Was the Tailgate "FORD" Body Color or?

[BajaBronco]

Nice pics Eagles! Yeah I'll try and find my yellow roadster pic with letters...its film tho, old, and interesting to note it was a red rocket stripe springtime. But, not surprised by the abundance of white letters.

 

[eaglenest66]

Nice pics Eagles! Yeah I'll try and find my yellow roadster pic with letters...its film tho, old, and interesting to note it was a red rocket stripe springtime. But, not surprised by the abundance of white letters.

Yes I always thought red rocker stripes meant red letters. Not the case though! Only wimbledon white or sahara beige from what I can tell had the red to red combo. Yes get those pics!

 

[Arniep]

Not saying they would be the same, but I worked at KC Assembly Plant on F series trucks from '66 thru ,79. On those trucks they were rolled horizonally with a hard roller. The only colors used were red and white.

 

[Specracer]

Can anyone shed more light on the specifics of the white? It is mentioned it's a flat white? Is it a true white? Like Oxford? Or an off white like Wimbledon ?

 

[eaglenest66]

The grille letters were rolled also. The roller was not a traditional roller we think of with a fiber nap of sorts, but it was a rubber roller that was used extensively in the printing industry called a brayer.

On this '66 you can see where the brayer touched the area around the letters a little too.

Interesting about the brayer roller. Googled and found all kinds of them and as you mentioned, used widely in the print business. So another question came up to me. What size? I see the common is 4" but also spotted 2" ones. I would think 2" ones would be easier to control for front and back letters. Thoughts? And would they be the hard or soft rubber? tim

 

[Slowleak]

Was the Tailgate "FORD" Body Color or?

Tim got me thinking..... I took a look at the rear letters on my original 77. The roller would have to be at least 2.5 inches to cover a letter in one pass. They look like they only got one coat and I don't see any edge marks. Makes me think it was at least a 3 inch roller.

Rolling metal with hard rubber is hard to do without sliding sometimes. My letters have a consistent slightly dimpled pattern. I am wondering if it was a hard rubber felt covered roller. Seems like it would need to hold paint and also get traction on the metal.
I think this is Wimbledon white.

 

[Specracer]

Wimbledon sure would make sense. Going to have to do some experimenting with rollers.

 

[fordfan]

Tim got me thinking..... I took a look at the rear letters on my original 77. The roller would have to be at least 2.5 inches to cover a letter in one pass. They look like they only got one coat and I don't see any edge marks. Makes me think it was at least a 3 inch roller.

Rolling metal with hard rubber is hard to do without sliding sometimes. My letters have a consistent slightly dimpled pattern. I am wondering if it was a hard rubber felt covered roller. Seems like it would need to hold paint and also get traction on the metal. View attachment 390759
I think this is Wimbledon white.

The brayer was not hard and the paint was not the consistency that you are familiar with, but much thicker which is why the picture of the letters you posted have the 'dimpled' pattern. The paint was thick enough it didn't flow much and was more the consistency of old printing press ink that used a putty knife to put into the press.

 

[fordfan]

Interesting about the brayer roller. Googled and found all kinds of them and as you mentioned, used widely in the print business. So another question came up to me. What size? I see the common is 4" but also spotted 2" ones. I would think 2" ones would be easier to control for front and back letters. Thoughts? And would they be the hard or soft rubber? tim

Hey Tim! Bring me a roadster and let's experiment!;D;D The brayer used would be fairly soft, like a pencil eraser or a little softer. I think the 2" would be fine on the grill letters, but I think the tailgate would need to be larger. If you look at the picture of the grill letters I posted and check out the "D", you can see each end of the brayer where it touched the grill and it looks like it would be a little over 2"...maybe 2 3/8" or so..

 

[Slowleak]

The brayer was not hard and the paint was not the consistency that you are familiar with, but much thicker which is why the picture of the letters you posted have the 'dimpled' pattern. The paint was thick enough it didn't flow much and was more the consistency of old printing press ink that used a putty knife to put into the press.

That makes sense. I got a brayer type roller at Ace Hardware the other day for another project. I'm going to do a little experimenting on something with some thick white enamel.......

 

[fordfan]

That makes sense. I got a brayer type roller at Ace Hardware the other day for another project. I'm going to do a little experimenting on something with some thick white enamel.......

Regular enamel won't work very well at all. You can use a sign lettering enamel, ie "One Shot" or "Chromatic" are a couple of brands that will work. Only lettering paint has enough pigment to produce satisfactory coverage. One Shot has over 50% pigment compared to under 20% for other paints.

 

[bteutsch]

What color Black?

 

[Specracer]

If helpful Eastwood has One shot, I'm going to try Polar White, and black. The polar looks to be a slight off white, hoping its close enough to Wimbledon, vs their true "lettering white"

link to 1 Shot's color chart:

http://www.1shot.com/One-Shot/colors/Lettering-Enamels.aspx

 

[eaglenest66]

Hey Tim! Bring me a roadster and let's experiment!;D;D The brayer used would be fairly soft, like a pencil eraser or a little softer. I think the 2" would be fine on the grill letters, but I think the tailgate would need to be larger. If you look at the picture of the grill letters I posted and check out the "D", you can see each end of the brayer where it touched the grill and it looks like it would be a little over 2"...maybe 2 3/8" or so..

Bringing a roadster but no can do on your experiment!! Sorry to be a party pooper. ?:?I would think that the 2" soft roller would work best. And agree that the "One Shot" paint is excellent to use. I often use that paint to restore horn rings and buttons. Only paint that seems to stick and flow on the chrome. Tons of pigment and nice relaxing dry time too!! Noticed the lap marks disappear when using due to the low cure rate.

 

[Slowleak]

So if i want my letters to be dimpled like the original should I still use "One Shot"?

 

[fordfan]

So if i want my letters to be dimpled like the original should I still use "One Shot"?

Right out of the can, it will flow and I think most of the 'dimples' or texture will flow out. An old sign painter trick to thicken the paint to the desired consistency is to 'work' paint on newsprint or the pages of a magazine. The pigment will stay on the surface and the solvents and extra carriers will wick below the surface. If you want it as thick as Ford used, let it set for 15 minutes or so on the newsprint before 'inking' the brayer.

 

[Slowleak]

Thanks Fordfan........ I'm heading out to find some paint.

 

[Specracer]

To circle back on this, sadly the polar white One Shot, is not even close to Wimbledon white. It's far to "white". Will try rolling "normal" Wimbledon paint. The one shot black will be aok for for the grill.

 

[Slowleak]

Was the Tailgate "FORD" Body Color or?

The letter paint appears to be just a tad brighter than Wimbledon. I rolled the "D" on my tailgate Sunday with Wimbledon and then redid it after mixing a little bright white in it. It matches my other letters, which are original, almost perfectly. If you are doing all the letters I expect Wimbledon would look fine.

 

[Specracer]

Great info. In my case I have to do them all, as the respray that was done many years ago, they just sprayed over, and left the letters body color. same for the grill, and every other part that shouldn't have been painted (lot of work to reverse this).