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1949, 1950 vavle cover lettering

Started by rghobden, January 29, 2015, 05:24:01 PM

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rghobden

Do you know if stencils are available for painting "Cadillac" on the valve covers?   I'm not steady enough to get straight clean-looking edges.  How did you do yours?  Thanks for your input.      Russ Hobden #1235. 
Russ Hobden, CLC #1235

Dan LeBlanc

Dan LeBlanc
1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car

rghobden

I have had the oil filter decal on my engine for over 5 years with no sign of it trying to come off but I've heard that the valve cover decal doesn't last very long and am skeptical of using it.  Could I get a response from those folks that are using the decals?  Satisfied?  Hard to line up properly? 

Thanks, Dan for your suggestion.  Russ
Russ Hobden, CLC #1235

P W Allen CLC# 20193

The decals look great and are easy to put on, but the adhesive WILL break down over time and start to lift, if not protected. I know this from experience. If your going to use the decals, put a coat or two of clear coat on the covers after you install the decals. Others have done this with good results. The other decals under the hood like the one on the air cleaner or on the oil breather cap are not the same type as the valve cover ones. The valve cover ones are more like a sticker. After they failed on my car, I decided to hand paint them. Came out OK.
Paul
53 Coupe
Twin Turbine

55 cadi

#4
I used the sticker on my valve covers but............took it a little further.

Clean, sand and prime the covers,

Then spray a white engine paint on the top only, not too heavy

Then let dry completely a few days.

Then put the Cadillac stickers on and spray the correct color paint on the whole valve cover.
( my stickers look thinner than the last post, from caddy reproductions.com)

What 5-10 minutes and then peal the stickers off exposing the white.

Let dry completely

Wet Sand the slight high spots with 2500-3000 sand paper lightly.

Then do your clear coat.

Looks awesome!  In my opinion, and no stickers,make it original style.

Jason
1955 Cadillac sedan series 62
1966 mustang convertible w/pony PAC, now in Sweden
2005 Cadillac deville

Dan LeBlanc

Dan LeBlanc
1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car

55 cadi

Thanks Dan!

I am quite happy with them, it took a few days between coats but we'll worth having it like original.

It was touch and go a few times with the peeling off the stickers to the sanding before the clear coat.

But all went well. I highly recommend to people re-doing there valve covers

Jason
1955 Cadillac sedan series 62
1966 mustang convertible w/pony PAC, now in Sweden
2005 Cadillac deville

rghobden

Jason, those valve covers look fantastic!  I have my covers down to the bare metal and the correct Cadillac blue paint arrived yesterday so I think I will give your method a try.  Thanks for your suggestion.  Russ Hobden #1235
Russ Hobden, CLC #1235

55 cadi

Thanks Russ,

Take your time and you will enjoy the rewards for an all paint valve covers.

Only other suggestion is when sanding the letters and strips, try and use the 3000 grit,

Only sand the edges where white and blue meet, and do it very lightly, sand a little then feel, still feel

A lip then sand a little more until it is where you want it, and very important to WET sand, use a lot of

Water.

And lastly don't heavy coat the clear, all that work on paint to get runs on the clear is not fun, so do

multiple lite coats, read instructions on time between coats, different paints very.

Good luck, hope all turns out well

Jason
1955 Cadillac sedan series 62
1966 mustang convertible w/pony PAC, now in Sweden
2005 Cadillac deville

rghobden

It sounds like you have all the details worked out, Jason.  Are you ready to have folks send you their valve covers so you can restore them? 
I'll heed all your advice and let you know how it turns out. 

Russ Hobden #123
Russ Hobden, CLC #1235

55 cadi

25 years ago I had a custom car/truck that I would take to shows and competitions, and only closest friends would know my tricks of the trade and wouldn't tell people how or what I did for sake of doing better against others at the show and being unique, not having others do what I did.

But now being a CADILLAC owner it is a different mindset, it's all about helping others achieve a common goal, restoring and keeping these great cars on the road.

Jason
1955 Cadillac sedan series 62
1966 mustang convertible w/pony PAC, now in Sweden
2005 Cadillac deville

Jon S

Jon

1958 Cadillac Sedan De Ville
1973 Lincoln Continental Coupe
1981 Corvette
2004 Mustang GT

rghobden

Many thanks to Jason Oliver for giving me the courage to paint my valve covers the right way.  Folks like Jason are a real asset to the Club.

I followed Jason's instructions and was more than pleased with the results.  His suggestion of using valve cover decals as a template worked great but I have to admit I really struggled with them.  The decals came with no instructions and I had a difficult time trying to line up the decal with the raised letters of the cover.  The backing paper of the decal needs to be made of something clear, like Mylar, so a fellow can align it properly.  I finally trimmed the excess paper away so I could lay the leading edge of the decal's "C" in Cadillac exactly where I wanted it.  It would also help if I wasn't 71 years old and didn't have Parkinson's Disease either.  So if I can do it, anyone can. 

After a few minor repairs and touch ups I sanded the letters just as Jason recommended and applied two coats of clear coat. 

The decals came with the hash marks at the ends of the covers, but as near as I can determine, they were not supposed to be white in 1950.
That sure made it easier for me. 
Russ Hobden, CLC #1235

Jon S

Very nice job!  If you wanted to make a conversation piece, you could "dot" the i.
Jon

1958 Cadillac Sedan De Ville
1973 Lincoln Continental Coupe
1981 Corvette
2004 Mustang GT

55 cadi

Great job Russ!

Glad I could help.

And with all the details to doing it all paint I did forget to mention about cutting down the stickers.........I did as you did and trimmed away all the excess sticker that is not used to be able to line it all up correctly, I trimmed to the edge of a lot of the letters especially the C's the L's and the whole bottom to see better where it started and ended, glad you thought of doing that, it does make a big difference.

I also recommend to use engine clear coat to anyone else that will be doing it this way, I don't know how the regular clear works with hot parts.

Glad it turned out good for you Russ

Jason
1955 Cadillac sedan series 62
1966 mustang convertible w/pony PAC, now in Sweden
2005 Cadillac deville

Caddy Wizard

I have done this lettering different ways and what now works best for me is to paint the covers blue and let that blue fully cure.  Then I mask the long straight edges of the lettering with masking tape.  Between the stripes I have used a masking tape that is the exact width of the space (3/16"??).  Then I free hand paint it.  It seems to work for me...
Art Gardner


1955 S60 Fleetwood sedan (now under resto -- has been in paint shop since June 2022!)
1955 S62 Coupe (future show car? 2/3 done)
1958 Eldo Seville (2/3 done)

rghobden

They sure look nice Art.  I had forgotten that masking tape came in anything narrower than 1/2 inch.  That's what we get for living in a small town. 
Russ Hobden #1235
Russ Hobden, CLC #1235