn't the answer, because then it won't soak up and remove the paint.



    The other idea, cutting around each letter, would work the best. And would certainly keep you out of mischief for awhile :rolleyes:
  • Walt-LA
    Walt-LA Senior Contributor
    I have not done the lettering on a '54, but on the '51 dash and one of the sub-units there is small, slightly indented lettering done in white to identify lights, windshield wiper, and heater controls. With the pieces off the car, it was not difficult to spray and wipe by using masking tape to minimize the area covered by the spray. The key was to stretch one layer of knitted cotton cloth (from a tee shirt) over a paddle made from a flat paint stirrer, which was taped on the back so that the cloth was flat and is stretched over the wood. I used laquer thinner as the solvent- And only slightly wet the cloth. No oversoaking, or it will bleed into the lettering. Working area on the paddle was a couple of inches.



    The same worked well on the black HUDSON lettering on the radio, The H-145 emblems on the doors (only center black area done) and the heater emblem, including the hudson triangle and lettering. Also used on outside Hornet rockets.



    Again, key is not using too much solvent. Rubbing the area did not scratch the chrome. BUT be certain that the cloth is clean.



    Walt-LA
  • onerare39
    onerare39 Expert Adviser, Member
    I did the same thing that Walt-LA did for my rocket and it turned out beautiful. Follow Walt's instructions and it will work!
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    I, too, tried the paint approach on my Hornet rockets and quickly decided it wasn't going to work for me. Instead, I bought wide 3M red reflective tape and pressed it into the letter depressions. Then I carefully cut around the letters using a very sharp blade, leaving a nice red and reflective fill. Looks good! Finding a black tape may be the hardest part for you.
    Bill
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    Thanks for all of the great responses. Since my car won't be ready for a year this sounds like a good winter project.



    Doug
  • RL Chilton
    RL Chilton Administrator, Member
    Two other methods for consideration that haven't been mentioned:

    1. For recessed letters, if you have a steady hand, hand paint the letters.

    2. Don't mask at all and spray over the letter area. Let the paint "skin" just slightly, then scrape off top area with plastic scraper. Works especially well on a very non-porous surface like chrome.

    These methods and the ones mentioned previously are all viable solutions, done properly, of course.
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