For those who want to refinished name plates here is three options other
have sent in over time:
#1
I.D. Tag repainting
As for my ID tag - That took a little trial and error (not to mention a lot
of patience, and a little skill - I've done this for numerous antique car
embossed tags, and finally have the hang of it.) The first step is to remove
the tag by drilling out the rivets as necessary. (When all is finished I
replace the rivets with stainless screws.) The tag has to be totally cleaned
of all old paint - I used lacquer thinner. Don't use steel wool or any thing
abrasive, as we have to retain as sharp of relief in the lettering and
design as possible. I then spray the entire tag with a very light coat of
Krylon in a near Airstream blue. As the paint begins to dry, it will reach a
point where the paint on the high spots can be rubbed off by a thin blunt
wooden dowel (I'm talking about somethind like 1/8 inch, or maybe like a
wooden fingernail cuticle tool.) It may take some practice to find just the
right degree of drying to rub the thin paint off without peeling up adjacent
paint. But, if you mess up and need to start over, just reach for the
lacquer thinner and a rag! Like I said, I've done this many times, and I
still started over two or three times before I got it perfect. After all has
dried for a day or two, I sprayed on a thin coat of clear "epoxy" enamel.
Don't try clear coating the Krylon with lacquer, or the lacquer solvents
will just lift up and destroy the paint job that you worked so hard on. I
hope I didn't go into far more detail than you wanted, but if you want to do
it you need to know all the tricks. Good luck!
#2
Spray it with 409 or simple green and wipe off the areas you will be
painting... you need all the polish to be gone from those areas.
Get some rubber cement, an exacto knife and the right color spray paint (
enamel will work ).paint rubber cement over the parts you want polished
(you don't have to be real careful since you are going to use the exacto
knife to trim the rubber cement out of the areas you want painted.)
Then, clean the rubber cement out of the areas you want painted - you've
got the plate masked - maskaround the plate if you are painting it ON the
trailer so you don't get over spray, and go to it. if you want to prime
the surface, use a thin primer (not surfacing primer) so your letters don't raise.
if you are painting them OFF the trailer, I recommend that you use
etching chemicals to scribe out the partsyou are painting after you
polish (they are availableat larger craft stores like Ben Franklin,
Micheal's etc.) because paint doesn't like to stick to aluminum.
THEN (almost forgot) when it dries, use your finger and rub off the
rubber cement.. done deal.
#3
Mask the whole name plate with clear packing tape. Cut out the letters and
border and peel the rest of the tape off, leaving what will be silver masked.
Spray with a royal blue, I used Krylon. If you take the plate off to do
this, reattach with Olympic rivets.
This is on Bud Cooper's polishing video if you want to see it done.
Roy Lashway
'78 Argosy,'56 Bubble
WBCCI 1610 VAC
rlashway@zianet.com
web site: www.zianet.com/rlashway
(polishing report included)